President’s Column Dec. 2017

DEMOCRACY, ELECTIONS, and an MCCC PRIMER

The MCCC represents four (4) distinct constituent groups: full-time faculty, full-time professional staff, part-time faculty/professional staff and adjunct faculty.

A democratic union requires engaged and informed members who are willing to run for offices (local or state) and to VOTE. A democratic union requires fairly conducted elections that are equally open to all eligible voters (dues paying members).

Statewide election nominations for President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, At Large Part-time/Adjunct Director (2 seats), MTA Annual Meeting delegate, and NEA RA delegate opened on November 1, 2017, and close on February 1, 2018, at 4 p.m. Learn more about the various elections and submit your nomination(s) at https://mccc-union.org/nominations/

Get your nomination in TODAY; start campaigning NOW.

Candidates for the four (4) statewide officers and the (2) at large part-time/adjunct directors need to collect signatures (using the official “signature form” found on the MCCC website), submit those signatures to the MCCC Office for “verification,” and then request the database of contact information for all eligible voters represented by the elected office. For questions regarding elections, email elections@mccc-union.org

Candidates for President, VP, Secretary, and Treasurer need to collect 50 signatures from members (day and DCE, full-time and part-time) at any or all of our 15 community colleges.
Candidates running for the two (2) At-Large Part-time/Adjunct Director seats need to collect 10 signatures from part-time/adjunct members at any community college(s).

The campaign window from close of nominations to close of elections is very small.

• February 1, 2018, by 4 p.m. – nominations close; signatures due to MCCC Office
• February 1 by 4 p.m. – “certified candidate” deadline for submission of picture and 250-word statement to communications@mccc-union.org for the February newsletter.
• February 28 – newsletter mailed
• March 2 – notice of electronic voting procedures are mailed to member home address.
• March 2– electronic voting opens
• March 22 – voting closes at 4 p.m.
• March 23 – election results are certified by the Nominations & Elections Committee
• March 23 – MCCC President announces the results
• March 24 – Results are posted on the MCCC webpage.

Duties and compensation for each elected position, including delegates, are posted on the MCCC webpage.

Briefly, current salaries* for elected officer/Director positions are:

• President –
  • FT member – $34,301 plus 4 releases per semester per year.
  • PT member (adjunct or PS) – $61,685 (yearly equivalent)
• Vice President –
  • FT member – $18,866 plus 2 releases PLUS 2 releases for serving as SAC
    (strategic action committee) Chair for a total of 4 releases per semester per year. Note:  As of right now the position of SAC Chair gets two courses of reassigned time.  This is under review by the Finance Committee and may change.
  • PT member (adjunct or PS) – $46,250 (yearly equivalent)
• Secretary –
  • FT member – $13,720 plus 2 releases per semester per year.
  • PT member (adjunct or PS) – $27,412 (yearly equivalent)
• Treasurer –
  • FT member – $25,726 plus 3 releases per semester per year.
  • PT member (adjunct or PS) – $46,249 (yearly equivalent)
• At-Large Part-time/Adjunct Director –
  • $500 per semester or $1,000 per year (one-year term)

*NOTE: Full-time members (faculty or professional staff) receive release time from their regular workload and continue to receive full salary and benefits while doing Union work. It is expected that full-time elected officers will NOT pick up extra courses under the DCE contract. Reassigned/Release time equivalent for adjunct part-time officers is based on a 3-credit DCE course at Step 2. Officers are elected for a two-year term. Elected officers/Directors are seated on June 1, 2018. 

Chapters must hold elections in March or April and may be elected for one- or two-year terms. Each chapter has a different “stipend” amount that it pays to each of its elected officers and/or other chapter appointees. Mandatory offices requiring election are:

• Director to the MCCC Board of Directors
• President
• Vice President
• Secretary
• Treasurer
• Delegate to the MCCC Delegate Assembly (elected each year)
• Professional Staff representative to statewide Professional Staff Committee (may be appointed or elected by PS FT/PT members).
• Adjunct representative to the statewide Adjuncts Committee (may be appointed or elected by adjunct faculty members).

Each chapter should have a Nominations and Elections Committee that follows MCCC election guidelines. On-site elections MUST offer absentee ballots.

• Notice of nominations and elections must be distributed at least two weeks prior to the deadline for nominations.
• The notice should specify (1) open offices, (2) nomination procedures and deadlines,
  (3) election procedures and timeframe, (4) the time, date, and place of the election if it is to be an on-site election (absentee ballots required) or the time and date by which online ballots must be received.
• Candidate names for each elective office must be posted for at least five (5) working days before the start of the election.
• Election violations/challenges may be appealed first to the chapter Nominations and Elections Committee and then to the statewide Nominations and Elections Committee at elections@mccc-union.org within five (5) working days from the day the vote count is announced.

While MCCC currently does not have statewide term limits, it is healthy for organizations to have periodic changes in leadership. Doing so reminds everyone that the Union belongs to the members and encourages ongoing leadership development. Bylaw proposals are due by February 1 to bylaws@mccc-union.org
Please consider running for an office. Get to know the candidates running for office and
VOTE.