IFO Board of Directors Report
November 30-December 1, 2006
Present: Nancy Black, Mary Kesler, David Bouchard, Patricia Young, Jayantha Herath, Andrew Larkin, George Seldat, Vicky Brockman, Annette Schoenberger, Derek Webb, Elizabeth Dunn, Jauneth Skinner, Cathy Summa, Cindy Phillips, Mike Ruth, Wayne Alexander, Fred Hill, Cindy Killion, Bruce Svingen (substituting for Kerry Williams), Georgia Holmes, Roger Severns
Not Present: Valerie Geaither, Kerry Williams, Donna Blake
Also Present: Thursday 6:45 – 7:15 Rod Henry, John Tesch; Chris Brown; and, Matt Hyle. Connie Howard (Thursday 6:45 – 7:30), Cindy Finch (taking minutes), Russ Stanton (portion of Thursday and Friday), Pat Arseneault (portion of Thursday and Friday), David Little – Larson Allen (Friday morning 8:40 – 9:00), John Palmer and Clark Johnson (GRC Co-Chairs present Friday afternoon).
Called to order 6:38 p.m.
Approval of October 12-13 Minutes:
Carried
Master Calendar:
We want to call your attention to the Master Calendar. We’ve been working on this in the main office and are getting assistance from the EC and Cathy Summa. This is also located on our website. It is a list of all of the meetings, schedules, and contact people that we are aware of.
If you know of any meetings in the system, please let us know. We are trying to ensure that committee members are aware of the meetings as communications have been an issue for us.
Office Hours for the Holidays:
The IFO will be closed from Friday, December 22 until Tuesday, January 2.
Negotiations Report:
Rod Henry Rod reviewed the status of negotiations and the Team’s position on the LOUs and MOA currently on the table.
Executive Session w/ Staff and Negotiators Present:
Two LOUs and one MOA were approved by the Board.
Personnel Issues:
According to Article 8 of the IFO/IFOSA agreement, Polly Chappell has been employed for longer than one year and her probationary period has expired. She has received glowing reviews and we’d like to retain her. It was moved the Board approve the retention of Polly Chappell beyond her probationary period. Seconded Carried
Frank Conroy Arbitration Update:
Frank’s attorney contacted the IFO and said he wanted to appeal the arbitration decision. The IFOSA originally brought the grievance. The IFOSA has declined to have the grievance appealed. Nonetheless, Frank has filed to have the arbitration set aside.
MnSCU BOT Update:
Nancy attended the Board of Trustees retreat last month. One of the reasons she attended this meeting which was open to the public, was the first item on the agenda - collective bargaining. This Board is micromanaging at several levels. They discussed the allocation frame work. Participants were shown a PowerPoint presentation on 2020 - a talk about technology’s role. We think it’s important the BOT see a faculty presence at their meetings. They are also very sensitive to students who usually have a good turnout to these meeting. The next BOT is a committee meeting and Steve Bohnenblust will be attending with Nancy. Nancy welcomes any members of the IFO Board to attend. The schedule is kept on the Master Calendar.
In terms of the political appointment process of the new Board of Trustee members, the legislature has to approve these four new appointees, if they don’t pass them then Pawlenty gets to choose four more.
MnSCU Foundation:
Campuses were asked to give updates on any information about the FAN club. The man who organized the Foundation visited the Winona campus with Jerry Janezich; he was a successful organizer who worked for the U of M at one time.
Biennial Budget:
We are not supporting the MnSCU budget this year and the Chancellor is not happy about this lack of solidarity. The students are not supporting the budget either. The Key Measure is one reason, which states, “One key measure will be the competitiveness of our total compensation for each employee group relative to the appropriate peer group. Success would be to ensure that the system has the ability to provide total compensation to the most innovative and productive of employees above the 70th percentile of the appropriate peer group.” We may need a counter communication with the legislator such as a blog. FA Presidents were encouraged to distribute Russ’ legislative reports in a timely manner.
IPESL:
We’ve heard all the money has been sent out to the campuses. We had a heated conversation at CTL and we were given a new deadline for the interim status report. Instead of a due date at the beginning of January it has been moved to February 26. We suggested when they ask for the title, project description, and amount that CTL should fill that in first before it is sent it to the faculty member to complete. CTL already has this information. This work is an add-on to faculty workload. In general, campuses were pleased with the process.
From the perspective of CTL, the $12 million for IPESL has been added to the MnSCU base budget. How can we conceptualize getting this money added to our base salaries? Maybe next time we should submit one prospectus and include an amount for each faculty member.
Executive Committee Update:
The last two set of minutes (10/26-27 & 11/16-17) were provided in the Board packet.
Statewide Meet and Confer:
The Executive Committee participated in a statewide meet and confer at MnSCU on November 17. One issue we had was with the Teacher Center. This issue has been lying dormant but Nancy saw an Executive Director position for the Teacher Center. They violated many processes in setting this up. Because the Board of Trustees did not approve the Teacher Center as a Center of Excellence, they agreed to have a Teaching Center located at the Metro campus. This was news to the IFO; this had not been through any meet and confers. MnSCU said we had representatives at their planning meetings. We did some research and see that the Teaching Center met twice over the last 18 months and three people attended in two meetings. This new Director position is reporting to the dean at Metro state. This may be a way of hiding MnSCU costs. Dave Bouchard, FA President at Metro State, brought this issue to a preliminary meeting on Monday and to his local meet & confer on Wednesday. Faculty at Metro were not involved in the establishment of a business plan or the job description. The dates put forward for the search were so constrained; it makes the process look suspicious. The administration at Metro basically agreed that they had not followed proper procedure and agreed to straighten it out. Dave stated the concerns with the job description pertaining to teaching experience. There were concerns about other consultation (COPE). The Board stated that Metro needs to cancel the search if they are going to edit the job description. Nancy asked Cathy Summa to help Dave draft his list of complaints to give his administration with her. It was moved that the Board ask Nancy to prepare a list of demands with the Teacher Center position. Seconded Carried
Applied Doctorate:
We are pressing MnSCU hard for information about the funding for the doctorates. Where is it coming from? The short answer is internal reallocation at the campus level. The last time we had this discussion, we asked for budget figures at the Grad Council meeting. They couldn’t explain how it would work. Faculty, through the IFO/MnSCU contract (Article 27), are given tuition reimbursement for courses offered by the state university system. MnSCU is claiming faculty are not entitled to a tuition reimbursement for the doctoral courses because there was no mention of a doctoral program when the contract was written. Faculty have not received extra compensation for teaching doctoral programs and now MnSCU is attempting to taking away a contractual right. That won’t work. Manuel Lopez and Mary Leary said we’d get a letter concerning non-reimbursement for these doctoral programs. We have yet to receive this letter. We need to push that there be a special section of the allocation model for doctoral programs. The nature of the allocation formula is based on peer institutions. A doctoral institution has a higher level of funding. The Chancellor is unhappy we are not supporting the budget.
Professional Education Program Evaluation Report (PEPR):
The Minnesota Board of Teaching approved a new process for approval of the teacher education program and licensure. It requires an enormous amount of time to complete the paperwork. If faculty want to renew their program’s license they have to complete this lengthy process. When asked at the November 17th statewide meet and confer, the Chancellor’s office didn’t have any information. According to Cathy Summa, who has attended some MN Board of Teaching Standards and Rules meetings, apparently the MN Board of Teaching tried unsuccessfully to solicit state university faculty representatives. It may be helpful for the FA Presidents to talk to their presidents about this. MnSCU’s budget (STEM, underserved, OOC initiatives which connect to k-12) focuses on P-12 issues.
IFO Benefits Equity Statewide Issues Committee:
Per DA Resolution MS.2006.3, two members at-large are needed to serve on this new standing committee. Only one volunteer came forward and was appointed. It was moved that Frances Ragsdale of MSU Moorhead be appointed to serve a two year term. Seconded Carried
One Board member is also appointed to this committee. Roger Severns volunteered to serve as the Board member, and his nomination was accepted by the Board.
MnSCU’s Instructional Management System Advisory
Committee:
A brief history of this committee was given by Nancy. When a previous form of
this committee was originally established in 2002, they were the ones who
selected Desire2Learn for the entire system. The work of this committee will be
equally as important. Al Essa, MnSCU’s chair, is working for the academic side
of technology; he’s been very friendly and cooperative to work with. Debra Japp
is able to go (she was requested to attend by MnSCU) to this meeting. We need
three additional volunteers but today only have one volunteer – Rhonda Ficek of
MSU Moorhead. It was moved we appoint Rhonda Ficek. Seconded Carried
David Bouchard offered to attend the first meeting scheduled for Wednesday,
December 6. The Committee will meet again at the end of January.
Syllabus B:
The Bemidji Provost is requesting that faculty make a statement in their syllabi, in the event of a state or national emergency. The statement will state that the faculty member teaching the course will be responsible for contacting students, and will have a “syllabus B” prepared (a second syllabus for that same course). The Metro faculty were given the same request. Metro’s FA responded that they would comply when a pandemic plan was announced.
MnSCU Board of Trustees Teaching Award:
There is a BOT award calling for 64 nominations. They will award one $5,000 teaching award to each of the three different systems within MnSCU. Nancy has been asked about this process because it is a form of merit pay. This started more than three years ago, went through CTL, we had reps on CTL, and it came to a statewide meet and confer. There isn’t anything we can do about it now because MnSCU followed the correct process. Would we be in favor of such a reward if it just acknowledges excellence in teaching? Perhaps if we poll our membership they may be in favor. Bemidji’s senate requested this be discussed again in the context of merit pay. Things have changed in the system (IPESL) since the inception of this award.
Recess 9:30 p.m. Thursday, November 30.
Called to order at 8:34 a.m., Friday, December 1.
Financial Report:
Cathy Summa gave the financial report. Expenses and revenue are up from last year.
The Ad Hoc Treasury Committee:
The Committee has been meeting and has recommendations for the Board. The Committee recommends we retain the services of Merrill Lynch. The Committee made a recommendation to the Operating Procedures as follows:
To replace the existing Operating Procedure language on CH. IX Committees of the Board, D. Other Committees, 3. Investment Committee (IC) to read:
Ch. IX Committees of the Board, D. Other Committees, 3. Treasurer’s Advisory Committee (TAC)
a. The Board shall appoint a Treasurer’s Advisory Committee, the membership of which shall include the Treasurer, the IFO Executive Assistant, and four members of the Board.
b. The
Treasurer’s Advisory Committee shall meet a minimum of once/semester at a time
to coordinate coincide with scheduled Board meetings. These
meetings shall be scheduled and called by the Treasurer at least one month in
advance.
c. The duties of the Treasurer’s Advisory Committee shall include establishing (and annually reviewing) an investment policy to present to the Board, to advise the Treasurer on budgetary issues, and to review the annual budget prior to consideration by the Board.
d. The terms of the Treasurer’s Advisory Committee membership shall coincide with their appointment term to the Board. A Board member may serve up to two consecutive terms on the Treasurer’s Advisory Committee. The Treasurer shall serve as the chair of this committee throughout her/his term as Treasurer.
Rationale: The Ad-Hoc Treasury Committee has functioned extremely well since its implementation in spring 2006; it has met regularly and has completed its tasks in a timely and collegial manner. Most significantly, the Committee believes it is critical that members of the Board be involved in making decisions about managing IFO finances and investments because this group has the broadest understanding of IFO needs and direction, enabling it to take a holistic approach to the IFO investment strategy. Since the IFO Treasurer is not necessarily either a member of the Board or an expert in finance/banking/accounting, it is important to have others serve an advisory role.
It was moved the Board approve the Operating Procedure changes. Seconded. One change was made to strike the word “coordinate” and replace it with the word “coincide” [as noted above]. Carried
IFO Office Report:
Cathy Summa gave Donna Blake’s update to the Board because she was ill and unable to attend the meeting. Donna has completed all of her visits with the campus treasurers. Accounting recommendations will be given to the Executive Committee.
Donna completed her inventory of equipment at the St. Paul office and all of the campus locations. She will be making the necessary adjustments to the organization’s financial records. Having this inventory will be helpful for the organization in determining when equipment needs to be replaced.
FY06 Audit Update:
David Little, our auditor from Larson Allen, was present to give a report on the fiscal year 2006 audit and answer any questions.
St. Cloud Board Meeting:
At a previous Board meeting it was suggested that we have meetings in St. Cloud. Donna Blake prepared a report illustrating the costs associated with a St. Cloud meeting. The costs associated with having a meeting in St. Cloud were nearly identical to the costs associated with having a meeting in the Twin Cities. It was the general consensus of the Board that we continue having meetings in the Twin Cities. The Board is in favor of having our 07-08 Board meetings at the Roseville Radisson. It was moved that we received the file and reported the information. Seconded Carried with opposition
It was moved we have one meeting in St. Cloud next year. Seconded Failed
Equity Report:
Pat Arseneault gave an equity report to the Board. The Multicultural Issues Committee (MIC) met on November 3, 2006. Annie Henry will be the 06-07 MIC rep appointed to the Benefits Equity Statewide Issues Committee (BEC). The Salary Equity Committee representative from the MIC will be Michael Cheng from Southwest.
The MIC reported that they would be supportive of the IFO having representation on MnSCU’s Diversity Conference Planning Committee if MnSCU agrees to greater faculty representation on the planning committee and agrees to postpone the date of the conference until at least fall 2007, but postponing the conference to spring 2008 would be preferable. The MIC supports Debra Leigh continuing participation on this committee. Whitney Harris, MnSCU’s Director of Diversity and Multiculturalism, was invited to attend their December 4 meeting to discuss their ideas. The MIC honored Karen Sterner and Annie Henry, who have retired from the committee, for their good service to this committee and the union. The MIC reaffirmed its request for $10,000 for FY08 in order to host a conference.
The Feminist Issues Committee (FIC) met on November 17, 2006. Tamara Berg will be the 06-07 FIC rep appointed to the BEC. The FIC encouraged the Board to select a representative from each of the IFO equity standing committees (MIC, FIC, and the GLBTA) to serve on MnSCU’s Diversity Conference Planning Committee. The FIC reaffirmed its request for $10,700 in FY08 in order to offer a $5,000 FIC grant beginning in May 2008.
The GLBTA Issues Committee appointed Ria Newhouse to a 06-07 term on the BEC. The GLBTA Issues Committee reaffirmed its budget request of $8,000 for FY08.
The joint MnSCU IFO Salary Review Committee (SRC) met on October 20, 2006 to interview two consultant groups who responded to the RFP for the 2006 salary equity study. The SRC met on November 3, 2006, to discuss the interviews and make a recommendation to MnSCU with regard to hiring a consultant. The SRC recommended Segal Sibson consulting firm, based in part on its large Higher Education client base and breadth of experience with salary studies in higher education.
BEC it was moved we constitute that committee and establish a budget. Seconded Carried with opposition
The Treasurer will bring budget recommendations to the next Board meeting. We have a “taskforce budget” but that needs to be transferred over to this standing committee budget and be given a code. It was moved the item labeled “state taskforces” be relabeled “Benefits Equity Statewide Issues Committee.” Seconded Carried
Grievance Report:
Pat Arseneault gave a grievance report.
Two LOUs - Article 16 Payment Upon Death:
The Board reviewed two LOUs and a spread sheet explaining the current contract
benefits when a faculty member dies before retirement. These were presented to
MnSCU; initially they were likely to be signed. Mary Leary has made it clear
that MnSCU is not interested in executing LOUs outside of the bargaining
table/negotiations process. The IFO Negotiating Team gave their approval on
these two LOUs. We need to remind the membership that if you don’t want your
death benefits to go to your estate then you will want to name your
beneficiary. It was moved we approve LOU #1 and LOU #2. Seconded Carried.
MnSCU’s Assessment for Course Placement Committee:
We have two volunteers: Carol Mohrbacher (SCSU) and Ethan Krase (Winona). One more volunteer is needed from the state university system. It was moved to approve the two names. Seconded. We will contact the reps to notify them of these assignments. Carried
Pandemic Planning:
Cathy Summa met with some faculty from New Orleans, Xavier College and discussed their pandemic plans. After Hurricane Katrina, they cancelled everyone’s contracts and invited them back in a hand-picked fashion. This happened at other campuses as well. Xavier cautioned us strongly to make certain our system’s pandemic plans weren’t strike preparations or a way to cancel our contract. There is a series of questions on this regarding faculty pay. Russ Stanton has been involved in these discussions and can address this concern with the legislature. Pandemic planning may apply to terms and conditions of employment and may need to be brought to the bargaining table. According to one Board member, an administrator at St. Cloud was given a strike plan to use when formulating a pandemic plan. It was moved we send this to the negotiations committee seconded. Seldat feels this issue needs to be researched more by Russ – Government Relations – so we are more prepared at the negotiations and local level. Motion failed. This issue will be explored further by Russ.
Operating Procedures Alcohol Policy:
It was moved and seconded that the Board limit this discussion to 20 minutes and approve the EC recommendation as follows:
EC minutes 10/12-13/06: It was moved we recommend to the Board [part 1] that the IFO allows individual campus faculty associations to establish their own policy on whether or not campus funds may be used for expenditures and/or reimbursement for alcohol. [part 2] At the state level, IFO funds may be used to purchase or reimburse expenditures for alcohol at a rate of up to $10.00 for each individual per day. Receipts must be provided delineating the amounts for alcohol. [Friendly addition by the Board:] The local offices will be notified of this change. Seconded Carried
Larkin moved to separate out the motion into two issues. Nancy agreed to separate out the motion (as noted above as part 1 and part 2). A vote was taken on part 1 pertaining to the local level. The motion carried with opposition. Part 2 was discussed. Phillips moved a role call vote seconded by Ruth. 7 in favor 11 opposed - role call voting The motion failed. The motion was read again (part 2), a vote was taken and the motion carried with opposition noted at the request of the three MSU Moorhead delegates in attendance. The issue was confusing and questions were left unanswered. It was moved the motions for the revised alcohol policies go into effect on Tuesday, December 5. Seconded. Carried
It was moved we request the Executive Committee consider a maximum reimbursement amount for meals and bring back a recommendation to the Board. Seconded Carried
Alexander requested our alcohol policy be put on our webpage. The policy is listed in our Operating Procedures which are on the website. Ruth requested that a total of expenditures spent on alcohol be in the state office. Nancy felt this would be very difficult to achieve, but would speak to Donna Blake about its feasibility.
Dates and Location of 08 Delegate Assembly:
Cindy Finch proposed that the dates for the 2008 Delegate Assembly be scheduled for March 28-29 with a Board meeting on the afternoon of Thursday, March 27, 2008. There were no objections stated and she will proceed with scheduling the DA for this time. There was discussion on the location of the meeting. Some concerns were stated with the Four Points Sheraton Minneapolis and the Roseville Radisson location. A Board member suggested that Cindy conduct a site visit to the Crowne Plaza Minneapolis Airport West hotel located at Highways 494 & 100.
Membership Report:
Cindy Finch gave a report to the Board. If Board members would like to see more information on these membership reports, please let her know.
Academic Affairs Report:
Debra Japp gave a report to the Board. There are great opportunities through MOHE and the education departments at each institution and were informed that this is a good source of funding. Debra’s impression of the Teacher Center is that decisions are not being made at COPE meetings rather they are sharing ideas. Two-year partnerships is a topic on the next COPE agenda. The IFO is against the CC/TCs offering baccalaureate degrees.
It is a hard balancing act for Debra to participate in all of the MnSCU committees which are her responsibility. Because of how MnSCU is structuring all of their meetings, we may need someone else who is informed and involved with teacher education to participate in some of these meetings. It was moved that the Board direct Nancy in conjunction with the Executive Committee to develop additional staffing strategies for the rest of this year. Seconded Carried
Currently there isn’t a job description or evaluation procedure set for the Academic Affairs Coordinator (AAC) position. The IFO wants to get a better handle on all of these activities in the system. Teacher education, technology and policy are a big piece to this position. Nancy requested that Debra help her structure this position. The AAC should have an office at the IFO, and may need a credit card as well and an email account. The IFO once had a full-time AAC position held by Gunner Wickstrom but did away with the position after the merger. More thorough and intensive attention needs to be paid to academic affairs issues both internally and externally and posted on the IFO website.
Local Campus Reports:
Winona: A request for data on faculty adjuncts has been made and a couple of our board members are going to sit down with them. Several positions are being filled and having issues with search committees.
Metro: Spring registrations are looking good. Several search committees for positions. A new IT Advisory Committee and search committee issues. Center of Excellence for strategic information and technology security has an effective model.
Bemidji: Submitted a written report. Issues addressed were the May term, the BOT teaching award, pandemic planning/syllabus B, and guidelines for awarding emeritus status.
Mankato: A big issue with doctoral programs is graduate faculty status; Steve thinks that the faculty may have a starting point on the issue. The FA is recommending that the maximum teaching load for graduate faculty is 16 hours; they think administration will be agreeable to that maximum. The problem areas tend to be at the middle / MSUAASF level where decisions are made without consultation. We seem to get good support at the upper level i.e., with the President and upper administration. In the sports area; our campus has not gone to Division 1. This issue will come to our M&C and it will be a big issue; there likely will be groups that want to go to Division 1 and some groups that will not want to go to Division 1.
St. Cloud: Our Provost wants to go to Division 1 for sports, but we need to keep our eye on it because of the money involved. On IPESL, at M&C, the provost told the President to let us (the faculty) do what we want on IPESL, so we are being allowed to do what we want. Another issue, St. Cloud uses administrative designees in the grievance process at Step I for the Provost. The problem is that the designee does not seem to speak with the voice of the Provost and grievance resolutions by these designees are not carried out.
Legislative Report:
Russ gave a legislative report and reported on the election results. MnSCU is requesting $177 million over two years from the legislature and $270 for new spending. Russ gave a summary on MnSCU’s budget request. The budget calls for a 3.5% per year inflation adjustment – the IFO fought vigorously for this throughout the budget development process. The students are not supporting the budget which includes a 4% increase per year for tuition.
The GRC Co-chairs, John Palmer and Clark Johnson, presented the GRC legislative goals to the Board for approval.
2007 Legislative Goals
MnSCU Operating Budget Request
Funding Policy
Tuition
Capital Budget (Bonding)
Retirement Issues
Miscellaneous
Financial Aid
Collective Bargaining
Academic Issues
25. We oppose additional money to create programs/initiatives that duplicate or are in competition with programs that are currently offered by a state university.
26. To improve the professionalization of K-12 teachers and to support initiatives in areas such as science and math, we oppose alternative teacher licensure programs that are not sponsored or cosponsored by an accredited college or university teacher preparation program.
On goal #2 Cathy Summa suggested that the GRC alter the wording on competitive salaries. Clark stated that the IFO chooses to define quality and compensation. A change was made to goal #2 to add the language as noted/underlined above.
On goal #3 a change was made to add language as noted/underlined above.
A motion was made to approve goals 1-4. Seconded Carried
A motion was made to approve goals 5-7. Seconded Carried
A motion was made to approve goal 8. Seconded Carried
A motion was made to approve goal 9. Seconded Carried
On goal #11 a change was made as noted above.
A motion was made to approve goals 10-13. Seconded Carried
On goal #15 new language was added as noted/underlined above.
A motion was made to approve goals 14-18. Seconded Carried
A motion was made to approve goals 19-23. Seconded Carried
Goal #24 was changed as noted/underlined above.
A motion was made to approve goal 24. Seconded Carried
It was moved we refer goal 25 back to the GRC committee – the wording was confusing. Seconded Carried
A motion was made to approve goal 26. Seconded Carried
Legislative Announcements:
The DFL fundraiser is scheduled for January 22, 2007. IFO Lobby Day is scheduled for February 21-22.
MnSCU FAN Club:
The MnSCU Foundation has created an organization called FAN. They are inviting faculty to participate in the FAN Club. The GRC is very concerned that it infringes upon the IFO’s exclusivity rights under PELRA and the faculty contract which states that the IFO is the official voice of the faculty. The GRC passed a motion for the Director of Labor Relations to explore a grievance against the Chancellor for allowing this to go forward. Also, this hasn’t gone to meet and confer. It was moved the Board direct Nancy Black to research the legality and appropriateness for faculty recruitment of the FAN Club. Seconded. Carried
Move to adjourn 1:45 p.m.