CHAPARRAL

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All the Right Moves
by Lynn McMurrey   		Lynn McMurrey
Lynn McMurrey, 
President, Guild
Yesterday the Guild and the District settled on a raise of COLA (two percent) for this year.  You should therefore receive your retroactive check (from July 1) in early December.  Part-time faculty will receive the raise, plus the equity money that was negotiated last year.

     The District also agreed to take the out-of-pocket payment and the lowering of our health benefits off the table for this year. 

     Still in discussion are rehire rights for part-time faculty, and the task force that will be looking into which courses should qualify faculty for advancement on the salary schedule.  We are also (finally) looking at language for "intellectual property rights" for faculty who write and teach online courses.

     Details on these tentative agreements will be discussed at our next Guild meeting on November 19.  Hopefully, by then, we will have also settled the issues that are still open.

     Members of the Guild leadership have proposed a raise in dues.  Be assured that the proposed flat rate will only come about if there is agreement by the members, especially since the new dues structure will not result in any additional income for our local.  The reasons the Guild Executive has asked members to consider the change are:

  • First is fairness.  Many members (especially part-time faculty) pay a much greater percentage of their salaries in dues than higher-paid  faculty, who can better afford to pay.  
    • Secondly, the present system is inaccurate, unwieldy, and time consuming. At the next Guild meeting Mike Allen will present several possible dues systems.

          Nothing will change until there is extensive debate and a clear vote in favor of amending our present system.

         Last month there was an article in the El Vaquero that inaccurately linked "Block Scheduling" with a change in calendar.  The Guild is not considering a change to our present calendar.  When we went to the present calendar we promised five sessions a year, in which students could reach their educational goals, and faculty could maximize their earning potential without working year round.  We have seen no compelling arguments to change those conditions.  Finally, our sister colleges are switching to compressed calendars, and a change would put us out of step with them and our feeder high schools.

         The Administration has promised that there will not be an implementation of block scheduling unless there is overwhelming agreement by the college community.

         In last month's Chaparral Mona Field made the case for changes in our health benefit package.  Guild 1st Vice President Mark Maier's rebuttal letter to Mona's article appears on page 4 of this month’s Chaparral.  In the spirit of fairness I urge you to consider the points he has made. Even though health coverage has been removed from the table for this year, the debate will continue and as prices are almost certain to continue rising, it will be back next year! &  

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