Progress on some issues & no movement on other issues at July 15 bargaining session

The Faculty and Administration bargaining teams met for about 4 hours on Thursday, July 15.

Faculty team members said there was some progress in resolving a few contract issues, but the discussion of possible changes to the workload article and other important elements of the contract remains unresolved.

Faculty Chief Negotiator Greg Klein said the teams were able to reach tentative agreement on a few changes to the contract language related to selection and hiring (Article 7), and on some new contract language related to development of online courses.

The Faculty team presented new concepts for calculating program chair workload units, using a metric that is reasonable and equitable. The Faculty team also presented a proposal related to providing access to funding for faculty professional development activities.

Greg said, “This bargaining session was a bit more collaborative than the June 25 session, but the sides still seem to be far apart in considering proposals for workload, professional enrichment, and some other contract articles.”

“There’s still been no discussion of compensation proposals, either,” Greg added.

“The Faculty team is committed to reaching a contract settlement that achieves meaningful solutions to concerns expressed by faculty members over the past several years,” Greg said.

“We continue to hope the administration team is interested in finding appropriate and equitable solutions, too.”

The next bargaining session is scheduled for Thursday, July 22. Additional sessions are scheduled for Wednesday, July 28, and Thursday, July 29.