NEA HIGHER EDUCATION DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Information and application announcement for the NEA Emerging Leadership Academy (ELA) will be online after November 20. Individuals will have to February 20th to submit their application. Applications
will be reviewed at the Higher Ed Conference and candidates, who are
promising, will be invited to the academy for an interview. Final selections will be made in April with the first session held the last week of May and through the first weekend in June. Directors Ruth Horie, Richard Nettell and Karla Hayashi are graduates of the ELA.
NEA’s 26th Annual Higher Education Conference will be held from March 28 to 30, 2008 at the Hilton Washington in Washington, DC. Some
of the issues covered will include academic freedom, salaries and
benefits, collective bargaining, college access and affordability, and
higher education funding. It will be a joint conference with higher education colleagues from the American Federation of Teachers. For further information and how to register go to http://www2.nea.org/he/conf.html.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
- President
Joseph Chernisky reported that UHPA has either consulted or discussed
issues relating to proposed changes to the Board of Regents’ policies,
tenure, timely pay for new hires and lecturers, faculty evaluation,
sustainability, classification, summer workload, SLO directives, etc. - UHPA members in the Community Colleges were sent a survey concerning the Community College Faculty Classification Plan. The Board of Regents will be considering the final document at its meeting on November 15, 2007.
- President
Chernisky along with Vice President Adrienne Valdez, Directors Joshua
Cooper, Ruth Horie, and Sally Pestana attended the Hawaii State AFL-CIO
Biennial Convention on October 26. The Hawaii State
AFL-CIO has indicated its commitment to higher education, and of the
several resolutions approved, the resolution from UHPA’s Executive
Committee in support of Civil Unions in Hawaii passed. Additionally,
labor leaders retiring at the end of 2007 were recognized for their
accomplishments and years of dedication to the labor movement. Of
these known to UHPA are Joan Husted, Executive Director of the Hawaii
State Teachers Association (HSTA), and Russell Okata, Executive
Director of the Hawaii Government Employees Association (HGEA). - As was reported last month, leaders from UHPA attended the NEA Creating Strong Affiliates Conference in early November. The information learned will be discussed with the Executive Committee.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT
- Executive
Director J. N. Musto reported that he was attending the retirement
luncheon for Joan Husted, Executive Director of the Hawaii State
Teachers Union (HSTA). Ms. Husted retires at the end of this year. - Attorney Jeff Piper will meet with Directors in December to fully discuss the proposed Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws for UHPA to be in compliance with the State of Hawaii’s not-for-profit corporate laws. The Board will make a decision in January as to whether the document could be recommended to the membership.
- Executive Director Musto will attend the UH Board of Regents’ November 15 meeting in Maui. On their agenda are two specific issues that UHPA is concerned about. There
is a proposed amendment to BOR Policy 9, Section 9-1a(3) Department
Chairs and Section 9.1a(4) Special Program Directors and Chairs of
Academic Divisions. UHPA had an initial consultation meeting with UH administrators wherein concerns were raised. Although
UHPA leaders were informed they would receive another version of the
proposal, the revised document was never received. It, however, is now on the Board of Regents’ agenda. Directors passed a motion with one abstention to
authorize the Executive Director file a complaint with the Hawaii Labor
Relations Board indicating that the University did not complete
consultation on the proposed amendment to BOR Policy 9, Section 9-1a(3)
and (4). - The
second issue on the BOR agenda for consideration is the approval of
revisions to the UH Community Colleges Faculty Classification Plan. It
was indicated that there are no entry exams per se for Community
Colleges and many students who enroll in the Community Colleges require
remedial courses or may not exactly meet postsecondary course
expectations. For those instructors, who teach at the
lower course levels, the proposed revisions would make it difficult for
them as there is a high percentage of student dropouts. Directors passed a motion with four abstentions to
authorize the Executive Director to convey to the Board of Regents
UHPA’s opposition to the adoption of the proposed amended UH Community
Colleges Faculty Classification Plan. - Directors
were informed that UHPA received a proposal that would authorize the
University President to grant tenure upon initial appointment to
members of the faculty and classified executives eligible for faculty
appointments according to established guidelines. Discussion indicated that the Board of Regents has never delegated its authority to anyone regarding tenure. The
Manoa Faculty Senate had reviewed the proposal and recommended language
included for the granting of promotion and/or tenure, which state they
subject to the approval of the Department Personnel Committee (DPC) and
Tenure Promotion Review Committee (TPRC). Their recommendation, however, has been ignored. There
have been and are highly qualified tenured individuals from other
institutions who may be interested in teaching at the University, but
due to the one-year tenure requirement, it has become difficult to hire
them. There was much concern that the proposed policy
includes the granting of tenure to executives and the effects on the
departments/campuses to create a position for that individual. Directors
felt that the responsibility of finding funds for the executive person
who moves back into a faculty position ought to be that of the UH
System’s office. Directors passed a motion that the
UHPA Board of Directors opposes the proposed revision to Board of
Regents Policy 9-1, Personnel Status, Subsection b., Faculty Promotion
and Tenure unless the language referring to classified executives is
removed and that there is a process that includes the review and
approval by Department Personnel Committees and Tenure Promotion Review
Committees.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Directors met in executive session to consider two grievance cases. Directors unanimously passed the motion to appeal the suspension grievance cases of a UH-Manoa faculty member to arbitration.
Associate Executive Director Jim Kardash updated Directors on the status of tenure cases that were appealed to Hearing Officers. He
also reported that last semester there were 98 applications for tenure
or tenure/promotion, 110 applications for promotion, 16
promotion/tenure applications that were denied, and 14 tenure
applications that were denied. This semester, there were 106 applications for tenure or tenure/promotion and 105 applications for promotion.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Treasurer Ming-BaoYue reported that on the different transactions that have affected the financial operations of UHPA. As of September 30, 120 UHPA members have indicated their objection to the $5 dues to the PAC Fund. As of October 31, the count increased to 138. Additionally, UHPA has rebated $7,223.69 to 57 non-members. Directors passed a motion to receive the Treasurer’s report and to refer it to the Finance Committee.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Directors briefly reviewed the proposed Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws. Some questions were raised. Directors were informed that they could email the Executive Director if they had minor editorial corrections.
In the absence of Chair Sally
Pestana, the Executive Committee requested the Board’s confirmation of
members of the Personnel Committee. Directors unanimously passed the motion to confirm the appointments of Charles Weems (UH-Manoa) and Adrienne Valdez (UH-West Oahu) as members of the Personnel Committee.
NOMINATIONS & ELECTIONS COMMITTEE
Vice President Adrienne Valdez, who
also chairs the Nominations and Elections Committee, expressed her
appreciation to Directors Brenda Cartwright, Nandita Sharma, and
Ming-Bao Yue for their asserted efforts in getting new UHPA members as
well as filling Faculty Representative positions.
She reported the results of the
special election for the UH-Manoa constituency for Arts and Humanities,
Library & Information Science Program, Outreach College, and
Library Services. Paulette Feeney’s election as the Director for that constituency has been confirmed. Her two-year term begins immediately and expires on August 31, 2009.
The Nominations and Elections Committee requested confirmation of new Faculty Representatives. Directors unanimously passed a motion to confirm the appointments of Jason Willome (PAU 044), Stephen Jacques (PAU 052), Brian Szuster (PAU 055), Aurelio Agcaoili (PAU 059), Paul Lassettre (PAU 061), Nathan Murata (PAU 082), Barbara Landau (PAU 084), Garnett Smith (PAU 085), and Belinda Aquino (PAU 107). Since the Membership Drive began on October 6, there are almost 100 new members.
NEW BUSINESS
Directors unanimously passed a motion to confirm the appointments of Robert Paull (UH-Manoa), L. Thomas Ramsey (UH-Manoa), Dennis Vanairsdale (Kapiolani CC), and Lynne Wilkens (UH-Manoa) as members of the Finance Committee.
Directors unanimously passed a motion to confirm the appointments of Joel Fischer (UH-Manoa), Susan Hippensteele (UH-Manoa), Earl Nakahara (Honolulu CC), and John Wendell (UH-Manoa) as members of the Grievance Committee.
Directors unanimously passed a motion to establish the Ad Hoc Women’s Committee and to confirm the appointments of Brenda Cartwright (UH-Manoa) and Nandita Sharma (UH-Manoa) as its Co-Chairs. The goals of the UHPA Women’s Committee include: educate faculty about the union, empower individuals in the workplace, strengthen ties with other unions, and address gender and family issues.
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