September 1, 2010

Annual Report of Faculty Activity
Deadline: September 24, 2010

File your Annual Report of Faculty Activity by the September 24 deadline.

All faculty – tenured, tenure-track, nontenure-track – are expected to submit an Annual Report on Faculty Activity by September 24. The administration and TAUP agreed to this in our contract, so we could encourage everyone to be considered for merit awards, using a uniform report form and a uniform submission date. The idea is to reduce the amount of paperwork faculty members have to file every year. Since this is the first time this procedure is being implemented, both TAUP and the administration would like to see it work well, and to be able to make any corrections that are needed.

Submitting your Annual Report means money for you.

If you submit it by the deadline, you will receive the remaining 0.25% of your annual across-the-board raise in base salary, paid retroactive to July 1. This should be added to your pay in October. If you don’t submit your report on time, you will forfeit this automatic raise.

The annual report is the faculty merit application. If you don’t submit it, you won’t be considered for merit. There will be no other way to apply.

Don’t wait until the last minute – you’ll have no time to fix problems.

The on-line Annual Report is new, and the system may have a few bugs. Some faculty have already told us about problems they have had submitting it. Sometimes certain activities, such as attendance at a conference, may not seem to fit the report’s format; in other instances, such as recording meetings with students, very specific information (exact dates and times) is needed, and it may take you some time to gather it. Some faculty have reported that they would like to keep their own copy of the report, but could not see a way to do that. In addition, some faculty have not received confirmation that the report has been successfully submitted. A few faculty didn’t realize how important the Annual Report is and submitted it incompletely, finding it “locked down” when they tried to re-open it.

Don’t wait until the last minute to try to submit your report: there may not be time to fix problems, making it impossible for you to meet the deadline.

Let us know if you have questions or concerns about the Annual Report – we can help.

If you find that some features of the Annual Report present problems, let TAUP know immediately. We can be a resource for you, by collecting everyone's information about potential difficulties in one place. TAUP will gather your reports of problems or concerns, so that we can present the information to the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs. TAUP can help you to be successful with your Annual Report, but only if you tell us about any trouble in time for the administration to fix it.

You can reach TAUP by email (taupaft@aol.com) or phone (215-763-2287 or 215-204-7641).

Thanks, and good luck!

 

August 30, 2010

Advocate for Temple and Higher Education

Dear Colleagues,

All of us, Temple faculty, staff, students and administration, understand that government policies, laws and funding can help, or hurt, Temple. It is up to us to advocate to make elected officials do what they can to support the University’s mission. If you take the time to contact them, your legislators will listen to you when the time comes to vote on key issues that affect our students, ourselves and our university’s mission of education and research.

In June, the Pennsylvania General Assembly voted to provide Temple this fiscal year 2010-2011) with level funding, i.e, the same amount as was appropriated for last year. These days, when states around the country have been cutting higher education budgets, this is a big victory for higher education and for Temple’s basic mission. We should thank our legislators for doing the right thing.

TAUP believes that working jointly with the university when we are on common ground strengthens our efforts to influence government on issues. Thus, we want to let you know about a new University program, Temple Advocates Legislative Outreach Network (TALON). that provides a means for you to easily reach your elected officials: you can thank them for their support of Temple’s funding and tell them what you think.

TALON is part of Temple’s Office of Government Relations, and serves as the primary liaison between the university community and government on all levels: federal, state and local. You can quickly send your opinion on pending legislation or issues important to you by using the TALON website. At this site you will find a set-up that allows you to email your elected representatives on a variety of current issues.

TAUP believes its members can work in common with the administration to serve the best interests of us all. We ask that you take time to visit the TALON site to see how you can help. First, send a note of thanks to your legislators for the passage of this year’s appropriation. If we thank our legislators when they do the right thing, they will pay more attention when we ask them for support in the future.

 

August 26, 2010

Join TAUP at the 23rd Annual
Tri-State Labor Day Parade
& Family Celebration

Colleagues,

Come and help hold the TAUP banner high at the 23 rd Annual Labor Day Parade!
It’s always an enjoyable and celebratory way to welcome the new academic year, so we hope you and your family can join us.

Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO
23rd Annual Labor Day parade and Celebration
Monday, September 6

9:00 am: Let’s meet at the front gate of
Sheet Metal Workers’ Local 19 Union Hall
Nearest intersection: Columbus Blvd & Washington Ave

9:00 am: Ceremony

10:00am: Parade to Penn’s Landing Great Plaza
Columbus Blvd & Market St

11:00 am – 3:00 pm: The parade concludes with a celebration at
Penn’s Landing Great Plaza. There will be food, refreshments, kid’s activities,
make and take crafts, music and entertainment,
featuring the Urban Guerilla Orchestra (UGO) and the Business.
Entry to the picnic is $5.

 

August 10, 2010

The 2008-2012 TAUP-Temple collective bargaining agreement is finally in print. TAUP is sending you a copy in campus mail, which you should receive by Friday, the 13th of August. Watch for a booklet with a red cover in your mailbox. If you don’t receive one by August 19th, please email us at taupaft@aol.com, or call us at 1-7641 or 215-763-2287.

The contract affects much of your professional life at Temple. It covers, among other things, your salary, merit increases, workload and benefits, and . In addition, it determines the procedures for tenure and promotion, selection of department chairs, sabbaticals, discipline and grievances.

We ask that you read the contract when you receive it and keep it handy afterwards. It is important that you know and understand the contract and your rights. If you are familiar with the contract’s requirements, you can help us make sure that it is being followed. TAUP relies on you to alert us to any problems with the contract, so that we can take action if necessary.

The 2008-2012 contract is also available online at our website, www.taup.org, so that you can have access to it anytime, anyplace. The TAUP negotiating team worked for more than a year to bring you this agreement, and we believe that it serves you well. Whenever you have a question about any of its provisions please contact us by phone or email."