How can I help?
We would love to have you get involved in the Union! You can
help in either a long term way or just once in a while, depending on how much
time you have. Those of us who are
already involved know that your time is limited – we’re adjunct professors,
too, and we know that the life of an adjunct is the life of a juggler. We
always need help with membership drives, publicity, and communications.
Contact our Union President David Kociemba
at David_Kociemba@emerson.edu
or david dot kociemba at
gmail.com, and be sure to include your phone number. The successes of the
AFEC-AAUP to date have come from the efforts of a small group of volunteers,
and any help is great help.
Getting involved in the Union
is a wonderful way to tap into your Emerson community by meeting your
professional colleagues and making a home at the school.
Do I have to join the Union and pay
dues, or is it optional?
As an adjunct faculty member at Emerson, you are
automatically part of the Union’s bargaining
unit. That means that the Union
represents you whether or not you actually pay dues and become a member. At
this time, the Union operates on the honor
system: although you get all the benefits of the Union
– including the significant pay raises instituted by the College in the fall
of 2003 – you are not forced to join. When membership reaches 64 percent of
part-time faculty, dues will be automatically deducted from your paycheck
once each fall and spring semester. We consider this extremely important to
the proper functioning and ultimate survival of the union. Without sufficient
funds we will not be able to fulfill our responsibilities to protect and
expand the rights of part-time faculty. Until then we count on your voluntary
dues paying to support our activities on your behalf.
Dues are currently a modest $70 a year. If you got more
than a $70 increase in your annual Emerson compensation because of the Union’s efforts, then joining is probably the fair
thing to do. Contact any of the Union Officers for a membership application.
If you want to vote on Union leadership and issues
including how much dues will be in the future, you do, of course, have to be
a paid member of the Union.
Currently, half of our dues stays with our Union, and is used to communicate its benefits to all
the members of the school (through mailings, this Web site, photocopying),
pay for legal services, and pay for members to attend Union-related
educational and networking meetings. The other half goes to the AAUP national
office, which spent considerable resources for four years helping us get this
contract.
In the long run, the Union
will only be as strong as we, collectively, make it. This is truly your
Union, so please join and get involved.
Whether you join the Union
or not, you are required to operate under the rules of the Union contract.
What’s the Emerson Union’s relationship
with the AAUP national office?
The official name of our Union
is the Affiliated Faculty of Emerson College, American Association of
University Professors (AFEC-AAUP). We
are an independent, stand-alone union with an affiliation with the AAUP. This is different from being a chapter
in a national union. When a union is a chapter, it is subject to ongoing
management input by the parent organization. Instead, our Union
makes all its own decisions and is not subject to any oversight by the AAUP.
We do, though, get to draw on the resources and expertise
of the AAUP in helping to establish equitable working conditions for
part-time faculty at our school. Our Union
is deeply indebted to the AAUP for its help in getting established and
getting a contract. The AAUP also helped when we had to file a grievance
against the College in August 2006 to get faculty paid properly.
The AAUP was founded in 1915 and is devoted to “developing
the standards and procedures that maintain quality in education and academic
freedom in this country's colleges and universities,” according to the
organization’s Web site. You can read more about the association at www.aaup.org.
Does the contract limit how many classes I can teach at Emerson?
Yes. Under this contract, you can teach 16 credits a year
(four 4-credit classes) in the Day School (the regular undergraduate and
graduate program) and Continuing Education program, combined. You can teach
as many classes as you would like in the Summer School program.
Prior to this contract, adjuncts could teach 20 credits a
year in the Day School and an unlimited number of Continuing Education
classes. This “cap” on the number of classes you can teach is new with this
contract and was vehemently opposed by the Union.
The College insisted on the cap.
Work that you do directing Independent Studies or Masters
Theses does not count toward the credit cap.
The vast majority of Emerson adjuncts annually teach 16
credits or fewer already, and the Union was
able to negotiate “grandfather” status for eighteen people who have taught at
the school for many years with heavy course loads. These folks are allowed to
teach more credits a year, although only 16 of those credits may be in the
Day School. The names of these people
are included in a Memorandum of Understanding that can be found towards the
end of the contract.
How does the College decide how much to pay me?
There is a chart in the contract at Article 4 that
determines the minimum salary you will receive for teaching a course at
Emerson. First figure out how many
credits you have taught at the school (if you don’t know, ask your department
chair). Most people have taught fewer than 64 credits, which puts them in
Step 1. Then see where your course falls within the per-credit salary
chart. If you’re teaching a 4-credit
class, multiply the number in the chart by four. This is the minimum salary you will be
paid.
Starting September 2004, the wages in the chart increased
by at least 3 percent each September.
The College can always pay more than the minimum.
This is explicitly written into the contract language.
I love the contract! Who should I thank?
Send your praise to Union President David Kociemba at David_Kociemba@emerson.edu
or or david dot kociemba at gmail.com. He’ll keep your comments in mind
as we prepare for our next contract negotiation.
I hate parts of the contract. Could it have been stronger?
Yes, it could have been stronger, but we think this is a
very good first contract. And, in fact, it’s a very rare contract
because it was negotiated by part-time faculty representing itself. Most part-time
faculty across the country are folded into full-time bargaining units, which
means they are not present at the bargaining table during negotiations.
We recognize the flaws and omissions in our contract,
and promise to do our best to correct them at the next round of negotiations
in 2007. Your input is important to creating a stronger contract. If you are
interested in becoming part of the negotiating team, please contact any of
the Union Officers.
There are parts of the contract I don’t understand.
Can you explain?
We tried to make the language as clear as we could,
although in spots we had to make it pretty legal-eze,
on the advice of our lawyer. Please send your questions to Union President
David Kociemba at David_Kociemba@emerson.edu or or david dot kociemba at gmail.com (and please include your phone
number) and we’ll clear up your questions.
I think the College is treating me unfairly. What’s the Grievance
procedure?
One of the new things that the Union contract has brought
to the adjunct teachers of Emerson is a formal process for grieving unfair
practices. The Union’s hope is that this
will be a useful, last step solution for making sure people are treated
fairly.
If you feel you are being treated unfairly, the first step
the Union recommends is for you to try to
resolve the matter by working with your department chair or other relevant
school officers. See people in person, make phone calls, or send Email (but
be careful of losing your temper via Email). You must try to rectify the
situation yourself before you turn to the Union.
Many issues can be solved more quickly and efficiently if the Union never gets involved.
If you have tried to solve the problem yourself and feel
like you are still being treated unfairly, do these three things:
- Consult
the Union contract. Is there a specific provision of the contract that
the school is in violation of? The Union
can not bring a grievance on your behalf unless there is a contract
violation.
- Make
several sets of photocopies of all relevant information – contracts,
Emails, letters, evaluations, etc. – and write out a clear, detailed
description of the history of the problem, the part of the contract that
the College is in violation of, and what solution you are seeking.
- Contact
Union Grievance Officer Brian McNeil at brian_mcneil@emerson.edu
or 617.824.7600 x 2143. Please
include your telephone number. Brian will take your request to the Union
officers, and as a team they will make a decision about the validity of
your claim and whether the Union will
put its resources toward filing a grievance on your behalf.
The Grievance Procedure is Article 6 of the contact. View
our Union contract for
the full details about how the process unfolds after a grievance is filed.
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Links
Emerson College
http://www.emerson.edu
Emerson College e-Campus
This is the place to find the school’s academic calendar,
its undergraduate and graduate catalogue, campus news, and links to the
library and Ecmail
http://www.emerson.edu/ecampus/
Emerson College course listings
Check here for the enrollment status of your classes
http://www.emerson.edu/courses/index.cfm
American
Association of University Professors
http://www.aaup.org
Academe
magazine
The journal of the AAUP
http://www.aaup.org/publications/Academe/index.htm
The
Chronicle of Higher Education
This publication covered our contact talks
http://chronicle.com/
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By-laws
BY-LAWS OF THE
AFFILIATED FACULTY OF EMERSON COLLEGE / AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF
UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS
PREAMBLE
The Affiliated
Faculty of Emerson College/AAUP is a chapter of the American
Association of University Professors.
As the
negotiating representative for part-time faculty, the Affiliated Faculty of
Emerson College, seeks to promote and preserve the professional and economic
well being of the unit members for whom it bears legal responsibilities. As a
professional association and in addition to its responsibilities as
negotiating representative, the Affiliated Faculty of Emerson College seeks
to enhance the academic environment of the college.
These
By-Laws regulate the Affiliated Faculty of Emerson College.
ARTICLE
I: MEMBERSHIP
The
Affiliated Faculty of Emerson College shall consist of all part-time/adjunct
faculty who teach at least one course during the academic year at Emerson College, who are dues paying members
of the AFEC/AAUP, and who are not graduate students at the college.
Membership
in the AFEC/AAUP confers membership in National AAUP.
ARTICLE
II: MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS
The Chapter
Executive Board may call membership meetings of the Chapter at any time.
There shall be at least one membership meeting per year. Twenty-five percent
of members in good standing shall constitute a quorum. The agenda of each
meeting shall be outlined in the call for the meeting. Changes to the
agenda may be made by a two-thirds vote of the members attending the
meeting.
Members
of the AFEC/AAUP in good standing shall be entitled to vote on all matters
considered at these meetings; all other bargaining unit members (those who
are qualified for membership but decline it) may attend, but may not
vote.
ARTICLE
III: DUES AND FINANCES
Dues
shall be determined by the Chapter Executive Board, and ratified by the
membership. Non-payment of dues shall be cause for removal from
membership. Only members in good standing with respect to dues payment shall
be eligible for office; for membership on any committee; or for voting rights
in elections, contract ratification, or any other matter submitted for
membership approval.
ARTICLE
IV: OFFICERS OF THE AFEC / AAUP
A. The
officers of the Chapter shall be the President; the Vice President, and the
Secretary / Treasurer. Officers are eligible to seek re-election.
B.
Election of Officers
1) Chapter
officers shall be elected by the membership through a secret mail
ballot.
2) The President
shall be elected once every two years and shall serve for a period of
two years beginning on September 1 of the year in which s/he has been
elected.
3) The Vice
President shall be elected once every two years in alternate years from
the President and Secretary/Treasurer, and shall serve for a period of two
years beginning September 1 of the year in which s/he has been elected.
The first vice-president elected will serve only one year to begin the
staggering of terms.
4) The Secretary
/ Treasurer shall be elected once every two years and shall serve for a
period of two years beginning on September 1 of the year in which he/she has
been elected.
5) The Committee
on Nominations and Elections of the Chapter Executive Board shall prepare
a slate for election of officers by soliciting nominations from the
membership and shall announce it to the membership.
6) Ballots shall
be mailed to all members of the AFEC/AAUP. Elections shall be conducted under
the supervision of the Committee on Nominations and Elections.
7) The
election process shall be completed by August 15 of each election year.
C. Each
officer is subject to recall by the members of the AFEC/AAUP.
1) A
recall election must be initiated by recall by a petition stating the reasons
for the proposed action and signed by twenty-five percent of union
members.
2) A
petition demanding a recall election shall be presented to the Chapter
Executive Board through the Secretary, who shall certify the authenticity and
the member status of each signer.
3) No
recall petition shall be received after March 1 of the year in which the
election is demanded; and each recall election shall be completed no later
than 30 days after the petition has been certified.
4) A
recall election shall be conducted by a special committee appointed by the
Executive Board for that purpose.
5) An
officer shall be removed when two-thirds of those casting ballots so vote,
provided only that the total voting for recall shall be no less than a
majority of total votes cast in the elections of that
officer.
6) When a
vacancy occurs because of recall elections, the position shall be filled
according to the procedures listed below under “Succession of
Officers.”
D.
Succession of officers
1) In the
event the President cannot complete his/her term, the term shall be completed
by the Vice President until a special election fills the vacancy. After
serving temporarily as President, the Vice President shall resume his/her
duties for whatever remains of the term of office.
2) In the
event that the Vice President cannot complete his/her term, the term shall
be completed by the Secretary until a special election fills the
vacancy.
3) In the
event that the Secretary cannot complete his/her term, the Chapter Executive
Board, by a majority of those voting, shall elect a replacement to complete
the term.
ARTICLE
V: DUTIES OF CHAPTER OFFICERS
A.
President
1) Be
spokesperson and official representative for the Affiliated Faculty of
Emerson College.
2)
Appoint the chair and members of standing committees, with the advice and
consent of the Chapter Executive Board.
3)
Appoint with the advice and consent of the Chapter Executive Board the members
of the administrative committees of the Chapter Executive Board; such
members shall be drawn from the Chapter Executive Board
membership.
4)
Appoint the chair and members of special committees with the advice and
consent of the Chapter Executive Board.
5) Preside
over meetings of the Chapter Executive Board.
6)
Initiate legal actions on behalf of the Chapter when authorized by the
Executive Board
7)
Provide direction to other officers and oversee their activities.
B. Vice
President
1) Be
spokesperson and official representative for the Affiliated Faculty of
Emerson College in the absence of the President.
2) Assist
the President as needed.
3)
Preside over meetings of the Chapter Executive Board in the absence of the
President.
C. Secretary
/ Treasurer
1)
Oversee the maintenance of the records of the Chapter.
2) Keep
minutes at all meetings of the Chapter Executive Board; prepare these minutes
for reproduction and distribution to all union members.
3) Review
monthly the AFEC/AAUP’s expenditures.
4)
Prepare and present a financial report for the Chapter Executive Board and
the general membership at least once per year, no later than June 1; prepare
and present other financial reports as required by the President and/or the
Executive Board.
5) Recommend
appropriate management of Chapter funds.
6)
Preside over meetings of the Executive Board in the absence of the President
and the Vice President.
ARTICLE
VI: EXECUTIVE BOARD OF THE AFFILIATED FACULTY OF EMERSON COLLEGE / AAUP
A. The
internal affairs, collective negotiations and grievance handling policies and
activities of the Chapter shall be coordinated by a Chapter Executive Board
consisting of the President, Vice President, Secretary / Treasurer, and two
elected at-large members, each of whom may also chair a standing committee.
The term of Chapter Executive Board representatives shall be two years.
B. The
at-large members of the Chapter Executive Board shall be elected once every
two years in alternate years from the President and Secretary/Treasurer [the
same years as the elections for vice-president], and shall serve for a period
of two years beginning September 1 of the year in which s/he has been
elected. The first at-large Executive Board members elected will serve only
one year to begin the staggering of terms.
C. If an
at-large Executive Board member is unable to complete his/her term, a
replacement shall be appointed by the Chapter Executive Board. If a
representative misses three (3) consecutive meetings, s/he shall be
considered withdrawn unless the Executive Board determines special
circumstances.
D. The
Chapter Executive Board shall hold a minimum of four meetings throughout the
year.
E. The
duties of the Chapter Executive Board are to:
1)
Determine membership dues in accordance with Article III.
2) Assume
responsibility for general fiscal affairs and approve the annual
budget.
3)
Establish standing committees and conduct the affairs of the organization
through those committees and special committees as provided by the
By-laws.
4)
Establish and abolish special committees, as it deems necessary.
5)
Authorize legal action on behalf of the AFEC / AAUP.
6) Authorize,
after mail vote by the membership, job actions in support of the Chapter’s
collective bargaining goals.
ARTICLE
VII: NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE
A. The
Negotiating Committee shall be appointed by the President with the approval
of the Chapter Executive Board.
B. The Negotiating
Committee shall be composed of the chairperson and at least three (3)
additional members of the AFEC / AAUP.
C. The
Negotiating Committee shall function under negotiating policies determined by
the Chapter’s Executive Board.
D. The
contract negotiated shall be ratified by mail ballot of a majority of the
membership.
ARTICLE
VIII: AMENDMENTS TO THE BY-LAWS
These
bylaws may be amended by two-thirds of those members voting at a regularly
scheduled meeting, or a meeting especially called for such amendment,
providing that members have received written notice and text of proposed
amendments at least fourteen days before such a regular or special meeting is
held.
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