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Welcome to the Florida International University Chapter of the United Faculty
of Florida. UFF-FIU provides many services to it members. Follow the links
in the menu on the left to access contract information, application forms
and contact information for the officers.
Recent News
Ratification Election
The ratification election for the Memorandum
of Understanding on Promotion raises, will be held as follows:
Tuesday, 9/9
from 9am - 5pm in GL Lobby at UP
Wednesday 9/10 from 10am-3pm in
LIB at BBC.
If you will be unable to cast your ballot at the above times and
locations, you may request an absentee ballot to be mailed to you by
sending an email to
Leslie Frazier
or by dropping a note to
Leslie Frazier, Department of Psychology, DM 282, UP Campus. A ballot
will be sent to the email address or physical address you specify, along
with instructions on how to return the ballot. Absentee ballots must be
returned to DM 282 by 5pm Wednesday 9/10.
Annual Assignment
Dear Bargaining Unit Members,
As summer comes to a close there are some important issues I would like to
alert you to regarding annual assignments and differential teaching.
First, the BOT-UFF Collective Bargaining Agreement states that annual
assignments should be communicated to faculty no later than six (6) weeks
prior to the starting date. If you have not yet received your annual
assignment from your chair/supervisor, you should request it now. This
annual assignment delineates your professional obligations and duties in
the areas of teaching, research, and service as well as any other duties
assigned for the coming year. You have the right to meet and discuss your
annual assignment. The final annual assignment document should be signed
and dated by both the supervisor and the employee and both should retain a
copy. Your annual assignment forms the basis of your annual evaluation.
Second, annual assignments should take into consideration such things as:
- the needs of the program/department
- the employee’s qualifications, experiences, and preferences
- the character of the assignment (e.g., preparation required, student
enrollment, whether the employee has taught the course in the past)
- equitable opportunity – each employee shall be given an assignment that
provides equitable opportunity, in relation to others in the same
department/unit, to meet the required criteria for tenure, promotion,
successive fixed multi-year appointments and merit salary increases.
- teaching schedules shall be established so that the time between the
beginning of the first class and the end of the last class for any one day
does not exceed eight (8) hours.
- the University shall provide any equipment, materials (i.e.,
photocopies) and/or other resources that are reasonably required for the
employee to carry out the assignment
The BOT-UFF policies on annual assignment are intrinsically important but
also relate directly to the policies on annual evaluation.
Third, concerns have been raised regarding differential teaching. The
Collective Bargaining Agreement does not prevent administrators from
reducing research and service assignments and assigning more teaching.
However, the contract does require that the assignments be fair and
equitable.
If faculty are asked to teach more, there must be genuine changes in the
annual evaluation, and tenure and promotion criteria. Again, any changes
to annual assignment must be communicated prior to implementation, and
annual evaluations and expectations must be modified to accommodate these
changes. Differential teaching must not be unreasonable or arbitrary and
must not prevent equitable opportunity to achieve satisfactory annual
evaluation, tenure and promotion, successive fixed multi-year appointment
or merit salary increases.
We have been through unprecedented times recently; with budget cuts,
program closures, and impending layoffs of tenured faculty. Morale at FIU
is at an all-time low. The implicit message we are getting from our
Administration is that we should be thankful things are not worse.
Nevertheless, if FIU is to move forward out of this crisis, maintain its
research mission and status, and reach its future goals – faculty need to
be supported. This is not the time for the administration to expect us to
do so much more with so much less. Each of us must do our part to make
sure that any changes (in differential teaching for example) that are made
adhere to the Collective Bargaining Agreement and that our academic
rights, privileges, and freedom are protected.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me
or Paul Warren, our
grievance chair.
Yours in solidarity,
Leslie
Leslie Frazier
Chapter President
United Faculty of Florida - Florida International University
www.uff-fiu.org
Letter to the Administration
United Faculty of Florida
Florida International University
April 17, 2008
President Modesto Maidique CERTIFIED/RRR
Florida International University
University Park Campus
Miami, FL 33199
Dear President Maidique
Following the recent Town Hall Meeting, it is clear the University is considering program closures, reorganizations and lay-offs in response to the anticipated budget cuts. As you know, it is essential that all those involved in the process, including FIU administrators, deans and chairs, be fully aware of the role of UFF and the rights of employees who may be affected by layoffs. Most important are the provisions of the BOT-UFF Collective Bargaining Agreement, Article 8, Layoff and Recall.
Advance Notice to UFF of Proposed Layoffs. The CBA makes it clear that before implementing layoffs, the administration must notify UFF and, at UFF’s request, discuss the proposed layoffs. Article 8.1(a) makes clear the extent of this obligation:
In the event the University determines that the number of bargaining unit employees must be
reduced as a result of adverse financial circumstances; reallocation of resources; reorganization of
degree or curriculum offerings or requirements; reorganization of academic or administrative
structures, programs or functions; or curtailment or abolition of one or more programs or functions,
the University shall notify the UFF Chapter no less than thirty (30) days prior to taking such
action and, if UFF so requests, the University President or his designee(s) shall meet with UFF
to discuss the layoff prior to its implementation.
Bargaining Required Prior to Use of Adjuncts to Replace Laid Off Employees. In addition to the right to discuss layoffs prior to their implementation, UFF has the right to bargain over any proposal to use adjuncts or other non-unit faculty in those departments/units where bargaining unit employees have been laid off. Such a proposal must be made to UFF in writing in advance.
Order of Layoffs. After discussion with UFF, should the university decide to implement proposed layoffs, the contract provides for the order in which employees may be laid off. No tenured employees shall be laid off if there are untenured faculty in the layoff unit. No non-tenured employees with more than five years of service shall be laid off if there are employees with five years or less of service. No employee shall be laid off to create a vacancy to be filled by an administrator entering the bargaining unit.
Required Notice to Employees. If an employee with three or more years of service is to be laid off, he or she is entitled to at least one year’s prior notice. If an employee with less than three years of service is to be laid off, he or she is entitled to at least six month’s prior notice.
Alternative University Employment. The University must make a reasonable effort to find alternate employment in the University for laid-off employees and inform those employees of the results of that effort.
Recall and Re-employment Rights. Any employee who has been laid off has recall and re-employment rights that extend for two years after the layoff.
UFF will vigorously enforce these important contract rights during this difficult period. While we fully anticipate that the administration will work diligently to comply with the contract, FIU is facing an unprecedented and difficult period. There are many individuals, both in the university administration and in our bargaining unit, who may be unfamiliar with the layoff provisions of the contract simply because we have not faced a situation like this where they have been so important.
Therefore, we must work together to avoid problems by making sure that all those who will be responsible for implementation of layoffs are fully aware of the rights and protections contained in the Collective Bargaining Agreement and understand their obligations to comply with its provisions.
Sincerely
Leslie Frazier
President
Collective Bargaining 2008: Where We Stand
The current BOT-UFF contract expires in July 2008. The FIU administration and UFF FIU bargaining team have met twice this month to begin bargaining the new contract and have scheduled a series of bargaining sessions in May and June. Both sides have committed to try to reach tentative agreement on a new three-year contract in time to submit it to the bargaining unit for ratification before the expiration of the current contract.
The UFF FIU has proposed a promotion process for instructors and lecturers that would provide them the opportunity for a career path and salary increases similar to their tenure-track colleagues. The FIU Administration has proposed to put parental leave on a time line that is more consistent with semester class schedules. Although initial proposals have been exchanged, no tentative agreement has been reached on either of these issues.
At this point, we still have not reached agreement on 2007-2008 salaries. UFF has filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge against the BOT for giving out discretionary raises and awards without bargaining. Discretionary monies, which cover such things as counter-offers and special awards, must be bargained annually as part of the salary article.
Finally, the BOT has yet to respond to UFF’s proposal on implementation of the lab space reallocation policy announced at the beginning of 2008. Though the BOT informed UFF in December it would declare an impasse on this issue, the BOT has not yet taken the steps necessary to bring the impasse before the Public Employees Relations Commission (PERC) for resolution. UFF will continue to seek to bargain an agreement with the BOT that insures that productive faculty currently assigned lab space will not lose space or other resources necessary for on-going teaching, research and scholarly activities.
View the
Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Salary Study
Members of the Faculty Collective Bargaining Unit,
As you probably know, we are still engaged in bargaining salary increases for the 2006-2007 academic year (in addition to the 3% voted by the legislature effective October 1, 2006). The administration (representing the Board of Trustees) is offering little, on the grounds that the budget is very tight, both this year and next. We decided that the matter deserved some study, so we contracted with the Research Institute on Social and Economic Policy, led by Dr. Bruce Nissen, lodged in the Center for Labor Research and Studies here at FIU, to do a follow-up to the study Dr. Nissen did for us in 2004.
The report, "Where Does the Money Go? FIU Expenditures on Faculty and Higer Level Administration in the Period from 2002--3 to 2005-06" can be downloaded from here: Download. It finds, among other interesting facts, that the number of administrators at FIU continued to increase significantly, while the number of faculty actually declined, despite the fact that tuition and fees have increased over 30% during the period studied. FTE teaching workloads have increased significantly during the same time.
The study concludes that the data reveal the true priorities of FIU, namely favoring administrators at the expense of faculty. "Students are being asked to provide ever greater amounts of money to be educated by a faculty that is both stretched ever-more thinly and provided relatively fewer of the institutions resouces."
Take a look. I think you will find the study both sound and enlightening.
This is a good example of your UFF dues money at work. If you have not yet joined UFF, an application form can be downloaded at Membership Form
Alan
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