October 2005 Board Notes

NEA STATE DIRECTOR’S REPORT

NEA State Director Karolyn Mossman highlighted portions of her written report.

• Over the past five years since President Bush has been in office, there has been a 52% increase of businesses and/or organizations that have moved their offices to the Washington, DC area. It may be easier to lobby Congress or their representatives are more accessible.

• Speaking of lobbying, Hawaii NEA Board members Jean Dobashi, Sally Pestana, and Karolyn Mossman met with staff members from Congressmen Daniel Akaka and Neil Abercrombie’s offices and met personally with Senator Ed Case. Karolyn Mossman spoke with Senator Daniel Inouye’s staff member over the phone. The contacts were made to discuss issues of concern to the NEA and Hawaii.

• An inquiry was made about career and technical education. According to the NEA, Congress is in the process of reauthorizing the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act this year. Legislation to reauthorize the Act for an additional five years passed in both the House and Senate but it is now pending in conference committee. The NEA supports Tech Prep education because it helps link secondary and postsecondary career and technical education programs and provides about 8% of the overall appropriation. If Congress should eliminate a funding stream like the one being proposed by the House for Tech Prep, when that funding is removed from the program, it is not merged into other grant programs within the Act but taken out altogether. Right now, the priority in Congress is hurricane relief. There is talk that Congress may trim the budget and if this is done, funding for education may go on the chopping block.

• She also mentioned that several HSTA members have been appointed to NEA committees.

NEA PACIFIC REGIONAL LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE

NEA Higher Education Director Sally Pestana reported that the Pacific Regional Leadership Conference and the Pacific Regional Minority Leadership Conference will be held February 17-19, 2006 at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Hotel in Honolulu. Topics for higher education will be on Saturday February 18. Directors interested in attending this conference may utilize their travel grant fund.

 PRESIDENT’S REPORT

President Tiles announced that she has appointed several committee chairs. The Board confirmed the following committee chairs.

Michael Kirk-Kuwaye

(UH-Manoa) Collective Bargaining Committee

L. Thomas Ramsey

(UH-Manoa) Finance Committee

William Puette

(UH-West Oahu) Grievance Committee

Thomas Jackson

(UH-Manoa) Legislative Committee

Ruth Horie

(UH-Manoa) Nominations and Elections Committee

Sally Pestana

(Kapiolani Community College) Personnel Committee

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT

Executive Director J. N. Musto summarized the issues in his written report and referred Directors to the twelve attachments. They include:

• Although the 2003-2009 faculty contract is in place, UHPA has continued to negotiate with the UH administration. Agreements have been reached with the University that include a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for Article VIII, Faculty Travel, which clarifies the implementation of federal expense allowance rates as applied to intra-state, neighbor island travel (see August 29, 2005 Board Notes). That Memorandum of Agreement also includes changes to Article XII, Tenure and Service, Paragraph E. It clarifies that if a faculty member is denied tenure, they are given a terminal one-year contract effective August 1. This would make the language consistent with the final sentence of the same paragraph. Also for Article XII, Tenure and Service, Paragraph F.2.f., it recognizes the new Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at UH-West Oahu in the tenure and promotion process. The Memorandum of Agreement for Article X, B, Minimum Requirements for Departmental Procedures, modifies the language regarding UH-Manoa Library and faculty members eligible to sit on the Library Personnel Committee. A Supplemental Agreement to the 2003-2009 faculty contract has been negotiated. It relates to the early pay out of accumulated vacation leave through the State of Hawaii Deferred Compensation Plan prior to retirement. It would have a significant tax advantage for retiring faculty members. Once the parties have signed these MOAs, information will be included on UHPA’s web page and distributed to members of the Bargaining Unit.

• There are two Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) pending. One deals with faculty members in the "R" classification who choose to either continue the accumulation of their vacation leave or be placed on an 11-month contract with one month off. "R" faculty are essentially compensated for 12 months of work and do not have an off duty period in which to earn overload compensation. The MOU would enable "R" faculty members to elect to forego vacation in order to obtain overload compensation from grants or contracts during the off-duty period. The administration would like to continue this MOU and to now include faculty members in the "S" and "C-11" classifications. The second MOU relates to intellectual property rights. It would give joint ownership rights to the faculty member while allowing the university to continue to use the product of this joint work. It would allow the faculty member to sell or license the work or product to others outside of the UH.

• A request has been received by the UHPA Women’s Committee to conduct a systemwide gender and minority pay equity study. In that regard, Executive Director Musto contacted UH President David McClain about a meeting to discuss a cooperative project to initiate a new study. President McClain was receptive.

• Community College Faculty Representatives were sent a survey concerning the issue of increasing class sizes. The 2003-2009 faculty contract allows faculty to be released from one 3-credit hour course per academic year so that they can engage in other professional responsibilities and activities. At one community college campus, this is being used to justify the need to increase class sizes and ignore class caps. The information will enable the union to learn whether or not this is occurring at other community college campuses. Surveys are due on November 1.

• It was reported that the EUTF Board of Trustees approved for the month of December 2005 a premium holiday for HMSA Medical and Drug Plan or Prescription Drug Only Plan participants. Additionally, participants on the Mutual Benefit Association of Hawaii (MBAH) Chiropractic Plan would have their premiums waived for the month of December 2005. This only applies to those covered under HMSA.

• Directors were informed about UHPA’s co-sponsorship of the Centennial Conversation 2 and the problems the Oahu Democratic Party had concerning the use of the Campus Center Ballroom a few days prior to the scheduled event.

• A report was made on the Board of Regents meeting that was held in Hilo. The Regents approved the request from Hawaii CC Chancellor Rockne Freitas for the right to negotiate with an exclusive developer for a new Hawaii CC Komohana campus and a West Hawaii Kona campus center. UH-West Oahu was given permission to designate 200 acres of land for commercial use to help fund the development of their campus.

• Directors received the results of the child care survey. The UHPA Women’s Committee will review the surveys, including written comments, and decide how the survey results should be disseminated.

• Professor Barry Bluestone, the economist who wrote, Negotiating the Future, was a participant in the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service’s regional conference. Executive Director Musto arranged for Professor Bluestone to meet with Interim UH-Manoa Chancellor Denise Konan. and Jeff Minter, Vice President of UniDev, LLC.

• The UH-Manoa Faculty Senate has asked UHPA to review the proposed UARC contract and the response of the outside counsel they had hired. Executive Director Musto has read the documents and has forwarded them to UHPA’s legal counsel for his review. More information will be provided at a later time.

• Peter Kay, former CEO of Cybercom, Inc., has been working with Executive Director Musto to evaluate the effectiveness of UHPA’s website. Directors were informed that they would be receiving a list of priorities that would require their feedback.

• The NEA Higher Education Conference will be held from March 3 to 5, 2006 in Orlando, Florida. This will be a joint conference with higher education members of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). The conference will be held at the Disney Contemporary Resort and the theme is "AFT-NEA Higher Education Summit: Sharing our Successes, Challenges and Strategies." As noted last month, you can register online at http://nea.org/he/conf.html.

TREASURER’S REPORT

Treasurer Duane Stevens reported that in addition to the financial report three budget charts were done—FY05 Actual vs. Budget, FY06 Budget, and the FY06 Salaries and Compensation. Directors passed a motion to receive the financial report for the fiscal period ending September 30, 2005, and to refer it to the Finance Committee.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REPORT

• The Filipino community will be celebrating 100 years in Hawaii. The first Filipinos arrived at the end of 1906 and worked as "sakadas" on sugar plantations. The celebration will begin with a dinner on December 10, 2005 and end with an international conference "One Hundred Years and Beyond" from December 13-17, 2006. The Board of Directors unanimously passed a motion to purchase a corporate table at $2,000 for the Filipino Centennial Commemorative Dinner on December 10, 2005 to be held at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Hotel, Coral Ballroom.

• As reported earlier by the Executive Director, UHPA co-sponsored with the Hawaii Democratic Party’s Oahu County Committee the Centennial Conversation II that was held on October 8 and 9, 2005 at the UH-Manoa Campus Center Ballroom. Directors passed a motion to approve $1,500 to help defray the cost for the Centennial Conversation II co-sponsored by UHPA.

• The Ah Quon McElrath Fund for Social Change has been established by the UH Foundation in cooperation with the Ethnic Studies Department at UH-Manoa. A special luncheon honoring Ah Quon McElrath will be held from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the Ohia Cafeteria of Kapiolani Community College on Sunday, November 20, 2005. The Board of Directors unanimously passed a motion to purchase two tables of five for $1,000 for the luncheon celebration honoring Ah Quon McElrath. The Fund will be used to sponsor an annual Forum on Social Change and other related conferences. The first of these is a free lecture in social change and justice scheduled for Friday, October 28, at 12:30 p.m. in the Architecture Auditorium on the UH-Manoa Campus. The lecture is by Professor Mari Matsuda, the first tenured Asian American law professor in the United States, who is nationally known for her expertise in civil rights, feminist theory, affirmative action, and hate speech. Mari Matsuda is the daughter of retired Honolulu Community College Professor Kimi Matsuda.

WOMEN’S COMMITTEE REPORT

Acting Chair Monisha Das Gupta reported that the Women’s Committee has requested UHPA to approach the University administration to jointly sponsor a system wide gender and minority pay equity study. Since the Executive Director has taken the initiative to speak with UH President McClain, it was not necessary for the Board to make a decision and they will wait to hear from the administration. She also confirmed that the Women’s Committee will review the results of the child care survey and determine how they would like that information publicized.

NOMINATIONS & ELECTIONS COMMITTEE REPORT

Chair Ruth Horie requested Board confirmation of the following new Faculty Representatives, which was passed in a motion.

Craig Chaudron

UH-Manoa PAU 052 Second Language Studies

James Spencer

UH-Manoa PAU 069 Political Science

Juanita Liu

UH-Manoa PAU 081 Travel Industry Management

Helen Hasegawa

UH-Manoa PAU 087 College of Education

Douglas Pyle

UH-Manoa PAU 118 Geology and Geophysics

NEW BUSINESS

• Directors unanimously passed a motion to confirm the appointments of Nina Buchanan (UH-Hilo), Joel Fischer (UH-Manoa), Jonathan Goldberg-Hiller (UH-Manoa), Ruth Horie (UH-Manoa), Patricia Lopes (UH-Manoa), B. Jeannie Lum (UH-Manoa), Michael Mottl (UH-Manoa), Earl Nakahara (Honolulu CC), Duane Stevens (UH-Manoa), Francis-Dean Uchima (Hawaii CC), John Wendell (UH-Manoa), and Ming-Bao Yue (UH-Manoa) as members of the Grievance Committee.

• Directors unanimously passed a motion to confirm the appointments of James McFarland (Kauai CC), Duane Stevens (UH-Manoa), Roy Wilkens (UH-Manoa), and Lou Zitnik (Hawaii CC) as members of the Legislative Committee.

• Directors unanimously passed a motion to confirm the appointments of Amy Anderson (UH-Manoa), Margaret Bruck (Maui CC), Mary Jane Dobson (Leeward CC), Roy Wilkens (UH-Manoa), Lou Zitnik (Hawaii CC), and Jeffrey Zukernick (Kapiolani CC) as members of the Nominations and Elections Committee.

• Directors unanimously passed a motion to confirm the appointments of Marcia Armstrong (Kapiolani CC) and Adrienne Valdez (UH-West Oahu) as members of the Personnel Committee.

• The Ad Hoc Women’s Committee was re-established by the Board in June 2005 so that they could meet over the summer to discuss the gender and minority equity study. Directors concurred that the Women’s Committee should continue since their charge is to have a gender and minority equity study, and it will now include a review of the child care survey results.

• Directors passed a motion to continue the Ad Hoc Committee on Special Services.

All members of standing and ad hoc committees are appointed for one-year terms.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Nominations and Elections Committee Chair Ruth Horie announced the results of the Faculty Forum Agenda Committee election. Elected to serve two-year terms are Paulette Feeney (UH-Manoa), Michael Cooney (UH-Manoa), John Cole (Hawaii CC) and Sharon Rowe (Kapiolani CC). Elected to serve a one-year term is James Yates (UH-Manoa). The Faculty Forum Agenda Committee consists of four Faculty Representatives from UH-Manoa and four Faculty Representatives from the other campuses. Continuing on the Faculty Forum Agenda Committee are Glenn Cannon (UH-Manoa), Gaynel Buxton (Honolulu CC), and Lynn Yankowski (Maui CC).

• Director Roy Wilkens announced that there are discussions for improvement of conditions of service for soft money researchers and that this may become an item for new business in January.

• The Board Notes for August and September 2005 are being distributed as a separate document.

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