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Higher Education Budget in Conference

The budget debate remains in the Conference Committee with members attempting to reconcile the House and Senate amounts. The differences between the house and Senate for the community colleges is significant for the colleges - $38 million. In the Conference Committee deliberations, the final amounts cannot be less than the lowest or higher than the highest. Since the Senate incorporated into its figures the basic components of Senate Ways and Means Chair Stanley Rosenberg's Fair Share Funding Formula, the amounts are higher.

In addition to the FY98 budget, there is an additional complementary Supplemental Budget that was filed with the Senate Ways and Means budget. The supplemental budget includes: Challenge Funds. The House did not include any matching funds for fundraising. During the House debate, an amendment to restore these monies failed. The Senate Ways and Means, however, has $14 million earmarked in the supplemental. It also includes $5 million for scientific, technological and other educational reference materials and $15 million for educational technology projects.

The other major items in the budget are:

Fair Share Funding Plan. This funding proposal for public higher education calls for a rational method of determining state support as well as standards to gauge campus performance. We support the Senate version.

Education and Training Workfare. The House adopted amendments to allow AFDC recipients to take advantage of necessary education and training programs and count the hours in class toward their weekly workfare hours (20 hours). The Senate did not include this in its budget, and it appears that Rep. Harriet Stanley who is on the Conference Committee is not supportive. We support the House version.

	FY1997	FY98 House	FY98 Senate
	Appropriation*
Berkshire	$7,518,003	$7,730,991	$7,736,189
Bristol	$10,009,531	$11,891,135	$11,576,778
Bunker Hill	$12,715,308	$13,044,265	$14,465,167
Cape Cod	$7,842,853	$8,060,560	$8,937,523
Greenfield	$6,840,735	$7,032,147	$7,228,883
Holyoke	$1l,872,970	$12,587,244	$13,229,167
Mass, Bay	$8,854,227	$10,594,939	$11,291,861
Massasoit	$15,175,524	$15,557,781	$16,017,222
Middlesex	$13,225,450	$13,561,642	$14,997,501
Mt. Wachusett	$7,974,955	$8,202,781	$8,916,449
No. Shore	$15,070,262	$15,415,880	$15,389,905
No. Essex	$12,934,897	$13,305,657	$14,896,030
Quinsigamond	$9,545,421	$10,585,245	$10,704,468
Roxbury	$8,699,376	$8,907,976	$9,010,575
Springfield	$16,955,511	$17,421,766	$18,280,616

These figures represent the FY97 Appropriation only

DCE Arbitration Award

Grievant Receives Monetary Award

A DCE unit member, Eva Cincotta, from Bunker Hill Community College was assigned three DCE courses in the fall 1995 semester. She received an assignment contract for each course and each contract stated that the course could be canceled for under enrollment. One of the courses, in fact, was canceled. When the semester was about to begin, the college called her and informed her that one of the remaining courses was erroneously assigned to her and was being withdrawn. She was told that this particular course was part of a full-time faculty's workload.

Cincotta filed a grievance since she felt that she should not be penalized because of management's error. The course was not canceled, and if the course had never been assigned, she would have sought employment elsewhere. In addition, the college's communication regarding this matter was not consistent with the collective bargaining agreement. Though the college acknowledged the communication violation, it maintained that it had the right to withdraw, as well as cancel, an assignment.

Grievant Entitled to Salary

In defending its position, the college stated that the division secretary had actually made the DCE assignments and inadvertently assigned the grievant a course that had already been assigned to a full-time unit member. The college also maintained that it al lowed the grievant's remaining, under enrolled course to run at full pay when it could have been canceled or offered only on a prorated salary basis. There fore, the college argued, the grievant was compensated for the withdrawn assignment. The association argued that no college official ever informed the grievant that the full pay for this course (which ran at the Chelsea campus) was compensatory in nature. Also, the union pointed out that the college commonly ran courses at full pay with lower enrollments in Chelsea.

At the arbitration, the parties stipulated the communication violation and a decision was to be rendered concerning the appropriate remedy. The arbitrator rejected management's position as an example of "post hoc fallacy"- because one event follows another does not mean that the first caused the second. The full pay for the one course and the withdrawal of the other course were not causally related. The arbitrator ruled that the grievant should be entitled to the salary she would have earned for the withdrawn course. Therefore, the employer violated the collective bargaining agreement "upon its withdrawal from the contract for faculty appointment... executed by Eva Cincotta and Dean R. Michael McSweeney, Bunker Hill Community College. In order to remedy the violation, the college will pay Cincotta the amount of $2,050."

The case at arbitration was presented by MTA Consultant, Michelle Gallagher. Chapter grievance coordinator William Iannelii provided invaluable assistance and represented the grievant at the college level of the grievance process.

Looking For A Job The MCCC is in the process of moving the job postings to the MTA Web Page (massteacher.org). Once that process is complete, community college vacancies can be accessed. Any unit members who would like a copy of the vacancies faxed to them, can send a request along with the college where they teach to the Communications Coordinator Fax 617-236-0448.

Coopers and Lybrand Chosen for Classification Study

On June 9, the MCCC was notified that the Chancellor had chosen Coopers and Lybrand as the consultants for the classification study. Coopers and Lybrand has to negotiate a contract with the Board of Higher Education before any work can begin. Once a contract has been signed, however, members from the Classification Committee will meet with representatives from Coopers and Lybrand to discuss the timetable and the implementation of the scope of services. It is mandated that there will be at least three meetings with the Classification Committee and the consultant to discuss the progress of the study. In addition there will be monthly, written reports from the consultant.

Until a contract is signed and a meeting takes place, no work can begin. Once this phase is completed, however, the MCCC will notify unit members of the timetable and process for creating and distributing the questionnaire. The MCCC is in the process of preparing a pamphlet for all unit members that will explain the classification process.

Remember to check your personnel files to make sure they are complete.

Salary Increase Due

Effective June 29, 1997, all full time faculty and professional staff and all part- time day faculty and professional staff will receive a 2.5% salary increase. This increase will be reflected in the July paycheck.

For the part-time professional staff, all unit members will receive 2.5 percent increase regardless of salary, but no unit member can receive less than $16.23 per hour.

Furlough Checks

Unit members should receive their furlough checks by June 30, 1997. If there is a dispute over the amount, the unit member has 25 days only from the date the letter is received to file a grievance. The grievance must be filed with the chapter grievance officer. All campuses should have a copy of the amounts generated by MTA. There should be only minor discrepancies in the amounts between the MTA and the colleges.

Professional Staff Evaluations and Position Descriptions

All full-time and part-time day professional unit members should make sure they have completed evaluations for the July 1996-June 1997 year based on their E-7's, Position (job) Description. Summary evaluations (E-8's) for full-time professional staff must be completed by June 15 (except for tenured members during a non-evaluation year). The college shall evaluate part-time professional staff (E-l0's) on an annual basis and shall complete the work performance evaluation (as part of the summary evaluation) no later than one month prior to the completion of the unit member's appointment.

E-7's--Job Description

All full-time and part-time professional staff members should have an up to-date E-7, Job Description completed. This description forms the basis of the evaluation, and this year, will be critically important because of the classification study. If there are any changes in a unit member's Job description, he or she should meet with the appropriate super visor so that the E-7 is accurate and complete.

Retirement Issues

Early Retirement Legislation. The Public Service Committee reported out favorably MTA's early retirement bill that would allow higher education employees to add five years to age, five years to service, or a combination of age and service not to exceed five for retirement purposes. This bill has been in the legislature for five years, but this is the first time the Public Service Committee has made a recommendation. In the past this bill had always been attached to a budget, and it was either eliminated from the budget or vetoed by the governor.

Now, don't get too excited. This bill is not coming up on the legislative floor any time soon. The earliest it would be taken up would probably be in the fall, according to MTA lobbyists. When it appears that this bill will come to the floor, all unit members will be notified and asked to begin lobbying. Since Speaker Finneran has opposed an early retirement bill for higher education from the beginning, our work will be cut out for us.

DCE. The DCE Team has been working with management to explore the feasibility of having DCE wages be counted toward retirement for full-time employees. A letter has now been sent to the Retirement Board, and the Team is waiting for a response.

Curriculum Development Specialist in Unit

In a recent decision from the Massachusetts Labor Relations Commission (MLRC), it was determined that the position of Curriculum Specialist in the Center for Business and Industry at No. Essex Community College is an MCCC unit position.

In 1985, in order to provide services to business and industry, No. Essex established the Center for Business and Industry. When the Center was developed, DCE was not represented by the Union, and the Center's employees were non-unit. When the Curriculum Specialist position was reposted in 1987, however, the MCCC was the bargaining agent, but the college posted the position as non-unit. By 1990 the position had evolved from a strictly DCE position to a "rather ambiguous day-DCE position."

Funding Source Not Important

In the MLRC's decision, the discussion reviewed the school's adoption of the one-college concept "which began to cloud those distinctions [day and DCE]." When the Center opened, the college created and posted three positions-a director, an outreach recruiter, and a curriculum development specialist, all non-unit. When challenged in 1985, the parties agreed that the outreach recruiter would be unit while the other two would remain non- unit. However, when the curriculum specialist position was again posted in 1995, it was clearly similar to many other positions in the unit.

In its decision the Commissioners wrote that in making a unit determination, the MLRC considers: community of interest, efficiency of operations, effective dealings, and safeguarding the rights of employees to effective representation. Indicators OF A community of interest include similarities of work environment, job requirements, education, training, and experience. "The Commission has adhered to a policy of joining employees who share a community of interest in the largest practical unit, preferring broad, comprehensive units over units which are small and fragmented." The Commission has also ruled, "that differences in funding sources do not undermine the existing community of interest between the petitioned for positions and the current bargaining unit members."

Community of Interest

The MLRC concluded that this specialist position shares a similarity of job functions with certain unit members. It also found that the specialist's interests are not "...sufficiently distinct from other similar bargaining unit positions throughout the community colleges, to exempt the position from broad comprehensive day bargaining unit." As a result, the MLRC ruled this position has a community of interest and that putting this position into the day unit would "effectuate the Commission's policies, by appropriately placing the position in the largest, practical, comprehensive bargaining unit and according the specialist collective bargaining rights without perpetuating any inevitable conflicts in the collective bargaining process."

This decision is particularly relevant since a number of colleges have Business and Industry Centers and these centers have no direct contact with community college students. They provide, however, a community service function which connects them to the mission of the colleges.

Tech Prep Positions Determined to be Unit

In a recent decision from the Massachusetts Labor Relations Commission (MLRC), the positions of Tech Prep Coordinator at Cape Cod Community College and the Tech Prep Project Director at No. Shore Community College were determined to be unit positions.

In the MLRC's decision relative to these positions, the Commissioners make three points: (l) That these employees were, in fact, state employees since the Higher Education Coordinating Council [now the Board of Higher Education] has a sufficient role in hiring, supervising and paying these employees; (2) that neither the director nor the coordinator are significantly involved in the formulation of policy; and (3) that differences in funding sources do not undermine the existing community of interest between these positions and the current bargaining unit members. "Thus, even though the federal grants that underwrite the tech prep program are different from funds generated from the community college system, this distinction is not sufficient to exclude any of the petitioned- for positions in the current Bargaining unit." In addition, the MLRC has "consistently recognized that community of interest exists where there is a similarity of interests and working conditions predicated upon common supervision and similar work environment... These tech prep employees maintain offices at the colleges, interact with college faculty, and are responsible to Deans of Academic Affairs thereby sharing a similar work environment and working conditions with other bargaining unit members.

Though the Tech Prep unit members work primarily with high schools as opposed to community college students, the MLRC ruled that there was a community of interest.

Report your Blue Cross Dental Woes? Anyone having a complaint or concern about the Blue Cross Dental plan and coverage should direct his or her comments to Abe Sherf, North Shore Community College. He is the community college representative on the Health and Welfare Trust Fund.

Know Your Contract

June 15	Professional Staff summary evaluations due
June 15	Part time faculty student evaluations due
June 15	Sabbaticals request to Sabbatical Leave Committee
June 24	Professional staff summary evaluation rebuttals due
June 27	Professional staff post evaluation conferences
July 1	Professional staff pre-evaluation conference
July 1	Professional staff work assignment received
July 15	Professional staff vacation days released
July 15	Sabbatical Committee recommendations
Aug. 4	Part-time teaching assignments due
Aug. 27	Earliest a professional day can be assigned

N.B. Dates may vary depending on first day of classes. Also, most of these dates are "last date" standards. In many instances, the action can he accomplished before the date indicated.

MCCC Newsletter Editor: Catherine A. Boudreau MCCC/MTA Newsletter 20 Ashburton Place Boston, MA 02108

The MCCC Newsletter is a publication of the Massachusetts Community College Council. The Newsletter is intended to be an information source for the members of the MCCC and for other interested parties. The material in this publication may be reprinted with the acknowledgment of its source. For further information on issues discussed in this publication, contact Catherine Boudreau, Massasoit Community College, Brockton, MA 02402.

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