Institutional Environment

AAUP-WSU wishes to change Article 18, Institutional Environment. Our Negotiating Team presented the proposal below to the administration on February 1 and (adding the new section 18.7 and subsections) April 4; please see our March 7 negotiations report for an explanation of this unusual two-step submission. Current language proposed for deletion is shown in the strikethrough format, and proposed new language is shown in the red underlined format. For comparison, you may wish to view the entire current CBA and this article in particular.

For more about bargaining now under way toward a successor of our current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), please see our Negotiations page. There, you will find rosters of our Bargaining Council and Negotiating Team, a table showing the status of each article (those in the current CBA and new ones, too), and also reports about each negotiating session.

For reports on negotiations regarding this article, click here (or scroll to the bottom of the table immediately below).

AAUP-WSU Proposal for Article 18, Institutional Environment
18.1 The University recognizes the importance of an adequate working environment and supporting services to promote effective teaching, learning and research. Therefore, within the limits of available space and resources, the University shall make a good faith reasonable effort to provide each Member of the Bargaining Unit the following: 18.1.1 suitable office space, equipped with a desk, filing cabinets, bookcases, phone, network-compatible computer with access to either a network or personal printer and at least two chairs; 18.1.2 access to copying services for their reasonable academic copying needs; 18.1.3 office supplies (including but not necessarily limited to letterhead paper, pads of paper, computer disks, envelopes, pens, pencils, staples, paper clips, and file folders) and classroom supplies (including but not necessarily limited to transparencies, marker pens for overhead projectors, chalk, and erasers); and 18.1.4 library resources, computing systems (hardware, software and technical support), classrooms, and laboratories that are responsive to Bargaining Unit Faculty and student needs, in compliance with O.S.H.A. standards, and consistent with standards of quality recognized at the national level. 18.2 The University will make a good faith effort to respond in a timely fashion to reasonable requests from Bargaining Unit Faculty for measures to secure hazardous materials. 18.3 Before moving a Bargaining Unit Faculty Member from an assigned research laboratory space, the University will communicate to the Member in writing the reason(s) for the move. When reallocating research laboratory space, the University will consider the productivity of potentially affected Bargaining Unit Faculty Members as measured by published papers, funded external grants, grant supported students, and post docs. A Bargaining Unit Member who is informed that he/she must move to new research laboratory space shall have the right to a proportionate adjustment in the relative weight assigned to her or his research in that year's annual evaluation pursuant to Section 11.2.1 if the Member provides reasonable documentation demonstrating that the effort involved in moving or preparing to move the lab lessened her or his productivity. 18.3.1 Whenever laboratory space is reallocated or assigned to a new faculty member, it will be inspected before the new occupant moves in, by the Department of Environmental Health and Safety. 18.4 Professional Development Fund: The purpose of the Professional Development Fund is to afford each faculty member the opportunity to improve scholarship, teaching, and/or service in pursuit of the goals of the university. Both the University and the AAUP-WSU recognize the importance of continuous improvement in the skills and accomplishments of the faculty in these areas. We therefore continue this fund as follows: During each year of this contract, including the first year, each college shall provide a sum of no less than $2,000 for each tenure track faculty member for professional development during the current fiscal year. Professional development expenses may include but are not limited to: travel, software, hardware, books, and journals, and supplies. This fund shall not be used to supplant routine hardware replacements. It may be used to replace hardware more frequently than the usual scheduled replacement cycle or to upgrade existing hardware. The individual professional development fund will be allocated per department and is to be spent for the above purposes by each eligible faculty member subject to the approval of the department chair. Unused funds shall be carried forward from one year to the next by the department on behalf of each eligible faculty member. 18.5 The University shall pay the cost of obtaining or renewing any license, registration or certification (excluding travel expenses and the completion of terminal degrees) that an employee must hold as a condition of employment at the University. The University shall also pay the membership costs for professional associations an employee is required to join in order for the University to maintain accreditation as deemed necessary by the University. Courses/programs that are taken/attended to meet certification, licensure or registration requirements as a condition of employment at the University shall be reimbursed by the University unless they are offered at WSU. 18.6 The University will provide Bargaining Unit Faculty with a secure working environment. In addition the University will replace items that Bargaining Unit Faculty use for teaching, research or service if they are stolen from the Member’s office, laboratory, studio or other space that the University has assigned the Member. Bargaining Unit faculty will report all such thefts to the campus police within two working days from the time they realize a theft has occurred. 18.7 The University and the AAUP-WSU agree that service units which are responsive to faculty needs are essential in order for the core missions of Wright State University in teaching and research to be accomplished. 18.7.1 To this end, Bargaining Unit Faculty shall have the right to oversee (or monitor) the performance of CaTS, CTL, the Office of the Registrar, and the Physical Plant with respect to the services provided to faculty in support of their teaching and research. This includes (but is not limited to) the right to make recommendations regarding changes to policies and procedures changes in personnel choices of computer hardware supported by CaTS classroom services provided by the Physical Plant classroom scheduling operations performed in the Office of the Registrar computer software purchased by the University (CaTS, CTL, etc.) for use by faculty and/or in teaching support of all such software 18.7.2 Each spring, the Bargaining Unit Faculty in each college shall elect one tenured Bargaining Unit Faculty Member to sit on a CaTS-CTL-Registrar-Physical Plant Oversight Committee for the upcoming academic year; the Deans of the respective colleges will be responsible for conducting the needed elections. However, in the first year of this agreement, these elections will occur in the fall. 18.7.3 Each fall, the office of the Provost will arrange for an initial meeting of this Committee, at which meeting the committee will elect a chair (or co-chairs if the committee so desires). 18.7.4 Normally, the Committee will make recommendations to the Provost. To facilitate communication between the Committee and the Provost, the Provost will meet with the committee annually. 18.7.5 When the Provost (or other administrator to whom the Committee issues a recommendation) takes action (or elects not to act) following a written recommendation from a majority of the Committee, the Provost (or other administrator, respectively) shall inform the Committee of such action and communicate the reasons for the decision in writing. The parties recognize that the Provost (or other administrator, respectively) will not communicate reasons for their actions (or decisions not to act) that are based on confidential information.

AAUP-WSU Proposal for Article 18, Institutional Environment

18.1 The University recognizes the importance of an adequate working environment and supporting services to promote effective teaching, learning and research. Therefore, within the limits of available space and resources, the University shall make a good faith reasonable effort to provide each Member of the Bargaining Unit the following:

18.1.1 suitable office space, equipped with a desk, filing cabinets, bookcases, phone, network-compatible computer with access to either a network or personal printer and at least two chairs;

18.1.2 access to copying services for their reasonable academic copying needs;

18.1.3 office supplies (including but not necessarily limited to letterhead paper, pads of paper, computer disks, envelopes, pens, pencils, staples, paper clips, and file folders) and classroom supplies (including but not necessarily limited to transparencies, marker pens for overhead projectors, chalk, and erasers); and

18.1.4 library resources, computing systems (hardware, software and technical support), classrooms, and laboratories that are responsive to Bargaining Unit Faculty and student needs, in compliance with O.S.H.A. standards, and consistent with standards of quality recognized at the national level.

18.2 The University will make a good faith effort to respond in a timely fashion to reasonable requests from Bargaining Unit Faculty for measures to secure hazardous materials.

18.3 Before moving a Bargaining Unit Faculty Member from an assigned research laboratory space, the University will communicate to the Member in writing the reason(s) for the move. When reallocating research laboratory space, the University will consider the productivity of potentially affected Bargaining Unit Faculty Members as measured by published papers, funded external grants, grant supported students, and post docs. A Bargaining Unit Member who is informed that he/she must move to new research laboratory space shall have the right to a proportionate adjustment in the relative weight assigned to her or his research in that year's annual evaluation pursuant to Section 11.2.1 if the Member provides reasonable documentation demonstrating that the effort involved in moving or preparing to move the lab lessened her or his productivity.

18.3.1 Whenever laboratory space is reallocated or assigned to a new faculty member, it will be inspected before the new occupant moves in, by the Department of Environmental Health and Safety.

18.4 Professional Development Fund: The purpose of the Professional Development Fund is to afford each faculty member the opportunity to improve scholarship, teaching, and/or service in pursuit of the goals of the university. Both the University and the AAUP-WSU recognize the importance of continuous improvement in the skills and accomplishments of the faculty in these areas. We therefore continue this fund as follows: During each year of this contract, including the first year, each college shall provide a sum of no less than $2,000 for each tenure track faculty member for professional development during the current fiscal year. Professional development expenses may include but are not limited to: travel, software, hardware, books, and journals, and supplies. This fund shall not be used to supplant routine hardware replacements. It may be used to replace hardware more frequently than the usual scheduled replacement cycle or to upgrade existing hardware. The individual professional development fund will be allocated per department and is to be spent for the above purposes by each eligible faculty member subject to the approval of the department chair. Unused funds shall be carried forward from one year to the next by the department on behalf of each eligible faculty member.

18.5 The University shall pay the cost of obtaining or renewing any license, registration or certification (excluding travel expenses and the completion of terminal degrees) that an employee must hold as a condition of employment at the University. The University shall also pay the membership costs for professional associations an employee is required to join in order for the University to maintain accreditation as deemed necessary by the University. Courses/programs that are taken/attended to meet certification, licensure or registration requirements as a condition of employment at the University shall be reimbursed by the University unless they are offered at WSU.

18.6 The University will provide Bargaining Unit Faculty with a secure working environment. In addition the University will replace items that Bargaining Unit Faculty use for teaching, research or service if they are stolen from the Member’s office, laboratory, studio or other space that the University has assigned the Member. Bargaining Unit faculty will report all such thefts to the campus police within two working days from the time they realize a theft has occurred.

18.7 The University and the AAUP-WSU agree that service units which are responsive to faculty needs are essential in order for the core missions of Wright State University in teaching and research to be accomplished.

18.7.1 To this end, Bargaining Unit Faculty shall have the right to oversee (or monitor) the performance of CaTS, CTL, the Office of the Registrar, and the Physical Plant with respect to the services provided to faculty in support of their teaching and research. This includes (but is not limited to) the right to make recommendations regarding

changes to policies and procedures
changes in personnel
choices of computer hardware supported by CaTS
classroom services provided by the Physical Plant
classroom scheduling operations performed in the Office of the Registrar
computer software purchased by the University (CaTS, CTL, etc.) for use by faculty and/or in teaching
support of all such software

18.7.2 Each spring, the Bargaining Unit Faculty in each college shall elect one tenured Bargaining Unit Faculty Member to sit on a CaTS-CTL-Registrar-Physical Plant Oversight Committee for the upcoming academic year; the Deans of the respective colleges will be responsible for conducting the needed elections. However, in the first year of this agreement, these elections will occur in the fall.

18.7.3 Each fall, the office of the Provost will arrange for an initial meeting of this Committee, at which meeting the committee will elect a chair (or co-chairs if the committee so desires).

18.7.4 Normally, the Committee will make recommendations to the Provost. To facilitate communication between the Committee and the Provost, the Provost will meet with the committee annually.

18.7.5 When the Provost (or other administrator to whom the Committee issues a recommendation) takes action (or elects not to act) following a written recommendation from a majority of the Committee, the Provost (or other administrator, respectively) shall inform the Committee of such action and communicate the reasons for the decision in writing. The parties recognize that the Provost (or other administrator, respectively) will not communicate reasons for their actions (or decisions not to act) that are based on confidential information.

Reports on Negotiations about Article 18, Institutional Environment

Friday, April 25

Our Negotiating Team had a response to the administration’s counter to our proposal regarding the performance of “service” units (new section 18.7 and subsections). We stated that we do not agree to put the directors of the service units being reviewed on the committee doing the reviewing; we explained that our wish in this regard is consistent with the absence of Bargaining Unit Faculty from Promotion and Tenure Committees reviewing their applications for promotion and tenure (and similarly for annual evaluation). We agreed that the committee should be able to invite the directors to meetings, and conversely. The administration then suggested putting some academic administrators who are faculty on the committee. Our team agreed to this idea, and the parties then discussed what the committee’s makeup should be, and how it might be selected. No agreement was reached, but this was no doubt due to the late hour more than any other factor.

Friday, April 18

The administration submitted a number of counterproposals to the language we originally put forth. Here are the first two, on sections 18.1.1 and 18.1.4:

18.1.1 suitable office space~~, equipped with a desk, filing cabinets, bookcases~~ and furniture, phone, and network-compatible computer with access to either a network or personal printer ~~and at least two chairs~~;

18.1.4 library resources, computing systems ~~(hardware, software and~~ with technical support), classrooms, and laboratories that are responsive to Bargaining Unit Faculty and student needs, in compliance with O.S.H.A. standards, and consistent with standards of quality recognized at the national level.

Our Negotiating Team is likely to accept the former but will need to consider the latter.

The administration’s counter completely eliminated our proposal for section 18.4, Professional Development Fund, which would provide $2,000 for each faculty member each year, noting that it would cost about $900 thousand annually, and alluding to having to cut our compensation to pay for such an expense. Our team reacted with incredulity, pointing out that the university had found huge sums to underwrite efforts like the forthcoming high school across the street; our team member Dr. Mateen Rizki used a personal example to illustrate how inadequate support for faculty is, reporting that his department had been unwilling to come up with $75 to replace a failed memory chip in a research computer -- so he had to buy the item out-of-pocket. Pointing to the current Cleveland State University contract (in which Article 28, section 28.2, provides $1,000 per faculty member annually in a faculty development fund), we asked how much the administration was willing to come up with for Wright State faculty: if not $900 thousand, how about $800 thousand? or $700 thousand?? But zero!?! Where does the money come from to subsidize the Nutter Center and its annual budget shortfalls? Intercollegiate Athletics?

Likewise, the administration’s counter completely eliminated our proposals for sections 18.5 (cost of licenses and the like) and 18.6 (reimbursement for theft). In the latter case, the administration might be willing to consider reimbursements, but apparently not as a contractual obligation. Needless to say these three sections are far from settled.

The administration countered our proposal regarding the performance of “service” units (new section 18.7 and subsections) with the following language.

187.4 The University and the AAUP-WSU agree that service units which are responsive to faculty needs are essential in order for the core missions of Wright State University in teaching and research to be accomplished.

~~18.7.1~~ To this end, the parties will maintain an Academic Services Committee ~~Bargaining Unit Faculty shall have the right to oversee (or monitor)~~ to review and make recommendations regarding the services provided to faculty in support of their teaching and research by ~~the performance of~~ Computing and Telecommunication Services (CaTS), the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL), the Office of the Registrar, and the Physical Plant ~~with respect to the services provided to faculty in support of their teaching and research. This includes (but is not limited to) the right to make recommendations regarding~~

~~changes to policies and procedures~~

~~changes in personnel~~

~~choices of computer hardware supported by CaTS~~

~~classroom services provided by the Physical Plant~~

~~classroom scheduling operations performed in the Office of the Registrar~~

~~computer software purchased by the University (CaTS, CTL, etc.) for use by faculty and/or in teaching~~

~~support of all such software~~

18.4.1 The Academic Services Committee shall have seven voting members, consisting of one tenured Bargaining Unit Faculty Member elected from each college.

~~18.7.2~~ Each spring, ~~the Bargaining Unit Faculty in each college shall elect one tenured Bargaining Unit Faculty Member to sit on a CaTS-CTL-Registrar-Physical Plant Oversight Committee for the upcoming academic year;~~ the Deans of the respective colleges will be responsible for conducting the needed elections. However, in the first year of this agreement, these elections will occur in the fall.

18.4.2 The Directors of CaTS, CTL, and Physical Plant, the Registrar, and the Provost or their designees shall serve on the Academic Services Committee as non-voting members.

18.74.3 Each fall, the Office of the Provost will arrange for an initial meeting of this Committee, at which meeting the Committee will elect a chair (or co-chairs if the Committee so desires).

18.74.4 Normally, the Committee will make recommendations to the Provost, although it may also make recommendations directly to individual units. ~~To facilitate communication between the Committee and the Provost, the Provost will meet with the committee annually.~~

18.74.5 When the Provost (or other administrator to whom the Committee issues a recommendation) takes action (or elects not to act) following a written recommendation from a majority of the Committee, the Provost (or other administrator, respectively) shall inform the Committee of such action and communicate the reasons for the decision in writing. The parties recognize that the Provost (or other administrator, respectively) will not communicate reasons for their actions (or decisions not to act) that are based on confidential information.

Friday, April 4

At this session, our Negotiating Team put forth our amended proposal (about which see our March 7 negotiations report), which differed from the version we submitted on February 1 in one regard: the new section 18.7 and subsections. Our team briefly noted that our proposal for section 18.4, Professional Development Fund, finds precedent in the current labor contract at Cleveland State University (see section 28.2) and otherwise is motivated by a number of factors. First, many departmental operating budgets have remained stagnant for many years. Also, the lowest-paid faculty often receive the least support. Computer support is bad in general, and there is inadequate provision for backing up files. The level of support varies from college to college and even within colleges.

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This page was last modified on April 27, 2008. Corrections, comments, and suggestions are most welcome. Contact the webmaster for this page (Jim Vance) at jvance@math.wright.edu, telephone 937-775-2206.