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The Word - 2008/01/10

Posted On: 1/10/2008


The Word from CSEA

Columbus State Education Association Newsletter of January 10, 2008

CLARIFICATION OF IN-SERVICE DAY GRIEVANCE SETTLEMENT

Faculty in departments throughout the College have received notices from their chairs that claim to represent a recent grievance settlement. Some of the information in this memo appears misleading, and other important information is omitted.

The managers' memo states that "all departments will hold a department meeting on every In-Service Day." This is inaccurate; the grievance settlement provided that department meetings "will usually happen" on In-Service Day and will "usually occur during the 3-4:30 timelines that day." The settlement provides that if there is no department meeting scheduled (the language assumes that some departments might not hold meetings), faculty may engage in committee/program coordinator/ lead instructor meetings "or other mission and learning support related activities with the concurrence of the chair." If no department meeting is scheduled, then faculty who teach evening classes may leave early with the approval of their department chair. It now appears that rather than allowing department chairpersons to determine whether a department meeting is necessary or not, upper management is dictating that they will hold department meetings on In-Service Day regardless of whether or not a meaningful agenda exists.

Any faculty who take sick leave or personal leave on In-Service Day, missing the entire day's activities, should file for 6.5 hours of leave, as agreed to in the grievance settlement. As always, faculty are under no obligation to explain why they are requesting personal leave. If asked for a reason by a chair, faculty should respond that it is "for matters of a personal nature." No further explanation is required, and if a request for such leave is denied you should contact your Association Representative.

The agreement further provides that if faculty have "established web hours" scheduled for In-Service Day, then the 6.5 hours can be modified with the approval of their department chair.

NEW BOARD MEMBERS APPOINTED

CSEA welcomes Governor Strickland's appointment of three new trustees to replace those whose terms expired in August.

The Governor appointed Debra Plousha Moore, Senior Vice President for Human Resources and Organizational Development at OhioHealth; Dr. Richard Owens, professor of History at West Liberty State College in West Liberty, West Virginia; and Poe Timmons, Vice President and CFO for The Dispatch Printing Company.

These appointees replace former Board members Jeffrey Scheimann and Paula Inniss, and former Board chair Dr. Suzanne Finn. We are hopeful that the new appointees will bring a fresh dimension to the Board's oversight of the college that has been lacking under past leadership.

CSEA hopes that, by working closely with a reinvigorated Board, faculty can take on a greater and more meaningful role in the curriculum, assessment, and governance of the college in ways that are typical of other higher education institutions. We seek to engage in real collegiality with administrators, not simply to provide window-dressing "participation" that occurs only to lend legitimacy to administrative decisions that have already been made.

PAY FOR UNUSED 2007 PERSONAL LEAVE

Many faculty will find their January 31 checks a bit higher, thanks to a provision negotiated by your CSEA Bargaining Team. Faculty will receive a buy-back of up to 16 hours of unused personal time from last year, which will appear as a separate line item on their pay vouchers.

PASSAGES

CSEA joins the College in mourning the death December 16 of Dr. David Litt, professor of Exercise Science. He served the community through a range of professional associations and organizations such as the American Red Cross, and he served the College and his students with intelligence, passion, and a demanding gentleness. An active member of CSEA, he conducted research on a variety of campus and higher education issues for the Association. CSEA has made a donation to the College's David W. Litt Memorial Scholarship fund in his memory. We encourage all faculty to consider making a donation to this fund.

CSEA welcomes new faculty members Melissa Logue (Modern Languages) and Trena Shank (Human Services).

CSEA congratulates Dr. Lydia Gilmore (Business Management), who received her Ph.D. from Capella University, and Dr. Jeff Bates (Environmental Science, Safety & Health), who received his Ph.D. from The Ohio State University.

We offer farewell to Libby Miller (Office Administration), who has retired, and to W. David Hall (Developmental Education), who has resigned his position to teach in a Columbus charter school that focuses on first-generation, college-bound high school students. David most recently served CSEA as Association Representative for the Biological and Physical Sciences Department. His replacement will be named in the coming weeks.

YOUR RETIREMENT AND SOCIAL SECURITY

It is likely that the House Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing January 16 to address Social Security windfall and offset legislation (HR 82).

This legislation, which has been reintroduced in the House and Senate, would repeal the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), which penalize some public employees by cutting or taking away completely Social Security benefits they or their spouse earned, simply because the public employee earned retirement benefits in both the Social Security System and in a public retirement system.

Many of us worked in non-public employee jobs prior to our work as faculty and paid into the Social Security system. It's essentially unfair to take away benefits that were earned prior to public employment.

This legislation is a bi-partisan effort. Representatives Pat Tiberi (614/523-2555) and Deborah Pryce (614/469-5614) are co-sponsors. Senator Sherrod Brown (614/469-2083) is also a co-sponsor of the legislation; Senator Voinovich (614/469-6697) is not. CSEA urges you to take a few minutes to call or, preferably, to write to your elected representatives to voice your support for this important legislation. Contacting your Congressional representatives can make a significant difference.


The Word is produced by the Communications Committee of the Columbus State Education Association. We welcome your comments, news, and insights.

Darrell Minor, President and President-elect/ x5310
Amy Brubaker, Vice-President / x5068
Susan Moran, Secretary / x5453
Phil MacLean, Treasurer / x5308
Mary Morgan, Parliamentarian-elect / x5768

Steve Abbott, Senior Association Representative / x5096
Gil Feiertag, Senior Association Representative / x5861
Judy Anderson, Association Representative / x5822
Liz Betzel, Association Representative / x5329
Mark Bocija, Association Representative / x5049
Dave Busch, Association Representative / x5079
T.J. Duda, Association Representative / x5309
Dr. Charlie Gallucci, Association Representative / x5499
Cindy Evans, Association Representative / x2435
Bob Mergel, Association Representative / x5034
Eric Nuebauer, Association Representative / x5698
Dona Reaser, Association Representative / x5475
Gilberto Serrano, Association Representative / x3863
Leslie Smith, Association Representative / x5302
Kathy Struve, Association Representative / x5330


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