apscuf/su union newsletter · 2017-08-14 · apscuf/su union newsletter page 2 updates on...

APSCUF/SU Union Newsletter


APSCUF: Your Union representing SU faculty and coaches……

…..in solidarity!

APSCUF/SU FACULTY & COACHES President –Brendan Finucane, Vice President- Niel Brasher, Past President – Deborah Jacobs, Secretary- Cheryl Slattery,

Treasurer & Technology Chair – Azim Danesh, Grievance Chair - Robert Hale, Legislative Chair- Robert Shaffer, Meet & Discuss – Angela Bartoli,

Meet & Discuss – Cynthia Botteron, Meet & Discuss – Pablo Delis, Meet & Discuss – Diane McNichols, Assembly Delegate - Curtis Berry, Assembly Delegate – Debra Cornelius, Assembly Delegate – Sara Grove, Assembly Delegate- Steve Haase, Assembly Delegate – Jose Ricardo-Osorio,

Assembly Delegate – Ying Yang, CAP Chair – Patricia Patrick, Enrollment Mgnt. – Steve Haase & Ian Langella, Membership Chair – Ashley Seibert, Gender Issues & Social Justice Chair – Misty Knight, Health & Welfare Specialist – Shari Horner, Public Relations Chair – Kara Laskowski,

Student Affairs Co –Chair – Joseph Zume & Richard Zumkhawala-Cook (NCAA Faculty Representative), State Coaches Comm Rep – David Springer

January, 2013 Volume 40, No. 6

President’s Message

Though Chancellor Cavanaugh has announced his resignation, his negotiating team remains in place,

and has not yet agreed to reasonable and fair contract provisions. Therefore, we must convey both our

frustration and our resolve by rallying this Thursday, January 24th

in Harrisburg @8:15-9:00am at the Dixon

Center. (See email from 1/11 for additional details.)

Meanwhile, our current challenge will be to start classes and engage our students despite the potential

for a disrupted semester. Stay strong.

In Solidarity, Brendan

APSCUF UPCOMING EVENTS & MEETINGS January

22nd

- First day of class- Spring Semester

23rd

– Mobilization Committee Meeting (Brown bag lunch meeting) 12 Noon WRI 017

24th

– BOG Meeting 8am, Dixon Center, Harrisburg, Pa

24th

& 25th

– *****Leadership Workshop*****, Harrisburg, Pa

30th

– M&D Caucus @3:00pm Century Café, Meeting @3:30pm OM 203A

31st – Mobilization sub Committee Meeting 2:30pm-3:15pm WRI 017

31st - REP COUNCIL – Shippen 224, 3:30pm (date changed from 1/24) Nominations & Elections Committee Appointed

31st – EC Meeting – Shippen 224, starts with Rep Council Meeting and will continue after Rep Council items are discussed.

**** The APSCUF-SU office will be closed January 24 & 25 so Office Managers can attend the Leadership Workshop in Harrisburg, PA****

February

7-9th

-**** Legislative Assembly****; Gettysburg, Pa

8th

– Mobilization Committee Meeting 2:30pm-3:15pm WRI 017

13th

– Mobilization sub Committee Meeting (Brown Bag Lunch) 12 Noon WRI 017

21st- Mobilization Committee Meeting 2:30pm-3:15pm WRI 017

21st EC Meeting 3:30pm Knute’s

25th

- EC Meeting w/ President Ruud, Martin House; 3:30pm-5:00pm

27th

– M&D Caucus @3:00pm in Century Café, Meeting @ 3:30pm OM 203A

FUTURE EVENTS

Nominations taken for APSCUF elected committee chairs and elected positions.

ELECTIONS in APRIL


Updates on Negotiations

January 17, 2013- Email sent to all faculty and coaches This message was forwarded by David Topper on behalf of the Office of the Chancellor and applies only to Managers,

Faculty, Coaches, Nurses, and Police employees. With the current PASSHE health care contract scheduled to expire on June 30, 2013, I thought you might be interested in an update on

the status of the procurement of a new health care contract which will take effect on July 1, 2013. It provides coverage for all

employees who are not included in the PEBTF plan.

Last September, PASSHE issued a formal request for proposals (RFP) for a Medical Health Care Program, Prescription Drug Benefit

Program, and a Wellness Program/Health Care Management Program on a collaborative basis on behalf of all the universities and the

Office of the Chancellor. The procurement process and negotiations with our unions have been overlapping. Our agreements with

SPFA and OPEIU included “me too” language on a plan. Health care remains one of the many issues unresolved in our negotiations

with APSCUF.

Interested firms were given a November 6, 2012 deadline for response. There were multiple responses to the RFP which are currently

under review by an evaluation committee comprised of Office of the Chancellor staff, staff from our universities, and representatives

of two of our bargaining units, OPEIU and SPFA. APSCUF declined to participate. The Procurement Code, the law which governs

Commonwealth purchasing, requires absolute confidentiality on all aspects of the responses until a contract is awarded. It is

anticipated that a decision regarding these responses could be made within the next few weeks. We will keep you updated as the

procurement process continues.

January 16, 2013 – Faculty Negotiations

APSCUF and PASSHE negotiators met January 16 for approximately six hours. The parties exchanged

proposals involving distance education and both active and retiree health care, but did not reach any

agreements. There were also substantive discussions concerning curriculum and class size. The session

concluded when the Chancellor's team suggested that it will provide APSCUF with a new comprehensive

proposal before the next scheduled negotiation session on February 1. Given the current status of talks and the

distance between the parties on key issues, APSCUF is planning for faculty to attend the PASSHE Board of

Governors meeting on January 24. Faculty from all 14 of the state-owned universities intend to show their

support for their negotiations team and to express disappointment with PASSHE's unwillingness to conclude an

agreement after two years of discussions.

From: Lauren Gutshall – Director of Communications, APSCUF

January 14, 2013 – Coaches Negotiations

Based on the recommendation of the Coaches Negotiations Team, the State APSCUF Executive Council took

action at its December 20 meeting to approve and recommend the proposed contract to the coach delegates of

Legislative Assembly for voting. In order for the coach delegates to discuss and take action, a conference call

will be held with the coach delegates/alternates, the Coaches Negotiations Team and the State Executive

Council on Friday, February 1, at 10:00 a.m. More information on the contract will follow this conference

call to all coaches.

From: Steve Hicks- President, State APSCUF


January 11, 2013 – Faculty Negotiations

APSCUF and PASSHE negotiators met on Friday, January 11. The parties reached several tentative

agreements affecting compensation. Other discussion centered on distance education, curriculum committees,

and class size. Although there has been progress, there remain significant divides on these issues and active and

retiree and health care. The parties meet again on January 16, 2013. In the interim, the faculty continue to

prepare for all contingencies.

From: Lauren Gutshall – Director of Communications, APSCUF

January 4, 2013 –FACULTY Negotiations

APSCUF and PASSHE negotiators met for six hours on Friday, January 4, 2013. The meeting was marked by

several long breaks as the APSCUF team waited for the Chancellor's representatives to present counter

proposals. There was some important progress; most notably PASSHE took its proposal for a temporary faculty

salary freeze off the table. Active and retiree health care and distance education remain topics where there

remain significant divides. PASSHE has not yet negotiated a health care package design with any of its

employees not in the Pennsylvania Employees Benefit Trust Fund, and it falls to APSCUF to negotiate this

benefit. The parties meet again January 11. Meanwhile, the faculty continue to prepare for collective action

should it be necessary to obtain a fair contract.

From: Lauren Gutshall -Director of Communications, APSCUF

December, 2012 – COACHES Tentative Agreement

Harrisburg – December 14, 2012, APSCUF coaches and the State System of Higher Education reached a

tentative collective bargaining agreement on a successor pact that runs from July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2015. The

tentative agreement would cover APSCUF’s 400 coaches.

In the four-year deal, the parties agreed to compensation similar to the statewide pattern, an increase in

minimum salaries, and a revised health care co-payment that is both affordable and helps PASSHE maintain the

current plan. Current coaches and retirees will share the health care plan design that is negotiated for the

faculty. The agreement also includes small but important changes that provide the coaches similar benefits to

faculty. The details of the tentative agreement will be released after the ratification process is complete.

The next step in ratification is the approval of APSCUF’s Executive Council on December 20, followed by the

recommendation of the coach delegates to Legislative Assembly. A ratification vote of the full

coach membership is expected shortly after the beginning of the spring semester, which starts on January 28,

2013.

“The team is thankful for the support of Jim Cowden, lead negotiator, and APSCUF staff, especially Julie

Reese,” said Diane Monkiewicz, chair of the coaches’ negotiations team. “We are also mindful that our union

colleagues in the faculty are still without an agreement and we hope that PASSHE treats them with the same

fairness that they showed us on December 12.”

The Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties represents 6,000 faculty members and

400 coaches at the 14 state-owned universities. In 2002 APSCUF became the first union to organize non-faculty

athletic coaches in a public higher education system.

News release from Lauren Gutshall- State APSCUF

http://www.apscuf.org/blog/item/216-passhe-continued-healthcare-distortions


December 18, 2012 -FACULTY Negotiations

Wednesday's Negotiations Cancelled….APSCUF and PASSHE have agreed to cancel the faculty contract negotiations

session scheduled for December 19th in Philadelphia. Last week, APSCUF requested that the meeting be cancelled if the

Chancellor’s representatives were not prepared to make a counter proposal.

APSCUF had provided a comprehensive proposal to PASSHE five days before the last meeting on December 11th, but

the Chancellor’s representatives were not prepared with an answer or a counterproposal. In an email yesterday, PASSHE

suggested only that the Chancellor and the faculty are far apart and that the meeting would likely be brief. Apparently,

PASSHE is not yet prepared to make a counterproposal. After more than two years of discussions and close to forty

meetings between the parties, the Chancellor’s attitude toward the negotiations process is hard to fathom.

PASSHE’s actions are particularly disappointing in light of last week’s settlement with APSCUF Coaches. Of course,

the coaches did not have to bargain over the contents of a health care plan or the retiree health care provisions; they will

share the health care design the faculty negotiate, as the other PASSHE unions ultimately will. Still, the Chancellor has

demonstrated a different attitude toward faculty negotiations that can only be described as counterproductive. The next

scheduled negotiation session is scheduled for January 4th, and APSCUF will return to the table; however, given the

disheartening context, we must also invest energy in mobilization.

From: Julie Bancroft-Online Communications Specialist, APSCUF

December 19, 2012 – Notice of Chancellor Cavanaugh’s resignation

Date: December 19, 2012

For release: Immediately

Contact: Kenn Marshall, (717) 720-4054 or (717) 329-0809

PASSHE Chancellor Dr. John C. Cavanaugh accepts position

with Washington, D.C.-based higher ed consortium

Harrisburg – The Board of Governors of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) has accepted the resignation of

Chancellor Dr. John C. Cavanaugh, who has accepted an offer to lead the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area

based in Washington, D.C. Dr. Cavanaugh will leave PASSHE at the end of February.

Board of Governors Chairman Guido M. Pichini issued the following statement on Dr. Cavanaugh’s planned departure:

“We are sorry to see Dr. Cavanaugh leave the State System. He is one of the brightest minds in higher education today.

"As Chairman of the PASSHE Board of Governors, I join my fellow Board members in wishing him great success in his new venture.

All of us in the State System, and, most importantly, our almost 115,000 students, have benefitted from his efforts to bring new

ideas and high standards to all we do.

“The Board, Office of the Chancellor staff and our university presidents remain committed to our major initiatives, none more

important than completing our final collective bargaining agreement with our faculty, preparing for the upcoming legislative session

and our appropriations hearings in March and ensuring our students have every opportunity for success in their academic work and

their careers.”

Under the Board's succession plan, PASSHE Executive Vice Chancellor Dr. Peter H. Garland will serve as acting chancellor upon Dr.

Cavanaugh’s departure. Dr. Garland has held several senior level leadership positions with PASSHE since first being appointed executive

associate to the chancellor in January 2002. He was named to his current position, in which he serves as PASSHE's chief operating officer,

overseeing the major functional areas in the Office of the Chancellor, in October 2006.

The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth, with about 115,000

students. The 14 PASSHE universities offer degree and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study. About 500,000 PASSHE alumni

live and work in Pennsylvania.

The state-owned universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven,

Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. PASSHE also operates branch campuses

in Clearfield, Freeport, Oil City and Punxsutawney and several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg.

Forwarded by SU President Ruud on 12/20/2012


2012 TAX INFORMATION

FACULTY APPROVED FOR SABBATICAL LEAVE AY 2013-14

FALL SEMESTER 2013-14 SPRING SEMESTER 2013-14 Steve Burg John Bloom

Sean Cornell Sarah Bryant

Cynthia Drenovsky Winston Crawley

Leonard Jones Allen Dietrich-Ward

Lucian Lu Steve Dolbin

Mark Sachleban Richard Knight

Freddy Siahaan Paul Taylor

Curtis Zaleski Kim Van Alkermade

Carol Wellington

Academic Year Catherine DiBello

Sabbatical Leave Applications 2014-15 Applications for sabbatical leave to be taken during the 2014-15 academic year will be due Friday, September 6, 2013.

Applications will be available in the APSCUF –SU office and online at www.apscuf.org /chapters late spring- summer.

Please keep checking the newsletter for more information.

http://www.apscuf.org/


>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Welcome New APSCUF Member!!!! Christopher Rich- Social Work/Gerontology >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Semester Reminders!!!

APSCUF/SU College Level Student Awards

Faculty are reminded to please announce to your students that APSCUF/SU is once again giving the

THREE College level awards of $500 each. Encourage your outstanding students to apply for the award

from your college. Previous winners are not eligible to reapply. The information and application is

available on our website at www.aspcuf.org, then click on chapters and SU to download or at the

APSCUF office in 103 Wright Hall. The deadline is February 25, 2013 at 3:00pm.

These awards are named in honor of three of our past active union members: College of Arts & Sciences-

the Bob Winter Award; College of Business – the Bill Knerr Award; and College of Education & Human

Services – the Sally McGrath Award.

APSCUF/SU Departmental Awards

Faculty are also reminded that APSCUF/SU will continue to provide funding for the departmental student

awards so that each department can recognize the achievements of its’ students. Each year all 26

academic departments are given $200 which can be awarded to undergraduate or graduate students for

their talents, academic accomplishments, and service. Each department can decide how to allocate the

money. Also, each department will develop its own application, nomination, and selection procedures.

All money must be expended to the students by the departments in the academic year that it is given

to the departments by APSCUF. Deadline to submit recipient names to the APSCUF/SU office is

February 25, 2013 at 3:00pm.

Members Forum Section on the State APSCUF Website

Do you Have a Username and a Password to Access the Members Forum Site?

In order to access the information on this site (as well as post messages on the various message

boards), members will need to submit a username and a password. To register, contact Diana at

[email protected] or at 1791. You will then need to select a username and a password. The

information that you provide will be forwarded to the State APSCUF Office for processing.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Diana at [email protected] or ext. 1791

http://www.aspcuf.org/

mailto:[email protected]



APSCUF Faculty and Coaches Internship Program Opportunity


PUBLICATIONS WANTED State APSCUF wishes to receive complimentary copies of books and articles written by APSCUF

members and recordings performed or directed by APSCUF members, preferably signed by the author. The

large conference room at the State APSCUF office houses many publications from APSCUF members but

there is room for more. Any questions please contact the local APSCUF office at ext. 1791.


PA Faculty Health & Welfare Fund – Wellness Initiatives

The Pennsylvania Faculty Health and Welfare Fund announces the continued availability of up to three (3) $1,000.00 Wellness Promotion Grants to each PASSHE university every academic year. Each university may apply for up to three (3) grants in combination, but no more than two (2) Health Awareness Grants or two (2) Healthy Lifestyle Grants (example: two (2) Health Awareness Grants and one (1) Healthy Lifestyle Grant). For additional information and application, go to: http://www.pafac.com/pdffiles/wellness_initiatives.pdf. Questions regarding the grant program should be directed to Timothy

Buchanan at the Fund Office, 717-233-4713 or Maryrose Wilson in HR at Shippensburg University.

A “HEALTHY U” REMINDER

What is Healthy U? The Healthy U program is a customized plan for PASSHE employees, spouses and same-sex domestic partners who are members of the Highmark Indemnity or PPO plan. This program promotes a phased-in approach to wellness and offers

additional voluntary tools and resources to assist in improving your health. All personal health information you provide as a

participant in the program will be kept strictly confidential and participation is voluntary.

Successful completion of the Healthy U 2012-2013 participation requirements by the program deadline of May 31, 2013 will allow you

to save significant dollars on your healthcare premiums for the following plan year. Don’t put this off till the last minute. Participate today!

APSCUF/SU Office – Wright Hall 103

Chapter President: Brendan Finucane

APSCUF Hours: T 11:00am-1:00pm, W 12:00p-1:30pm,

F 1:00pm-2:00pm

Phone: 717-477-1299 or 477-3229

Email: [email protected]

Office Manager: Diana Worden

Hours: 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. M thru F

Phone: 717-477-1791

Email: [email protected] or [email protected]

Fax: 717-477-1278

Considering Retirement? If you are considering retirement please be sure to see the people in Human Resources to find out your

options. The earlier you begin planning the better. If you are a TIAA-CREF member you may also want to

schedule a meeting with a representative to discuss different distribution plans for your funds.

APSCUF –SU office will be closed January 24 & 25, 2013 so that Diana can attend the APSCUF Leadership Workshop.

Any questions on H&W or if you need forms please go to www.pafac.com.

Faculty and staff who are covered by Highmark and did not receive their shot October 10, 2012, when it was offered on campus ,may go to Rite Aid at their convenience and get the shot at no cost by showing their Highmark card. This information was provided last semester, just a friendly reminder now. ----------Healthy U Program



http://www.pafac.com/

apscuf/su union newsletter · 2017-08-14 · apscuf/su union newsletter page 2 updates on...

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