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president (see page 4). page (see president Assessment, the ad hoc committee identified a number of concerns. of number a identified committee hoc ad the Assessment,
ultimately, the Commonwealth. Your suggestions should be sent to your chapter chapter your to sent be should suggestions Your Commonwealth. the ultimately, One report of the BHE’s Working Group on Student Learning and Outcomes Outcomes and Learning Student on Group Working BHE’s the of report One
the BHE to try to reconcile our views on what best serves our students and, and, students our serves best what on views our reconcile to try to BHE the preliminary discussion of the Vision Project’s founding documents and the Phase Phase the and documents founding Project’s Vision the of discussion preliminary
that MSCA is willing to work with the Commissioner and and Commissioner the with work to willing is MSCA that Desmond Charles committee to analyze and make recommendations on the Vision Project. After After Project. Vision the on recommendations make and analyze to committee
President O’Donnell has told Commissioner Freeland and BHE Chair Chair BHE and Freeland Commissioner told has O’Donnell President appointed an ad hoc hoc ad an appointed O’Donnell C.J. President MSCA 2011 April In
The ad hoc committee sees the Vision Project as short-changing our students. our short-changing as Project Vision the sees committee hoc ad The response, which is pending. is which response,
failure to demand resources to address disparities. address to resources demand to failure committees at the state universities. MSCA filed a consolidated grievance in in grievance consolidated a filed MSCA universities. state the at committees
workforce needs over the liberal arts and the cultivation of innovation, and the the and innovation, of cultivation the and arts liberal the over needs workforce its intent to implement the Project, without first submitting it to governance governance to it submitting first without Project, the implement to intent its
which to base national comparisons, the potentially short-sighted prioritizing of of prioritizing short-sighted potentially the comparisons, national base to which of Directors at its meeting in January 2010. In March 2010 the BHE indicated indicated BHE the 2010 March In 2010. January in meeting its at Directors of
regardless of field of study, the creep towards use of standardized tests on on tests standardized of use towards creep the study, of field of regardless Commissioner Freeland presented the Vision Project to the MSCA Board Board MSCA the to Project Vision the presented Freeland Commissioner
implied wish for simplicity and uniformity of content knowledge for all students students all for knowledge content of uniformity and simplicity for wish implied institutions in other states.” other in institutions
MSCA’s ad hoc committee has identified other concerns, such as the Project’s Project’s the as such concerns, other identified has committee hoc ad MSCA’s annual report to the people of the state, comparing our work to that of our peer peer our of that to work our comparing state, the of people the to report annual
students lead to lower graduation rates? graduation lower to lead students achieving national leaderhip on these five key outcomes, we will issue an an issue will we outcomes, key five these on leaderhip national achieving
factors in that institution’s graduation rates, would the goal of admitting more more admitting of goal the would rates, graduation institution’s that in factors The Vision Project announced that, “[t]o hold ourselves accountable for for accountable ourselves hold “[t]o that, announced Project Vision The
college preparedness of an institution’s students is among the most important important most the among is students institution’s an of preparedness college and gender groups). gender and
children, the availability of tutoring, additional advising services, etc.) Since the the Since etc.) services, advising additional tutoring, of availability the children, (achievement of comparable outcomes among different ethnic/racial, economic economic ethnic/racial, different among outcomes comparable of (achievement
aid, more full-time faculty, sufficient course offerings, day care for students with with students for care day offerings, course sufficient faculty, full-time more aid, areas of workforce need in the state’s economy) and (5) elimination of disparities disparities of elimination (5) and economy) state’s the in need workforce of areas
assures the resources that students need to help them graduate (such as financial financial as (such graduate them help to need students that resources the assures learning), (4) workforce alignment (alignment of our degree programs with key key with programs degree our of (alignment alignment workforce (4) learning),
graduation rates should be used as an indicator, nothing in the Vision Project Project Vision the in nothing indicator, an as used be should rates graduation achievements by our students on campus-level and national assessments of of assessments national and campus-level on students our by achievements
rates are a dubious measure of institutional success. Even assuming that that assuming Even success. institutional of measure dubious a are rates and success rates of the students we enroll), (3) student learning (academic (academic learning student (3) enroll), we students the of rates success and
Another of the Vision Project’s outcomes is college completion. Graduation Graduation completion. college is outcomes Project’s Vision the of Another (college-going rates of high school graduates), (2) college completion (graduation (graduation completion college (2) graduates), school high of rates (college-going
Would admission of less well-prepared students result? students well-prepared less of admission Would higher education would achieve national leadership: (1) college participation participation college (1) leadership: national achieve would education higher
at the state universities in order to improve college-going rates in Massachusetts? Massachusetts? in rates college-going improve to order in universities state the at Freeland’s Vision Project sets forth five areas in which Massachusetts public public Massachusetts which in areas five forth sets Project Vision Freeland’s
held accountable for meeting this goal. Is the intent to lower admission standards standards admission lower to intent the Is goal. this meeting for accountable held citizenry and workforce in the nation. nation. the in workforce and citizenry
are beyond the control of the state universities, yet the state universities will be be will universities state the yet universities, state the of control the beyond are 2009. It set forth Freeland’s objective: We will produce the best-educated best-educated the produce will We objective: Freeland’s forth set It 2009.
preparedness has declined with the implementation of MCAS. These problems problems These MCAS. of implementation the with declined has preparedness Higher Education, and presented to the Board of Higher Education in October October in Education Higher of Board the to presented and Education, Higher
fails to acknowledge the opinion of some state university faculty that college college that faculty university state some of opinion the acknowledge to fails , Commissioner of of Commissioner , Freeland Richard by conceived was Project Vision The
not address the lack of resources needed to strengthen K-12 schools and and schools K-12 strengthen to needed resources of lack the address not
highest college participation rates in the nation. Yet the Vision Project does does Project Vision the Yet nation. the in rates participation college highest Donna Sirutis, MTA Consultant MTA Sirutis, Donna
learning and factors that go into learning. For example, Freeland wants the the wants Freeland example, For learning. into go that factors and learning
C.J. O’Donnell, MSCA President MSCA O’Donnell, C.J. The Vision Project makes questionable assumptions about what constitutes constitutes what about assumptions questionable makes Project Vision The
Thoughts about the Vision Project Vision the about Thoughts
will serve as the team’s chief negotiator. chief team’s the as serve will business at the 2011 MSCA Delegate Assembly, held at Mass Maritime in April. in Maritime Mass at held Assembly, Delegate MSCA 2011 the at business
Whalen Robert consultant MTA (Salem). McGee Paul and Maritime), (Mass to attends (Framingham) Dargan Sue Chair Committee Bargaining MSCA/DGCE
Aldrich Arthur Art), (Mass Schlosberg Sam (Framingham), Donohue Robert
Pat Markunas Pat
(Westfield), (Westfield), Merlo Gary (Bridgewater), Stonehouse Jean include: alternates
(MSCA President). Team Team President). (MSCA O’Donnell C.J. and (Worcester) Falke Anne
(Westfield), (Westfield), Haar Ken (Salem), Goodof David Maritime), (Mass Concannon
Gerald Gerald Art), (Mass Ryterband Ben (Fitchburg), Goodlett Sean (Bridgewater),
Glenn Pavlicek Pavlicek Glenn Framingham), (Chair, Dargan Sue of: consists team The
be determined. The current agreement expires on December 31, 2011. 2011. 31, December on expires agreement current The determined. be
to date a on approve and review to Directors of Board MSCA the for proposal
Robert Whalen Robert consultant MTA proposal. MSCA conceptual is drafting this this drafting is
After reviewing the survey findings, the bargaining committee prepared a a prepared committee bargaining the findings, survey the reviewing After
(11%), and other (3%). (3%). other and (11%),
that they taught part-time in the day division and DGCE (18%), DGCE only only DGCE (18%), DGCE and division day the in part-time taught they that
full-time in the day division and DGCE (68%), followed by those who reported reported who those by followed (68%), DGCE and division day the in full-time
questionnaire items. The majority of survey respondents reported that they taught taught they that reported respondents survey of majority The items. questionnaire
of job-related issues in DGCE through the use of close- and open-ended open-ended and close- of use the through DGCE in issues job-related of
twenty-six (326) members responded to the survey, which measured perceptions perceptions measured which survey, the to responded members (326) twenty-six
and outline a draft MSCA proposal based on survey findings. Three hundred hundred Three findings. survey on based proposal MSCA draft a outline and
to review the results of the recent member survey, discuss bargaining strategy, strategy, bargaining discuss survey, member recent the of results the review to
The DGCE bargaining team met at Framingham State University on June 7 7 June on University State Framingham at met team bargaining DGCE The
Susan Dargan, Chair, DGCE Bargaining Committee Bargaining DGCE Chair, Dargan, Susan
DGCE Bargaining Team Reviews Survey Results, Preps Proposal Preps Results, Survey Reviews Team Bargaining DGCE
NEA/MTA/MSCA NEA/MTA/MSCA editor Markunas, V. Patricia Newsletter MSCA Summer 2011 Summer
Perspective Inside: Making the Case for Public Higher Education – page 3 page – Education Higher Public for Case the Making Inside: 2 Perspective www.mscaunion.org Summer 2011 The Ins and Outs of Grievances Sandra Faiman-Silva, Chair, MSCA Grievance Committee evaluation at any step of the process, you must grieve within ten days of your receipt of the evaluation. All full-time and most part-time faculty, plus all full-time librarians, are Grievances filed concerning the evaluation articles face a high threshold to be covered by Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs), either the MSCA/BHE successful, since the CBAs stipulate that the grievant must demonstrate that the Day CBA, the Division of Graduate and Continuing Education (DGCE) exercise of academic judgment was “arbitrary, capricious” or made in “bad faith” CBA, or both. Grievances are a contractual right in both CBAs. The grievance (Article XI.C.9). This should not deter you from filing grievances, however. We procedures are similar; all citations below refer to the day unit CBA (Art. XI). have found that management’s representatives sometimes impose unreasonable Both CBAs are posted at
Department Chairs and Other Evaluators A thorny issue is the handling of grievances related to the unit work of department chairs, who are urged to familiarize themselves with their duties, especially Art. VI (Selection and Responsibilities), Art. VIII (Evaluations), Art. IX (Tenure), Art. XI (Grievances), Art. XII (Workload, Scheduling), and Art. XVI (Official Personnel Files). The CBA is clear that department business, including Pat Markunas course scheduling, searches, committee formation, and decision-making, must be Sandra Faiman-Silva (standing) gives the report of the MSCA Grievance Committee at the conducted democratically. Peer evaluations must be confined to the official record, 2011 MSCA Delegate Assembly, held at Mass Maritime in April. Anne Falke (foreground) and personal animosities must not interfere with colleague evaluations. Members is the chapter president at Worcester State University. of peer evaluation committees and the promotion and tenure committees are urged to become familiar with their contractual duties. Chapter presidents and grievance officers are available to assist chairs to uphold the CBAs and promote informal and Initiating the Grievance Process collegial resolution of department-related problems. When members of the bargaining unit believe that a contract provision has been violated, they should consult with the campus grievance officer (see box to Contact Information for Statewide Grievances the right) or chapter president (see page 4) as soon as possible, in order to avoid missing the grievance filing deadline. Grievances may be filed on any contract Because emails on university servers are public records, MSCA members provision that you believe has been violated, ranging from course scheduling and are advised to use off-campus email addresses for all grievance-related office space to reappointment and tenure. communications. Please use the following email addresses and telephone In some instances it is possible to resolve a disagreement informally without numbers to reach the chair and secretary to the MSCA Grievance Committee filing a grievance. However, you have only ten days in which to file a grievance. regarding new Step III or IV submissions, previously submitted grievances, Talking with management about resolving a problem does not postpone the and general grievance related matters. ten-day deadline for filing a grievance unless you get a written agreement with Sandra Faiman-Silva Christine Melin management to suspend the filing deadline while you discuss the matter. Missing Chair, Grievance Committee Grievance Office Secretary a deadline can cost you the grievance. Bridgewater State University Salem State University How do you know that your work-related problem is grievable? Grievance
Common Contractual Violations MCLA Dana Rapp [email protected] (413) 662-5197 Grievances about reappointment, promotion, tenure, and post-tenure review are Mass Art David Nolta common (Arts. VIII, IX, XX), including the Art. XX.C.7 “added consideration” [email protected] (617) 879-7585 provision, which stipulates that temporary full-time unit members have special rights when they apply for a full-time tenure-track position within the state Salem Caitlin Corbett university system. Art. XX.B allows promotion and tenure candidates to apply for [email protected] (978) 542-7153 early consideration based on “sound academic reasons.” Westfield Gregg Neikirk All reappointment, promotion and tenure personnel actions are based on the [email protected] (413) 572-5331 exercise of academic judgment (see Art. XI.B.5), the basis for which is defined in Art. VIII.I. Management must provide clear and convincing reasons to support Worcester Hemant Pendharkar positive recommendations and full and complete reasons for recommendations [email protected] (508) 929-8969 against reappointment, promotion, or tenure. If you are not satisfied with any Summer 2011 www.massteacher.org Perspective 3 Making the Case for Public Higher Education Ken Haar, President, Westfield Chapter/MSCA
Two recent books written by our colleagues at the University of Massachusetts After a brief history of public higher education, each Amherst have begun to change the conversation about the state of public higher chapter deals with a central issue confronting us education. While Massachusetts public higher education faces a unique challenge today: “Who Governs the University?” “Who Pays?” from the presence of a rich array of private colleges and universities that compete “Who Goes?” “Who Works?” for state resources, the general defunding of state institutions of public higher In “Who Governs?” we learn about the stark education around the country is exacerbating the increasing gap between the haves transformation from institutions governed by faculty and have-nots in our society. and guided by academic values to institutions run by Both books should be must reading for you and your students. MSCA may non-academic administrators using a business model. distribute them to our legislators, so they can be enlightened and educated on the We can identify the debilitating effects this has on danger we face from our current unsustainable position and the opportunity that the missions of public higher education institutions investment in our public system of higher education means to the Commonwealth as CEO presidents, boards of trustees, industry- of Massachusetts. based think tanks and consultants attempt to impose business models that do not readily fit higher Saving State U, by Nancy Folbre (New Press, 2010) education. In “Who Pays?” the authors trace the decline in public support for public higher Economist and New York Times blogger Nancy education and the impact that has had on students and their ability to afford, and Folbre’s book, Saving State U is a call to action for a complete, a college education. In the 1970’s a student working 10 hours a week society in the process of killing off the greatest asset at minimum wage could afford to attend it has in the drive for economic supremacy and social an institution of public higher education mobility. The picture she draws of the future of public full-time and graduate after four years with higher education is stark, as she traces the inequalities no debt. Today that same student working that limit access and punish the poor and middle full-time at a minimum wage job could not class by either keeping them from affording a college afford to attend college full-time and would education or forcing them into debt loads that cripple be burdened by an average debt of $24,000 their future economic well being. upon graduation. Professor Folbre traces the decline of public In “Who Goes?” we learn about the higher education from its heyday in the late 1960’s poor being priced out of a chance to attend and 1970’s to the changing social contract in the college and the skewing of financial aid 1980s. The earlier social egalitarianism and collective dollars to wealthier students, away from well-being was exemplified by Social Security and Medicare (largely the province those who most need it. This process of the elderly) and low cost public higher education (mostly the province of the results from the business model approach young). But since the 1980’s we have moved to a low-tax market-based system that to students as consumers and the desire penalizes those who can least afford it, and rewards those that need no rewards. of public universities to maximize their
This market mentality has led to the boom in for-profit colleges and universities Laura Clawson non-state-appropriation income. Luring that target students who are most eligible for federal financial aid and least likely to out-of-state students and their higher Dan Clawson, professor of Sociology question their policies (like the poor and those with little or no knowledge of the tuition and fee payments and funneling at UMass Amherst, a representative process of applying to or attending college). These students are assisted to apply for financial aid to richer students who are on the Board of Directors of the financial aid and are often the first to drop out, but not until the for-profit school more likely to finish sooner and pay up Massachusetts Teachers Association deposits the student’s financial aid in their own bank accounts. For-profit colleges become strategic best-practice business and universities have the lowest graduation plans in the new public system. rates, the highest default rates on students’ In “Who Works?” Professors Clawson loans, and enormous profits. This system of and Page expose the “Wal-Marting” for-profit higher education is a scam on the of public higher education with the taxpayers and poor students who succumb outsourcing of many services, the increased to slick advertising. use of part-time workers without benefits, But the problems of the market are not and the burgeoning ranks of top-level confined to the for-profits. Students at public administrations to control both the product and private schools fight for a dwindling (marketing) and the consumer, who happen share of tax dollars devoted to financial aid, in this case to be the same: our students. the largest share of which goes to private The book concludes with an argument schools, whose students are least in need for a daring transformation of both our of it. State appropriations for public higher system of public higher education and, education decline as other social needs by consequence, our society. The authors demand resources in a low-tax environment, argue for democratically governed public forcing tuition and fees to rise dramatically. Michael Jacobson-Hardy higher education, where all constituencies Paul Johansen Up to two-thirds of courses in public Nancy Folbre, professor of Economics have a stake in the future of the system. The Max Page, professor of Architecture colleges and universities are taught by part- at UMass Amherst Future of Higher Education proposes a free and History at UMass Amherst, and time faculty earning poverty level salaries public higher education system, just as high the current higher education member without benefits. school education became free in the early of the Executive Committee of the In this climate, we are confronted with a business model for education that 20th century. To the inevitable argument Massachusetts Teachers Association forces us to sell the product at a time when it is being cheapened and degraded concerning the costs of such a proposition, almost daily. Professor Folbre uses the examples of UMass Amherst and Amherst the answer is not a funding problem, but College, just a mile apart. At Amherst College the faculty-student ratio is 1 to 8, a priority problem. For example, removing the cap on the payroll tax for Social while at UMass the ratio is a respectable 1 to 17. However, at Amherst College Security for people who make over $106,000 would provide enough revenue relief nearly all courses are taught by tenured or tenure-track faculty. At UMass Amherst to pay for public higher education for everyone. fewer than 60% of courses are taught by such faculty. The bigger question deals with priorities of the society as a whole. The $100 This problem is growing at Massachusetts’ state universities despite the 15% billion it would cost to make public higher education free is dwarfed by repealing rule in our contract, and is greater still at our community colleges where as many the Bush tax cuts ($1.3 trillion), the Irag and Afghanistan wars ($1.0 trillion) or as 90% of courses are taught by adjunct professors. While part-time professors are the bank bailout ($800 billion). Such a program would be popular, provide an hard-working and qualified, their need to balance a life working at poverty level economic boost to the country that would rival the post World War II boom, and wages, often at multiple institutions, leaves them unable to perform the many return us to the egalitarian promise of our founders. service, governance, scholarly, and advising tasks that contribute to the life of an I recommend buying these books through the PHENOM website, at
BHE members to provide the students of the Commonwealth Studios Errico Buzzards Bay, MA 02532 with an excellent system of public higher education. As the labor Paul Toner, president, Massachusetts Teachers (508) 830-6684 representative on the Board of Higher Education I take my role Association (508) 830-6699 Fax representing the views of the faculty and staff seriously and I am [email protected] especially interested in hearing their views on issues that come before the board.” Toner can be reached at Amy Everitt, MSCA Vice President