ELECTION TIME!

Of particular interest to educators is Ballot Amendment 3: Missouri Teacher Performance Evaluation. See the relevant basics here at Ballotpedia and the MNEA's take on it (hint: VOTE NO!)

TLRD: NO ON 3.

University labor news: CUNY profs marching for contract

City University of New York faculty have been without a contract since 2010, and are on the march: tricky as their funding comes from the both the city and the state governments, so they have to negotiate with both bodies in addition to CUNY itself. Essay at Laborpress.org

International inspiration between education labor movements

Discusses some recent instances of support and exchange of ideas across borders. There are some very interesting things going on out there.
http://www.labornotes.org/blogs/2014/09/international-teacher-solidarity-cross-pollinates

Degrees Not Debt

An interesting article on the NEA's campaign to reduce student loan debt and other advocacy efforts like Elizabeth Warren's bill. A discussion is here:

http://neatoday.org/2014/05/14/nea-launches-campaign-to-help-reduce-student-debt/

And an opportunity to commit to help is here: http://www.nea.org/degreesnotdebt

Give this a look.

Please support Springfield Police and Firefighters

MSU Faculty Association supports the Springfield Police and Firefighters in their quest to fund their pensions.  Voters are being asked on April 8, 2014 whether they would repeal the existing ¾ cent sales tax funding the pensions.  Voting NO renews the tax.  In 2010 the pensions were 40% funded.  Now because of the voter approved sales tax, the pensions are 67% funded.  If the pensions sales tax is renewed on April 8, 2014, the pensions could be fully funded by 2019 or sooner.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014 – please vote NO.  Voting NO renews the tax.

For more information please go to: springfieldmo.gov/election

 

End of Fall 2013 Semester Discussion/Social!

MSU Faculty Association would like to welcome all MSU Faculty to celebrate another successful fall semester.  Please join us on Thursday, December 5 for a discussion/social.  Light refreshment is provided with drinks.  Date: December 5, 2013, Time: 5:30 to 7:30 pm (please drop by anytime), Place: Dublin’s Pass (on the Square) 317 Park Central East; in the private room in the back.  For more information please contact MSU Faculty Association, msufaculty1@gmail.com

MSU Instructors – Your Voice Matters!

All MSU Instructors (and Senior Instructors) should have recently received a flyer made just for instructors in your campus mail.  The flyer includes a welcome from the MSU Faculty Association to all instructors to join the Association.  We want to hear your voice, especially your concerns about your job here at MSU.  The flyer also contains the following information about who we are and what we stand for here at MSU.

The MSU Faculty Association is concerned with:

Contract Issues

Contract issues are central to MSUFA. Long-term contracts provide stability, loyalty, and improved quality of instruction. Your MSUFA colleagues believe Instructors deserve multi-year contracts, as described in the Faculty Handbook.

 

Salaries and benefits

The gap between MSU salaries and those at peer institutions has increased dramatically. Salaries and benefits are getting relatively worse at Missouri State for all ranks. MSUFA acts as an independent advocate for fair salaries and benefits, focusing on substantive, long term, and equitable improvements in faculty compensation.  Our goal is to work with the University to reach a collective bargaining agreement. The administration has not raised faculty salaries relative to peer institutions (see salary chart below).

 

Shared governance 

MSUFA members believe that shared faculty governance allows the university to benefit from faculty members’ qualifications and experiences as educators.  As the members of the university community who work most closely with students, faculty bring a unique perspective to the conduct of university affairs.

 

Excellence in education 

MSUFA members believe that public education is a civic virtue, benefitting both students and the community.

Why should you care?

Shared governance is a goal yet to be achieved at Missouri State

While the MSU faculty members are bound by the Faculty Handbook, the administration is not.  The Board of Governors includes a student member, but no faculty representation.

Excellence in education is in jeopardy at Missouri State

In many areas, the quality of student education is declining.  Over the last two decades MSU has dramatically increased class sizes, the use of part-time faculty, and hiring at levels that do not require a terminal degree.  Support for instructional programs has stagnated while the size of administration has grown and non-program spending increased.   

Instructor salaries have lagged dramatically behind salaries at MSU’s benchmark institutions.  MSU identifies 11 benchmark institutions in its current long-range plan. The following data compares MSU faculty by rank to these benchmark institutions.  As noted on the President’s web page: “This set of institutions is similar to Missouri State University-Springfield in many respects (e.g., student headcount, level and span of degree programs), but possesses characteristics and accomplishes outcomes that we aspire to achieve.”  How much are you underpaid over the past 14 years relative to pay at these benchmark institutions?  Here is the data for Instructors:

In the last year listed AY 11-12, the difference in salaries is $6,679.  Don’t forget, as the University has been quick to tell us over the years, that the value of our benefits must be included to fully calculate faculty total compensation:

Notice that we see the same pattern here as with salaries.  The value of benefits at MSU is similar to our benchmark institutions in AY 98-99, with an ever increasing disparity over time.  In the last AY, which for benefits is AY 10-11, the difference in benefits equals $4,688.

How much in $$ have YOU lost?

In current dollars, the lost salary from an MSU Instructor not being paid her/his worth (i.e., the average for MSU benchmark universities) over the last 14 years equals: 

 

$89,817 (salary) + $41,717 (benefits) = $131,534

What YOU can do to change being UNDERPAID?

Join MSU Faculty Association and fight to correct these inequities.

The data suggests that there are two main causes of the low faculty salaries at MSU.  First, over this time period the MSU administration has chosen to invest available budget dollars into other, non-academic, areas of the university including administration and professional (non-academic) staff.  In fact, while the numbers of ranked faculty have remained constant at MSU since 1993, even as student enrollment has increased, the number of administrators has increased by 31 percent and the numbers of non-academic professional staff have increased by 273 percent.  As a percentage of total FTE employees on campus faculty, both ranked and unranked, have fallen from 45.6% of all FTE in 1993 to 35.9 percent in 2010.  See the Faculty Senate staffing report in 2010 for a full picture of what has happened in these areas over time (linked to the right).

If you are interested in these issues and others related to your employment at MSU please join us this Thursday, December 5, for discussion and a social at Dublin’s Pass, 317 E. Park Central, 5:30 to 7:30 pm – food and beverage provided.  For more information contact MSU Faculty Association at MSUfaculty1@gmail.com.