SRU APSCUF Newsletter

Volume 36, Issue VII, March 2013

Executive Committee:
President Patrick Burkhart Vice President Katie Cooklin Secretary Judy Silva Treasurer James Hathaway Past-President Jace Condravy At-Large Jennifer Sanftner At-Large Wilma Cavill Coach Shawn Lutz CAP Brad Wilson Grievence Sharon Sykora Legislative David Kershaw Membership Deb Cohen Negotiations Colleen Gray Gender Issues & Social Justice Catherine Massey Professional Development Jennifer Keller

SRU APSCUF Announcements:

Each year Home Depot holds the Retool Your School competition for Histoically Black Colleges and Universities to improve their campuses. Last year, with the help of faculty, coaches, and students from all fourteen PASSHE universities, Cheyney University earned enough votes to place 3rd in the competition and win a $10,000 Campus Pride Grant. APSCUF would like to encourage all of our campuses to support Cheyney again this year by voting for Cheyney at www.retoolyourschool.com/ vote-now.aspx or at www.cheyney.edu/. You can vote once a day until online voting ends on April 15th. Thank you or your continued support of Cheyney University. All Faculty Committee Elections are APSCUF Faculty Committee Elections will occur after Spring recess. Nominations and Election Chair, Michael Stapleton, will be contacting faculty via email to seek self-nominations for open committee positions. See pages 6-7 of this newsletter for available positions. Solidarity Fund a Success. Special thanks to all members of APSCURF who made generous pledges to the Solidarity Fund during the recent round of negotiations. Over $35,000 was pledged to assist those in need of short-term loans in the case of a job action. We should all be proud of our members concern for each others welfare. Deb Cohen, Membership Chair and Solidarity Fund Coordinator. The APSCUF Office will be closed from March 7 through March 22 and will reopen Monday, March 25 at 8am. Health and Welfare forms can be found online at http://pacfac.com/claim forms.htm APSCUF Scholarship Application due March 15. The Slippery Rock University chapter of the faculty/coaches Union is pleased to sponsor two (2) SCHOLARSHIPS in 2013 for $1000 each. See page 12 of this newsletter. APSCUF Adopt-a-Highway Cleanup. Mark your calendars for the next clean-up on April 20. Rain Date May 4. Summer cleanup date TBD.

C.A.P. Matters:
The 2012 election season is now fading into the past, it appears that we are on the verge of approving a new contact, and we are not able again to focus our attention where it belongs, on our students. However, politics, like time, waits for no-one: budget hearings are underway that will have a tremendous impact on our funding for next year, and legislators in Harrisburg continue to propose bills that would dramatically affect our working conditions (Rep. Roae was re-elected and continues his anti-union, anti-PASSHE crusade). As we look to the future, it is also a good time to reflect on the role of the Committee for Action in Politics (CAP) and the value of your CAP contributions in the recent past. Slippery Rock Univesity CAP contributors continue to be out font in their generosity and commitment to CAP. We finished the 2011-2012 biennium with $27,712 in contributions and in 2nd place among the 14 PASSHE universities, just $673 behind Edinboro University (where, Im embarrassed to say, my wife is chapter president). Moe important than our own success was the success is raising donations across the state. For the first time since 2004, the State CAP Committee exceeded its goal of $260,000 for the twoyear biennium, raising $272,711. This is the most that has been raised in the history of CAP. One hundred percent of CAP donations are used to support legislators and candidates for office who support issues important to APSCUF, public higher education, and collective bargaining. Endorsements and contributions are made very intentionally and thoughtfully by the State CAP Committee. Some successes in the recent election include: Three APSCUF-endorsed candidates won statewide offices: Kathleen Kane (Attorney General), Eugene DePasquale (Auditor General), and Rob McCord (Treasurer). Kathleen Kane is the first woman, and the first Democrat, to be elected Attorney General in Pennsylvania. 83% of CAP-endorsed candidates were elected or re-elected.

The State Senate picked up three Democratic seats. This is the biggest gain for Democrats since 1970 and the largest swing the GOP won four seats in 1994. PASSHE graduates in the state legislature will grow from 38 to 40 with the new freshmen class. The importance of CAP contributions for our union, and for public higher education, can hardly be overstated. While some of us may fell that politics is a distasteful activity, and we should remain apart and perhaps above it all, the fact of the matter is that what happens in Harrisburg has a direct impact on our ability to provide a good education to our students. In Harrisburg, APSCUF is the most prominent voice speaking on behalf public education. Without the ability to develop relationships with legislators through donations, there would be no voice for our union and our students. I encourage you to consider initiating, or increasing voluntary payroll deductions to CAP. Upon final ratification of our contract, all of us will be receiving a retroactive 1% pay increase this year, and a step increase or 2.5% lump sum payment. You will hardly notice a $5.00 per pay contribution to CAP in your paycheck, and it will be a valuable investment in your union and your profession, and it just might enable me to hold my head high at home! For more information or a payroll deduction form, contact me or Helen Staiger in the APSCUF office. -Brad Wilson, SRU & State APSCUF CAP Chair

Faculty Vote to Ratify Contract

Excerpts from a letter from State APSCUF President Steve Hicks: The final agreement contains the patternin a four-year contract with general pay increases of 0%1%-1%-2% and three increments (in years 2 through 4). We were also able to clarify and slightly improve both summer and overload pay- increasing both by 2% over the course if the contract, in addition to tying them to current salary, so that they rise with each general pay increase. Pay for independent study and individualized instruction will go up from $156.82 to $200 per credit hour- not enough pay, but a huge percentage increase. We also codified Winter Session pay to set it as it currently is in our side letter. Finally, we made advances in three administrative areas- grievance, curriculum, and retrenchment. The biggest, in many ways, is the new language in Article 31 on the curriculum committees authority. The old CBA only had two sentences creating a curriculum committee, without any provision as to its power. The tentative agreement adds language that: Each campus shall establish processes and procedures for recommending curricular action (including but not limited to guidelines on program review, program and course initiation, class size, and similar recommendations).

This gives real teeth to the committee that many campuses have not had before; it provides faculty with formal input for number in classes (though, reminder, its only a recommendation). Given that input, the president (or designee) has to provide in writing why they are ignoring the recommendation. We hope this will slow the tendency at some campuses to use mere finances and numbers to determine class. All-in-all, it is an agreement, as so many are, that both reflects the times and the give-and-take of collective bargaining. The 0-1-1-2 pattern will mean no state workers compensation will keep up with inflation these four years; the changes in grievance, curriculum, and retrenchment mean we have more opportunity for oversight and input than before. We think the concessions that we made on active health care wee reasonable given the context of negotiations and those made on distance education retain what we determined was the most important element the per capita payment. In the end, the team and committee are proud to have bought you this agreement, without a nearstrike and without moving offices off campus, though with months of grinding patience.

Join APSCUF CAP & You Golf FREE! HURRY! HURRY! HURRY! First come, first serve. Please contact Ty Marks at tmarks@apscuf.org to reserve your spot.

APSCUF/CAP is regularly invited to contribute to election campaigns by participating in fundraiser golf tournaments. Interested APSCUF/APSCURF faculty CAP members will be contacted at the campuses closest to the area of the candidates golf fundraiser, even to see if anyone is available to play. Sign up is on a first to respond/first serve basis. The fundraisers usually look for a foursome but sometimes less or more. If you ae interested in playing golf FOR FREE and you are a CAP member, email Ty Marks tmarks@apscuf.org and get yourself put on the list. These events are great opportunities to network with legislators. If you are currently NOT an APSCUF CAP member please consider filling out and returning a Dues Rebate Designation card and checking the section that indicates _X_ I hereby donate any rebate to APSCUF/CAP (Political Contribution) To become an APSCUF CAP member, please visit you local APSCUF office and complete an APSCUF DUES REABTE DESIGNATION CARD and you will be well on your way to help make our voices heard by enjoying the benefits of golfing with your local legislator.

Pennsylvania Fiscal Budget Announcement

The following was provided by Laura Saccente, APSCUF Associate Director of Governmental Relations. The 14 State-owned universities will see no increase in the proposed 2013-14 budget by Governor Corbett. PHEAA funding will remain at 2012-13 levels as well at $345 million. PHEAA has committed to supplementing that amount by at least $25 million from its earnings for its loan servicing operation. Last Friday, Corbett secured an agreement with the state-related universities (Penn State, Pitt, Temple, and Lincoln), PASSHE, Community Colleges and Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology to level fund the institutions to 2012-13 levels in exchange for keeping tuition as low as possible. Also on Friday, Governor Corbett and Department o Education Secretary on Tomalis broadly outlined plans to develop a long-tem performance-based funding system for higher education stemming from the Advisory Commission on Postsecondary Education recommendations released last November. Providing few specifics other than the fact that tuition/cost control will be a major component of the plan, the governor said that his administration and the Department of Education would be working with the legislature and higher education officials in the coming months to develop their plan. APSCUFs goal is to ensure that any legislative proposal coming from the commissions recommendations includes faculty input and maintains quality public higher education for the citizens of the Commonwealth.

The Governor outlined pension reform as a top priority in his budget announcement. Details on the plan have not been fully vetted, but a framework has emerged. Several components of the pension reform plan are as follows: 1. Future employees will be put in a 401(k)-like plan. Enrollment will be automatic. Employees will be required to contribute at least 6.25 percent (7.5 percent for PSERS) of the plan. 2. Current employees will see a 0.5 percent reduction in their multiplier for future benefits for those currently above the 2 percent multiplier level. 3. Current employees will have their final salary computed over last five years as opposed to last three years of service. 4. There will be modifications to option 4 (the option that allows retirees to withdraw accumulated deductions). 5. Pensions will be capped on social security wages at the current level of $113,500. 6. The collars put into place with the enactment of Act 120 of 2010 will be scaled back. APSCUF is concerned these reform measures exacerbate the problem instead of sticking to the payment plan as scheduled in Act 120. Also, creating a mandatory 401(k)-like plan may destabilize the current pension system for active employees and may result in direct negative impact on the recruitment of future faculty hires. APSCUF believes these pension reform measures are premature and that governor Corbett needs to allow Act 120 do its job. These proposed reformed measures will only result in long court battles as they will be constitutionally challenged. APSCUF will keep its membership notified as more details on the budget announcements emerge.