UPI Annual Report, Spring 2012

WE WERE THERE:

The WE ARE ONE Coalition — supporting the Wisconsin workers under serious threats — jammed Chicago’s Daley Plaza in April, 2011. Here are Steve Rowe of the Chicago State Chapter and his daughter Eleanor Rowe Smiley.

(Photo by Mark Sudeith, CSU)

UPI Local 4100University Professionals of Illinois | Local 4100, IFT, AFT, AFL-CIO| 2011 Annual Report

Fall 2011 UPI Local 4100 Executive Board

Ellie SullivanUPI President

David CarpenterUPI Exec. Vice President

Hank DavisUPI Secretary-Treasurer

Normajean NieburUPI Recording Secretary

John AllisonEIU President

Jonathan BlitzEIU Rep

Ann ColeActing UIS Rep

Sandy FloodNIU President

Steve FrankelNEIU Rep

Jeff HancksWIU Rep

Colleen HardenActing UIS-AGE

President

Carla JohnsonGSU Rep

Marsha KatzGSU President

John MillerWIU President

John MurphyRetirees President

Normajean NieburUIS President

Lydia Morrow Ruetten

Chair, Trustees

Terry SchuepferNEIU President

Stacey ShortNIU Rep

Mark SudeithCSU Rep

Laurie WalterCSU President

University Professionals of Illinois Local 4100 is affiliated with the Illinois Federation of Teach-ers, the American Federation of Teachers and the AFL-CIO.

Our office is located at 11 E. Adams, Suite 1106, Chicago, IL 60603.

Phone: 312-663-5916 / Fax: 312-663-3833 Web site: http://il.aft.org/041000/

This publication was edited by Mary Durkin, UPI director of communications. Send com-ments to [email protected]

2011 UPI Annual Report • 1

There’s a sense of change in the air. With elections next month, we’ll have new faces at the Local, at the Chapters and at the House of Delegates. I’d like to thank all of the activists who have served at all levels for their dedication to the union. You are the reason UPI has achieved such success with our contracts, grievances and legisla-tive issues. You’ll be reading more about our activities in this Annual Report.

Currently, all contracts are settled and rati-fied!! That’s a statement we haven’t heard in a while. EIU and UIS are gearing up for negotiations, so we’ll hope for a speedy and successful completion to their work.

A great deal of my time this year has been spent on formulating acceptable metrics for “Performance Based Fund-ing” in higher education. This activity was necessary because of a new law mandat-ing performance-based funding for higher education in Illinois. Performance Based Funding (PBF) is an attempt at account-ability, measuring success at our colleges and universities.

The Illinois Board of HIgher Education origi-nally proposed PBF models based on those from three other states, Kentucky, Tennes-see and Louisiana. All three of these states’ models simply counted degrees conferred within a certain time limit. Illinois State Senator Edward Maloney and Representa-tive Robert Pritchard created a steering committee, which brought all constituents to the table to create a clear and measured set of metrics or measurements based upon the mission of the individual colleges and universities. Each college and univer-sity has the ability to weight the metrics to match its mission. There were monthly

steering committee meetings to resolve the issues and cre-ate appropriate metrics.

After each meeting UPI hosted a conference call for our fellow constituents (Il-linois Federation of Teachers, Illinois Education Association, the Illinois Commumnity Col-lege Board, and, of course, UPI). We reviewed the meet-ing and issued a position paper for consideration at the next meeting. I wrote the ini-tial drafts and everyone in our working group reviewed and offered suggestions. The final draft was then approved by IFT and issued under IFT’s letterhead and President Dan Montgomery’s signature. We did this for five months.

We ran into some issues with the final report, but our coalition helped to carry the day for more detailed metrics. Because of the current state of funding for higher edu-cation, the initial amount of money withheld to fund PBF will be very small this year while the metric baselines are established this coming year. There will also be an an-nual review of all metrics and the percent-age of funding withheld for PBF.

Legislatively, we have had successes in staving off the worst of the pension and education “reforms,” and I am slightly en-couraged by the shift in public opinion that I feel is starting. By inviting expert constituen-cy representatives to be part of the Perfor-mance Based Funding Steering Committee, state leaders are changing the way they have approached educational reform and

other issues such as pensions and educa-tional funding. We are also seeing editorials in our newspapers (even in the Chicago Tribune) questioning the wisdom of many of the “reform” issues. We need to redouble our efforts to make sure that our voices are heard as the experts in conversations about our schools, colleges and universities. We will continue to work with IFT, AFT and our other colleagues in our places of work, com-munities and unions to expand on these efforts. We will make our voices heard.

I also participated in a new initiative from the American Federation of Teachers. As one of 22 local leaders invited to be part of a cohort program on executive leadership, I was energized by an intensive, five-day program in November at AFT in Wash-ington, D.C. The emphasis was on our community-based efforts towards mobiliz-ing our membership and our institutions within the fabric of our society. More on this in the coming months.

UPI President Ellie Sullivan prepares to moderate the annual meeting of the IFT’s Universities Council. From left, David Carpenter, UPI executive vice presi-dent; Heidi Lawson, chair of IFT’s Graduate Council; and Nick Yelverton, IFT’s legislative director

Please see SULLIVAN, Page 15

. . . Can you hear it? It’s change in the airContracts are settled; elections promise new blood; UPI has a place at the table

OUR PRESIDENT . . .


There’s a sense of change in the air. With elections next month, we’ll have new faces at the Local, at the Chapters and at the House of Delegates. I’d like to thank all of the activists who have served at all levels for their dedication to the union. You are the reason UPI has achieved such success with our contracts, grievances and legisla-tive issues. You’ll be reading more about our activities in this Annual Report.

Currently, all contracts are settled and rati-fied!! That’s a statement we haven’t heard in a while. EIU and UIS are gearing up for negotiations, so we’ll hope for a speedy and successful completion to their work.

A great deal of my time this year has been spent on formulating acceptable metrics for “Performance Based Fund-ing” in higher education. This activity was necessary because of a new law mandat-ing performance-based funding for higher education in Illinois. Performance Based Funding (PBF) is an attempt at account-ability, measuring success at our colleges and universities.

The Illinois Board of HIgher Education origi-nally proposed PBF models based on those from three other states, Kentucky, Tennes-see and Louisiana. All three of these states’ models simply counted degrees conferred within a certain time limit. Illinois State Senator Edward Maloney and Representa-tive Robert Pritchard created a steering committee, which brought all constituents to the table to create a clear and measured set of metrics or measurements based upon the mission of the individual colleges and universities. Each college and univer-sity has the ability to weight the metrics to match its mission. There were monthly

steering committee meetings to resolve the issues and cre-ate appropriate metrics.

After each meeting UPI hosted a conference call for our fellow constituents (Il-linois Federation of Teachers, Illinois Education Association, the Illinois Commumnity Col-lege Board, and, of course, UPI). We reviewed the meet-ing and issued a position paper for consideration at the next meeting. I wrote the ini-tial drafts and everyone in our working group reviewed and offered suggestions. The final draft was then approved by IFT and issued under IFT’s letterhead and President Dan Montgomery’s signature. We did this for five months.

We ran into some issues with the final report, but our coalition helped to carry the day for more detailed metrics. Because of the current state of funding for higher edu-cation, the initial amount of money withheld to fund PBF will be very small this year while the metric baselines are established this coming year. There will also be an an-nual review of all metrics and the percent-age of funding withheld for PBF.

Legislatively, we have had successes in staving off the worst of the pension and education “reforms,” and I am slightly en-couraged by the shift in public opinion that I feel is starting. By inviting expert constituen-cy representatives to be part of the Perfor-mance Based Funding Steering Committee, state leaders are changing the way they have approached educational reform and

other issues such as pensions and educa-tional funding. We are also seeing editorials in our newspapers (even in the Chicago Tribune) questioning the wisdom of many of the “reform” issues. We need to redouble our efforts to make sure that our voices are heard as the experts in conversations about our schools, colleges and universities. We will continue to work with IFT, AFT and our other colleagues in our places of work, com-munities and unions to expand on these efforts. We will make our voices heard.

I also participated in a new initiative from the American Federation of Teachers. As one of 22 local leaders invited to be part of a cohort program on executive leadership, I was energized by an intensive, five-day program in November at AFT in Wash-ington, D.C. The emphasis was on our community-based efforts towards mobiliz-ing our membership and our institutions within the fabric of our society. More on this in the coming months.

UPI President Ellie Sullivan prepares to moderate the annual meeting of the IFT’s Universities Council. From left, David Carpenter, UPI executive vice presi-dent; Heidi Lawson, chair of IFT’s Graduate Council; and Nick Yelverton, IFT’s legislative director

Please see SULLIVAN, Page 15

. . . Can you hear it? It’s change in the airContracts are settled; elections promise new blood; UPI has a place at the table

OUR PRESIDENT . . .

NINE PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES on 12 campuses, 48 community col-leges, 99 independent not-for-profit colleges and universities and 31 in-dependent for-profit institutions. A record enrollment approaching one million (924,749 students). Whew.

Members of UPI have long sensed that changes have been bubbling up in public higher education in Illinois. The Data Book, compiled by the Illinois Board of Higher Edu-cation, verifies our observations. Change has become the name of the game.

We use statistics from the 2011 IBHE Data Book (http://www.ibhe.org/Data%20Bank/DataBook/default.asp) in this section, “On Our Cam-puses.” It refers to the 2010-2011 academic year — last year. Things have been changing fast in this uncertain environment.

WHERE DO STUDENTS GO?• Community colleges: 41.1 percent

of the 2010 enrollment; in 1982 its share was more than 52.1 percent.

• Independent institutions: 36.8 percent of the 2010 enrollment; before the the 1960s, more than half of college students attended independent institutions, bottom-ing out at 21.7 percent in 1982.

•Public universities: 22.2 percent of the 2010 enrollment; eroding from almost 40.0 percent in 1970.

WHO GRANTS BACHELOR’S?• Public universities: 33,935 de-

grees, up 0.4 percent from 2009. • Independent not-for-profit insti-

tutions: 29,565 degrees, up 2.3 percent from 2009.

• Independent for-profit institu-tions: 7,538 degrees, up 11 per-cent percent from 2009.

• Out-of-state institutions: 1,369 degrees, up 10 percent.

2 • 2011 UPI Annual Report

STATE OF ILLINOIS

2010: BY THE NUMBERS

924,749 students enrolled (Up 1.1% from Fall 2009)

1970: Students enrolled in Illinois schools comprised 5.4% of enroll-ments in the country.

1978: Students enrolled in Illinois schools comprised 5.9% of enroll-ments in the country.

2009: Students enrolled in Illinois schools comprised 4.5 % of enroll-ments in the country.

2010 ENROLLMENTS IN ILLINOIS• Community college enrollment:

41.1%. • Independent, not-for-profit enrollment:

24.9% .• Public universities enrollment: 22.2% .• Independent for-profit enrollment:

9.9%.

IN 1970Public universities enrollment: 40% of

the enrollment in Illinois.

NUMBER OF BACHELOR’S DEGREES CONFERRED IN 2010

• Public Universities: 33,935 (up 0.4%).• Independent not-for-profit institutions:

29,565 (up 2.3%).• Independent for-profit institutions:

7,538 (up 11%).

• Out-of-state institutions: 1,369 (up 10%).

POPULAR FIELDS OF STUDY

1. Business, Management, Marketing & Related Studies

2. Education

3. Health Professions and Related Clinical Sciences.

Information taken from the Illinois Board of Higher Education 2011 Data Book

ON OUR

WE AT CHICAGO STATE University have had an exciting year. We finished bargaining the contract (thanks to the hard-working negotiating team!) and it was approved with an 81 percent positive vote. This version contains many im-provements in language, as well as modest raises, increasing in the “out years.” I feel that we can be proud of this contract, which runs through 2015. Now comes the difficult work of implementation, including revising the Departmental Applications of Criteria (DACs). On other fronts, we continue to work to keep the administration adhering to the contract, as well as to labor law. Sometimes, for example, we have to remind them what constitutes a mandatory subject of bargaining, not to mention what “man-datory” means. This reminding has necessitated the filing of several unfair labor practice (ULP) charges, some of which are still outstanding. Once we have them convinced, we have impact bargained such matters as the Computer Usage Policy and 403(b) providers. Our grievance officers maintain their tireless schedule of championing the rights of our mem-bers to reasonable schedules, fair evaluations, de-cent working conditions, protection from arbitrary dismissal and demotion, etc. The grievance officers are the real workhorses of the union! All of this effort is in the ultimate interest of the students, who will be better-served by faculty and staff who feel they have a stake and a voice in the running of the institution — as opposed to voiceless automatons, responsive only to admin-istrative fiat. We are proud to be doing what we are doing and we look forward to continuing to serve the faculty, staff and students of Chicago State!

CSU: Proud of

Higher Ed in Illinois:

Not your father’s school(or yours either anymore)


President LAURIE WALTER

• 773-995-2185 • [email protected]

Representing faculty, staff, IT

Chicago State Univ.

THE GOVERNORS STATE University Chapter has had a very busy year. We have been working on preparing for new leadership next year. Marsha Katz, president of the chapter, will retire as well as the current grievance officer, Edna Fry. We have been working on getting a slate for the current elections.

In addition, we are also dealing with a lot of turbulence on campus. The university is prepar-ing to include freshman. It is also instituting a dual degree program with many community colleges. This means that the faculty need to develop many new courses with limited resources. It also should mean that we will be hiring new faculty and possibly need more advisers.

The university also will sell bonds for building dormitories. This has the possibility of new positions. We must be observant about the kind of posi-tions being considered and whether they belong in the bargaining unit.

We will be preparing for the contract negotiations (contract expires August 2013) in March by starting the com-mittee that prepares the survey.

GSU BY THE NUMBERS: 2010

5,660 students enrolled (Down 14 from 2009)

(52.9% undergrads; 47.1% grads): 28.6% Male; 71.4% Female.

TOP undergrad PROGRAMS by degrees awarded (of 858 degrees):

1. Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies, and Humanities, 25.5% (ranked 1 last year)

2. Business, Management, Marketing & Related Studies, 18.2% (ranked 2 last year)

3. Education, 10.8%(ranked 3 last year)

4. Psychology, 10.1% (ranked 4 last year)

5. Health Professions and Related Pro-grams, 8.4% (not ranked in Top Five last year)

TOP UNDERGRAD PROGRAMS BY EN-ROLLMENT:

1. Business, Management, Market-ing and Related Support Services, 17.8%

2. Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies, and Humanities, 16.8%

3. Health Professions and Related Pro-grams, 13.5%

4. Education, 11.7%

5. Homeland Security, Law enforce-ment, Firefighting and Related Pro-tective Services, 8.9%

GSU FACULTY (212) • Professor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.6% • Associate Professor . . . . . . . . . .25% • Assistant Professor . . . . . . . . . . .25% • Lecturers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34% • Men in all Ranks . . . . . . . . . . 45.3% • Women in all Ranks . . . . . . . 54.7%

CSU BY THE NUMBERS: 2010

7,362 students enrolled (Up 127 from 2009)

(77% undergrads; 23% grads): 30% Male; 70% Female.

TOP undergrad PROGRAMS by degrees awarded (of 701 degrees):1. LA&S, Gen Studies and Humanities,

31.8% (ranked 1 last year)2. Psychology, 9.8% (ranked 3 last year)3. Business, Mgmt, Mkting & Related

Studies, 8.3%(ranked 2 last year)4. Health Professions & Related Studies,

8% (ranked 4 last year)5. Homeland Security, Law Enforce-

ment, Firefighting & Related Ser-vices, 6.4% (ranked 5 last year)

TOP undergrad PROGRAMS by Enroll-ment:1. Health Professions and Related Pro-

grams, 12.8% 2. LA&S, Gen Studies and Humanities,

12.8%3. Business, Mgmt, Mkting & Related

Studies, 12.6%4. Education, 10.9% 5. Homeland Security, Law Enforce-

ment, Firefighting & Related Ser-vices, 7.1%

CSU FACULTY (326) • Professor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.6% • Associate Professor . . . . . . . . 21.5% • Assistant Professor . . . . . . . . . 26.1% • Lecturers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31.9% • Men in all Ranks . . . . . . . . . . 46.3% • Women in all Ranks . . . . . . . . 53.7%

Categories, terms and information taken from the Illinois Board of Higher Education 2011 Data Book

President MARSHA KATZ

• 708-534-4952 • marshakatz@ ameritech.net

Representing faculty, staff

In University Park, a south suburb of Chicago

Governors State Univ.

GSU:

Developing new leadersour contract

On the South Side of Chicago, 9501 S. King Drive

CAMPUSES. . .



At EIU: Looking ahead to negotiations

EASTERN ILLINOIS

BY THE NUMBERS: 201011,630 students enrolled (Down 336 from

2009)(85.7% undergrads; 14.3% grads): 41.7%

Male; 58.3% Female.

TOP UNDERGRAD PROGRAMS BY DE-

GREES AWARDED ( 2,282):

1. Education, 21.5% (ranked 1 last year)2. Business, Management, Marketing &

Related Studies, 12.8% (ranked 2 last year)

3. Communication, Journalism and Relat-ed Programs, 9.6%(ranked 5 last year)

4. Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities, 9.1% (ranked 4 last year)

5. Parks, Recreation, Leisure and Fitness Studies, 7.5% (ranked 3 last year)

TOP UNDERGRAD PROGRAMS BY EN-ROLLMENT:

1. Education, 19.6% 2. Business, Management, Marketing &

Related Studies, 10.9%3. Parks, Recreation, Leisure and Fitness

Studies, 9%

4. Biological and Biomedical Sciences, 6.8%

5. Communication, Journalism and Re-lated Programs, 6.6%

EIU FACULTY (643) • Professor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28.9% • Associate Professor . . . . . . . . . .19.4% • Assistant Professor . . . . . . . . . . .20.7% • Lecturers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31%

• Men in all Ranks . . . . . . . . . . . .52.8% • Women in all Ranks . . . . . . . . . .47.2%


Our Preparation SINCE SPRING 2011, we’ve been planning for our next round of ne-gotiations, beginning Feb. 22 using interest-based-bargaining. A federal mediator will facilitate each session.

To assemble a “Top-Ten” issues list, members of the team and Chapter President John Allison held Negotia-tion Agenda Committee meetings to provide a membership survey and to discuss plans and survey results dur-ing General Membership meetings.

Our team members include Grant Sterling (chief negotiator/Unit A), Jonathan Blitz (Unit A), Jeff Duck (Unit B ASP), Carol Jean Dudley (Unit B ACF) and Ann Fritz (Unit A).

Political ActivitiesChaired by Richard Wandling, our Committee on Political Action and Legislative Activity (CPAL) has been:• disseminating information regarding

the role of public education;• promoting positions vital to public

employees in particular and all workers in general;

• meeting with legislators to counter misleading information and

• promoting positions to strengthen higher education in Illinois.

CPAL works closely with the Ameri-can Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the State Uni-versities Annuitants Association and members of the UPI Retirees Chapter.

Here are some of our specific activities and events:

• panel discussions on health care, higher education / public edu-cation and government and the economy;

• a “Festival of Outrage and Hope”;

• a wiki for the creation of letters to editor, fact sheets and links to research;

• meetings with Rep. Chapin Rose,

110th Dist., Charleston; Rep. Roger Eddy, 109th Dist., Hutsonville; and Sen. Dale Righter, 55th Dist., Mat-toon;

• publication of letters to the edi-tor supporting public pensions, progressive taxation and public words;

• a march to the courthouse to support Wisconsin public employees and worker rights;

• weekly planning meetings.

President JOHN ALLISON

217-581-6978 • [email protected]


Located in Charle-son, 175 miles south of Chicago

Eastern Illinois Univ.

ON OUR CAMPUSES . . .


1. When a Unit A faculty member — two years from retire-ment — was denied tenure, we devised a Memorandum of Agreement that will see her through to retirement.

2. We devised another MOA that gave a member a second year to achieve the required rating in the category of re-search / scholarly activity. This member’s needed publi-cation came three weeks after the portfolios were due.

3. We resolved a problem regarding the use of non-evalua-tive language in a Unit A member’s annual evaluation, which did not use standard terms like “satisfactory,” “significant,” etc.

4. Thanks to Jon Blitz, we resolved the situation of a Unit B faculty member who was assigned a partial load with courses going to a new adjunct employee.

5. We resolved through grievance and the filing of an Unfair Labor Practice the university’s cell phone policy.

6. We negotiated a dismissal without negative letters going into the personnel file and without prejudice for a Unit B faculty member after a number of student complaints.

7. After several conversations, we refused to agree to the ad-ministration’s proposal to allow a chair to count admin-istrative years toward the fulfillment of the Unit A years required for tenure and promotion.

8. We have three grievances active regarding attempts after 15 years of practice to change the manner in which research hours are assigned. In these cases, one publication every two years is required but a chair can make exceptions.

9. We are near the end of a successful negotiation to remove a “letter of counsel” from the personnel file of an ASP.

10. Three issues are perhaps heading for grievance: two third-year negative evaluations (in a department in which the wife is the acting chair and the husband chairs the DPC), and a negative evaluation for an employee who had been working for the past two years under an Memo-randum of Agreement.

Our grievance people — Jon Blitz, John Allison and Griev-ance Officer Tim Shonk — have met with people regarding additional concerns and issues. These include:• the intrusion of the College of Continuing Education into

our academic programs, • a threat to our tenured faculty, individual questions re-

garding course loads, • letters requesting reconsideration of evaluations, • potential disciplinary meetings called by supervisors and • student allegations of discrimination.

At EIUEnforced contract, rights through grievance work (Prepared by Eastern Grievance Representative Timothy Shonk)

‘Chapter’ status is on the ballotUNDER THE TERMS of the current UPI Constitution and By-Laws, the UPI Retirees have been required to function more as a committee than as a fully authorized chapter. During the past year as UPI President Ellie Sullivan, the UPI Trustees and the Executive Board developed changes in UPI governing documents, it was decided to recommend to the membership a change in the status of the Retirees unit to be more analo-gous to the campus chapters.

The growth of our membership to more than 150 dues-paying members, coupled with a strong representation of COPE con-tributors, means that the Retiree Chapter will become an even stronger and more effective component of Local 4100. The goal will to be to better integrate the issues facing present and future retirees into the work of the Local.

In the same election, Chapter By-Laws, approved by the UPI Executive Board, will be submitted to our current members for their approval. In addition to chapter officers, there is a provision for an executive board that will have retiree repre-sentation from each of the UPI campuses. This formulation promises to provide better access to new retirees and opportu-nities for more frequent, campus-focused social and political events.

As the new by-laws indicate, the purpose of the chapter will continue to be: • “to represent the interests of UPI retirees to the Local,”• “to provide information to its members and” • “to work to protect the rights and benefits of retirees.”

President JOHN MURPHY

• 312-663-5916, X-15 • [email protected]

Representing 221 retired faculty and staff from all UPI campuses

UPI Retirees Committee

THE CHAPTER OF NIU INSTRUCTORS is 20 years old! The number of instructors has steadily grown

to 230, and we remain a strong teaching force at NIU, teach-ing well over 13,000 students each semester.

Our first priori-ty this year was negotiations:


President SANDY [email protected]

Representing nonten-ure-track faculty

Located in DeKalb

Northern Illinois

NORTHEASTERN ILLINOIS, Chicago

BY THE NUMBERS: 201011,746 students enrolled (Up 115 from 2009)(80.7% undergrads; 19.1% grads): 40.7% Male; 59.3% Fe-

male.

TOP UNDERGRAD PROGRAMS BY DEGREES AWARDED

(1,515):1. Business, Management, Marketing & Related Studies,

19.8% (ranked 1 last year)2. Education, 15.1% (ranked 2 last year)3. Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Sciences and Hu-

manities, 10.4%(ranked 3 last year)4. Social Sciences, 8.6% (ranked 4 last year)5. Homeland Security, Law Enforcemenbt, Firefighting and

Related Protective Services, 6.5% (Not ranked in the Top Five last year)

TOP UNDERGRAD PROGRAMS BY ENROLLMENT (9,498):1. Education, 16.9% 2. Business, Management, Marketing & Related Studies,

15%3. Social Sciences, 5.6%4. Biological and Biomedical Sciences, 5.6% 5. Homeland Security, Law Enforcement, Firefighting and

Related Protective Services, 5.4%

NEIU FACULTY (416) • Professor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.5% • Associate Professor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.9% • Assistant Professor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20% • Lecturers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35%

• Men in all Ranks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49% • Women in all Ranks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51%

Categories, terms and information taken from the Illinois Board of Higher Educa-tion 2011 Data Book

NEIU: Agreement!


President TERRY SCHUEPFER773-442-5836 • [email protected]


Located on the North Side of Chicago, 5500 N. St. Louis

Northeastern Illinois

THREE YEARS OF CONTRACT negotiations were successfully concluded in May 2011.

NEIU/UPI members were able to ratify an agreement in May because many members of our community participated in the negotiations process. It was important to recognize the role of our federal mediator who displayed amazing patience and commitment to helping us reach our goal. Both the administration and our members owe a debt of gratitude to Sen. Iris Martinez as she helped both sides move beyond our polarized attitudes and find a way to resolution.

The remainder of 2011 was focused on contract implementa-tion activities such as the creation of the UPI Sick Leave Bank, the application of three years of ret-roactive salary increases and the implementation of a new griev-ance procedure. Three years of negotiations yielded a backlog of issues that continue to challenge the successful implementation of our new contract. One of those issues was the restoration of a productive working relationship with the NEIU administration.

During Fall 2011 and Spring 2012 we focused our efforts on restor-ing that relationship.

In November, we hosted a “Celebrate the Contract” event to recognize the work of President Sharon Hahs and her negotiating team as well as the UPI negotiat-ing teams. Our guest of honor was Sen. Martinez, an alumna and important member of our community.

This spring the NEIU / UPI Political Education Committee sponsored a discussion, “Surviv-ing the Attack on Public Sector Unions,” focusing on issues that unions will face in the immedi-ate future. More recently, a panel discussion raising the question “Are We Academically Adrift at NEIU?” was co-sponsored by NEIU / UPI and the Faculty Sen-ate. The half-day event yielded many interesting perceptions about the state of higher educa-tion both nationally and at our university. We hope that this event will mark the beginning of a continuing series of discussions designed to bring all members of the NEIU together to address our common goals.

NIU: Happy 20th


NORTHERN ILLINOIS, DeKalb

BY THE NUMBERS: 201023,850 students enrolled; 75% undergrads;

25% grads: 47.6% Male; 52.4% Female.

TOP UNDERGRAD PROGRAMS BY DEGREES AWARDED (4,243):


2. Health Professions and Related Pro-grams, 12.7% (ranked 2 last year)

3. Education, 10.7% (ranked 4 last year)4. Social Sciences, 9.3% (ranked 3 last

year)5. Communication, Journalism and Re-

lated Programs, 8.2% (ranked 5 last year)

TOP UNDERGRAD PROGRAMS BY EN-ROLLMENT (17,886):

1. Business, Management, Marketing & Related Studies, 15.6%

2. Health Professions and Related Pro-grams, 11.1%

3. Education, 7.6%4. Social Sciences, 5.2% 5. Visual and Performing Arts, 4.9%

NIU FACULTY (896) • Professor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.2% • Associate Professor . . . . . . . . . 34.1% • Assistant Professor . . . . . . . . . . 23.4% • Lecturers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.2%

• Men in all Ranks . . . . . . . . . . . 55.1% • Women in all Ranks . . . . . . . . . 44.9%


UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD

BY THE NUMBERS: 20105,174 students enrolled (Up 197 from 2009)(61.8% undergrads; 38.2% grads): 46.1% Male; 53.9%

Female.

TOP UNDERGRAD PROGRAMS BY DEGREES AWARDED (592):

1. Business, Mgmt, Mgmt, 27% (ranked 1 last year)2. Psychology, 9% (Not ranked in Top Five last year)3. LA&S, Gen Sci and Hum., 7.4%(3 last year)4. Public Admin and Social Service Professions,

6.4% (Not ranked in Top Five last year)5. English Language and Literature/Letters, 6.3%

(Not ranked inTop Five last year)

TOP UNDERGRAD PROGRAMS BY ENROLLMENT (3,197):1. Business, Mgmt, Mgmt, 22.5% 2. Psychology, 9%3. Computer and Info Sciences and Support Ser-

vices, 8%4. Homeland Security, Law Enforcement, Firefight-

ing and Related Protective Services, 7% 5. Biological and Biomedical sciences, 5.9%

UIS Grad Employees: Four-year contract sparkles

President NORMAJEAN NIEBUR217-206-6301 • [email protected]

Representing clerical, build-ing service and food service workers and pro-techs.

UIS Staff ChapterActing President COLLEEN [email protected]

Association of Graduate Employees

Located 200 miles southeast of Chicago

UIS-AGE

AGE HAS BEEN up to a lot this year!

First, we bargained a contract for 2010 to 2014 (4 years!), which:

• increases wages for each year;

• eliminates a former ban on outside employment;

• increases the amount of on-campus additional work assistants can do;

• allows an AGE representative on the Student Health Insurance Com-mittee, which is looking into new insurance plans for all students;

• allows a reopener for negotiations regarding insurance in 2012;

• allows assistants to set their work schedules each semester, according to their class schedules;

• provides important protections for assistants who are required/asked to travel for their position.

Second, we have been working with our members and the university to clarify the tuition waiver tax situa-tion. We are looking into how this tax affects assistants and, with the university’s help, how the effect of this tax can be minimized for as-sistants.

Third, we have been working with members to assist them in addressing problems with their work conditions. Our goal has been to help members advocate for themselves and step in when necessary to improve their work lives.

Fourth, we have had membership meetings to impart information to members about the above issues and get to know each other better!

creating and conducting a survey, training the team and negotiating for nine months. Our “baby” grew into a fresh Collective Bargaining Agree-ment with many revisions and new language.

The negotiations process moved along efficiently at times, and some-times at a frustrating, slow pace when the chief negotiator spent more time representing NIU at pension meetings

birthday

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WESTERN ILLINOIS, Macomb

BY THE NUMBERS: 201012,585 students enrolled (Down 96 from 2009)(83.2% undergrads; 16.8% grads): 52.4% Male; 49.6% Female.

TOP UNDERGRAD PROGRAMS BY DEGREES AWARDED (2,356):


2. Homeland Security, Law Enforcement, Firefighting and Related Protective Services, 14.3% (ranked 2 last year)

3. Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities, 10.6% (ranked 3 last year)

4. Education, 9.4% (ranked 4 last year)5. Communication, Journalism and Related Programs, 7.4% (ranked 5 last

year)

TOP UNDERGRAD PROGRAMS BY ENROLLMENT (10,474):1. Homeland Security, Law Enforcement, Firefighting and Related Protective

Services, 14.9% 2. Business, Management, Marketing & Related Studies, 12.4%3. Education, 8.6%4. Parks, Recreation, Leisure and Fitness Studies, 6.4% 5. Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities, 6.4%

WIU FACULTY (648)


WIU


President JOHN MILLER309-333-0520 • [email protected] Representing faculty, staff and ProTechs

Located In Macomb, west of Springfield, north of St. Louis

Western Illinois University

FLOOD, Continued from Page 7

than with us! The process was arduous, but col-laborative. We persevered with patience and a sense of humor!

The meetings re-emphasized the importance of instructors submitting their Annual Service Reports in February to highlight professional activities. The students’ evaluations and the chairs’ evaluations kick off the rehiring process each year. With money tight and programs competing for academic dollars, fluid instructor positions must be preserved.

We added new language on step-by-step pro-gressive discipline to document unprofessional behavior of instructors and to keep chairs aware of their active roles in managing people. Because bullying has been a problem with superiors tar-geting instructors, we had to create protective language. Harassment that deliberately and re-peatedly degrades a colleague cannot be tolerated in a healthy work environment. Instructors will now have a process to follow to report bullies.

To deal with the Business College accreditation requirements, business negotiators created a well-designed chart with point values for profes-sional activities so instructors can stay current in their fields.

NIU’s provost is requiring faculty to electroni-cally file their service reports using digital mea-sures. We seized this opportunity to tie this with computers for instructors. Some instructors have a good office PC while others are strug-gling with aged equipment. Three bull pens of Comms and English instructors share one or two old computers and one printer. Instructors need up-to-date and serviceable computers. We will stay vigilant.

Negotiating with the administration is only one facet of our job. We work daily with administra-tors to resolve issues with chapter members be-fore they become full-blown formal grievances.

• Professor . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29.6% • Associate Professor . . . . . 28% • Assistant Professor . . . . . . 25.6% • Lecturers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.7%

Men in all Ranks . . . . . . . . . . 56.1% Women in all Ranks . . . . . . . 43.8%


Policy review

The trustees had been review-ing all of the UPI Policies and Procedures since 2010. We were very happy when they were brought to the Executive Board and passed in October. Work continues on establishing a more comprehensive UPI offi-cer salary policy. Our goal is to have this policy in place before the next election.

Constitution/By-Laws Review Committee

Trustees reviewed the pro-posed changes of the Constitu-tion and By-Law Review Com-mittee and this was brought to the Executive Board for approval in October. Constitu-

tional changes include:• adding representatives from

NIU and UIS to the Trust-ees/Audit Committee, increasing the composition from five to seven members.

• including representation from the Retirees Chapter at the House of Delegates.

• adding language regarding special elections should an elected delegate or elected chapter officer (other than the chapter president) be unable to fulfill their posi-tion along with timelines for the special election.

Members of the Constitution/By-Laws Review Committee included: Hank Davis, Sandy Flood, Marsha Katz, John Murphy and Lydia Morrow Ruetten as chair.

Other contributions

In addition to reviewing policies and other documents, members of the Trustees/Audit Committee review financial statements and make recom-mendations to approve audi-

tors’ reports. We made recom-mendations on changing policy in regards to direct-deposit compensation and recommend that all compensation will be paid directly through the Local payroll process. In light of the large number of retire-ments this year that will affect the money coming into UPI, we will continue to watch the financials very carefully. We will also discuss a process for declaring financial exigency.

Trustees

Trustees welcomed Mark Sudeith as our newest trustee, joining us in September, replac-ing Yvonne Morris from CSU.

We are sorry to lose Martha Kl-ems from WIU, who will retire in May. We commend Martha for her service as a trustee and her commitment to UPI.

Thanks Martha, we wish you the best!

TRUSTEES / AUDIT COMMITTEE: ROW 1: Martha Klems, WIU; Ellie Sul-

livan, UPI Local 4100 president; Lydia Morrow Ruetten, GSU and trustees

chair; Sophia Mihic, NEIU. ROW 2: Charles Delman, EIU; Hank Davis, UPI

Local 4100 secretary-treasurer; Mark Sudeith, CSU.

IFT and UPI Local 4100 Staff

Dave BeckIFT Field Service Director

Jamie DanielIFT Field Service Director

Mary DurkinUPI Communications

Kathy McConnellUPI Programming

Tamara MorrisFinancial Assistant

Pat TracyOffice Assistant

. . . improving the rules and regulations

OUR TRUSTEES . . .

Lydia Morrow RuettenChair, Trustees Committee


THIS PAST YEAR HAS been a productive one for the UPI “South Side.” At Western,

after merging the chapters, we success-fully concluded nego-tiations on the 5-year Pro-Tech contract. Wage and benefit increases as well as improved protections against outsourcing

are just a few of the gains won. Overall, the chapter at Western is adjusting to the new University Administration as well as continuing to protect its members’ rights through effective grievance administration.

At UIS, we completed negotiations for both chapters. The Support Staff Chapter tenaciously managed to win two years of wage increases as well as improved language for, among other things, over-time for the building service and police dispatch members. Meanwhile, the group successfully added a title to the service unit, organizing the Food Service Worker

IV title. We hope to add more titles in the coming year.

The Association of Graduate Employees successfully negotiated a four-year deal that includes substantial wage increases —bringing them closer to alignment with the GA’s at the other two UI campuses. The team was also able to obtain substan-tial language improvements throughout the contract. Another big feat — with the upcoming election, AGE will have officers for more than three years in a row, an important achievement for a unit that is comprised of two-year employees!

In addition, the UIS faculty organizing campaign is going full-steam. The organiz-ing committee continues to grow, enjoying great support from among faculty through-out campus. Keep your ears open for calls for help as the campaign progresses!

The chapter at Eastern is preparing for their next round of negotiations. The team has agreed to try Interest-Based Bargain-

ing, with the help of FMCS Commissioner Conrad Bowling. Although the state and national environment continue to be less than conducive to bargaining, the team is hopeful that, through IBB, the team can successfully communicate its needs to the administration.

I want to include in this report a call to organize. With a recent victory at UIC (full-time non-tenure track and tenure-track faculty) and active campaigns at UIUC and UIS, now is the time to consider whether any other universities or any other work-ers on our campuses that still need to be organized. The first that comes to my mind are the tenure-track faculty at NIU and ISU. Regardless of what experiences we may have had in the past, we should be identifying people we know at these places and talking with them about the potential for forming a union of their own. So, if you have friends, neighbors and others that aren’t yet organized, give their contact information to Jamie Daniel or me, so that we can follow up on it.

IT WAS “THE YEAR OF ne-gotiating continuously” here in the “northern region.”

Negotiations at NEIU, which had begun with a valiant at-

tempt to use the FMCS’s recom-mended Interest-Based Bar-gaining

method, morphed first into traditional bargaining in the face of extreme recalcitrance on the part of the administra-tion, and then into mediation after the university hired a new outside attorney who seemed hell bent on extending the process as long as possible. After numerous marathon sessions with FMCS mediator Tom Jeffries, the intervention of State Sen. (and NEIU grad) Iris Martinez, and two refusals by membership to ratify draft

contracts, we finally settled on a four-year agreement with increases, new sick bank and parental leave language, and improved grievance and sanc-tion/termination procedure language. This was a very, very tough fight, but the member-ship remained united and very creative throughout the marathon process.

Likewise, negotiations took longer and were more frus-trating than initially expected

at Chicago State, where the administration team tried many interesting and unique strategies to delay, confuse, and complicate the process, appar-ently hoping we would give in and give up in response. These included arguing amongst themselves at the table, not showing up with promised language and, in one instance, passing two very different ver-sions of proposed language for the same article simultaneous-

. . . assisting the ‘south side’ of UPI

OUR IFT SERVICE DIRECTORS . . .

. . . negotiating in UPI’s ‘northern region’

Dave Beck, IFT

Jamie Daniel, IFT Please see DANIEL, Page 13


UPI OFFICERS AND THE UPI Ex-ecutive Board are working hard to maintain our financial position.

Preliminary infor-mation from our auditor indicates that 2012 revenues and expenses closely matched our operating budget. Financial results for 2012 and 2011 are com-

parable and both are significantly less than our 2009 operating deficit.

As we enter 2012, our financial dif-ficulties mirror those of the Illinois economy and are compounded by in-creasingly hostile political and legisla-tive environment. In order to improve our financial position we need to continue looking for revenue increases and/or expenditure decreases.

EXPENSESThe majority of our expenses are pay-ments to the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and to the Illinois Fed-eration of Teachers (IFT) of per capita dues. These “per cap” payments con-nect us to the larger union movement and are essential in our current labor environment.

They provide us with a larger, stron-ger voice and allow us to stand strong together with our other labor broth-ers and sisters. These connections provide us with research, communi-cations and other skills and technolo-gies that we could not afford on our own. In the past three years we have further reduced total compensation expenses by $160,000 and, given our current structure, there is minimal potential to reduce this expense. Chapters are the core of our union and we cannot reduce chapter support.

While there may be some opportu-nities for minimal reduction in our Office Operating Expenses, in the short-run, we have few opportunities to reduce operating costs. In the long run, we need to further leverage re-

sources of our AFT and IFT affiliates, and adapt our structure to embrace technology and improve operating ef-ficiencies,

REVENUESIn order to increase revenues, we need to increase the number of dues-paying members. Therefore, we must do the following:

1. bringing in new job classifications into the unit,

2. preventing the administration from reclassifying jobs for the sole pur-pose of moving jobs out of the bar-gaining unit.

An increased level of members im-pacts our financial position, of course. But more importantly more members and more active members increase the vitality of UPI.

. . . prevent job erosion, keep organizing

OUR SECRETARY-TREASURER . . .

Hank DavisSecretary-Treasurer

Per Capita Payments to IFT / AFT

Officer, Staff and CU Compensation

Chapter Support

Office Operating Expenses

2012 Local 4100 Expenditures

UPI Members: VOTE! It’s your right and your responsibilityReview candidates state-ments on the UPI web page http://il.aft.org/041000/

Do not miss the April 20 postmark deadline. to return your ballot.

Questions? email Kathy Mc-Connell at [email protected]


IN A RECENT PRESENTATION to mem-bers of Illinois Federation of Teachers’ staff (“Workplace Sensitivity,” November 2011),

Constance Cordovilla, associate director of human rights and community relations, American Federation of Teachers, defined workplace bullying as “repeated, unreason-able actions of indi-viduals (or a group) directed toward an

employee (or a group of employees), which are intended to intimidate, degrade, humil-iate or undermine; or which create a risk to the health or safety of the employee(s).”

At the present time, none of UPI’s negoti-ated contracts with seven universities has provisions explicitly intended to protect employees against workplace bullying. At Northern Illinois University, thanks to NIU / UPI Chapter President Sandy Flood and her negotiating team, that campus-specific protection is about to be provided contrac-tually. Awaiting ratification by the NIU / UPI membership, the 2011-2016 NIU/UPI Collective Bargaining Agreement contains

Article 12, which stipulates in part:

“In accordance with applicable statutes and regulations, existing and/or to be implemented, it is the intention of Northern Illinois University to establish an environment for learning and service that is free from all forms of harassment, including workplace bullying. Work-place bullying generally is repeated be-havior directed toward an employee (or group of employees) that harms, intimi-dates, offends, degrades, or humiliates an employee(s). Workplace bullying can cause physical, psychological, and emo-tional harm to students and employees, interferes with the educational and work environments, and can lead to a reduc-tion in productivity and morale among employees or students.”

Article 12 further provides formal means by which employees can seek redress from the employer for workplace bullying. In other words, what may have been previ-ously viewed as an issue between, say, two employees — one bullying and one bullied — will become an institutional re-sponsibility contractually. What may have been viewed as only a complaint, by one (or more) employee(s) over being bullied, may be addressed formally in the future as a grievance against the employer.

Without such contractual protection against bullying, and because employees aren’t legally/contractually entitled to grieve the actions of other employees (i.e., grievances are between employers and employees legally), incidents of work-place bullying at the campus level have been viewed customarily as complaints made by individuals who have felt or viewed themselves as bullied. Strictly and contractually speaking, employers haven’t been required to address such complaints as their responsibility, even though state and federal laws require safe, harassment-free workplace environ-ments. Common sense tells us that work-place bullying will affect a workplace environment negatively.

So, how do UPI members who believe they are being bullied in their workplace, but whose contracts lack anti-bullying provisions, turn their complaints against a bullying fellow employee into a griev-ance against their employer? What should you do, for instance, if you feel bullied by your department’s assistant chair, who is a quasi-administrator but a fellow employee nonetheless?

CSU Steve Rowe, 773.995.2414 [email protected] Tim Shonk, 217.581.6310 [email protected] Edna Fry, 708.534.4949 [email protected] Cyndi Moran, 773.442.5977 [email protected]

NIU John Dickerman, 815.753.3101 [email protected] (Bulding Service Workers) Frances “Critter” Chaplin, 217.415.9939 [email protected] (Kitchen Workers)

Jay Chaplin, 217.206.6768 [email protected]

UIS (Clerical and ProTech Workers)

Normajean Niebur, 217.206.6301 [email protected] Gayle Carper, 309.298.1339 [email protected] Local 4100 David Carpenter, Grievance Chair 312-663-5916, X-18 [email protected]

Grievance Officers

Workplace Bullying: From complaint to grievance

OUR GRIEVANCE OFFICERS . . .

David CarpenterGrievance Officer


UPI GRIEVANCE COMMITTEESeated: Gayle Carper, WIU; Cyndi Moran, NEIU; Ellie Sullivan, UPI President; David Carpenter, UPI Griev-

ance Chair and UPI Executive Vice President; Janet Grange, CSU and associate grievance chair.

Standing: Kathy McConnell, UPI staff; Steve Rowe, CSU; Dave Beck, IFT field service director; Jamie Daniel,

IFT field service director; John Dickerman, NIU; Edna Fry, GSU.

CREATE A PAPER TRAIL

First, document the bullying incident in detail immedi-ately after the incident: i.e., memorialize in writing what was said or done, by whom it was said or done, when and where the incident took place, and whether there were wit-nesses to the event.

Second, contact your UPI-chapter’s grievance officer and share with her or him your documentation so that it can be made as effectively detailed and clear as pos-sible.

Third, make an appointment to meet with your department chair or supervisor; ask the grievance officer to attend the meeting with you as a witness; and during that meeting pres-ent to your chair or supervisor a copy of your documentation about the bullying incident.

Once your department chair or supervisor has been pre-sented with your documen-tation, thereby having been informed you believe you have been bullied by a fel-low employee (an assistant chair or not), the bullying incident you believe you have suffered has been refocused for direct action as an institu-tional problem, a workplace-environment (contractual) problem that the employer must remedy.

Because workplace bullying is defined usually as repeat-ed behavior, it’s extremely important that you create a paper trail immediately after each bullying incident, and that you present the documentation to your de-partment chair or supervisor. Your chair’s or supervisor’s failure to address the issue remedially becomes an insti-tutional (employer’s) failure

to provide and maintain a safe workplace environ-ment, and about that failure a grievance can be filed by you or UPI against your em-ployer.

Workplace bullying can have deleterious effects upon our inner and outer lives, ultimately affecting the performance of our du-ties, and we must react to incidents of bullying with courage and tenacity in a professionally formal way. Addressing such incidents formally will not only expose the bullies among us; it will change the focus from toler-ance of destructive behavior to improvement of profes-sionalism in the workplace environment.

Realizing that change in focus and improved profes-sionalism will allow all of us to be better able to serve our students.

ly. Our team remained focused and far more organized, and we were finally able to settle in August. The contract is for four years, includes increases and improved consulta-tion and other language, and, most importantly, we were successful in pushing back some extreme take-back proposals initially passed as “must haves” by the administration.

However, we continue to experience implementation problems at CSU and what seems to be a general-ized “contract? What contract?” approach on the part of HR and the Legal Services Department, which we have countered with both several ULPs now before the IERLB and vigorous exercise of the griev-ance process.

In addition to these protracted UPI campaigns, my time has been devoted to successful negotiations at the University of Chicago Labora-tory School (my first experience with a private employer) and with IFT as a member of the Professional Staff negotiating team. However stressful it has been at times to serve as lead negotiator for UPI and other IFT locals, nothing is as stressful as bargaining for one’s own bargaining unit members, and I admire those of you who have stepped forward to do this on your campuses all the more after this experience.

I have also been appointed staff liaison to the IFT Universities and Colleges Council, and in that capac-ity will be working, together with Nick Yelverton and other IFT field service directors, to develop and improve structures for information sharing and other strategic coopera-tive efforts among all IFT higher education constituencies.

DANIEL, From Page 10

AFTER A DIFFICULT year, I had hoped to be able to write more about our successes

rather than the challenges that lay ahead.

We have had some great suc-cesses

over the past year. Through your efforts last May, we were able to hold off attacks on our pensions, retiree health care, the 50 percent tuition waiver and even the elimination of an HMO option for our Down-state members. During a wild Memorial Day Weekend, we mobilized to thwart these at-tacks on state employees and higher education.

While we may all deserve a break from these challenges, the reality is, even though we have won the first battle, there are many more battles ahead.

Though our will is strong, we will need to pull together once again to win the day.

As I write this article, it seems like Spring 2011 all over again. We are in for almost a repeat of last year as we are already en-countering attacks on our pen-sions, attempts to eliminate the 50 percent tuition waiver and

no clear solution to the Down-state HMO problem. (Editor’s Note: See sidebar on the next page.) I wish that I had some-thing more positive for you, but in an election year, there seems to be more political posturing than a dedication to solving the problems. I am not saying that the house is on fire, but we will need our collective strength to protect, again, public education and our own profession.

PENSIONSOn the pension front, the speaker of the Illinois House, the Senate president and the governor still seem driven by cuts in benefits rather than identifying revenue sources to pay the state’s past failures to fully fund the pensions.

I think it is important to re-member that the true cost to all state pensions is approximately $1.6 to $1.7 billion and not the $5.2 billion the state must pay this year. The remaining $3.5 billion is simply debt; it is not a pension payment in the true sense, but a payment due to the failure of the state to pay its share during the last 20 years.

Imagine the different conversa-tion we would be having today if the state had to pay only the $1.6 billion; would we even be having this conversation?

Despite this reality, there

seems to be serious discussion surrounding proposals about requiring an increase in em-ployee contributions, forcing state universities and public schools districts to pay some of the cost for their employees’ pensions and other cuts such as limiting re-employment op-tions for those receiving a state pension.

In essence, the discussions seem to suggest that employees need to increase their contri-butions, and schools need to contribute to the pension fund. This would not only violate the Illinois Constitution but would also amount to the state cutting funding to both higher educa-tion and K-12 schools.

With the political season al-ready upon us, Civic Commit-tee supporters have created their own political action com-mittee (the “We Mean Business PAC”) to help fund candidates running against those who believe in the Illinois consti-tutional protections of our pensions. This PAC has raised more than $250,000 to support candidates who are willing to “reform” Illi-nois pensions. Don’t be fooled by the mislead-ing discussions about pensions; the “We Mean Business PAC” is just another attempt to eliminate our pensions.

TUITION WAIVERSMany university employees rely on the 50 percent tuition waiver for their dependents. Employ-ees earn the waiver after work-ing seven years or more for a state university. During the last year, I have received numerous messages from our members describing how this benefit not only is one of the reasons they chose to work at an Illinois pub-lic university but is also the sole means for them to send their children to school.

As you may recall last year, there was an attempt to elimi-nate this benefit. We were able to point out the significant hardship that this would cause, thanks to the many phone calls and emails you and our allies made to legisla-tive offices.

Despite this success, we are currently fighting two bills in the General Assembly. To pre-pare for this, we are continuing

. . . fighting the 2011 battles into 2012

LEGISLATIVE EFFORTS . . .

John MillerLegislative Chair


Save Our WaiversVisit our web site, read our stories, sign our guestbook http://saveourwaivers.org/

Visit us on Facebook, read our stories, “like” us.

to develop a more aggressive cam-paign. Your stories are leading the way as we continue to explain that this benefit is extremely important not only to our members but to the university system as a whole.

HEALTH CARE

Finally, health care remains a ma-jor concern. We finally see a little bit of hope as the governor has recently taken the first step in issu-ing new bids by offering a request for public review for the solicita-tion of potentially new contracts for Downstate health insurance carriers. This is just an initial step in the right direction but many more steps need to be taken. We are pleased to see the General As-sembly continue to take an active role in this issue including pos-sible legislation that would require

equal access in all counties to all insurance options.

In essence, the legislation would require that the state ensure that all state employees have similar access to similar insurance options.

We have pushed and will continue to push this issue with the gover-nor and Department of Health and Human Services. I suspect that this March and April, we will again be calling on our collective strength to preserve common sense.

Despite the naysayers last year, we pushed forward and pushed back the attacks. We will again need to work collaboratively to preserve our profession and public higher education in Illinois. I am confi-dent, that even if we face some setbacks, our actions will prevail.

Good news for 241,000 state employees, retirees and dependents outside the Chicago area arrived at the end of February — after deadline.

The Springfield State Journal-Register reported that a bipartisan legislative panel — the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability — voted unanimously to allow Urbana-based Health Alliance to bid on a supplemental state health care contract.

As you probably remember, Health Alliance and Humana — important for the health care of many Downstate university employees —lost bids; Health Alliance sued.

As part of the settlement, the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services requested the vote.

The contract between Health Alliance, as well as Humana, Personal Care and Health Link, will take effect July 1 and can be renewed for five more years.


Health Alliance, Humana back in the game

Sign a COPE cardUPI, along with IFT and AFT, watches out for you and your interests in Springfield and in Wash-ington.

Sign a COPE Card, desig-nating a small part of your paycheck to pursue our shared legislative objec-tives.

Let’s face it: WE NEED IT.

Sign a COPE Card and offer huge support for your interests in Spring-field. We will watch out for Health Alliance and

Humana, the 50% Tuition Waiver Elimination Bill and, as always, your pen-sions. We may not win every time, but you have friends in the Capitol.

Let’s face it: YOU NEED IT.

Ask your chapter president for a COPE Card (Committee on Political Education). Your payroll office will deduct the amount you specify. It’s easy but it makes a huge difference to you and your family.

SULLIVAN, Continued from Page 1

UPI has been conducting a constitutional/by-laws review to insure federal and state election law compliance. In addition, there are changes that have been recommend-ed by the Trustees/Audit Committee and the UPI Execu-tive Board. These recommended changes will be on the ballot in the coming election for approval by the member-ship. We’ve posted election information and a timetable for you on our website at http://il.aft.org/041000/

I have also attended AFT Program and Policy Council meetings, the AFT Presidents’ conference, all Illinois Board of Higher Education meetings, the Chicago Federation of Labor meetings, the Illinois Federation of Teachers’ executive board meetings and retreat, and visited every campus. I have attended fundraisers, met with many key state legislators and recently with several candidates.

There will be a leadership conference this summer for our newly elected and “veteran” leaders as we prepare for the next three years. Again, thank you for all you do, have done and will do for UPI. As you’ve heard so many times and I absolutely believe – YOU ARE THE UNION. You are the reason for our success.


2011 House of Delegates: Thanks!

CSU Delegation:

Row 1: Beverly Meyer, Carol Leach,

Ellie Sullivan, Laurie Walter,

Virginia Shen, Sabata Busch.

Row 2: Eric Shen, Devi Potluri, Jesse

Wang, Guang-Nay Wang, Mark Sudeith,

Ben Liu,

Kathleen Haefliger.

EIU Delegation:

Row 1: Janet Carpenter, Gary

Fritz, EIU Chapter President John

Allison, Bailey Young, Stacey

Knight-Davis,

Jeannie Ludlow and Sheila

Simons.

Row 2: Sace Elder, Barbara

Lawrence, Charles Delman, Carol

Jean Dudley, Ann Fritz,

Evgeny Gordon.

Row 3: Christopher Mitchell,

Jonathan Blitz, Jonathan Coit, Pe-

ter Wiles, Audrey Edwards, David

Carpenter.

GSU Delegation:

Seated: Lydia Morrow Rueten, Maribeth Kasik, GSU Chapter

President Marsha Katz.

Standing: Bruce Wilson, Jeannine Klomes.

HOUSE OF DELEGATES


NIU DELEGATION: Seated: Ben Stone, Chapter

President Sandy Flood, Toma Heldt. Standing: Lori Lawson,

Stacey Short, Jason Akst.

UIS DELEGATION: Seated: Ann Cole, Staff Chapter Presi-

dent Normajean Niebur, UIS-AGE Chapter Vice President Ian Tolber-

man; standing: Cheryl Pruitt and Frances "Critter" Chapin.

NEIU DELEGATION:

Row 1: Ed Hunt, John Murphy, Terry

Schuepfer, Nancy Matthews, Jill

Althage, Russell Benjamin, Shelley

Bannister.

Row 2: Michael Amato, Richard

Grossman, Mary Ellen McGoey, Tim

Barnett, Effie Kritikos, Jane Wein-

traub, Amy Hendricksen, Chuck

Steinwedel.

WIU Delegation:Row 1: Julia Albarracin, Lora Wal-

lace, Martha Klems, Amy Carr,

Peter Cole, Erin Taylor.

Row 2: Bill Thompson, Patrick

Stout, Marty Maskarinec, Steve

Rock, Maurine Magliocco.

Row 3: Phil Weiss, Molly Homer,

Jana Deitz, Karen Sears.

Row 4: Michael Illovsky, Jim

Caldwell, Jeff Hancks, John

Stierman, Walter Kretchik, John

Miller.


RESOLUTION ACTION TO BE TAKEN ACTION AT HoD

RESPONSIBLEPERSON / GROUP

DATE ACTIONCOMPLETED

1. Support for appointment of faculty to Boards of Trustees.

Lobby legislators to amend laws prohib-iting state employees from serving on governing boards.

Referred to Exec Bd to be com-bined with #13.

Executive Board. Ongoing.

2. Support pension funding by the State of Illinois

Lobby at the state level. Adopted as amended.

Legislative Committee. Ongoing.

3. Shared governance necessary to quality higher education.

Organize opportunities for faculty involvement; post positional state-ment; monitor shared governance on campuses; make resources available on web site.

Adopted as amended.

Local and ChapterExecutive Boards.

Ongoing.

4. Higher education finance and academic standards.

Advocate for the inclusion of university faculty in the formulation of program quality evaluations; forward to 2013 IFT Convention.

Adopted. Local and Chapter Executive Boards; Legislative Committee; IFT.

Ongoing.

5. Educating membership / public regarding climate change and environmental degradation.

Encourage AFT to undertake such an education program; forward to 2012 AFT Convention.

Adopted. AFT. Ongoing.

6. Commendation to IFT Leadership. Commend and encourage IFT leader-ship for their actions in these difficult times.

Adopted. Sent to IFT.

7. Support for single-payer health care system in Illinois.

Explore and support ways to create a single-payer health care system in Il-linois; refer to 2013 IFT Convention.

Adopted. Legislative Committee and IFT.

Ongoing.

8. Collaborate with students in political education and activism.

Seek to engage students and devise and implement strategies to defend and strengthen public education in Illinois.

Adopted. Chapter Executive Boards. Ongoing.

9. Illinois Procurement Act. Urge Illinois legislators and the gov-ernor to amend or replace the Illinois Procurement Act to make it less bureau-cratic and more productive.

Adopted as amended.

Legislative Committee. Ongoing.

10. UPI Cares. Create committees at all chapters to serve the needs of the disadvantaged; create a committee at the local level to share information.

Adopted. Chapter Executive Boards and Local Executive Board.

Ongoing.

11. Best practices for use of social media in the academic workplace.

Develop and share best practices regarding effective and appropriate use of social media in the academic workplace.

Adopted. Local Executive Board. Ongoing.

12. Boycott states denying workers rights. Refuse to spend money in states that deny collective bargaining rights to pub-lic-sector employees; refer to 2012 AFT Convention and 2013 IFT Convention.

Referred to Local Exec Board

Local Executive Board; IFT; AFT.

Ongoing.

13. Support election of faculty and /or academic support staff to Board of Trustees.

Lobby legislators to amend laws prohib-iting state employees from serving on governing boards.

Referred to Exec Bd to be combined with #1.

Executive Board. Ongoing.

14. Support of Campaign Finance Reform AFT should work to develop rules to de-velop a public finance election system; UPI and IFT should work to develop a similar system for the state of Illinois; Refer to IFT Convention 2013

Adopted UPI Legislative Committee; AFT; IFT.

Ongoing.

HOUSE OF DELEGATES


Status of 2011 House of Delegates ResolutionsRESOLUTION ACTION TO BE TAKEN ACTION

AT HoDRESPONSIBLEPERSON / GROUP

DATE ACTIONCOMPLETED

15. IFT Convention in Illinois. IFT Convention should be hosted in the State of Illinois. Refer to IFT Convention 2013.

Adopted. UPI Executive Board. Ongoing.

16. Political candidate training and development program.

Develop a Candidate Training Program in cooperation with the IFT and the Illinois AFL-CIO to help identify issues and run effective campaigns. Refer to 2013 IFT Convention and 2012 Illinois AFL-CIO Convention.

Adopted. UPI Legislative Committee; IFT; Illinois AFL-CIO.

Ongoing.

17. Illinois deficit and revenue. Commend those legislators who sup-ported the increases in individual and corporate income tax; encourage the pursuit of additional sources of revenue.

Adopted. UPI Legislative Commit-tee; IFT.

Ongoing.

18. Establish Soaring Eagle Award. Recognize members who go beyond the requirements of their jobs to improve their community.

Adopted. UPI Executive Board. Nov. 19, 2012.

During the annual House of Delegates, representatives from UPI campuses

present resolutions, which delegates debate and vote on.

Clockwise from left: Devi Poturi from CSU; John Allison from EIU; delegates

from NEIU; and John Miller from WIU.

A Friday evening Awards Reception

opens the House of Delegates. Here

UPI President Ellie Sullivan inducts

Patrice Stearley, long-time activist

from NEIU, into the UPI Wall of

Fame. Ellie is saying that, like herself,

Patrice became involved in UPI when

she was asked to do a really short

assignment.


HOUSE OF DELEGATES

Clockwise from right:

WALTER McMAHON, professor of

both economics and educational

organizational leadership at the

UIUC, speaks Saturday.

UIS DELEGATES Frances “Critter”

Chaplin, Cheryle Pruitt and Ann Cole.

DAVE BECK, IFT field service

director, and Ian Tober-

man, vice president the UIS

Association of Graduate

Employees.

RECORDING SECRETARY

Normajean Niebur and the

money generous UPI delegates

donated to the We Are One

coalition of activists in support

of Wisconsin trade unionists,

who face the loss of their

collective bargain rights.


ABOVE LEFT: All three of the IFT of-

ficers visit the UPI House of Delegates,

President Dan Montgomery, Executive

Vice President Karen Lewis and Secretary-

Treasurer Marcia Campbell.

ABOVE RIGHT: NIU Chapter President

Sandy Flood; speaking is MaryBeth Kasik

of the GSU Delegation; and Lydia Morrow

Ruetten, GSU.

LEFT: UPI Secretary-Treasurer Hank

Davis, Recording Secretary Normajean

Niebur and Executive Vice President Da-

vid Carpenter.

LEFT: From the NIU delegation, Jason

Askt, Lori Lawson and Stacey Short.

22 • 2011 UPI Annual Report 22 • 2011 UPI Annual Report

TELLING OUR STORY

The dregs of 2010: The tax increase we chanted for at the rally in Spring 2010 goes into effect Jan. 1, 2011. It helps but not nearly enough to offset a state debt bigger than the American Dream.

02.21.11: UPI members head north to support Wisconsin activists as collective bargain-ing faces a serious threat. This threat continues into spring and summer in Wisconsin and elsewhere.

02.28.11: NEIU / UPI rallies for a fair contract continue through much of 2012.

March 2011

03.04.11: It’s a “growth year” for the UPI Retirees. Officers meet with campus liaisons in Chicago three times through-out the year and membership grows under the leadership of NEIU retiree John Murphy. Read Retirees President Mur-phy’s report on Page 5.

03.04 & 05.11: Our 2011 House of Delegates legislative update is bleak but our spirits are high. Patrice Stearley is inducted into the UPI Wall of Fame, Professor Walter McMahon and Nick Yelverton are Saturday speakers and delegates act on 16 resolutions

(See Pages 18-19). We pass the hat and raise cash for imperiled union workers in Wisconsin.

03.11.11: When the NEIU Administration offers an unsat-isfactory contract, NEIU / UPI members respond: NO. As UPI President Ellie Sullivan tele-phones NEIU President Sharon Hahs requesting a return to negotiations, Chapter President Terry Schuepfer tweets the news across campus.

03.17.11: Less than a week later, NEIU / UPI members rally, attracting hundreds of faculty, staff and students, who march from the student union, across campus to an informa-

tion meeting in the library.

03.24.11: Energized members at U of I Springfield participate in the Professional School-Re-lated Personnel Conference.

03.29.11: A resignation on the WIU / UPI Executive Board results in the chapter holding a special election managed by IFT and UPI. It also results in a revision of UPI regulations to more efficiently handle special elections.

April 2011

04.01-03.11Three UPI leaders give pre-sentations at AFT’s Higher Ed

February 2011

CLOCKWISE from top left:

UPI members support

trade union activists in

Wisconsin, visiting Madi-

son and joining in dem-

onstrations in Charleston.

Springfield and elsewhere.

UPI members at North-

eastern Illinois demon-

strate on campus.

UPI Retirees: seated: Mary

Ann Schwartz, Ed Hunt,

Dick Brewer, John Mur-

phy; standing: Maurine

Magliocco,

Audrey Edwards and her

husband, and Howie

Silver.

A protestor at Northeast-

ern.

Issues Conference, President Ellie Sullivan, Executive Vice President David Carpenter and NIU / UPI Chapter President Sandy Flood.

04.01.11: The NEIU Adminis-trations offers to NEIU / UPI an unsatisfactory contract again. NEIU / UPI members vote NO again. And faculty, staff and students rally again. “So far, the

administration’s proposals have unfairly targeted our lowest paid and least empowered em-ployees,” NEIU / UPI Chapter President Terry Schuepfer says.

04.07.11: NEIU / UPI mem-bers rally and faculty, staff and students sign petitions backing union efforts. Their rally ends in a visit to the Board of Trustees — again.

04.09.11: UPI is there at a huge “Rally for Wisconsin,” sponsored by the WE ARE ONE coalition. Thousands of workers pack Chicago’s Daley Center in a powerful show of support for Wisconsin workers — and for collective bargaining.

04.12.11: UIS / UPI Chapter President Normajean Niebur is honored with the UIS Star Staff

Award honoring volunteerism.

July 2011

07.22.11: UIS / UPI staff and UPI Local officers and staff picket in extreme temperatures on the Springfield campus. Members, working without a contract for more than a year, crave a just contract.


Retirees at the WE ARE ONE

RALLEY in Chicago.

UPI members from across the

state join in at the We Are One

Ralley in Chicago.

UIS’s Frances “Critter” Chaplin

meets AFT President Randi We-

ingarten at the PSRP conference.

NEIU / UPI Chapter President

Terry Schuepfer leads a rally.


August 2011

08.05.11: The UIS staff ap-proves a contract after more than a year at the negotiations table. “Without the hard work we do, the students we serve could not receive the excellent education they came here to get,” UIS / UPI Chapter Presi-dent Normajean Niebur says.

08.12 & 13.11: Looking ahead to fall semester, UPI focuses

on leadership. Experts focus on member-centered topics: legislative action, grievance protection, internal and external organizing, contract negotia-tions and communications.

08.29.11: IFT Vice President John Miller and IFT President Dan Montgomery visit teachers in the Illini Bluffs Federation of Teachers striking the school district outside Peoria. The stumbling block: random drug testing of teachers.

September 2011

09.30.11: At the Rich Dulka Mid-Illinois Labor Picnic, faculty and staff mingle with trade activists in East Central Illinois and enjoy a barbecue to celebrate Labor Day.

09.17.11: As the semester opens, so does the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York City with the slogan, “We are the 99%”. The protest

arrives on UPI campuses in various ways: students camp out or attend informational meetings.

09.08.11: CSU leaders meet with UPI members to discuss a ratification vote on the most recent offer.

October 2011

10.26.11: UPI is there to vigorously protest the State Legislature’s attack on the


CLOCKWISE from top right:

CSU / UPI Chapter President

Laurie Walter at the Leader-

ship Conference.

UIS’s Cheryle Pruitt gives an

interview with a TV station

during the march for a fair

contract.

Turnout at the August Leader-

ship Conference, held in

Chicago, is excellent.

Carla Johnson and Mar-

sha Katz, both of the GSU

Chapter, at the Leadership

Conference.

pensions of university employ-ees. New hires face a second tier pension with significantly fewer benefits although the cost is the same or more.

November 2011

11.01.11: NEIU / UPI cel-ebrates the long-fought for set-tlement and the new contract

by throwing a “Celebrate the Contract” party. Administra-tors, colleagues and students all mingle and enjoy great food. State Rep. Iris Martinez proves to be a real friend to UPI and Northeastern Illinois when she steps in and helps settle negotiations.

11.03.11: Faculty at Southern

Illinois University Carbondale walk off the job Nov. 3 after negotiations fail. It is over by Nov. 10 when the administra-tion offers a favorable contract to the IEA-affiliated union.

11.18.11: IFT’s PSRP Day features members of the UPI / UIS Chapter in a statewide video with IFT Secretary-Trea-

surer Marcia Campbell visiting campus.

11.18.11: IFT Vice President Ellie Sullivan discusses with the IFT Higher Ed Constituen-cies Council the Performance Based Funding initiative from the Illinois Board of Higher Education. For an explanation, see her column on Page. 1.


A very happy Sophia Mihic of North-

eastern Illinois hugs State Sen. Iris

Martinez, who helped settle negotia-

tions, at the celebration of a contract.

NEIU / UPI Chapter President Terry

Schuepfer; UPI President Ellie Sul-

livan; IFT Field Service Director Jamie

Daniel; and State Sen. Iris Martinez,

during the the celebration of a con-

tract.

CSU / UPI members attend a contract

ratification meeting to learn details of

a bargaining agreement they ulti-

mately approve.

UPI President Ellie Sullivan visits

her home campus, Chicago State,

with the December faculty and staff

luncheon.

CSU / UPI Chapter President Laurie

Walters, with Vice President Mark

Sudeith and UPI Local 4100 President

Ellie Sullivan at the CSU ratification

meeting.

UPI on the Go

University Professionals of Illinois Local 4100, IFT, AFT, AFL-CIO11 E. Adams, Suite 1106Chicago, IL 60603

March 30-April 1, 2012 AFT Higher Ed Issues Conference Chicago SheratonApril 10 IBHE Board Meeting Truman College, ChicagoApril 19-22 AFT PSRP Conference Washington, D.C.April 20-21 UPI Executive Board Meeting UPI Chicago OfficeMay 18-19 IFT Executive Board Meeting Robert M. Healey Center, WestmontMay 28 Memorial Day UPI Chicago Office closedJune 5 IBHE Board Meeting Illinois Math & Science Academy, AuroraJune 18-22 AFT / IFT Great Lakes ULI Pheasant Run Resort, St. CharlesJuly 4 Independence Day UPI Chicago Office closedJuly 8-11 IFT Executive Board Retreat Robert M. Healey Center, Westmont

July 26-30 AFT Convention COBO Center, DetroitAug. 7 IBHE Board Meeting Chicago State UniversitySept. 3 Labor Day UPI Chicago Office closedSept. 25 IBHE Board Meeting Waubonsee Community College, AuroraOct. 12-13 IFT Executive Board Meeting Robert M. Healey Center, WestmontNov. 22-23 Thanksgiving UPI Office, Chicago, closedDec. 4 IBHE Board Meeting Adler School of Professional Psychology, ChicagoDec. 24-Jan. 2 Holiday Break UPI Office, Chicago, closedJuly 22-24, 2013 AFT TEACH Marriott Wardman Park, Washington, D.C.July 11-14, 2014 AFT Convention Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles

UPI Annual Report, Spring 2012

Documents

Transcript of UPI Annual Report, Spring 2012