Welcome to the Faculty Federation of The Art Institute of Philadelphia, AFSCME Local 3397. The Federation is the local union representing all full- and part-time faculty at The Art Institute of Philadelphia.

Applying for Titles

Faculty have till the end of October, 2009, to indicate their intent to apply for a title. They have till the end of January 2010 to apply. HERE is the title language for those who are interested.

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July 14, 2009

The Mandatory Monday Faculty Training

Beginning at the end of summer quarter we (full-time faculty at least) will be expected to spend Mondays in development seminars. This isn’t professional development, the things we do professionally, but the “be a better teacher” thing.

It’s not like the school hasn’t tried to get this done other ways: Mike Allruzzo holds round table discussion groups and other activities for faculty; we’ve been petitioned for topics of interest and for the past three quarters Monday seminars have been voluntary. We understand faculty participation has been lacking, to say the least. So now it’s time for mandatory training. After all, teaching is what we do.

Still, there remain questions. We understand this is connected to Middle States accreditation. How many hours per year does MSA require? Are there other ways to accomplish this training? Are people who hold education degrees required to participate? Ray Becker has agreed to meet with representitives of the union to discuss alternate methods of faculty training. These might include on line courses, courses taken outside AIPH, and meetings conducted during the quarter.

There also should be a line drawn between what constitutes 'professional' development and 'faculty' development. Presently, this line is blurred.

Because once again we run up against the fact that we teach four quarters per year, summers  included, which impacts our time out of the classroom. It may sound like whining, but an uncommitted Monday is a nice thing when we only have two weeks off for summer break.

Sabbaticals

After years of sabbaticals, people are suddenly misunderstanding the procedure. Here it is:

After five years of service, a full-time faculty member is eligible for a sabbatical. After ten years of service a part-time faculty member is eligible. An individual who moves from part- to full-time will have his/her part-time service counted towards eligibility, but has to serve two years in the full-time position before being eligible, regardless of the amount of cumulative service. The magic seniority number is 420: 21 points per quarter multiplied by 20.

Once an individual has had a sabbatical s/he must wait five years for the next. Sabbaticals are awarded by fiscal years, which run from July 1 to June 30, but for counting purposes calendar years can also work: an individual who took a sabbatical in summer 2005 would become eligible again in summer 2010, never mind that summer 2005 falls in Fiscal Year 2006 and summer 2010 falls in FY11. One simply needs to count five years from the award of the previous sabbatical to find the next eligibility. [However, an individual who took a sabbatical in the spring of 2006 (FY06) would be eligible to take another sabbatical in the summer of 2010, since that’s the beginning of FY11.]

An individual who becomes eligible has a two-year window in which to apply, Should the individual fail to apply within that window, he must wait the remainder of the five years to become eligible again. This language has been in the contract since the mid 1990s and was proposed by the union as a way to better count the number of sabbaticals needed in any given contract, to ensure a more even distribution of a limited benefit.

It’s incumbent for the faculty member to know his/her eligibility date. The union does not know who is eligible and will not contact people. Questions about eligibility should be directed to HR. Everyone receives a sabbatical application in his/her mailbox during the winter quarter. Everyone who believes s/he is eligible should fill out an application.

Unfortunately, sabbaticals are an expensive benefit—about $30,000 each—and we have not been able to keep pace so that all faculty who would become eligible in a given contract can be assured of receiving one. Currently, we have 47 sabbaticals across the three-year contract, while over 80 faculty members will become eligible during that period. Historically, about 14% of eligible faculty never apply, but that still leaves a significant shortfall. All the more reason for individuals to know their sabbatical dates and sabbatical history.

Sabbaticals are awarded by the number held and the applicant’s seniority. Eligible applicants are stacked by the number of previous sabbaticals in ascending order and then, within that ranking, by seniority in descending order. Those who are rejected due to the limited number of sabbaticals move to the top of the list and are guaranteed sabbaticals in the following contract year. It is conceivable that, as the faculty grows, individuals may have to wait six or seven years to receive a sabbatical. Clearly, the number will have to be raised in forthcoming contracts. We tried to add three in this past contract, but withdrew the proposal in favor of putting more money into salaries.

Labor Day AFL-CIO Event

Summer just began so it may be a little premature to talk about Labor Day, but the Philadelphia AFL-CIO sponsors a parade and a pretty nice event at the Festival Pier each Labor Day.

Our local is assessed $500, which allows any of us to attend the pier free of charge. That’s free food, free beer and something back for your dues. Besides the contract.

Labor Day is this country’s official holiday for the labor movement and workers in general, and like it or not we’re labor. Management has an uncanny knack for reminding us of that from time to time. So maybe one of these years we could make a presence at the Labor Day event.

Employee Free Choice Act

Currently, workers who want to form unions must sign cards stating so. The employer has the right to call for a secret ballot election, even if 100% of the workers sign cards. The Employee Free Choice Act will allow the NLRB to recognize the union without an election if a majority of workers sign cards.

One of the most eloquent defenses of the bill was made by Representative George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor. Representative Miller said, “The current process for forming unions is badly broken and so skewed in favor of those who oppose unions, that workers must literally risk their jobs in order to form a union. Although it is illegal, one quarter of employers facing an organizing drive have been found to fire at least one worker who supports a union. In fact, employees who are active union supporters have a one-in-five chance of being fired for legal union activities. Sadly, many employers resort to spying, threats, intimidation, harassment and other illegal activity in their campaigns to oppose unions. The penalty for illegal activity, including firing workers for engaging in protected activity, is so weak that it does little to deter law breakers.

“Even when employers don’t break the law, the process itself stacks the deck against union supporters. The employer has all the power; they control the information workers can receive, can force workers to attend anti-union meetings during work hours, can force workers to meet with supervisors who deliver anti-union messages, and can even imply that the business will close if the union wins. Union supporters’ access to employees, on the other hand, is heavily restricted.
The Employee Free Choice Act would add some fairness to the system…”

Amen to that.

Updated News on New Contract

For those who might have missed last quarter, we have a new contract, ratified unanimously by the faculty. Among the significant developments: No full time faculty are required to call students or assist in registration during the seventh week. In addition, faculty who take personal time no longer are responsible for finding their own substitutes.

We have agreed that notification should come through the AiPH e-mail system. That will require faculty to check their school e-mail account, although e-mail forwarding is on the horizon. No word about when it’ll be widely available, but the negotiating team has tried it and it’s pretty simple, although forwarding seems to remove messages from the server.

The new contract also contains language that specifies exactly how classes are distributed after schedules are assigned. This new language clarifies and combines an order of succession that’s spread throughout the contract.

The union agreed that faculty who take off during inclement weather should make up the class. There are limits and restrictions, of course.

And salaries are 3% this year, 3.25% next and 3.75% in the final year, for 10% total over the contract. This contract does not add additional sabbaticals or other major monetary benefits (although part-time faculty who teach classes of 40 or more receive a $250 stipend). The union leadership chose to keep the money in salaries given the sorry state of the economy.

The contract will be finalized in July and distributed to faculty as soon as possible after this.

President: Cheryl Leone
Executive Vice President: Linda Kudzmas
Vice President at Large: Cherie Haines, Linda Karp, Megan Dennis
Treasurer: Wayne Uffer
Recording Secretary: Colleen Ferrell
Chief Steward: Jay Pastelak

It's always the little things that make the difference…

The coffee cups on our page are a reminder of the union's organizing days.

Back in 1984, the administration of The Art Institute increased the full-time workload by 20%, without increasing pay, while decreasing part-time salaries by the same 20%. Immediately afterward, like a little insult, that same administration began charging ten cents for a cup of what had been free (and not very good) coffee. Charging for coffee was that tiny issue that became a symbol of the administration's disregard for its workers. The coffee cup remains as a reminder of that disregard.

To find out more about the Faculty Federation, click on the links. Our contract is posted on this site, as well as our history and other assorted information.

Thanks for visiting.