Faculty News Notes May 5, 2014

5 May 2014

VOTING INSTRUCTIONS:

            Voting for union officers will begin Tuesday, May 6 and will end on May 12.  The polls are located in the new Library/Student Success Center, at the Circulation Desk of the Library.  Following are the hours that the polls will be open:

                                    Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Monday:  9 a,.m. until 6 p.m.

                                    Friday:  9 a.m. until 3 p.m.

                                    Saturday:  10 a.m. until 1 p.m.

            You will need to bring with you a picture ID because the library staff may not know all of the faculty members, particularly the part-time members.

            Please be advised that Chris Halligan has withdrawn his candidacy for Vice-President;  he did not feel that he could be available during summer and winter holidays due to his responsibilities for elder care.

Negotiations Up-date:

            Last Friday’s negotiating meeting was more productive than other recent ones. The District team was willing to go through the proposals carefully to determine where the disagreements occur.  We seem to finally be largely in agreement on Evaluations;  however, there was considerable concern over the distribution of the tiny bit of money that is available to faculty.  The District has offered to put the entire amount of $235,000 onto the part-time/overload faculty schedule, while the Federation wants to see approximately half applied to the full-time schedule.  The district has claimed that it needs to make the part-time schedule more competitive with other districts to attract part-time faculty because our part-time/overload schedule is extremely low, whereas the full-time schedule is at or above the state average at most positions on the salary schedule.

            The District will provide a counter-proposal on compensation at our next meeting, which is this week on Friday.  If the District gets the counter proposal to our team before the next meeting, we will let you know, because we will need your input via email.

Congratulations to Liza Rios’ Debate Team:

            Although we had not had a Debate Team in more than seven years, the first semester of the Debate Team took  six awards:

                                    Parliamentary Speaker Award, Rookie Division:  1^st place

                                    Parliamentary Debate, Rookie Division:  2 gold medals for individual achievement

                                    Parliamentary Debate, Rookie Division:  2 silver medals for individual achievement

                                    Parliamentary Speaker Award, Novice Division:  1 4^th place for individual achievement.

      Within the first year of her joining the faculty here, Liza has formed a Debate Team and has taken the students into their first competition, where they did exceptionally well.

      Special thanks to Bob Butler and the ASB for their financial and moral support of the Debate Team.

Retirements:

      Bob Butler, who has directed the Student Activities and introduced a generation of students to leadership and governance, is retiring after more than 28 years of service to the Compton Community College District and its students.  He will be sorely missed by students and faculty alike.

      Ann Sweeney, who has taught in the Registered Nursing Program for ten years, is also retiring.   Both she and Mr. Butler were honored at last week’s Academic Senate meeting.

                 

Part-Time/Overload Sick Leave:               

            This has been an issue for overload faculty since 2006, but for counselors and librarians whose formula for computing overload assignments differs from classroom faculty’s formula, the accounting has not occurred since 2000.  The reason is that the very primitive system that was in use prior to 2006 is extremely difficult to access, despite its information having been archived. The District has been given a deadline of June 30, 2014 to provide part-time and overload faculty the up-dated accounting of their sick leave, including that which was recorded prior to 2006.

            According to the District, the information has been gathered, but the absences have not been deducted. We shall see what happens at the end of June.

DON’T FORGET TO VOTE;  PLEASE NOTE THE TIMES THAT THE POLLS ARE OPEN IN THE NEW Library/ SSC .  Don’t forget to bring a picture ID and be sure to initial the members’ roster before obtaining a ballot.

Ballots will be counted by a librarian and library clerk and monitored by the Faculty Representative to the Board at 6 p.m. on Monday, May 12.