The Word from CSEA
Columbus State Education Association Newsletter of January 13, 2011
SURVEYS RE: BARGAINING ISSUES FORTHCOMING
Our current contract is up June 30, so collective bargaining will begin this spring. The Executive Committee is forming a Negotiating Team and preparing a survey seeking direction on issues that members want addressed at the bargaining table. Certainly the conversion to semesters will require much attention during negotiations, but we will be seeking your input on other issues as well.
Review the issues that confront you in your day-to-day work to do your job within your program/department. Consider the processes that don’t seem to support the effective and efficient completion of your professional work and the mission of the College. Your ideas will form the basis for the discussions that the Negotiating Team will engage in this spring.
PAY FOR UNUSED 2010 PERSONAL LEAVE
Your January 31 payroll voucher should contain additional money reflecting pay for up to 16 hours of unused personal leave from last year. This benefit is the result of the work by the Negotiating Team in bargaining for CSEA’s initial contract in 2002. For most faculty, this benefit alone offsets a majority (and in many cases, the entirety) of annual union dues.
COLLEGE PLANNING FORUM HOLDS INITIAL MEETING
The College Planning Forum had its initial meeting January 7. This committee has been convened by President Harrison, and was discussed by him at the autumn quarter In-Service Day. It is intended to assist in coordinating work and college planning activities, including addressing student success and attainment initiatives, semester conversion issues, strategic planning, facilities planning, technology planning, diversity initiatives, and a number of other work that needs to be done in a deliberate and purposeful manner. If you have questions about this process, or matters that you believe should be considered as part of this process, contact a committee member. Faculty members who are serving on the College Planning Forum include Kelly Hogan, Mary Insabella, Darrell Minor, Tammy Montgomery, Antoinette Perkins, Jack Popovich, Edgar Velez, and Ann Ziegel (representing adjunct faculty).
NEED FOR MORE FULL-TIME FACULTY CONTINUES
The research is clear: more full-time faculty correlates directly to improved student attainment. Student retention rates, transfer rates, degree completion rates, and measures of student satisfaction have all been shown to be directly correlated with a higher percentage of courses taught by full-time faculty. Adjunct faculty do a superb job under difficult circumstances--hourly pay that does not include paid time (office hours) with students outside the classroom, assignments at multiple locations, lack of support and opportunities for professional development, and a variety of other challenges--but an over-reliance on adjunct faculty is not beneficial for student attainment.
Such skewed numbers at the college also have a tremendous impact on faculty workload. As both student enrollment and the number of part-time faculty increases by leaps and bounds, the number of full-time faculty to oversee instructional programs, curriculum, and classroom issues is not keeping pace. This, of course, results in increased responsibilities being delegated to full-time faculty, without the opportunity to spread the increased workload.
What’s more, the Ohio Board of Regents’ guidelines for state colleges, adopted over thirty years ago and reaffirmed by the OBOR several times since (including last year), call for degree-granting institutions to maintain an instruction ratio of 60% full-time faculty to 40% adjunct faculty. At Columbus State, that ratio has been reversed for decades; in fact, previous administrators included reassigned time and overloads by full-time faculty (and even counted vacant full-time positions) in their calculations to have full-time teaching come even close to a 40% mark.
Given the challenges of increased enrollment and possibly reduced state support, CSEA intends to work closely with President Harrison to improve the full-time/part-time ratio. We recognize that the full-time/part-time ratio can not be fixed overnight, but believe that this matter needs to be a college priority whenever discussions about the budget occur.
COLLEGE MAY BE MOVING TOWARD CENTRALIZED SCHEDULING
In an effort to make more efficient use of the limited space on campus, it appears that the College may be moving toward a centralized scheduling model, in which the Instructional Services office will be playing a larger role in determining class offerings and class locations, and department chairpersons will have a lesser role in these decisions. While such a model may improve the efficiency of space utilization on campus (thus improving the bottom line of a ledger in the Business Office), it does not necessarily mean improved quality of instruction or better learning outcomes. In fact, if past history is any indication, this move has the potential for disaster. It is critical that educational effectiveness is not compromised to expand facilities efficiencies.
A centralized scheduling model has more than a few potential pitfalls, the most obvious being that (unlike faculty and chairs) Instructional Services has little understanding of students' needs within programs and departments. Classes with small enrollments, particularly in the Career & Technical programs, often run because to cancel a section would derail students' courses of study. Also, such a move, unless linked closely to significant and ongoing faculty input, could create havoc in advising. Yet to require faculty to monitor decisions made by administrators adds to faculty workload. CSEA is trying to work with the Deans and administration to avoid a train wreck.
The Word is produced by the Communications Committee of the Columbus State Education Association. We welcome your comments, news, and insights.
Darrell Minor, President/ x5310
Kevin James, Vice-President / x5008
Judy Anderson, Secretary / x5453
Phil MacLean, Treasurer / x5308
Ingrid Emch, Parliamentarian-elect / x5824
Gil Feiertag, Senior Association Representative, Career & Technical / x5861
Health, Dental and Veterinary Technology
Allied Health
Steve Abbott, Senior Association Representative, Arts & Sciences / x5096
Business
T.J. Duda / x5309
Construction Science
Automotive
Engineering Technology
Gilberto Serrano / x3863
Mathematics
Beth Barnett / x2593
Hospitality, Massage Therapy and Sports & Exercise Studies
Bill Cook / x5364
Communications
Mort Javadi / x5635
Physical Sciences
Jackie Miller / x2601
Nursing & Related Services
Mark Mitchell / x3612
Justice & Safety
Keith Sanders/ x5288
Humanities
Mike Schumacher / 5482
Social Sciences
Psychology
Cindy Evans / x2435
Human Services
Dr. Antoinette Perkins / x5754
Marketing & Graphic Communication
Computer Information Technology
Eric Neubauer / x5698
English
Amy Brubaker / x5068
Developmental Education
Modern Languages
Dr. Sue Longenbaker / x2430
Biological Sciences