6-hour bargaining session on July 28 covered several topics, including workload & compensation

The bargaining session on Wednesday, July 28, lasted about 6 hours. Faculty Team members said the day overall was productive, and interactions between the teams were professional, but Faculty and Administration remain far apart on key issues including workload and compensation.

The teams reached a tentative agreement on language for Tenure (Article 14) that maintains all of the fundamental provisions of the current article, including the 5-year probationary period prior to applying for tenure.

The teams also discussed language for Article 10 (Annually Contracted Faculty) and Article 15 (Professional Enrichment), but examination of these topics will continue at a future bargaining session.

Faculty Chief Negotiator Greg Klein said, “The administration presented their ideas for workload and compensation as part of a ‘package’ of proposals for our team to review.”

“While we appreciate that the administration is beginning to acknowledge that some changes to the workload language may be needed, many of the changes they are willing to consider seem far away from what’s needed to ensure fairness in workload for all faculty members.”

“Regarding compensation, our team discussed with the administration what our research tells us about Cincinnati State faculty compensation compared to other community colleges in the state,” Greg said.

“Of course, our faculty proposals always take into consideration what the College can reasonably afford—but Cincinnati State faculty have made a lot of sacrifices in the recent past, while continuing to serve our students at the highest level– so it shouldn’t be out of the question for us to seek a reasonable raise.”

Faculty Team members worked late into the night on July 28 to try to develop additional ideas for resolving differences with the administration over workload.

Bargaining will resume at 11 a.m. on July 29, and another bargaining session is scheduled for July 30 as well.