2013-15 Collective Bargaining Agreement

1. 2013-15 Collective Bargaining Agreement Summary of Substantive Changes

2. Where were the Changes? • Article 2, Definitions • Article 4, Association Security • Article 5, Management Rights • Article 6, Faculty Governance • Article 7, Strikes • Article 8, Departmental Chairpersons plus • Replaced old titles with new ones (Program Chair, Director, AVP Curricular Management throughout CBA) • Article 9, Professional Development • Article 10, Appointments and Evaluations • Article 12, Salary and Fringe Benefits plus • MOUs on Furloughs • MOU on Professor of Practice Compensation

3. And more . . . • Article 13, Summer Session/Fourth Term • Article 14, Retirement • Article 16 (now 15), Non-discrimination • New Article 16, Just Cause, Progressive Discipline and Due Process (resulted in reordering and renumbering some articles) • Article 17, Grievances • Article 18, Faculty-Administration Relationships • Article 19, Working Conditions plus • LOA on Differential Loading • Article 21 (now 22), Totality of Agreement • Article 24 (now 25), Copies of Agreement

4. Compensation Challenges Abounded

5. Compensation Results(Articles 9 & 12) • Retained PDA funds at current rates ($750/$1250) • Retained 2013-14 PDG funds for grants already awarded. • Traded 2014-15 PDG funds to provide a $1000 bonus for Assistant Professors (September 2014 paycheck) • Retained 5% Health Premium Sharing • Retained 6% Retirement Contribution • Retained 2013 September Floor Increase • Retained 2014 September Floor Increase, but had to take 3 furlough days in exchange • Should Senate adopt new rank, MOU sets compensation for Professor of Practice at Professor rates (with $2000 deduction for lack of terminal degree)

6. Furloughs Timing • Furloughs will occur on instructional days • Dates must be negotiated with Administration by April 15, 2014

7. Early Retirement (Article 14) • Eliminated 600-hour program • Added a true emeritus faculty rate when bringing back retired faculty (year 1 professor or senior instructor 2) • Kept early retirement option with up to 7 years of health insurance • May waive health insurance in return for a cash settlement equal to 25% of the SOU paid premiums • Retained one-time 6% increase when relinquishing tenure or 3-year extendable contract • All may relinquish up to 3 years prior to retirement date (must be at least 55 years old)

8. Summary of Other Changes

9. Definitions (Article 2) • Added lots of definitions including: • Accompanist • OPE • Tangible Employment Action • Timely • Clarified others • University Days • Years-in-Rank

10. Association Security (Article 4) • Added paragraph 2, which allows APSOU to pay for course release at adjunct rates for President to meet his/her obligations while in office.

11. Management Rights and Responsibilities (Article 5) • Added “and responsibilities” to title of article. • Simplified first sentence of paragraph 2 to more clearly articulate intent. • Added last sentence of paragraph 2 to indicate management’s responsibility in assuring procedures are followed in such a way that any delays do not adversely affect faculty compensation or advancement opportunities.

12. Faculty Governance (Article 6) • Adds sentence 2 to clarify that CBA takes precedence when there is any inconsistency or other question between CBA and Faculty Bylaws.

13. Strikes (Article 7) • Revised first sentence of article to strengthen prohibition.

14. Program Chairs (Article 8) • Rewritten with temporary language while transitioning to new academic organization. • Emphasized program chairs duties center around curriculum, mentoring faculty, and working with students • Release conditions: • adequate release time for program chairs to carry out their assigned duties and • equitably allocates release to program chairs across divisions proportional to the duties assigned.

15. Appointment and Evaluation (Article 10) • Added item to section C to explicitly state that a lack of notice of non-renewal was essentially notice of renewal. • Rewrote section D to move into the electronic age with appointment information available via SISWeb • Expanded section F to include handing of all personnel records, not just student evaluations

16. Summer Session/Fourth Term (Article 13) • Fully transitioned to “fourth term” terminology • Clarified distinction between regular and special offerings, renaming them primary and secondary offerings. Emphasized guarantee pertains to a faculty member’s guarantee of employment, not guaranteeing courses won’t be cancelled. • Required at least 80% of offerings be guaranteed. • Relaxed the deadlines for guaranteeing faculty employment from January 31 to February 15. • Inserted a deadline for faculty deciding not to teach secondary offerings of May 31. • Replaced specific dollar amounts for adjunct rates with “professional/professorial adjunct rate” • Linked minimum fixed service rate to Assistant Professor year 1 floor.

17. Non-Discrimination (Article 16 15) • Updated language to be consistent with current law. • Added gender identity to be consistent with SOU policies.

18. Just Cause, Progressive Discipline and Due Process(New Article 16) • Section 1 covers OAR description of “Just Cause” • Section 2 outlines exceptions to progressive discipline section • Section 3 details progressive discipline and sanctions process and potential results

19. Grievances (Article 17) • Deleted prohibition on seeking resolution in multiple venues • Clarified that no one named in a grievance should hear the grievance (that is, they cannot take an active role in meeting with the grievant to review or render a decision regarding the grievance)

20. Faculty-Administration (Article 18) • Added, “unless otherwise mutually agreed upon,” to item 1. • Clarified that accompanist is not representing APSOU Board and solely present to support faculty member. • Added clause to 2d to clarify that there may be legal settings where confidentiality cannot be maintained.

21. Working Conditions (Article 19) • In Section A, item 3, estimated 1 ELU at 5.5% of a faculty member’s workload and included introductory language that will be fleshed out by task force by June 15, 2015 (see LOA). • In Section A, items 3 and 4, replaced the 22 hour time estimate for other work with a range of 20-30 hours if resulting from a course cancellation and 25-30 hours otherwise. • In section A, item 3, the 1/6 ELU was replaced by the range of 1/5 to 1/10 in item f to reflect that different individualized instruction activities place different levels of demand on a faculty member’s time. • In section A, item 3, the 1/6 ELU was replaced by 1/10 in item g to better correlate with the fact that low enrolled courses include those enrolling under 10 students (not just 6). • In section A, item 5, added proviso so that when a department cannot accommodate a bank withdrawal in a timely manner through course release, a faculty member may withdraw up to 6 ELU in cash at the adjunct rate. • In Section B, Adds two sentences to the general statement regarding working environment (item 1) to alert faculty to workplace-flexibility information. • In Section D, item 1, updated appointment ranks to comply with recent OAR changes in faculty ranks.

22. Totality of Agreement (Article 21 22) • Converts second paragraph to plain language. Paragraph removes any obligation to bargain during the duration of the Agreement.

23. Negotiation of Successor Agreement (Article 23 24) • Adds final paragraph to clarify that current CBA remains in effect if bargaining extends beyond August 31 expiration date.

24. Copies (Article 24 25) • Moved to an electronic distribution of the CBA, reducing the need for multiple paper copies of the CBA

25. Reorganization • At closing, references to chairs, deans, etc., were updated to reflect the incoming academic reorganization • Assures CBA provides clear direction regarding who is carrying out various roles identified in each article

26. Letter of Agreement • Established a taskforce for 2014-15 that will investigate differentiated loading • Charge: examine the question of how to quantify percentages of effort expected in non-instructional areas (either minimums or ranges). • The final recommendation shall propose a straight-forward system that documents faculty choices via FPAPs/FPARs and (1) allows faculty flexibility and choice from year to year, (2) supports faculty progress toward promotion and tenure, and (3) considers possible differentiation by rank/position.

27. Workplace Flexibility • Discussed at length • Discussions lead to an institutional policy on the HR website for all employees rather than one specific to faculty • www.sou.edu/hrs/workplace-flexibility.html

28. Furlough Considerations • Board recommendation isonefurlough day each term neighboring an existing holiday:  (1) Wednesday, November 24, before Thanksgiving, (2) Tuesday, January 20, 2015, after Martin Luther King Day, and (3) Friday, May 22, before Memorial Day Weekend. • Runner-up was Thanksgiving week, but that concentrates them in the fall and reduces instructional days to the 45 day minimum. • Discarded was unobserved holidays because that choice would preclude offering Monday-only classes winter and spring and would place and undue burden on MW and MWF classes due to all holidays being Mondays!

29. Ratification Vote “Yes” vote is recommended by Bargaining Team and APSOU Board Electronic balloting will open following this meeting and close Monday at 5 PM.