Present:

Marilyne Cleeves, Matt Fleming, Marilyn Rossa, Melanie Senn, Rich Taylor

Absent:

Hedy Carra, Lisa Curtis, Susan Marsala, Jim West; Allison Merzon (Academic Senate)

The meeting was called to order at 3:30 p.m.

Announcements

The EB discussed various options regarding insurance.

Mediation on Friday

The EB gave direction to the negotiating team.

Bond Endorsement Card

The EB voted to add our signature, CCFT, to the district list of endorsers.

Council of Reps Meeting

The EB discussed the agenda for the 5-4-06 CR meeting:

• Dues: Senn will distribute and discuss the Excel spreadsheet of possible dues increases.
• Code of Conduct: Fleming will discuss the Code of Conduct draft.
• Blog, et al.: Cleeves will discuss creating a blog or chat room for CCFT discussions. She will also discuss the CCFT and CR listservs which will be used for announcements, agendas, etc., and not for discussion.

Newsletter

Rossa requested that articles for the newsletters be submitted.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:00 pm
Submitted by Melanie Senn, Substitue for Hedy Carra, Secretary

April 6, 2006

Present:

Hedy Carra, Lisa Curtis, Matt Fleming, Susan Marsala, Marilyn Rossa, Melanie Senn, Rich Taylor, Jim West; Allison Merzon (Academic Senate)

Absent:

Marilyne Cleeves

The meeting was called to order at 2:10 p.m.

Academic Senate Report

Merzon’s reported on the following:

• The CCC Academic Senate Spring Session area meeting will be held on April 7-8, 2006 (Merzon distributed copies of the packet of resolutions to be discussed). This meeting will include discussion about changing the “60% Law” to 80%. [A resolution to change the current Ed. Code section that prohibits pt faculty from working more than a 60% load to allow them to teach up to 80% was defeated at the March CFT Convention].
• The Distance Education Task Force recommendations will be presented to the Academic Senate on May 4. Merzon will confer with MJ Basti, the committee chair, to ensure that both AS and union concerns regarding DE are protected.
• At the April BoT meeting, President Rosenwasser proposed that a task force be formed to create guidelines for email; this issue will go to Shared Governance.
• Merzon, Rossa, and Pres. Rosenwasser recently met to discuss the Student Life & Leadership position; this is both an AS and CCFT issue.
• The Technology Committee recommended to upgrade the current Web CT within 6 to 9 months.
• The chair of the Curriculum Committee distributed a Planning & Budget report to members of the Academic Senate without first showing it to Merzon as should have been done. Rossa will request that the chair recall the majority of the report.

Certification of Election Results/Announcements

The EB certified the election results for the CCFT President-Marilyn Rossa received 116 votes, and Dennis Baeyen received 112 votes-and declared Rossa the official winner. Carra would like to thank Bill Fairbanks, Vicki Bursey, and Rich Taylor for helping her count the ballots.

Marsala received a letter from Stew Jenkins saying that the Council of Elected Democrats will raise money and assist in other ways to help CCFT with the 2006 Board of Trustees elections

The AFT Convention

The American Federation of Teachers 2006 convention will be held in Boston on July 20-23. The EB unanimously approved the funding for Rossa to attend. Other EB members are encouraged to attend.

Council of Reps Meeting

The EB discussed the agenda for today's CR meeting. An important agenda item is CCFT dues since dues were increased at the March CFT convention when an amendment was passed increasing the per capitas by $3 (which was a compromise to the original $5 sought) beginning in September 2006. Rossa stated that just three CCFT members responded to her repeated request for comments re the CFT resolution.

[If any member is interested in borrowing my convention materials, which include the Amendments and Resolutions discussed during the lengthy floor debates, please contact me: hcarra@cuesta.edu].

Newsletter

An edition of the CCFT newsletter will be put out in early May. Various EB members volunteered to contribute; articles are due no later than 4/30. Merzon will write an article about shared AS and union endeavors. Carra will provide photos taken at the CFT convention in March.

Other

Merzon reported that because AS cannot legally talk about the Bond campaign, AS members have asked her to request CCFT to officially support the Bond. A motion was made that CCFT sign an endorsement card for the Bond, but the motion was recalled because additional discussion by the EB is necessary.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:15 pm
Submitted by Hedy Carra, Secretary

Previous Agendas

May 4, 2006

Present:

Academic Skills/DSPS: Lisa Curtis, Karen Waska
Business Education:Diane Lichty
Counseling: Julie Smith
English: Sara Wiebe
Fine Arts: Scott Brennan-Smith (proxy)
Human Development: Bailey Drechsler
Languages & Communication: Betsy Dunn, Tony Rector-Cavagnaro, Ralph Sutter
Learning Resources: Keith Bontenbal
Mathematics: Bobbe McGee, Peggy Wright
Social Sciences: Victor Krulikowskir
Student Life & Leadership; Health Center: MJ Basti

CCFT Executive Board: Marilyn Rossa, Ma tthew Fleming, Hedy Carra, Melanie Senn, Jim West, Lisa Curtis

Absent:

Nancy Mann, Marilyne Cleeves, Dana Gough, Peet Cocke, Douglas Highland, Pete Lagomarsino, Douglas Highland, Kimberly Blackie, Steve Herbekian, Marcia Scott, Antonia Torrey, John Knutson, Ron McCarley, Bob Miller, Mike Napoli

The meeting was called to order at 3:20 p.m.

Announcements

• Rossa announced that she hopes to reserve 5305 for CR meetings in Fall 2006.
• Rossa announced that CCFT and the district have come to an agreement for a two year contract for 2005-06 and 2006-07. Because they are under a temporary “mediation blackout,” the terms cannot be discussed at this time. The contract will be presented to the members next week; a vote re ratification is needed by May 19.

Dues Increase

Senn discussed the CCFT Dues Analysis 2004-05 she emailed to reps in April. Senn stated that an additional $30,000 per year is needed to balance the CCFT budget. Increasing dues to 1.1% plus collecting dues on overload and summer work would result in an additional $30,000 per year. Increasing dues to 1.2% without dues on overload and summer would also result in an additional $30,000. Senn recommended the first option (1.1% and dues on overload and summer), and stated that this would allow CCFT to meet its budget without a “cushion.”

Rossa asked the CR for its recommendation. Following are comments and questions by reps:

• We should postpone the vote until Fall to give us time to discuss it with the members in our division. (Several reps discussed strategy for the best time to hold a vote on a dues increase: this semester or Fall semester).
• Last time we discussed a FAQ sheet for members; is one available?
• Points needed on FAQ: There has never been an increase in the percentage; part-timers; the amounts we must pay to affiliates; pertinent figures. (Rossa said the EB will send out a FAQ sheet.)
• How will we vote? (Rossa: electronic voting for both the contract ratification and approval of dues increase.)
• Has the EB discussed also asking the membership what they think about how money is spent? (Rossa said that the EB will consider discussing the idea of asking members for input about how dues are spent.)

Rossa stepped down as chair so she could make a motion, and West acted as chair. Rossa moved to take straw votes re a dues increase; the motion was seconded. The question: Which of the following do reps prefer?:

• “1.2% with no dues on overload or summer.” Response: 6 voted “Yes.”
• “1.1% with dues on overload and summer.” Response: 10 voted “Yes.”
• “No dues increase.” Response: 2 voted “Yes.”

Results: A large majority of the reps voted that dues be increased; the majority voted that dues should be 1.1% and dues on overload and summer. Members will receive electronic ballots for the dues increase by the end of the semester.


Code of Conduct Subcommittee Report

Fleming reported that the C of C subcommittee met and is currently discussing:

1. How CR meetings are run: the use of Robert's Rules of Order; use an agenda that includes reports by officers and subcommittees and time frames; form subcommittees when topics need to be looked at in depth.
2. The Code of Conduct. The subcommittee is editing the draft submitted by Marsala, which she adapted from a critical thinking guide. Our code will be shared with the Cuesta subcommittee currently writing guidelines for email communication. The subcommittee began exploring the difference between having a code and resolving violations of the code (the consequences).
Comments by reps:
• We should use an abbreviated form of Robert's Rules.
• It would be good to have reports.

Campus-Wide Email Guidelines

Rossa reported that Marie Rosenwasser has formed a subcommittee to draft guidelines for campus email. The subcommittee is made up of reps from Academic Senate (Done Norton), CCFT (Rossa), Alicia Klinger, Patrick Schwab, and a classified employee. A draft will be submitted to Shared Governance next week.

CCFT Communication

Rossa reported (for Cleeves who could not attend today's meeting) that the EB is looking at possible formats for productive and effective communication among reps and among members. One possibility is a blog or chatroom on the CCFT website. The EB is also exploring ways to make the listservs work better, including one-way listservs (no Reply is available).

Previous Agendas

April 6, 2006

Present:

Academic Skills/DSPS: Lisa Curtis, Karen Waska
Business Education:Diane Lichty
Counseling: Julie Smith, Dana Gough
English: Sara Wiebe
Fine Arts: Peet Cocke
Human Development: Bailey Drechsler
Languages & Communication: Betsy Dunn, Tony Rector-Cavagnaro, Ralph Sutter
Learning Resources: Keith Bontenbal
Mathematics: Bobbe McGee, Richard Taylor, Steve Herbekian, Peggy Wright
Social Sciences: Victor Krulikowskir
Student Life & Leadership; Health Center: MJ Basti

CCFT Executive Board: Marilyn Rossa, Matthew Fleming, Hedy Carra, Melanie Senn, Jim West, Susan Marsala, Rich Taylor, Lisa Curtis

Absent:

Nancy Mann, Marilyne Cleeves, Pete Lagomarsino, Douglas Highland, Kimberly Blackie, Marcia Scott, Antonia Torrey, John Knutson, Ron McCarley, Bob Miller, Mike Napoli

The meeting was called to order at 3:20 p.m.

Announcements

• Rossa announced that to add more structure to the CR meetings, we will follow Robert’s Rules of Order “as best we can,” and she distributed a RRO At A Glance sheet. We will also have a Sergeant At Arms for each meeting; Bobbe McGee wore the Sergeant’s beret for this meeting.
• Sutter said a phone bank needs to be created to make calls about the Bond, but AS cannot be involved [the unions are the only organizations at Cuesta that can officially endorse and use Cuesta facilities in connection to the Bond; it is illegal for any other Cuesta group to do so]. Marsala said she has discussed a phone bank with Pres. Rosenwasser. Marsala asked for permission from the CR to send out an email asking for volunteers; the CR agreed. Marsala stated that grassroots support is needed to pass the Bond. Cuesta first needs to demonstrate that Cuesta faculty are willing to contribute before CFT gives us any money. Marsala will attend the Democratic Central Committee on 4/12 to talk about the Bond and ask for their endorsement; Wiebe volunteered to go with Marsala.
• Following a question about the possibility of CCFT and CFT donating to the Bond Campaign fund, Rossa said that if members want to donate through CCFT, they can make a donation to the CCFT COPE fund stating what the money is for; CFT is likely to match some funds donated by CCFT. If members have monthly payroll deductions for COPE, they can direct that some or all of the deduction go to the Bond campaign by informing Senn of their wishes.
• Bontenbal volunteered to help set up an perhaps staff a CCFT Bond Campaign table at the Farmer’s Market.
  

Dues

Rossa stated that the EB needs input from the CR in order to move forward with the dues issue; a decision and action are needed by the end of this semester. Rossa explained that dues were increased at the March CFT convention when an amendment was passed increasing the per capitas by $3 (which was a compromise to the original $5 requested) beginning in September 2006. This additional $3 per capita goes on top of the per capitas that passed last September (used to help defeat the November propositions). This means $6 per capita, 12 months per year, has been added in the last year in addition to regular CFT dues increases. CCFT has never raised dues and has never passed down per capitas to members.
Senn reported that there has been an $11,000 increase in dues just to CFT since 2001-2, when we paid $6700/mo; now we pay $9500/mo, which is an increase of $34,000 a year since ’01-02. Members pay dues just 10 months per year, but CCFT must pay 12 months. Our auditor/CPA, John Pooley, recommended that we raise dues to at least 1.3% and collect dues on summer work and overload [Pooley’s letter with recommendations is available on the CCFT website].
Rossa reminded reps of the information about CFT dues that was in the emails she sent on March 7. This information includes the dues paid by other community college locals; Rossa said that our dues of 1% are generally very low.

Following are many of the comments and questions by reps (they are not exactly verbatim, but close). Responses by EB members are in brackets. Information that must be kept confidential is not included.


• Is AFT raising dues similarly? [AFT raises dues 3 to 5% per year.]
• I want to see the trend in the amount our dues have risen. [CCFT took in $5700 more in dues last year than the year before.]
• How much money would dues on summer work and overload yield? [The new payroll person will have this information soon and it will be emailed to the reps.]
• I would like to see all charts of dues for all unions. [Someone will try to get that information.]
• How much of an increase would result from raising the dues to 1.2%? How much if 1.3%? [1.2 would result in about $30,000 more; 1.3 in about $50,000 more.]
• The low amount of dues paid by part-timers means that CCFT has been subsidizing part-timers’ dues.
• [It’s a huge job to compare dues paid by all colleges. It’s better to look at how an organization functions. How can we get better raises so we pay more dues? We need to be motivated to pay more dues.]
• Is there much of an advantage to being a CFT member? [There is a huge advantage.]
• [Pooley looks at all the CC’s; he is the expert.]
• How can CCFT tighten belts so we can wait to discuss a dues increase until next year? [Our expenses are minimal now; we are returning 10% leave time in 2006-07. Look at the budget and where much of our money goes: to outside union dues and legal expenses.]

A discussion followed regarding reassigned time [the district pays for reassigned time] and leave time [the union pays for leave time]. Included in the discussion was the fact that the district makes a profit of about $27,000 each year from CCFT on leave and reassigned time and is the only community college district that we are aware of that chooses to do this.

• We haven’t had a dues increase in 12 years. We need to suck it up; gotta do it—a dues increase and charge dues on summer work and overload.
• I am in favor of raising dues. It’s very important to have a strong union
• “Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” We need to have a strong union, and that means paying dues, to protect current and future faculty.

Two “straw” votes were taken at the end of the meeting.

1. Council of Reps recommends that faculty pay dues on summer work and overload: an overwhelming majority voted “Yes.” [20 reps were still in attendance and voted.]
2. Dues should be raised: 14 voted “Yes,” 5 voted “No.” [19 reps were still in attendance and voted.]
   

3. Other

Matt asked for volunteers to join the Code of Conduct Committee [Please let Matt know if you are interested.]

Previous Agendas