News Update - April 9, 2007

To: Crookston Faculty
From: UMC Management Negotiating Committee
Subject: Contract Proposal Q&A

On Wednesday, March 14, the University of Minnesota presented the University Education Association (UEA) with its most current contract offer for FY 2006-07, 2007-08, and 2008-09. UEA has indicated that it intends to submit this current three-year contract proposal to a vote by its membership. We write to provide you with a link to that contract offer and answer key questions you may have about this proposal.

The University’s offer positions the Crookston campus competitively in the marketplace and recognizes the importance of the various roles of the faculty, including teaching, advising, disciplined inquiry/research, and other duties so important to this campus.

The Crookston campus is a unique and valued part of the University of Minnesota system, and faculty contributions are crucial to its ongoing success. Both the University and UEA have been working collaboratively to reach an agreement that reflects Crookston’s important role in the University system and provides support for the campus to meet its goals. To date, more than 20 negotiating sessions have been held between UEA and the University Administration. As noted in previous updates, we’ve reached agreement on many challenging topics. We appreciate the hard work from both sides and look forward to bringing these negotiations to a successful conclusion. For your reference, the contract proposal can be found at:http://hr.umcrookston.edu/UMC-UEA.doc.

Q&A REGARDING THE CONTRACT PROPOSAL
Q1. What is the Administration’s proposal for faculty salary increases?
A1. The Administration’s proposal is to provide a salary pool of 4% for FY 07, 3% for FY 08, and 3% for FY 09. Starting in FY 08, any additional funds allocated for salary adjustments shall be used for merit, retention, or market adjustments.

Q2. What is the University’s proposal regarding health, dental, life, and disability insurance?
A2. The University’s proposal is to continue health, dental, life, and disability insurance under the terms of the UPlan.

Q3. Is the proposed salary and benefits package competitive?
A3. The Crookston campus is positioned at or near the top in terms of compensation when compared to similar higher education institutions.

Q4. How does the contract proposal address faculty workload?
A4. The proposal outlines a standard workload of 24 credits or 32 contact hours per year for a fulltime faculty member on a nine-month, regular appointment, without administrative responsibility. Workloads for fulltime ten-month, twelve-month, and term appointments are also addressed.

Q5. Does the proposal provide for overload pay?
A5. Increases to overload pay compensation have been proposed. Overload pay shall be a minimum of $850 per credit hour for FY 07, $875 for FY 08, and $900 for FY 09.

Q6. How does the proposal address release time for the pursuit of scholarly activities?
A6. Administration has offered to provide a minimum aggregate reduction of 24 credits of release time per academic year, based on approved applications, for the Crookston faculty to pursue grant funding and research or other scholarly activity. Through the addition of this release time, the University is committed to providing additional opportunity for scholarly activity by Crookston faculty.

Q7. How does the proposal address the promotion and tenure process?
A7. The offer reflects a tentative agreement between the parties that the promotion and tenure processes will remain the same, as detailed in University of Minnesota policies and procedures, with the exception of the appeals process. The proposal provides for using the grievance process instead of the Senate Judicial Committee. Salary adjustment as part of the promotion and tenure process remain the same as detailed in University of Minnesota policies and procedures.

Q8. What compensation changes are proposed for faculty who teach distance education courses?
A8. When Crookston faculty teach distance education classes as an overload or during the summer (for fulltime, nine-month faculty), the contract proposes an increase in the per credit hour from the current rate of $60/Student Credit Hour (SCH) to $67/SCH for summer session 2007 and $69/SCH for summer session 2008.

Q9. How are workload protocols addressed?
A9. Workload protocols will be discussed separate and apart from contract negotiations. We have had a number of discussions to date and the parties will continue to meet and confer on workload protocols.

Q10. What are some of the other benefits proposed in the contract?
A10. Sabbaticals and semester leaves are addressed in the current proposal. A structured process that addresses timelines for notification, application, and awarding of sabbaticals and semester leaves has been proposed.

The University of Minnesota , Crookston (UMC) is one of four campuses in the University of Minnesota land grant system.  UMC is a coordinate campus that provides a unique approach through applied baccalaureate education, research, and service.

UMC is an equal opportunity educator and employer