CCSU Faculty Senate
Minutes—December 17, 2001
VAC 105 3:00 PM
Members Present:
Ex-Officio: Deans Miller, Whitford, & Kremens,
Guests: Dick McCallum, Academic affairs and Paul Petterson Chair Curriculum Committee.
I.
Approval of Minutes of 12/03/01
Sen. Altieri noted that some grammatical errors and
errors of omission in the draft had been corrected and the web version is
up-to-date.
Motion to approve: Wolff/Carter-Lowry
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
II. Announcements
a. AAUP Report. Sen. Terezakis for Sen. Austad.
Summarized
AAUP activities since the last faculty senate meeting:
1) A contingency of faculty from each of the four
campuses attended the BOT meeting in Hartford as observers on December
8th. We were a noticeable presence
and reminder of our resolve to encourage them to maintain the cap on part time
instruction. At the conclusion of public business, the BOT went into Executive
Session with our four campus Presidents to discuss contract negotiations, so we
are not privy to know what was said. The next BOT meeting is scheduled for
February 1st at 10:00 AM. If you
would like to attend, please let us know.
The room is small so only 3-4 people from each campus can really fit
into the space.
2) Each of the four campuses is circulating a brochure
to explaining the current situation regarding the part time cap and a letter to
students to send to those people whose decision-making is relevant to our part
time cap. It is the week of finals so we don't expect a tremendous response
this week. We will go full force
in the beginning of the semester since educating our students and the public is
so important.
Some have inquired, "Is it ethical to ask
students to be involved in faculty labor concerns?” Please, remember, this is an issue that
has to do with QUALITY EDUCATION---THEIR EDUCATION. Every student and parent who pays tuition and taxes needs to
be concerned!
3) The following letter has been written by the four
local campus AAUP Presidents (Eastern, Western, Southern, and Central) and been
sent to all members of the BOT, Chancellor Cibes, the University Presidents,
and Robert Frahm of the Hartford Courant.
4) We will be working over Christmas break and will
report on developments at the next meeting. Please watch your e-mails over break. Keep in contact. Have a great Holiday!
Dr Harmon then read the text
of a letter sent by Sen. Austad to the Chair of the Board of Trustees, Mr.
Lawrence McHugh (Copy at the end of minutes):
III. Elections
There
was no elections business
IV. Senate Committee Reports
a. Curriculum Committee. Paul Petterson
Report of Curriculum Committee with editorial changes suggested at the meeting is attached:
Motion to approve: Wolff/Crundwell
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
V. Old Business
There
was no old business
VI. New Business
There
was no new business
VII Adjournment
Motion
to adjourn: Wolff/Crundwell
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
Meeting adjourned at 3.35
p.m.
The next meeting is on Monday February 4, 2002 @ 3.00 p.m. in Vance 105
-----------------------------------------------
December 14, 2001
Mr. Lawrence McHugh
Middlesex County Chamber of
Commerce
393 Main Street
Middletown, CT 06457
Dear Mr. McHugh:
We would like to correct a
misperception that occurred at the BOT open forum with faculty and staff on
November 8th at Central Connecticut State University. Chairman
McHugh quoted a statistic from The Hartford Courant, which we believe to
be in error. The Hartford Courant stated that the actual Part-time
Percentage for the CSU System was at 20%. Some faculty stated that this
percentage was in error and that part-time faculty actually teach more than 20%
of the courses at each university.
Based on Faculty Workload
Reports, we calculate the actual percentage of instructional load credit taught
by part-time faculty for the 2000-2001 Academic year are as follows:
CCSU 28.60%
ECSU 32.00%
SCSU 36.20%
WCSU 29.00%
– 30.00%
To quote Mark Twain,
“There are lies, damned lies, and statistics” applies. We want to
point out that the way in which these statistics are calculated pursuant to the
formula in the Collective Bargaining Agreement do not give a totally accurate
picture. Article 10.8.4 states; “Part-time percentage for a particular
university shall be computed by multiplying by one hundred (100) all load credits
earned by part-time members (excluding all part-time credits attributable to
sabbatical leave, sick leave, retraining coverage and research load credit)
divided by the aggregate faculty load credits for the particular university
based upon the date for the particular academic year.” Part-time faculty
are teaching even more courses and students than these numbers indicate. The
percentage calculated by the formula in Article 10.8.4 underreports the actual
percentage. Stated another way, when a CSU student enters the classroom, he or
she has nearly a one-third chance of being taught by a part-time faculty
member.
Page two
December 14, 2001
Trustees Letter
Is it really quality
education to have so many courses taught by faculty members who are treated as
second-class citizens? They have no office, no office hours, and no phone,
serve on no committees and are not treated as full members of the University
community. They receive substandard wages, no benefits, and have no guarantee
of continued appointment.
Again, for the sake of our
students and quality education in Connecticut, we ask that you reconsider your
stance and stop your efforts to remove the part-time cap both at the State
Labor Board and in contract negotiations/arbitration.
Sincerely yours,
Original signed by Carol
Austad
Carol Shaw Austad, CCSU-AAUP
Chapter President
John Kavanagh, SCSU-AAUP
Chapter President
Ross Koning, ECSU-AAUP
Chapter President
Katy Wiss, WCSU-AAUP Chapter
President
Enclosures
Cc: Chancellor William Cibes
University
Presidents
Robert
Frahm, Hartford Courant
CSU Faculty