Tag: governance

End-of-Year Digest: Commencement, the Start of Summer, and the Work of the Union  

e-Bulletin 5/7-5/9/2019

On this Commencement Day, TAUP celebrates our students and the faculty, librarians, and academic professionals who teach and guide them. We hope our members have a restful and productive summer.

Be sure to take time this summer to attend a negotiation session, witnessing what happens as TAUP and the administration engage in collective bargaining. Having members of the TAUP bargaining unit in the room shows the administration that the issues being negotiated are important, and it’s a reminder of the respect that is due to the people who work at the university and are affected by the decisions being made. Witnesses have been very helpful to the table team, contributing to the discussion during breaks and offering very useful perspectives from different schools and departments. Upcoming sessions are scheduled for May 16th, 21st, and 23rd. Please RSVP.

 

Invitation to a Town Hall with Presidential Candidate Senator Elizabeth Warren

The AFT, our national affiliate, will be conducting a Town Hall for dues-paying members of TAUP (which makes you a member of AFT) with Senator and Presidential Candidate Elizabeth Warren.  It will be held on on Monday, May 13, 4:30-6:30 p.m., at the Plumbers Local 690 Union Hall, 2791 Southampton Rd., Philadelphia, 19154. Parking is available. Seating is limited for this event, so be sure to RSVP here.

This Town Hall is part of AFT Votes 2020–for more information on our national union’s approach to the upcoming Presidential election, visit the website.

Access to events like this is one of the many benefits of joining TAUP .

 

Merit Pay

TAUP has received information on merit awards this year, and we are analyzing the data from this and previous years.  Next week, look for a report on our findings and the implications for the current contract negotiations. We have put a  proposal on the table is for 1.75% merit per year of the contract. This is at the high end of the range negotiated in the last three years of the current contract.

 

TAUP Endorsements for the May 21st Primary:  Mayor and City Council

Through its Committee on Political Education (COPE), TAUP endorses candidates and  offers modest funds through donations members offer to COPE (which are separate from dues) to candidates who share our values and who seek election to offices that bear on the work of the Union.  

After interviewing many candidates, we have endorsed  the following pro-education, pro-labor candidates in the upcoming primaries.  We urge you not only to vote for them but also to visit their campaign websites to see how you can help their campaigns.  

Mayor: Jim Kenney

City Council-at-large (D):  

Erika Almiron

Justin DiBerardinis

Helen Gym

Adrian Rivera-Reyes

Isaiah Thomas

 

TAUP Election Results

Here are the results of our recent election. Congrats especially to our newly elected leaders!

Officers elected to a two-year term:

President: Steve Newman (tenured/tenure-track, CLA)

Vice President:  Jennie Shanker (adjunct, Tyler)

Treasurer:  Norma Corrales-Martin (full-time nontenure-track, CLA)

Members of the Nontenure-Track Constituency elected to three-year terms

Max Avener (CST)

Alex DeVaron (Boyer)

Donald Wargo (CLA

Members of the Tenure Track Constituency Council elected to three-year terms

            Will Jordan (Education)

Jeff Solow (Boyer)

Damien Stankiewiecz (CLA)

Members of the Adjunct Constituency Council

 elected to three-year terms:

                        Alex Schecter (Tyler)

            Milca Dubon (CLA)

             elected to two-year terms:

                        Carla Anderson (CLA)

Jay Bagley (CST)

Delegates elected to a one-year term

            Sam Allingham (CLA)

            Paul Dannenfelser (CPH)

            Joyce Lindorff (Boyer)

Bernie Newman (CPH)

Thanks to all those who voted in the recent TAUP Elections and to the candidates who agreed to run!

Shared Governance and Academic Freedom at Temple University

e-Bulletin20180921

Dear Colleagues,

Please fill out this survey on the state of academic freedom and shared governance at Temple.  Responses are due by midnight, Sunday, September 30th.   

With the rankings scandal at the Fox School generating negative press that has severely damaged Temple’s reputation, a group of concerned senior Temple faculty representing the Faculty Senate and the Temple Association of University Professionals (TAUP) met recently to discuss why this situation arose and what needs to be done to avert similar incidents.  We believe that a principal cause was the drastic reduction of shared governance and challenges to academic freedom at the University in general and at the Fox School in particular. What happened at the Fox School has clearly revealed the detrimental effects of over-concentration of administrative power and of over-reliance on the judgment of a small group who operated with little or no oversight and accountability.  Their actions have diminished the academic standing of our faculty, and gravely eroded the trust of our students, donors, local community, and the public at large. Fox faculty now find their reputations unfairly devalued even though they had nothing to do with this malfeasance.

We are aware problems with shared governance and academic freedom extend beyond the Fox School, in many schools and colleges. We must address them if Temple is to prevent similar incidents and realize its potential.  

We also want to hear about what is going well with academic freedom and shared governance so that we can get an accurate view and so that we can have models of best practice as we move forward.  

For academic freedom and shared governance to function as they should, we need to work with and be in productive dialogue with administrators.  We must be willing to speak our minds when we think these systems are faltering but also to listen. We assume our administrative colleagues want these processes to work, too, and some administrators we have spoken with are eager to be part of the conversation and to see faculty take on a greater role.

However, for these changes to occur, we need YOUR voice.  

We ask you to share your candid views of the state of shared governance and academic freedom at Temple in the following survey.  Your answers will inform our next steps, including our plan to gather interested faculty and librarians for open-ended discussions in the Fall and perhaps into the Spring. Some of these discussions may include administrators.  These discussions will lead to a Report on the State of Shared Governance and Academic Freedom at Temple and an accompanying list of recommendations to and demands of our administrators.

Any data reported out will be stripped of markers that would identify individuals.  For instance, we might report responses to a particular question based on college OR on rank, but not on college AND rank at once (e. g., assistant professors in a particular college).   Any identifying data in responses to the open-ended questions will also be removed before the responses are shared.   

 

Collegially,


Steve Newman, Ph.D. , CLA/English Professor, TAUP President,

Cornelius Pratt, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Klein College / Advertising & PR, President,  Faculty Senate

   

NTT Constituency Council Special Election Nominations

e-Bulletin20180910
 

The NTT Constituency Council is seeking nominations and self-nominations for a vacant position on the council, which is the representative body for NTTs in our union. This  is a two year replacement term appointment made necessary by a CC member’s change of status and runs through April 2020, at which time this member would be eligible to run for re-election for a subsequent three year term.  Any active NTT TAUP member is welcome to run for this position. However, since our bylaws limit the number of representatives from any one college and since we already have excellent representation on the NTT CC from the College of Liberal Arts, we are seeking candidates from other schools, especially Fox, Klein, and CST. 


As the representative body for NTTs in our union, the NTT CC works to ensure that the issues and concerns of NTTs are appropriately addressed in our union, especially in the upcoming several months leading up to contract negotiations set to begin in the spring of 2019.  This candidate should be available for scheduled meetings on campus across the academic year and be ready to take on a dedicated role in conducting the work of the NTT CC, with expectation of regular attendance at CC meetings and communication over email between meetings. 

 

This new member of the NTT CC will also be strongly encouraged to take part in building our union membership through conversations with colleagues in their classrooms, offices, and at tabling events.  No prior experience or union leadership is necessary, just a willingness to contribute your skills and a desire to work on behalf of our constituency in further strengthening our union.

 

Nominations and Self-Nominations should be sent by Monday, September 24th, to Andrew Mossin, NTT CC Chair, atamossin@gmail.com.