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Day Unit Ratification Materials

Ratification Materials and Information about the Agreements

Signed Tentative Agreement and MOAs

What MCCC is Fighting For…

After nearly two years of bargaining, Management’s wage offer is 0% the first year, 1% the second! This doesn’t even keep pace with inflation.

MCCC represents 4500 adjunct faculty who teach in the Division of Continuing Education (DCE).

  • In Massachusetts community colleges, 70% of the courses are DCE.
  • Adjunct instructors hired to teach courses in DCE do so on a semester-by-semester basis, with little job security.

We Want Equal Pay for Equal Work

  • Adjuncts earn less than half of what fulltime faculty are paid, for teaching the same courses.
  • The current starting pay is just over $1000/credit hour ($3200 per course/semester).
  • An average community college adjunct earns under $25,000 per year.
  • Many adjuncts are forced to teach at multiple colleges in order to cobble together a living wage.
  • Adjuncts receive NO BENEFITS — no health care insurance through the GIC and no employer contributions to their retirement savings. As public sector employees, they are prevented from paying into Social Security and receive no Social Security retirement benefits.
  • Because adjunct faculty are deeply committed to students, most offer office hours to their students, and participate in college service that benefits students. But they receive NO PAY for this work.
  • MCCC is part of a national movement to win pay parity, job security, and full inclusion in academic life.

The MCCC DCE union has been bargaining with the Board of Higher Education since October 2016.

 The contract has been extended several times, and it is now slated to expire on 6/30/2018.

  • The MCCC and BHE are currently in contract mediation, with a state mediator assisting the parties.
  • The DCE bargaining team is seeking a path to pay parity with fulltime faculty (MCCC “Day” bargaining unit), who are members of the same union.
  • MTA is pursuing state legislation to provide health care coverage for adjuncts in community colleges, state universities, and the UMass system. (H. 4153)
  • The pay offer from the BHE (as of 5/1/18) is for a 0% increase in 2018 and a 1% increase in 2019.
  • At the 5/1/18 meeting of the Board of Higher Education, President Ellen Kennedy of Berkshire Community College told the BHE she hopes the contract disputes will be settled soon. MCCC members believe the College Presidents appreciate the hard work and professionalism of all community college employees.
  • Conditions can be improved: Adjuncts at UMass Boston and Amherst (also members of MTA) have a path to parity and benefits if they teach a half-time course load, and have greater job security and opportunities to become fulltime faculty.

Community colleges offer the best hope for working families to have a chance at the American Dream. Our community colleges offer the best and, sometimes, only pathway toward the bright future that is the basic right of all who have chosen to make America their home.

Nevertheless, we must not allow the success of these institutions to result from the exploitation of the dedicated, hard-working adjuncts who often care more about their students than about themselves. Our Commonwealth’s community colleges deserve adequate funding. Students at Massachusetts’ community colleges deserve to learn in institutions which are adequately funded and with faculty and staff earning a fair and decent wage. All adjunct instructors at the community college deserve compensation equal to their full-time counterparts for doing the same work.

Campus Equity Week National Day of Action

That’s VP Jeff Seideman on the right in the very identifiable red MCCC organizing t-shirt.

Campus Equity Week National Day of Action with informational picketing at Westfield State University

DAY CONTRACT SALARY GRID RATIFIED

The Salary Grid Committee has completed its discussions regarding a new salary grid system that, if ratified, will be incorporated into the 2015-18 Day Unit Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and take effect July 1, 2017. The MCCC Board of Directors has voted to unanimously recommend its ratification. Below are materials regarding the salary grid so you can learn more before you cast your ratification vote.

Note: The ratification materials should arrive at your home address around Thursday of this week. If you’re a Day unit member and you don’t receive a ratification package, please contact the MCCC office at (508) 890-6688. Your ratification ballot must be received at the MCCC office by 4pm on Wednesday, May 31st. Please ensure you leave enough time for mailing and remember there’s no mail on Memorial Day, May 29.

Documents concerning the salary grid

Mailed materials:

  • MCCC Salary Grid Coverletter (pdf) – This explanatory cover letter accompanies the mailed ratification ballot.
  • MCCC Salary Grid Summary FAQ’s (pdf) – This document provides a basic summary of how the grid system will work and answers frequently asked questions about the grid.  This document will also accompany the mailed ratification ballot.

 Other education materials

Questions?

The salary grid committee can be reached at this email SalaryGrid@mccc-union.org

Ratification Notice

Course Materials and Office Hours (01/2017)

Full-time and Part-time Day Unit Faculty Course Materials Under the Day Contract – – Please Note-This does not apply to DCE day/evening/weekend/summer adjunct faculty (DCE Contract Applies)
Faculty are required to distribute course materials to each student and forward a copy to the immediate supervisor prior to the conclusion of the add/drop period.  The course materials shall include all materials listed on the attached Checklist for Course Materials. (Form XIII-E2).

NEW COURSE MATERIALS
Please note that Course Materials Form E-2 has new requirements which I have underlined on the attached form.  Student Learning Outcomes  (SLOs) have been added to the form along with a principles statement (Attached).  This SLO principle statement provides protective language for faculty as follows:

  1. SLOs are faculty-driven.
  2. Protects academic freedom rights during the process of producing SLOs.
  3. Ensures that SLOs will not be evaluated in any way, including the content of SLOs, students achievement of SLOs, the results of SLO assessments, or the methods used to assess the SLOs.
  4. Provides protections regarding how SLO information is used and distributed.
  5. Provides  administrative support and funding for SLO training and professional development that may include, but not limited to, reassigned time, stipends, and other related items

PROCESS AND ACADEMIC FREEDOM
As in the past, the confidentiality of all course materials shall be maintained and the  employer may not distribute these materials to anyone without your permission.  The immediate supervisor must return all course materials to the  faculty member by the end of the fifth (5th) week of classes.  If items on the checklist are missing or if the immediate supervisor has concerns, the faculty member will be advised in writing and will be given fourteen (14) calendar days to submit the missing items and respond to the concerns.

The intent of this 14 day response period serves two (2) purposes:

  1. To give the faculty member the opportunity to correct an oversight without a negative comment being placed in the summary evaluation.
  2. To insure that students have all of the items on the checklist. NB: Please note that faculty have full freedom in the selection of course materials. If the faculty member believes that a directive from the immediate supervisor to change the course materials infringes upon academic freedom,  then the faculty member has the right to initiate the grievance process.   Full freedom in selecting course materials includes full freedom to:
  1. Select all reading materials,
  2. Adopt SLOs,
  3. Adopt teaching procedures,
  4. Give Assignments and/or supplemental reading,
  5. Select tests,
  6. Determine the basis for student grading,
  7. Determine the criteria for evaluating student performance, and
  8. Determine attendance policy.

OFFICE HOURS
Full-time Faculty Office Hours
1) All faculty are required to submit their preferred office hour schedule at the beginning of the semester and post their office hour schedule by the end of the first week of classes.
2) Office hours are required on campus unless a faculty member is approved to hold office hours at an off campus instructional site or if the faculty member teaches an online course.
3) If a faculty member is assigned one (1) or more online course(s) as part of the faculty member’s day unit workload, the faculty member may, at his or her discretion, conduct one (1) weekly office hour online. Notwithstanding the above, faculty members may be allowed to conduct one or more office hour(s) online upon the approval of the College President or President’s designee in his or her sole discretion.
4) Faculty are required to maintain four (4) office hours per week over four (4) days unless a faculty member has a reduced instructional workload.
5) For faculty with reduced instructional workloads, one (1) office hour is reduced for each three (3) credit hour course reduction.  This means that the number of days required for office hours is reduced by one (1) day for each office hour reduced.
6) Faculty can advise students during their office hours.

Adjunct Faculty Office Hours
Adjunct faculty are not required to submit and/or post office hours under the day contract and/or the DCE Contract.  If you are a day/unit part time faculty member, then there is no requirement to post/ hold/provide office hours.  If you are a DCE unit member (day or evening), there is no requirement to post and hold set office hours, but there is language in the DCE contract that states you are obligated to be available to students by appointment when mutually convenient.

Download Attachment
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me.

Dennis Fitzgerald
MCCC Grievance Coordinator
170 Beach Road #52
Salisbury, MA 01952

email mcccfitzy@comcast.net
tel   978-255-2798
fax  978-255-2896

College Service and Work to Rule

FACULTY REQUIREMENT ONLY:
No later than February 15, faculty are required to submit a list of college service activities to be performed during the semester. This list is completed in section 1 of the attached form (Form XIII-E5) and submitted to the immediate supervisor. Section 2 and section 3 will be completed at the end of the semester and submitted on the last day of classes.

  1. College service activities may include:
  2. Serving as advisor to student activities;
  3. Serving on governance, ad hoc, college standing committees, system-wide task forces or committees, or labor-management committees;
  4. Preparing grant proposals;
  5. Participating in college, division, department or other related college meetings and/or activities;
  6. Participation in the improvement and development of academic programs and resources, including recruitment.
  7. Serving as a department chair/coordinator pursuant to Article XX and college-wide coordinators.

If faculty receive reassigned time to perform non-instructional activities such as department chair work, curriculum development, professional development activities, or administrative (non-managerial) duties, then these activities should be listed under the College Service Activities.

NB: When the 2000-2003 Contract was negotiated with an increase in instructional workloads, the MCCC Negotiating Team stated that there was an understanding at the bargaining table that attending department meetings, division meetings, and all-college meetings; and serving on one (1) committee would fulfill the contractual obligation of being available for college service activities for an average of four (4) hours per week. This requirement has not changed in subsequent contracts. In addition, the MCCC negotiators have made it clear that the purpose of the submission of this new list of college service activities to be performed is to provide the immediate supervisor with knowledge of your planned activities for the upcoming semester. The intent was not to increase college service workload, not to begin counting hours, minutes, or seconds, and not to obtain prior approval. Finally, at the end of the semester, the immediate supervisor will probably hold you accountable for the completion of all activities that you list.

Work to Rule: Since the MCCC remains on work to rule, the leadership advises the you fulfill the minimum college service requirements as stated above and do not volunteer for additional college service activities.

Download NEW College Service Form.pdf

Dennis Fitzgerald
MCCC Grievance Coordinator
170 Beach Road #52
Salisbury, MA 01952

email mcccfitzy@comcast.net
tel 978-255-2798
fax 978-255-2896

 

posted Feb 3, 2016