American Association of University Professors
University of Delaware Chapter


301 McDowell Hall, University of Delaware, Newark, DE  19716
Phone: 302-831-2292; Fax: 302-831-4119; E-mail: aaup-mail@udel.edu


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November 2002 aaUPBEAT

Implementing the Collective Bargaining Agreement

Introduction: Looking at the New Agreement

The 2002 2005 Collective Bargaining Agreement between the AAUP and the University has a number of features that improve faculty conditions of employment. The salary increases will improve UD faculty earning relative to comparable institutions in our region. The Agreement also upgrades maternity leave and, for the first time, provides faculty with the option of having long term care insurance. For assistant professors preparing for tenure review, the Agreement provides for a research semester to enable them to devote time to scholarly work free from teaching and service responsibilities. The Agreement also offers a one time retirement incentive for faculty considering retirement over the next two years.

Additionally, the Agreement contains provisions for reviewing the workload policies of academic units. More than ten years have passed since academic units have been required to attend to workload policies. During this time, many new faculty members have joined the University, colleges have been reorganized, there has been turnover in academic administration, and changes have occurred in University policies affecting promotion and tenure and nontenure track faculty. Because workload policies are central to the annual evaluation of faculty, the distribution of merit pay, and for promotion and tenure, it is vital that periodically they be reviewed in order to guarantee that University structural changes haven't undermined the faculty protection aspects of the workload guidelines. According to the Agreement, faculty have primary responsibility for formulating workload policies. Because of the important nature of these policies, faculty should take advantage of the Agreement and participate fully in developing the policies.

The 2002 2005 Collective Bargaining Agreement was ratified through a mail ballot by a ratio of more than 7 to 1 by both AAUP members and nonmembers. Participation in the ratification vote was the highest since 1990. In the period leading up to the contract ratification vote, the AAUP sought to maximize, in unprecedented ways that went beyond what is required by the Bylaws, the amount of pre ratification information provided to the faculty in a number of ways. Four union newsletters were devoted to discussion of contract details. Departmental representatives were invited to Steering Committee meetings in order to receive updates on the negotiations. We made available to each faculty member a copy of the proposed contract. And, finally, we sponsored two Open Faculty Meetings for discussion of the recommended contract.

The ratification of a Collective Bargaining Agreement must be followed by the thorough implementation of its provisions in order for the Agreement to become a reality. An initial part of this implementation is to make sure that the Agreement is accurately printed and distributed to faculty. Another important aspect of implementation is to make sure that other University policies and guidelines, such as those in the Faculty Handbook, fully conform to the Agreement since new alterations or provisions in the Agreement take precedence over other University policies and guidelines. Because our new Agreement has important provisions concerning workload, the Workload Policy Guidelines have required review and updating.

Implementing the Agreement rests largely with the faculty. Formulating merit pay and workload policies takes time, effort and thought. It is difficult, however, to think of a more powerful expression of our quest for professional self determination than our efforts in developing the policies that govern (1) the work that we as faculty do and (2) the distribution of merit salary increases.

In the section below, Leon Campbell, the AAUP's Contract maintenance Officer, reports on some of the activities that the AAUP has taken to implement the new Agreement.

Issues Concerning the Collective Bargaining Agreement for 2002-2005

by Leon Campbell, AAUP Contract Maintenance Officer

Some faculty have raised a question about the changes in the Collective Bargaining Agreement that was mailed to the faculty prior to the vote on the contract and the official printed version of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). In the implementation of the CBA, one of the responsibilities of the AAUP Contract Maintenance Officer (CMO) is to make sure that the official printed version of the contract is accurate and reflects what was negotiated for the next contract period. This review is conducted jointly with the Vice President for Administration or her designee. After any errors are corrected the print proofs are then subjected to a line by line review for accuracy. In addition, the CMO has the responsibility to review the relevant policies in the Handbook for Faculty to make sure that they are not in conflict with the CBA. If revisions need to be made the CMO recommends proposed changes to the AAUP Executive Council and the Administration for review and approval.

stated at the Open Faculty Meeting held on March 14, 2002 that there were some errors in the CBA that was mailed to the faculty and that they would be corrected before the official contract was printed.

The errors that were found in the typed version of the CBA sent to the faculty were the following:

On page19, Article 11.2, line 2, the reference to the "Workload Policy Guidelines" issued on December 15,1989 was in error and should have referenced only the appropriate section in the Handbook for Faculty (11.2 Handbook for Faculty III.F.2).

Since the Workload Policy Guidelines had been revised three times since 1989, the reference to the 1989 document was incorrect. The original 1989 guidelines stated: "The members of the unit in consultation with the unit administrator, and following their own by laws, will prepare and adopt a workload policy that accurately represents the unit's past practice with respect to the composition of each component of the workload, or states a new policy that is acceptable to members of the unit."

The flow of review then went to the AAUP for certification that the workload policy conformed to the bargaining contract provisions. Certification was required before the policy was transmitted further. After adoption by the faculty and certification by the AAUP the workload policy was then transmitted to the dean , the provost and finally to the president and the Board of Trustees for approval.

In 1990 the Procedure for the Approval of a Unit's Workload Policy was revised to remove the President and the Board of Trustees from the approval process and established final approval by the Provost. This was reflected in the 1992 update to the Handbook for Faculty.

In 1994 the AAUP Executive Council assigned the approval of workload policies for the AAUP to the AAUP Contract Maintenance Officer.

At the request of several deans, the policy was revised in 2001 to change the flow of approval of the workload policy approved by the unit to go to the dean for review and approval before it was sent to the AAUP Contract Maintenance Officer for review and certification.

Article 11.3 of the 2002 2005 CBA stipulates that By June 30, 2003, academic units and chairs must present their workload policies, whether revised or not, for review and approval by the appropriate dean, the AAUP Contract Maintenance Officer, and the Provost.

The Workload Policy Guidelines in the Handbook for Faculty had to be revised to reflect the agreed upon contract language.

Since the Workload Policy Guidelines states in the first paragraph that "The members of the unit in consultation with the unit administrator, and following their own by laws will prepare and adopt a workload policy that accurately represents the composition of each component of the workload", the phrase "or states a new policy that is acceptable to members of the unit" is redundant and was deleted in the 2002 revision of the Guidelines. The Workload Policy Guidelines also had to be revised to remove the past practice of the units since units already have in place approved workload polices thereby making past practice no longer relevant for developing new or revised workload policies.

The 2002 revisions to the Workload Policy Guidelines were approved by the AAUP Executive Council and the Provost on 05/02/2002.

Page 19, last line: a comma was replaced by a semi colon after the word research.

Page 20, Article 11.9: The word portion following advisement should have been deleted in the first sentence and was corrected in the printed version.

Page 21, first line: 18 was omitted before teaching contact... and was corrected in the printed version.

Page 29: the article number 17.1 was omitted from the first sentence of the text and the subsequent article numbers were in error as a result. The correct article number was inserted and the subsequent articles renumbered in the printed version.

Any questions about these changes should be addressed to Leon Campbell, AAUP Contract Maintenance Officer at 831 6767 or campbell@udel.edu.

Comments on Above Reports

As an addendum to Leon Campbell's above report, a few editorial comments must be made.

The "Constitution and Bylaws" of our AAUP chapter gives the Executive Council the power to make "all decisions concerning contract administration" (IV. B). Should members of the bargaining unit have questions or concerns regarding the Collective Bargaining Agreement, its implementation, and it relation to other University policies, they should contact the AAUP.

Unfortunately, misinformation about the Agreement recently has been spread around campus by some bargaining unit members who have not taken the time to contact the AAUP to express their concern or to solicit answers to any questions they have. In the absence of taking such steps, these parties have done the faculty a disservice.

As Leon Campbell's report indicates, the Collective Bargaining Agreement is always carefully reviewed and corrected to make sure that it is accurate before it is printed and distributed throughout the University. In addition, policies and guidelines in the Faculty Handbook are always updated to make them consistent with the Agreement.

In the December newsletter, we will provide further discussion of workload policies and related issues.

In the meantime, bargaining unit members are encouraged to contact the AAUP for authoritative answers to their questions about the Agreement and its implementation.

A Final Note: Special Salary Adjustments Under Article 12.8 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement for 2002-2003

by Leon Campbell

Each year the AAUP Contract Maintenance Officer (CMO) receives a list of the names of faculty designated to receive special salary adjustments under Article 12.8 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The list includes the adjustment amount for each recipient and the reasons the adjustments were made.

The CMO reviews the list with the Vice President for Administration to certify that the awards are for equity, market, market and equity and retention. The CMO reports on the salary adjustments to the AAUP Executive Council.

The amount of money distributed each year varies depending upon the funds available. Sufficient funds are not usually available to meet all of the needs of the colleges and some adjustments must be spread over two years.

The funds for 2002 2003 were distributed to faculty in all seven colleges as follows:

Equity $55,750, Market $127,388 and Retention $46,424 for a total of $229,562. The largest college, the College of Arts & Science, distributed a total of $109,861 for all categories.

Occasionally individual faculty members ask the CMO to review their salaries to determine whether or not salary adjustments under Article 12.8 are warranted. The CMO conducts the review and, when appropriate, works with departmental chairs to attempt to gain salary adjustments. The recommendations of chairs are advisory to the deans. Ultimately, the Provost reviews all proposed salary adjustments and decides whether or not to authorize them. In keeping with University policy, individual salaries are kept confidential throughout this process.

Any questions regarding these special salary adjustments should be addressed to Leon Campbell, AAUP Contract Maintenance Officer at 831 6767 or campbell@udel.edu.