with negative salary increases

are very common. The guidance

from the higher education com-

munity, along with the K-12

leadership, also focused on is-

sues such as grievance policies,

intellectual property rights and

other working conditions. Ne-

braska higher education has not

had a large presence at the RA in previous

years. Local

associations

are entitled

to send

delegates

based upon

their mem-

bership.

Because of

the effect the

RA has on the business of the

NEA, NCHE is urging states to

send more higher ed delegates

to speak more effectively about

our issues. I would encourage

you to consider attending the

2011 RA which will be held in

Chicago. If you are interested in

affecting the higher education

agenda of the NEA. For more

information on the next RA or

other issues related to the

board, please contact me at

cwaddle@cccneb.edu.

The NEA Representative As-

sembly (RA) was held in New

Orleans from June 30th until July

6th. The RA is the same format

as the Nebraska Delegate As-

sembly except that there are

8,000 plus members elected

from state associations all

around the country. The pri-

mary role of the RA is to con-

sider the new business items of

the NEA and to set the direc-

tion of our or-

ganization for

the next year.

As the largest

operating de-

mocratic body in

the world, the

RA allows any

member of the

NEA to propose

business. As a

member of the

board, I was able

to attend the

RA as a repre-

sentative of the Higher Educa-

tion Academy District. My wife

Heidi also came as an elected

representative of her local. She

is an administrative assistant and

a member of the CCCSA. Being

first-time delegates, there was

much to learn about the proc-

ess and how Nebraska works

through handling the new busi-

ness. The higher education com-

munity was organized through a

caucus led by the National

Council for Higher Education (NCHE) that met each day of

the assembly. I attended several

of these meetings. Nebraska is

well known as one state which

has a very organized floor strat-

egy. Although higher education

did not bring any new business

items to the RA, there were

several modifications made to

existing business to incorporate

our issues. The true benefit of

the caucus was to meet several

of the higher education leaders

around the country and hear

about their issues. Although we

have seen some significant

higher ed cuts in Nebraska, they

are much smaller than those in

other parts of the nation. Many

of our colleagues face difficult

negotiations with pay cuts a part

of those discussions. Arrays

August, 2010 Volume 4, No. 1

The Higher Education Advocate NSEA Board

Meeting Dates 2010

Sat. September 18

Sat. October 23

Sat. November 20

Sat. December 4

Inside this issue:

HEA at the

NEA-RA

1

Nebraskans in

NEA Emerging

Leader Academy

2

Third Annual

NEA Salary

Roundtable

3

HEA at Delegate

Assembly

4

NSEA Supreme

Court Win!

4

UniServ Kudos 5

Academy

Directorate Info.

6

Chris Waddle , NSEA Board Member

Heidi Farrall

Nebraska Higher Ed at the NEA Representative Assembly

Nebraska Higher Ed Leaders Graduate from NEA Leadership Academy:

Reflections on an exceptional experience

Page 2

One of the true highlights of the 2010 NEA Higher Education conference in San Jose, California was the presence of three Nebraska

Higher Education leaders as members of the 2010 graduation class for the NEA Emerging Leaders Academy. The NEA Higher Educa-

tion Emerging Leaders Academy (ELA) is a three session training program over a nine month period that is open to dues paying

higher education members from all categories of higher education who meet the program’s eligibility requirements. Candidates can

apply for the program directly but must be endorsed by their state association or higher education affiliate. ELA sessions were held

at the NEA headquarters building in Washington, DC, in Miami, FL, and at the San Jose higher education conference. The following

are reflections from Nebraska’s three graduates. Congratulations to each of them! Find out more about the ELA and how to apply

for the class of 2011 at the NEA website.

Karen Granberg—Nebraska State College Professional Association (NSCPA) – Wayne My name is Karen Granberg. I am a Licensed Mental Health Practitioner in the State of Nebraska, employed by Wayne State College.

My work is with student retention and success through academic advising, career decision-making, and personal goal-setting. I am an

academic professional and a long-time member of the Nebraska State College Professional Association. At the beginning of the bargaining session for the 2009-2011 contract, out of frustration at the adversarial tone at the table, I told the

NSEA Higher Ed UniServ Director that I needed to understand more about the bargaining process and its context. He advised me to

apply to the NEA Emerging Leaders Academy. I went

online (http://www.nea.org/home/37067.htm ) to learn

about the academy and applied. And the transformation

that comes with education began. Two goals took prece-

dence for my ELA experience: 1) to gain a thorough

knowledge of the process of collective bargaining; and 2) to

share that knowledge with my local association.

At ELA I learned about the “collective” in bargaining. I learned about the effectiveness of teamwork; about the

incredible resources of the NEA/NSEA to assist in the team

-building process; how to contribute to the local team

through focus on the strengths of our membership; that

the “collective” is the vehicle for defining opportunities to

organize outside of the bargaining moment. Listening to the

aspirations of the collective membership for our work and

for our lives is essential for success. I learned about the

power of identifying and creating measurable goals and

achieving measurable results. So what’s changed? 1) our local NSCPA-Wayne now oper-

ates according to by-laws; 2) we held an election of offi-

cers; 3) we elected Board Members and a Negotiating

Team; 4) we meet monthly as an association with our

NSEA UniServ Director; 5) we have invited NSEA staff

members to speak at our meetings and our members are

increasing their knowledge of the organization to which

they belong; 6) members are recognizing and taking advan-

tage of the professional development opportunities offered

by NSEA/NEA; 7) our local President meets regularly with the President of the Professional Staff Senate and the WSC Human Re-

sources Director; 8) we are building membership. The changes occurred because the membership was ready to step up. Through

the ELA opportunity, the “collective” came to the fore and became a catalyst for re-energizing our local. I have moved from a pas-

sive observer of the process to an active participant in my local association. The ELA is an intense, dynamic, and transformational

experience. Thank you to the UniServ Director, who encouraged me to apply; to my colleagues and Wayne State College for making

my participations possible; to the members of the Academy 2010, who contributed immensely to the learning experience; to the ELA

training cadre and to NSEA/NEA for believing that leaders can be made and for supporting that belief through action. The

“collective” is the strength of the Association.

Pam Burks—North Platte Community College Education Association – North Campus

Hi, I am Pam Burks. I really enjoyed the Emerging Leaders Academy Training after the first initial shock was over. I really was over

whelmed with information during the first session and quickly realized that the things I dealt with in my local was on a much smaller

scale than some of the other people attending. We had a great group and all seemed to get along great and there were friendships

formed from spending all of this time together. Meeting all of the other people from different states helped us to learn about different

cultures and issues they had in their own local organizations. I learned so much about myself and how to handle different situations

that come up. We had a lot of group situations where we had to brain storm our ideas and work out solutions that worked for eve-

Left to right: Pam Burks, Karen Granberg and Mary Goebel-Lundholm

Volume 4, No.1

ryone and the Cadre leaders were great. We attended three different training sessions. The first one was in Washington DC, the

second one was in Miami FL and the last one which included our graduation was held in San Jose, CA. I would highly recommend

anyone wanting to apply to attend this do so as it is an experience that will stay with you forever. Everything learned can be applied in

all aspects of your daily life.

Mary Goebel-Lundholm—Peru State College Education Association

It was an honor to participate in the NEA’s 2010 Emerging Leader Academy (ELA). Participation is vital for succession planning and

flourishing leadership of the National Education Association and associated locals. ELA serves as the foundation for training future

leaders by providing historic perspective for organizing and training in effective strategy. Importantly, the training acquaints future

leaders with resources available to local leadership and introduces leaders to accessible offices, which provide assistance in everything

from data gathering to communications to outreach, all components necessary for effective leadership. Most important is the oppor-

tunity to meet and learn from members which represent a cross section of all organizations engaged in higher education. Hearing

stories of challenges faced by various levels of contributors to the higher education experience serves to place a human face on strug-

gles which we know exist but are often removed from. This experience provided a much deeper appreciation for the fact that every-

thing we accomplish or fail to accomplish resonates through a much larger community.

Page 3 Volume 4, No. 1

Nebraska representation at 2010 San Jose NEA Higher Ed Conference: Left to right:

David Eledge and Joan Trimpey of Metro Community College, two folks from other

states, and Larry Scherer, NSEA Bargaining Research Director.

Mark those calendars now! The 2011 NEA Higher Education Conference will

be in Boston in March. Plan on having your local represented!

SCEA President represents Nebraska at NEA 2010 Salary Roundtable

SCEA President Bill Clemente

Over August 2-3, SCEA President Bill Clemente was an invited presenter at the third annual

NEA Salary Roundtable. The meeting brought together union leaders from fourteen states,

each with a four member delegation. The Nebraska group included Al Koontz, Larry

Scherer, Ron Goldenstein, and Neal Clayburn. Bill offers the following reflections on his ex-

perience: “The NEA invited me to attend as a speaker. The various state groups broke up to

attend the workshops and then met Tuesday morning with various folks from NEA on specific

areas of interest of the group's choice. And groups also shared information about a wide

variety of topics, from contract language to technical communication tools. The workshops

and the speakers focused on salary campaigns and other areas of interest, from talks about

union organizing to the use of short movies in union campaigns. My 55-minute presentation

focused on what the SCEA and HEA has accomplished over the past nearly five years, from

SCEA's ever-developing contract situation to HEA's growing influence in salary negotiations

and other areas of Higher-Education concern. Neal Clayburn and Larry Scherer also attended

my session and took part in the discussions, as did Mark Smith and Dave Winans, who intro-

duced me and who had written an excellent article in a NEA publication about the SCEA con-

tract negotiations: "At the Heart of Rural Nebraska: NEA Higher Ed Faculty." The session

passed in a flash: indeed, the story of SCEA and HEA over the past five years is compelling

enough to keep everyone awake on a humid day and after an excellent lunch.”

NSEA-Higher Ed Gets Major Win with Supreme Court Decision

Higher Education at Delegate Assembly a Record Success

The nineteen higher education delegates at the 2010 NSEA Delegate Assembly over April 16-17 represented eight of the fourteen higher

ed locals and one of the largest higher ed turnouts for a DA. The Academy goal is to make next years representation even larger. Check

your calendars now for the 2011 Delegate Assembly, which will be over April 15-16. Plan now on being part of the next Delegate Assem-

bly.

The email arrived early on Friday the 13th but it was not

bad luck news! Rather, Karen Kilgarin, the NSEA Direc-

tor of Government Relations and Public Affairs an-

nounced the following: “This morning, the Nebraska Su-

preme Court handed down decisions in favor of our State Code

Agency Teachers Assoc. and State College Education Associa-

tion. Congratulations to our SCATA and SCEA members and

to Mark McGuire and all NSEA members and staff involved in

this litigation! “ This is a huge win for the State College Education Association (Peru, Wayne and

Chadron) and the State Code Agencies, but it is also a big win for all of us who rely upon the integ-

rity of the Special Master process and the authority of the

Commission of Industrial Relations. In both cases the ad-

ministrations sought to undermine the authority and deci-

sion of the Special Master and then the Commission of In-

dustrial Relations, and in both cases the Supreme Court upheld the Special Mas-

ter process and the CIR and rejected the claims of the administrations. Also, in

both cases part of the administration arguments were that in multi-year contracts

there can not be grounds for projections of coming years because we do not yet

have real data for those years and this was a clear challenge of reaching compa-

rability. Again the Court flatly rejected that conclusion, enforcing and supporting

reasonable projections no matter what the economic environment. Tons of

NSEA time and expense went into this legal battle and it is truly something sig-

nificant that higher education is getting for membership dues dollars.

Karen Kilgarin

Jerry Hoffman and Mark McGuire

Volume 4, No. 1 Page 4

Nebraska Student Leader

Now NEA Student Chair

Tommie Leaders!

I am Tommie Leaders, your 2010-2012 NEA Student Program Chairperson. I am originally

from Minden, Iowa, and am a

student at the University of Nebraska at Omaha majoring in

elementary education with endorsements in math, language

arts, and social sciences.

As chairperson my main goal for

the student program is to increase the active participation of student members at the local,

state, and national levels. Other goals involve establishing an effective line of communication with state presidents, revamping

our social networking sites to make them more user-friendly and accessible, and developing

external partnerships to build interest in education and

community outreach.

For resources, more

information, or to discuss potential ideas for improving the student program, please contact

me through one of the following:

Email: tleaders@nea.org Phone: 202-822-7915

Web site: www.neastudent.org

Leaders of the University of Nebraska at

Kearney Education Association preparing

for the opening of contract negotiations.

Pictured (Left to Right) are Negotiator Will

Aviles, Chief Negotiator Marc Albrecht,

and UNKEA President Bill Wozniak. UNK

negotiations kick off in late August.

Your Higher Education Academy District: Our state-wide Academy district encompasses all of the higher ed

locals across Nebraska. You can visit the district web site via the

NSEA main web site.

As all of our higher ed officials and locals work with the NSEA UniServ Directors to create an effec-

tive state-wide higher education resource team we want to highlight opportunities to recognize the

good service of our UniServ Directors. Recent comments include the following kudos:

UniServ Kudos Corner!

UNKEA leaders:

Let the Negotiations begin!

Duane Obermier: A former seven year president of NSEA, Obermier’s areas

of expertise include organizing, problem solving and member rights. He is the staff liaison to NSEA's Ethnic Minority Affairs Committee (EMAC) and also works

with NSEA's English Language Learner (ELL) project. He has been a UniServ Director for five years, and is assigned to Wayne State College.

“Duane has attended our monthly NSCPA-Wayne meetings since we began having

them in fall of 2009. He has been extremely helpful in bringing NSEA people to campus to

help us learn more about the professional organization we belong to.” - Karen Granbert,

Secretary, NSCPA—Wayne “Duane Obermier is, without doubt, the greatest Uniserve Director EVER!

I’m not exaggerating.” - Charissa Loftis, Treasurer, NSCPA—Wayne.

Jackie Wise: A UniServ director for 12 years, Wise is a strong advocate for

members and has extensive experience in the area of member rights. She is a 7 Habits of Highly Effective People facilitator, and her talents include problem

solving, quick responses to member questions and effective listening skills. Jackie is assigned to Metro Community College.

“Jackie helped us develop our 2010 membership recruitment and retention

plans...Jackie referred to our contracts...and referenced our College catalog. Wow! She has clearly taken time to learn about us before making suggestions. And, as a result, her sugges-

tions are on-target for our group.” - Karen Rodgers, Metro Local

Volume 4, No. 1 Page 5

Page 6

Patti Blundell Chadron State College

Faculty Representative

308-432-6454

pblundell@csc.edu

Karen Rodgers Metro Community College

Academic Prof. Rep. 402-457-2683

krodgers@mccneb.edu

Lael Churchill

Central Community College

ESP Representative 402-461-2491

Churchill@gtmc.net

Ann Petersen Chadron State College

Treasurer

308-432-6337

apetersen@csc.edu

Joan Trimpey Metro Community College

Vice President

402-738-4675

jtrimpey@mccneb.edu

Christopher Waddle

Central Community College

Board Member

402-476-8222

cwaddle@cccneb.edu

Roger Davis

University of Nebraska

at Kearney

President

308-865-8771

davisr@unk.edu

Bill Clemente

Peru State College

Secretary

402-872-2233

bclemente@mac.com

Your Higher Education Academy Directorate

Volume 4, No. 1