MSCA/Salem Chapter Newsletter
November 26, 2001

President's Message - Paul F. McGee November 26, 2001

Contract Funding
The beat goes on, and on, and on and the deadline keeps changing. Funding for our contract was not included in the budget sent to the Governor on November 21st. MSCA President Pat Markunas, MTA Executive Director Ed Sullivan, BHE Chair Steve Tocco, Chancellor Judy Gill, the MTA Governmental Division, and all nine State College Presidents have been very active in lobbying for funding our contract.

On Wednesday, November 21st, our representatives were able to receive commitments from both Speaker of the House Tom Finneran, and Governor Swift that 'vintage' contracts in the Ways and Means Committee will be funded in a supplemental budget no later than December 5th. Our contract is considered a 'vintage' contract. Yogi Berra had a saying that it's not over until it's over - and boy do I wish it were over!

Thanks to all those who mailed the postcards and contacted their representatives - our voice was heard. Also in the air is a provision for an Early Retirement Incentive Program that for the first time in memory could include Higher Education. I have included an email message that Chapter Presidents received from Pat Markunas describing the legislative action on the budget and our contract funding. I will keep you informed.

Pay Adjustments
Recently some members received a pay raise representing an adjustment under Article XIII-A, Minimum Salary Formula. The college funded these adjustments. This adjustment had an effective date December 31, 2000 and retroactive payments will be made at a later date. It is also agreed that promotion and terminal degree adjustments will be paid at the new rates effective August 26, 2001. Chairs' stipends will be paid at the newly effective rates as well.

DGCE Grades
The college has agreed to pay the amount due faculty members for teaching in the DGCE program before final grades are due for the Fall 2001 semester. These payments will be made on or about December 21st, in accordance with a request made by the local chapter. In order for this agreement to continue, faculty must honor their contractual obligation and submit grades by December 26th.

Professional Development Money
Application forms for both the Professional Development Continuing Scholarship money and the Professional Development Supplementary Continuing Scholarship money have been distributed to full-time members of the bargaining unit.

As a reminder, I strongly recommend that members apply well before deadlines of December 31, 2001 and January 31, 2002. If you have not received the forms, please contact Academic Affairs and they will provide you with the appropriate forms.

When funding becomes available, funds may be applied to out-of-state travel for professional development and other professional responsibilities for faculty and librarians.

Committee on Promotions
Kathy Dow has submitted her resignation from the Committee on Promotions. Nominations are open to complete her term (2000-2002). Any full-time tenured member, associate or above, who will not be on a leave of absence during the term is eligible.

If you are interested in serving on this committee, please notify the MSCA Salem Chapter office at SB-205B or call extension 6920 no later than Wednesday, December 5th @ noon.

Restrictions: no member of the following departments may be nominated: Nursing, Biology,Sociology, Social Work, Chemistry & Physics, or English. No Chair of any department may be nominated.

Holiday Party
On behalf of the Executive Committee, I wish you and your families a happy holiday season.

I hope to see as many of you as possible at the Chapter's Holiday Party on Wednesday, December 12th from 11:30 to 1:30 pm in the MLK room, Ellison Student Center.

MSCA/Salem Chapter Executive Committee Meeting
There will be an Executive Committee meeting on Thursday, December 6th, at 2:00 pm in the Salem Room, Alumni House, South Campus. The agenda will include information on the contract funding and a report on changes to the chapter bylaws. This meeting is open to all members.

MTA Creditable Service
In recent MTA publications there was mention of members receiving creditable service for part-time service prior to 1993. According to the State Retirement Board this provision does not apply to those members who were paid as "03" consultants. To be eligible for this benefit, part-time members had to be contributing to the retirement system. Part-time unit members at State Colleges are hired as "03" consultants hence, they are not eligible for this benefit.

Message from Grievance Officer, Bill Mahaney...Tenure Removal
On November 14, 2001, the Salem State College Board of Trustees met to consider President Nancy Harrington's recommendation to terminate Dr. Adeleke Atewologun as a member of the tenured faculty at the College, a recommendation sent forward even though the Hearing Committee of five tenured senior faculty unanimously found that none of the allegations made by the President had any substance.

Although Dr. Atewologun had been told earlier that he would have 30 minutes to address the Board, he learned not long before the meeting that he would be allowed 30 minutes only if the Board met in "Executive Session." If it held an open meeting, as Dr. Atewologun had requested, he would not be permitted to address the Board. (The Board was legally correct, except that it could, if it wanted, have allowed him to speak in open session--it was not, however, legally compelled to do so.)

Further, at approximately 1:30 p.m. on the 14th, Lee Weissinger, an MTA attorney, received from the College's attorney a package of material that had been earlier distributed to the Board and that included a new document of over 25 pages that the President had submitted to support her case. [I first saw this document at 4:30 on the 14th. Dr. Atewologun had not had any opportunity to read it before he spoke to the Board, so he had no way to respond to it.]

Because Dr. Atewologun wanted to address the Board in open session, that request was again made orally on the 14th. It was denied. When Paul McGee asked to address the Board to comment upon the process, that request was denied. After Dr. Atewologun decided to address the Board in "Executive Session," non-involved parties were, appropriately under the law, asked to leave (including MSCA President Pat Markunas, MSCA Vice President and Statewide Grievance Officer Frank Minasian, MSCA Salem Chapter President Paul McGee, at least two members of the Hearing Committee, and several of Dr. Atewologun's family and friends). Both Donna Sirutis, MTA Higher Education consultant, and I attempted to remain since we had both been heavily involved in this case from its inception. Our request was denied (although the Board legally could have permitted us to remain). When Dr. Atewologun then asked that the two Campus Security officers present be asked to leave (since they were not involved) that request was denied.

At the "Executive Session," Dr. Atewologun addressed the Board, I am told, in a calm and professional manner. He was asked only one question--why he decided not to have a hearing before the Board. Dr. Atewologun replied that he would have welcomed a hearing before the full Board, but did not wish to have his hearing before one individual who was not even a member of the Board. There was no Board discussion. Then, on a roll call vote, the Board unanimously voted to remove Dr. Atewologun as a member of the tenured faculty "immediately" (apparently to deny him the two semesters terminal pay which Article IX mandates unless the Board votes otherwise).

The case, however, is far from over. Even before the 11/14 meeting, Lee Weissinger, Donna Sirutis, and I, along with Dr. Atewologun had been preparing the grievances going to arbitration. After the events of 11/14, we have several more to prepare.

You will be kept informed of developments.

Message from Grievance Officer, Bill Mahaney... Peoplesoft
President Harrington has requested that we put our Chapter grievance regarding PeopleSoft "in recess" so that we can together consider how PeopleSoft is impacting/will impact the academic area and try to work out problems. We have agreed to her request. The President's position is most welcome--and I am confident that most, if not all, problems can be solved!

You will be kept informed.

In the interim, if you have not already done so, please let the MSCA/Salem Chapter know what problems you have encountered/anticipate encountering in the implementation of PeopleSoft. Please do so, in writing only, as soon as possible. Please send your comments to the chapter office, SB-205B Attn: Paul F. McGee, President, MSCA/Salem Chapter

Message from MSCA President, Patricia Markunas...
I spent most of yesterday (Wednesday, November 21st) at the State House, along with MTA staff and lobbyists, monitoring the legislative action on the budget and our contract funding. Here is the latest information we have on these issues.

FY'02 State Budget
The House-Senate conference committee released its version of the FY'02 budget at midnight Tuesday night. It was adopted Wednesday evening and will be sent to the governor for her action. Both houses voted to return for a formal session on December 5th to consider override votes of vetoes the governor may make.

The highlights (or lowlights) of the adopted budget include:

1. No freezing of Question 4 (the tax cut) or consideration of it on December 5th.

2. $50 million in cuts to higher education accounts. The state colleges' operating budgets were reduced an average of 2.1% when compared to last year's appropriations. Library/Reference Materials were reduced to $5 million, compared to last year's funding of $14 million. The General Scholarship account was cut by $8-9 million.

3. 85%/15% for state employee health insurance premiums was preserved.

Contract Funding
MTA Executive Director Ed Sullivan and representatives of approximately 30 other state employee unions met early Wednesday afternoon with Governor Swift. She said she supported funding all the state employee contracts during this session as well as an Early Retirement Incentive Proposal for state employees. She promised to sign all funded contracts when she received them.

Immediately afterwards, MTA initiated for the group of labor leaders a meeting with Speaker Finneran. The Speaker made a public commitment to fund the MSCA contract, along with the other state employee contracts filed earlier this year, in a supplemental budget no later than December 5th. He also made a public commitment that, should the Governor veto the 85/15 health insurance premiums, that would be the first veto to be considered by the House for override on December 5th.

The membership needs to know how effective the postcard/email/phone call/visit campaign was in getting these commitments. Every member who supported the MSCA legislative strategy is to be commended for that support. You made the difference in getting the Legislature, particularly the House, to act.

Early Retirement Incentive Program
The Governor has submitted an Early Retirement Incentive Program for state employees that would cover higher education employees. The incentive is the "five years" age and/or service, similar to earlier programs. All Chapter Presidents have copies of the proposed legislation, which was not acted upon by the Legislature yesterday but could be considered this year.

Board of Higher Education
A "special" BHE meeting has been called for Tuesday, November 27th, in the City of Worcester, presumably for the purpose of dealing with the higher education budget cuts. I will represent the MSCA at this meeting and report to you on it.