Bargaining Update: Recently the Administration/BOT and UFF faculty teams reached tentative agreement on new language for Article 10 on Performance Evaluation and on Winter Break. Key changes in Article 10 include a more detailed five-point performance rating scale sought by the Admin/BOT and a ban on forced distributions sought by the faculty team. Some of these provisions will require significant bylaws revisions — sorry. This year’s MOA on Winter Break provides an additional paid holiday. The text of these agreements can be found at:
Article 10: https://uff-fsu.org/art/Article10TAs.pdf
Winter Break: https://uff-fsu.org/art/WinterBreakMOAs.pdf
Last week the teams reached tentative agreement on Article 5 on Academic Freedom and Responsibility. Key changes include faculty rights to notification when public records requests are made seeking faculty e-mail, voice-mail, etc., clarification of procedures and rights for dealing with work, including classroom, disruptions, and clarification of the broad scope of academic freedom regardless of the form of speech (written, verbal, electronic). These changes were sought by the faculty team. The text of the tenative agreement is at:
Article 5: https://uff-fsu.org/art/Article5TAs.pdf
Note that these are TENTATIVE agreements subject to ratification voting. Admin/BOT and UFF faculty teams continue to discuss promotion, tenure, specialized faculty reclassification, benefits, and restructuring of the salary article. We hope to conclude negotiations on these matters soon and schedule a ratification vote. All UFF-represented in-unit FSU faculty are entitled to vote in ratification ballots. Bargaining resumes Wednesday the 3rd at 2pm. Further updates on bargaining will be forthcoming.
Voting and Higher Education Policies: As UFF President Tom Auxter explains in a brief message at the URL below, higher education public policies are very much in play in the upcoming election. Please familiarize yourself with the issues, and please vote. See the flier at the link below for more information, including President Auxter’s brief review of higher education policy issues.
Auxter Message: https://uff-fsu.org/art/2012non-partisan-flier.pdf