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Faculty Update

_{APRIL 2006}

In This Issue:

PRESIDENT'S COMMENTS

by Nancy J. Black, IFO President  

I would like to thank all of the IFO members who voted in the statewide IFO election on April 11^th and for my re-election to a second term.   It has been an honor to serve you for the past two years, and I look forward to working with you for the next two years.

This has been an especially busy month for the IFO.  The IFO Delegate Assembly was held on March 23^rd and 24^th.   I want to thank the more than 150 faculty members who gave up two full days of their time to serve as delegates to this year's Delegate Assembly.   The Delegate Assembly is the most basic governing body of the IFO.  The IFO Board and Standing Committees are guided by the positions taken by the delegates. 

I was especially pleased to see many new faces in the crowd this year.  Our organization's strength comes from membership involvement, and from what I witnessed at the Delegate Assembly, we have a promising future.  

Since this is an election year, we invited all of the major candidates for governor to address the assembly on higher education matters.   Our goal was to familiarize the candidates with our issues, and make the state of higher education part of the election debate this year.  Chancellor McCormick also spoke to the delegates during the dinner banquet and fielded questions.  See the article on the Delegate Assembly below.

On March 22^nd and 23^rd the IFO held its annual Lobby Day at the Capitol.   Members of IFO’s Executive Committee, Government Relations Committee, GLBTA Issues Committee and Academic Affairs Committee met face-to-face with the leadership of the House and Senate, the Chairs of the House and Senate higher education committees and bonding committees, and campus area legislators.  The faculty also met with Susan Heegaard, the Director of the Minnesota Office of Higher Education, and Governor Pawlenty’s spokesperson on higher education matters. 

I am always impressed by the open legislative process in Minnesota, where faculty can meet directly with top legislative leaders for candid discussion of our concerns.  (See article below.)

The legislative process is also at peak speed now.   On the positive side, a very large bonding bill is moving

IFO President Nancy Black chats with Higher Education Chair Bud Nornes and MnSCU Chancellor James McCormick prior to testifying on the Bonding Bill.

through the House and Senate.  I had an opportunity to testify for the bill, along with Chancellor McCormick and student leaders, in both the House and Senate. MnSCU institutions, especially state universities, are big winners in the bills.  

On the not so positive side, this is an election year and there are lots of ill informed bills being floated for political purposes.  Much of our time this session is being spent trying to kill measures like the constitutional amendment defining marriage, the bill to require professors to speak clear English, alternative licensure legislation that would lower the standards for teacher licensure in certain circumstances, and a “report card” on teacher preparation programs.  So far, we seem to be winning, albeit by slim margins.  

There is an old adage that “No person’s life, liberty or property is safe while the legislature is in session.”  We are looking forward to the end of this session.

Nancy Black Re-elected IFO President

In an election that concluded April 11, 2006, Nancy Black was re-elected to a second two year term as IFO President.   She had no opposition.   Below are the results by campus and the statewide totals.   The new term begins July 1, 2006. 

Faculty Meet With Legislative Leaders on Lobby Day

by Russ Stanton, Director of Government Relations

About 25 faculty leaders met with legislative leaders at the annual IFO Lobby Days on March 22^nd and 23^rd.   

At a dinner at the Minnesota History Center on the evening of March 22^nd the faculty hosted four legislative leader: Senate Higher Education Committee Chair, Sandy Pappas;  House Higher Education Committee Chair, Bud Nornes; Senate DFL Majority Leader, Dean Johnson; and, House DFL Minority Leader, Matt Entenza.  The speakers fielded questions on a wide variety of topics.   There was general agreement among

the speakers that the main focus of this session would be a large bonding bill to build and maintain state infrastructure, and that MnSCU would be given high priority in the bill.   They agreed with IFO positions that the MnSCU priority list should be honored, and that the Governor’s proposed HEAPR appropriation was entirely too low.   All speakers agreed there would be very little supplemental appropriation money available this session pending the settlement of the lawsuit challenging the 75 cent/pack tobacco “fee.”

On March 23^rd the IFO hosted a breakfast with campus area legislators.   Following the breakfast the group heard from the House and Senate authors of the bonding bills: Senator Keith Langseth (DFL-Moorhead) and Rep. Dan Dorman (R-Albert Lea).   In addition they heard from House Speaker Steve Sviggum (R-Kenyon), House Majority Whip Marty Seifert (R-Marshall), and members of the House Higher Education Committee.   Faculty discussed IFO legislative goals, including radiation of the IFO contract, passing the bonding bill, and defeating the constitutional amendment defining marriage.

Lobby Days concluded with an extended conversation with Susan Heegaard, Director of the Minnesota Office of Higher Education, and Governor Pawlenty’s advisor and spokesperson on higher education matters.   Heegaard responded to concerns about the repeal of the higher education funding formula and the new accountability measures being developed by her office.

For pictures from the Lobby Day activities, click here.
 

IFO Holds 16^th Delegate Assembly

Over 150 faculty members participated as delegates in the bi-annual IFO Delegate Assembly, held March 24-25, 2006 in Roseville.  

The delegates passed numerous resolutions setting IFO’s positions regarding contract negotiations, legislative issues, and academic affairs matters.  These resolutions guide the IFO Board and standing committees.  To view the resolutions as passed by the Delegate Assembly, click here. 

The Delegate Assembly also approved a budget for the IFO for the next fiscal year.  As part of this process, the delegates approved a dues/fees increase of 6.67%.   This was the first increase since 2002. 

Delegates also heard from four candidates for Governor of Minnesota regarding their positions on higher education matters.   The candidates were Attorney General Mike Hatch (DFL), Senator Becky Lourey (DFL), Peter Hutchinson (Independent) and Senator Steve Kelly (DFL). 

At the dinner banquet, MnSCU Chancellor James McCormick spoke and fielded questions from faculty on a wide range of issues.   Also attending were Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Linda Baer, Vice-Chancellor for Human Resources, Bill Tschida, Associate Vice Chancellor for Human Resources, Mary Leary, and the Executive Director for Diversity and Multiculturalism, Whitney Harris.
 

Joint MnSCU IFO Salary Review Committee Conducted FY05 Annual Reviews

NEGOTIATOR'S REPORT

by Rod Henry, Chief Negotiator

The week after the IFO Delegate Assembly I and some of the other members of the Negotiations Team went to New York City to attend a conference hosted by the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions. The conference took place at the CUNY Baruch campus and featured attendees and speakers from both the administration and faculty sides as well as other stakeholders in academia.

Several things became quickly apparent. Firstly, as an organization, we have been doing a lot of things right as shown by some provisions in our contract that other, larger groups are still attempting. An example of this would be our salary equity process. As imperfect as it is, it is something that many other faculty organizations have been unable to obtain. We also have done a better job dealing with adjunct, community, and fixed-term faculty than many other groups. Secondly, we face many threats to continued progress in our ability to work in an environment which offers long-term stability. Topics such as "Is Collective Dialogue Possible in Turbulent Times?" , "Can We Restore the Ideals of Higher Education in a Market-Driven Era?", and "Future of Academic Freedom" indicate some of the short- and long-term threats.

We collected a lot of data and participated in as many of the panels, roundtables, and workshops as possible. My personal opinion is that the timing of this conference as well as its content was quite useful - the Team members were able to compare the discussions at the conference with similar discussions at the Delegate Assembly. We will be studying these issues further and will be talking about these in some detail in future IFO Updates.
 

IFO DA Awards for Outstanding Contributions

CITY WALK CONDOMINIUM FOR SALE

CONTACT US

The IFO Faculty Update is published and distributed by the Inter Faculty Organization.  If you need to contact the Inter Faculty Organization, our address is 165 Western Avenue North, Suite 8, Saint Paul, MN 55102, or you can reach us by phone at 800/325-9644 or 651/227-8442.  You can send us an email by clicking here.