President's Message - Paul F. McGee
Welcome back. I hope that you and your family have enjoyed a wonderful summer. To new faculty/librarians I would like to welcome you to our membership and if the MSCA/Salem Chapter can be of assistance please call us at x6366.

Bargaining continued during the summer. Many issues still remain on the table including salary, merit pay, post-tenure review, distance learning, governance, sick pay buyback, lab equivalencies, and personal days. The next session is scheduled for September 15, 2000 and the agenda item is distance learning.

In my short tenure as Salem Chapter/MSCA President, I am impressed on a daily basis with the dedication and commitment to quality that is exhibited by the faculty and librarians at Salem State. This newsletter includes a listing of faculty who are willing to represent us in governance. Faculty also represented us at collective bargaining, during the summer, for both the day and evening contracts. When I called members and asked them to staff the ratification tables, all members contacted agreed to volunteer. A total of twenty-three (23) faculty and librarians volunteered to help with the ratification vote. The College is truly fortunate to have such wonderful resources.

Contract Ratification Vote
The results of the ratification vote on the one-year contract extension was 579 for, 92 against and 3 blank. We are not sure when the money will arrive. The contract must be approved by the Governor's Office and then forwarded to the Legislature. The Legislature is currently out of session and will not resume formal business until January 2001. We will keep you informed.

Grievances and Problems for Fall 2000 - William Mahaney
I will be on sabbatical leave for the Fall 2000 semester, but I will still be serving as Grievance Officer (and as your elected member of the MSCA Board of Directors).

If you have a question, problem, or possible grievance, please first call the union office (978-542-6366). If you have an emergency, you can reach me at (978) 535-5826 or lowtechmaster@earthlink.net. If I do not get back to you within 24 hours, please call Chuck Gould, who has graciously agreed to fill in for me when I am not available during my leave, at x6366.

Bargaining Report - DGCE Team/Thomas Luddy
The DGCE Bargaining Team met several times over the summer and has made some progress. Proposals have been exchanged and some language issues and definitions of terms have been settled. Meetings will continue once in September and on into October. Several major issues remain: among them are course equivalencies, contract courses, time of payment issues, graduate stipends and DGCE salaries. While we do not foresee a protracted period of negotiations to settle these issues, looming beyond them is even more difficult negotiation that will lead us into some uncharted contractual territory. Both sides have serious concerns about the impact of distance learning on programs and faculty. Securing proper remuneration and faculty contributions to the management of courses will be before us. We are also struggling to address the inroads of industrial education, such as Harcourt Higher Education, Inc., which is attempting to change methods and structures for some Higher Education. We need to face this matter through contractual language now before it becomes entrenched in Massachusetts.

Please address your concerns to your local team members: Thomas Luddy, English and Theatre, or Patricia Markunas, alternate, Psychology.

Faculty Spotlight
The Boston Globe recently ran two articles highlighting the work of Salem State College faculty.

On August 27, a feature on Professor Philip Kelly (SFL) described his work as part of an eight-member team that will study human movement and crowd behavior at the Opening Ceremonies of the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, on September 15. When 100,000 people converge on the stadium, the team will observe traffic flow and individual movement at the gates and will code their observations with a detailed alpha-numeric system. Kelly said, "We'll look at things such as how people interact when forced to stand on line, how they interact with security and each other. How they will react when the athletes enter the stadium." The Globe reports that the team's "recommendations on crowd control will be turned over to the Sydney Olympic Committee for implementation at future Olympics."

On Sunday, September 3, the Learning Section of the Boston Globe featured a tribute to Professor Sarah Greenberg (SWK). Greenberg's work was named this year's "Greatest Contribution to Social Work Education" by the Massachusetts chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. Executive Director Carol Brill said Greenberg was chosen "for her dedication and outstanding qualities as a teacher, her ground breaking research in the elderly issues area, and her commitment to advocating for services for the elderly." The Globe article described Greenberg's sensitive and dynamic interaction with her students and included an appreciative poem about her written by 1993 SSC graduate Maureen Masters.

Send suggestions for Faculty Spotlight to Patricia Johnston, Newsletter Editor, at the MSCA Office.

Part-Time, DGCE, and DCE Issues Meeting
At the MTA Annual meeting, a new business item was passed requiring the MTA to organize a state-wide meeting of part-time faculty members to discuss strategies for winning health and pension benefits. The MTA is doing a general mailing about the meeting to all MTA members. The meeting will be held on Saturday, September 23, 2000 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Natick, MA from 9:30 am to 12:30 PM. The MTA will be inviting representatives from the Government Indemnity Corporation and the State Retirement Board and, possibly, the State Treasurer's Office. If this issue is important to you, please attend.

DGCE Pool
If you have not already done so, please submit your application and updated resume to the Division of Continuing Education. Deadline is September 15, 2000 for inclusion in the DGCE pool.

Student Evaluation Forms
Included in the one-year contract extension is an agreement that during the Fall 2000 semester there will be preliminary training for both faculty and administrators concerning the new student evaluation form published by Educational Testing Service (ETS). A copy of the new form is available in the union office, Sullivan Building, Room 205B. Also in this contract extension, there is clear language that faculty will be held harmless for the lack of student evaluations for the past academic year.

Contracts Available
Contracts for the day and DGCE units are available in the chapter office for all unit members. Members may pick up copies of these agreements during the regular chapter office hours or by leaving a message at x6366. To keep down postage cost, please leave a campus address if possible.
Web page - Nancy George
The Salem Chapter/MSCA web page is a great place to find information on your chapter. In it you'll find committee rosters, a complete copy of the contract (in Adobe Acrobat Reader format), minutes of meetings, a chapter calendar, electronic copies of chapter newsletters, a directory of local politicians, and much more. Take a look! You'll find the page located at http://www.gis.net/~salem/. There is also a link from Salem State College's web page.

Salem Chapter/MSCA Executive Committee Meetings
Executive committee meetings for Fall 2000 will be held from 2:30 PM - 4:00 PM on Tuesday, September 12, Wednesday, October 11, Monday, November 6, and Tuesday, December 5, 2000. All members are welcome.

O'Keefe Center
The Pool and Ice Skating rink will be open to faculty and librarians, free of charge, during the following hours:

Pool - Daily from 12:00 to 2:30 PM

Ice Rink - Monday from 11:00 to 3:30

Tuesday and Thursday from 1:00 to 3:30

Wednesday and Friday from 12:30 - 3:30

Please bring your Salem State College ID.

Chapter Office
The Chapter Office will be open daily from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. Please contact us at (978) 542-6366 or msca@salem.mass.edu. Our address is Salem Chapter/MSCA, Sullivan Building, Room 205B. Please do not contact us through department phone numbers or mailboxes. If you have a question about salary, benefits, or working conditions, call us, not your department chairperson or dean. If you are not sure whether the question is union related, call us anyway. You pay a lot of money for dues and unless you contact us quickly and at the appropriate place we cannot help you.

Committee Vacancies
A number of committee vacancies still exist. We are therefore, requesting additional names to fill these committee vacancies. If you are interested in serving on any of these committees, please complete the form on the next page, stating the committee(s) you wish to serve on, and send it to the Salem Chapter/MSCA Office no later than Friday, September 22, 2000.

2000-2001 Contract Committees

Curriculum, Area A - Two vacancies exist.
Area D - One vacancy.

Academic Policies, Area B - Two vacancies, one must be a librarian.

2000-2002 Non-Contract Committees
College Union Policy. (2) One vacancy exists.
O'Keefe Complex Policies & Procedures. (3) One vacancy exists.
Foreign Language Waiver. (3) Two vacancies exist.
General Studies. (4) One vacancy still exists in Area D only.
Financial Aid. (2) One vacancy exists.
Honor & Memorialize. (3) All three vacancies still exist.
NEASC Steering Committee - One vacancy.

2000-2002 Salem Chapter Committees
Elections Committee. (5) One vacancy exists.
Political Action Committee. (5) All five vacancies exist.
Nominations Committee. (3) Two vacancies exist.

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I am willing to serve on the following committees.  (Please rank order your preferences):

Contractual	

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Non-Contractual	Salem/MSCA

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Please return to the Salem Chapter Office (SB205B) by September 22, 2000 at noon.  Thank you for your participation

Committee Appointments

Please see the MSCA Web Page Committee Roster for more information.