UHPA Members Invited! TIAA-CREF Personal Financial Counseling Sessions

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It’s never too early to plan nor too late to re-access your retirement strategies. Protect and invest your 9% and upcoming 11% pay raises. Schedule an appointment to attend a personal financial counseling session conducted by TIAA-CREF.

These free sessions for UHPA members are scheduled for Wednesday, July 16th and Thursday, July 17th from 9 am to 4 pm, at the University of Hawaii at Manoa campus in the Imin Conference Center, Mandarin Room (2nd floor).

Reserve a time by scheduling your appointment online or by calling (800)842-2007.

See flyer for additional information.

Final Salary Increase in the 2003-2009 Agreement between UHPA and the UH-BOR

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NOTE:  A 9-month faculty members’ duty period is from August to May and they are paid over 12 months.  Their annual salary is divided by twelve months, so the last payment would be met in July.

June 2008 Board Notes

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AUDIT REPORT

Darrell Lim, CPA, of Darrell Lim and Company, reviewed with
Directors the audit report for UHPA’s fiscal year that ended on August
31, 2007.  Directors unanimously passed a motion to receive the audit report as presented by Darrell Lim and to thank the firm of Darrell Lim and Company for their thoroughness.

 

MONTHLY FINANCIAL STATEMENT

UHPA Treasurer Ming-Bao Yue reported that the union has gone
through eight months of the fiscal period and UHPA is in good financial
standing.  Directors unanimously passed a motion to receive the April 30, 2008 financial report.

 

PROPOSED FY08-09 BUDGET

Director Duane Stevens, former Chair of the UHPA Finance Committee, presented the proposed budget for fiscal year 2008-2009.  He explained the changes being proposed and answered questions raised by Directors.  Directors passed an amendment to change the title of one of the listings under 6.b. on page 5 to “Lobbyist Contract”.  After review of the proposed budget, Directors unanimously passed the motion to approve the FY08-09 budget as amended.

Directors passed a motion to renew the annual contract
with Radcliffe and Associates that would provide lobbying services by
John Radcliffe for up to the amount provided in the budget.


EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CHARTER

Directors reviewed the proposed Charter for UHPA’s Executive Committee.  Earlier
it had been suggested that the Board’s web folder include a functional
calendar to allow time to evaluate and consider contracts that were
coming up for renewal.  Directors unanimously passed a motion to
amend the Charter by including under “Key Responsibilities and Tasks”
that the Executive Committee shall keep an annual agenda (calendar) as
to what items need to be brought to the attention of the Board of
Directors for action in a timely fashion.  After review and discussion, Directors unanimously passed the motion to adopt the Executive Committee Charter as amended.

 

2008-2009 UHPA BOARD MEETING SCHEDULE

Since there is no requirement how many
meetings the Board of Directors must have during the fiscal year and
that the Executive Committee is authorized to exercise the powers of
the Board of Directors between regularly scheduled meetings, the number
of Board meetings was reduced from eleven to seven.  Instead
of meeting just prior to the scheduled Board meetings, the Executive
Committee will have their meetings on alternating months.  It was requested to include the Faculty Forum dates on the Board’s meeting schedule.  Directors passed the motion to adopt the proposed 2008-2009 Schedule of Meetings for the UHPA Board of Directors.  UHPA’s website will be updated to include the scheduled meetings for 2008-2009.

 

APPOINTMENT OF FACULTY REPRESENTATIVE

Directors unanimously passed the motion to appoint Belinda Aquino
(UH-Manoa) as the Faculty Representative for Primary Academic Unit 107,
representing faculty members in the School of Pacific and Asian Studies
(SPAS).  Her term takes effect immediately and will expire on May 31, 2010.

 

HAWAII GREAT TEACHERS SEMINAR

UHPA received seven applications for the 20th
Annual Hawaii Great Teachers (HGT) Seminar, which is scheduled for
August 10-15, 2008 at the Volcano National Park on the Island of Hawaii.  The
Executive Committee reviewed all applications, considering their merit,
strengths, what they could bring back, and any additional information
provided.  Since the Board of Directors’ motion approved
up to $4,000 for this seminar, the Executive Committee felt four
individuals would be selected with each allotted up to $1,000.  Directors passed the motion to approve up to $1,000 for individuals Patsy Iwasaki (UH-Hilo), Denise Luker (UH-Hilo/Hawaii CC), René Sadae (Kapiolani CC), and Nel Venzon, Jr. (CRDG, UH-Manoa).  (NOTE:  UHPA
was recently notified that Denise Luker will be receiving a scholarship
from Hawaii CC to attend the HGT Seminar; therefore, the Executive
Committee has approved up to $1,000 to Jaime Crozier Garcia of Leeward CC to attend the HGT Seminar.)

 

APPEAL OF TENURE DENIAL CASE

Directors unanimously confirmed the motion passed during executive session to appeal the tenure denial case of a UH-Manoa faculty member to a Hearing Officer.

 

REPORTS

Directors were informed that reports would now be in written form and placed on the Board of Directors’ website folder.  Only Directors are able to view these reports.

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

  • UH-Manoa Director Robert Paull was the recipient of the 2008 Excellence in Research Award by the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources.  Dr. Paull chairs the Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences and has been with the University of Hawaii for thirty years.
  • The next UHPA Board of Directors meeting is scheduled for Saturday, August 23, 2008.
  • If you have more than one faculty member in
    the same household and you do not wish to receive duplicate mailings
    from UHPA, or if you do not wish to receive the hard copies of the
    Board Notes since it is also on UHPA’s website, please let us know by
    calling staff at 593-2157 or you may email vena@uhpa.org.

SB2263 Is Law With an Override of the Governor’s Veto

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SB 2263 provides that proposed exempt administrator salaries and all documents regarding expenditures and changes to expenditures made by the Board of Regents are to be available six days previous to the BOR meeting. This concludes two years of extensive UHPA lobbying. 

This law ensures that salaries of all UH employees, not just faculty and certain administrators, are publicly disclosed and there is a right for public comment on those employees that receive the highest pay in the state. This is a significant step toward making the University of Hawaii disclose the rationale for administrator salaries and increases.

 

SB2263 Is Law With an Override of the Governor’s Veto

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SB 2263 provides that proposed exempt administrator salaries and all documents regarding expenditures and changes to expenditures made by the Board of Regents are to be available six days previous to the BOR meeting. This concludes two years of extensive UHPA lobbying. 

This law ensures that salaries of all UH employees, not just faculty and certain administrators, are publicly disclosed and there is a right for public comment on those employees that receive the highest pay in the state. This is a significant step toward making the University of Hawaii disclose the rationale for administrator salaries and increases.

 

Negotiations Update

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Attached is a set of Power Point slides describing the first bargaining session and setting forth a summary of UHPA’s proposals: Salary Schedules; Contract Language; and Interest Arbitration.

There will be periodic updates on the webpage as bargaining proceeds this summer and into the fall.  UHPA is creating a separate Collective Bargaining website for members only to receive information, ask questions, answer surveys, make comments, and give us feedback.  Some of the information that will be shared will require UHPA members to supply a personal email address.  We will not send the information to the hawaii.edu address, since the UH administration has the authority and ability to read any email coming through UH computer servers.  You can change your email address on this site, after you login, by clicking on “Preferences/Change EMail” under the banner above.

AAUP Tax Alert: “UH Payroll Delay or Deferred Compensation?”

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A few individuals have called UHPA concerning an article that appeared in a publication of the AAUP.  The article warned that if nine-month employees chose to have their salaries paid out over 12 months they may be incurring a tax liability by deferring salary from one year to the next.  Although faculty members on nine-month appointments do receive their salaries over 12 months they have no choice since this is required by the State of Hawaii (the Employer).  The Employer actually gains an advantage by delaying the salary owed to the nine-month appointment.  These faculty members are paid their salary for work that they provide from August to the following May.  If an individual would terminate his or her employment with UH at the end of the duty period (around May 15), they would still be receiving a check from the State of Hawaii through July.  Again, these faculty have not chosen to have this salary deferred but the State of Hawaii has imposed a payroll lag on these individuals.  Over the years, UHPA has made proposals that would pay the full salary to nine-month employees between August and May; however, the State Department of Accounting and General Services (DAGS) have not been interested in changing the annual payout, in part because the employee’s health insurance premiums are uniformly deducted over the 12-month period.