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.

Your Vote Matters!

February 7, 2008

A Special Meeting was held February 6, 2008 to ratify the newly proposed title language to be added to the contract. The meeting took place at District Counsel Office, 1606 Walnut Street at 4:45 PM.

Although several faculty members attended the meeting, there were not enough in attendance to qualify for a vote. The faculty constitution language does not allow a motion from the floor and vote unless there is a quorum: 10% of the union members.

One more faculty member was required in order to qualify as a quorum.

The vote to ratify the new title language will now have to wait until the 12th week union meeting.  Faculty members are advised to review the language before the meeting so that an informed vote can be cast.

The new language can be found HERE.

To those faculty who took the fifteen minutes to attend Wednesday evening’s meeting, Union President Cheryl Leone and the rest of the Union Executive Board extend their appreciation for their participation.

Quick Links:

January 31, 2008

American Young Ambassadors Program

Dear Colleagues:

Over the weekend I attended the AFL-CIO Conference in Atlantic City. While
there I met a lot of new contacts and learned some of the services our union
provides to our faculty through AFL-CIO. I am expecting a PDF file on new
services provided to you through AFSCME/AFL-CIO

I picked up a newsletter from United Way and found this article and thought
some of you may be interested.

"Youth Leaders Sought for Young Ambassadors Program
The American Young Ambassadors program is a global leadership program for
thirty exceptional U.S. High school students (ages 15-18) who have been
recognized for the work they have accomplished in their communities.

The Youth selected for the program are of significant accomplishment
academically, athletically, and/or through public service efforts in their
community They will represent the United States as Young
Ambassadors-at -Large at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. All
applicants must be U.S. citizens. Visit the AYAL website for complete
program.

I am not sure what the AYAL web site means. Possibly you do. The
newsletter is published by the United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania. If
you are interested possibly you can do some research to contact the right
agency.

Cheryl L. Leone, Prof.

Faculty Storage Space Committee

Many of you know that Gemma Cretella has worked very hard at trying to
resolve the faculty storage space issue. Committee is being creating and we
need help to resolve this overwhelming charge.

Here are the "Proposed" expectations of members serving on this committee. Faculty Work Space Task Force Proposed Members:

a.. Administration/Staff: Two AD's (one being Donna Daley - Interior
Design); one Asst. AD; Randi Howard
b.. Faculty: One from 1610, 1622 & 2300
a.. Charges:
a.. Review current workspace and storage being utilized by all faculty
b.. Ascertain needs of current faculty
c.. Propose a process for allocating workspace and storage for all
faculty
d.. Recommend layout changes for more effective and efficient
utilization of space
e.. Develop a plan for additional workspaces and storage for new faculty
f.. Propose a process for faculty to request additional space,
relocation, etc.
Like to hear your thoughts and if any of you are interested in serving on
this committee. Contact Cheryl L. Leone

AiPH Granted Middle States Candidacy

If you haven’t heard, The Art Institute of Philadelphia has been granted candidacy status by Middle States. That means we’re headed to regional accreditation. It also means a lot of work over the next few years.

What this does for us is increase our stature. It’s a boon for our graduates, whose degrees will now have more value. We have heard stories of graduates being denied entrance to graduate programs because the schools to which they applied refused to consider their degrees valid because the school was not regionally accredited. Middle States means we’re a college not a trade school.

What won’t happen: Middle States will not magically change course loads or hours of work. Class sizes won’t suddenly shrink. And while MSA is not as strict as ACICS when it comes to degrees, it may still be necessary to hold an advanced degree to teach upper level courses.

The middle states steering committee, chaired by Heather Ramsey and co-chaired by Jay Pastelak, now begins work on the self study. Over five years the committee will look at what we do and how we meet MSA requirements. This will involve input from many people and needs to be faculty-driven. If asked to participate, please consider doing so. The more people who participate the more valid the study and the greater our chances of full acceptance.

New Steward for Gen Ed

Jackie Jackson, steward for the General Education department, has resigned effective the end of fall quarter 2007. Jackie has served her department well in her tenure. She leaves to devote more time to her degree and other projects.

The union conducted a steward election at the Union Fall Quarter meeting, and Jim Schreyer was elected to the position of Gen Ed Steward. Please take the time to congratulate Jim and to thank him for volunteering his time to fill the position.

The steward is the person in the department responsible for serving as liaison between the union leadership and the individual members. Stewards process grievances, poll union member, bring issues to the executive board and generally serve as the leadership’s “eyes and ears” in the department. Stewards are invited to join twice quarterly executive board meetings to present issues from their department. There is also a quarterly steward meeting, where issues and strategies can be shared.

Concerned about your Schedule? Be Specific

Occasionally the union runs into issues where a faculty member hasn’t gotten the schedule s/he requested. Often, when the schedule request is reviewed, it’s too generous or too vague.

Remember the contract doesn’t mandate that administration grant all schedule requests, but if there are days on which one cannot come in, a “NO” in the appropriate box is required. And if there is a class you really don’t want to teach, state that emphatically. Again, there’s no guarantee that class won’t show up on the schedule, but the more emphatic one is the better the chance of not seeing the subject turn up. A series of emphatic “Noes” can help the union pursue the case if the class keeps showing up.

Finally, keep a copy of the schedule request until the schedule is released. If there are any serious discrepancies—the schedule conflicts with outside work—alert the AD promptly, and copy the appropriate steward.

AFSCME Endorses Hillary Clinton

AFSCME’s International Executive Board voted to endorse Senator Hillary Clinton following an extensive 10-month, member-driven endorsement process—including candidate appearances, interviews and membership polls. The union’s polls show that Senator Clinton enjoys deep support among its members.

“We’ve looked at these candidates closely,” Gerald McEntee, International President, said. “We looked for the candidate who will fight for working families and who has the greatest ability to win, the candidate who will motivate our members to make calls, knock on doors and talk to their co-workers like never before.”

AFSCME plans to spend more than $60 million on the 2008 campaign, and will mobilize a 40,000-member army of volunteers to elect Senator Clinton.

Inclement Weather Reminder

It’s snowing and you really can’t get in to class. But school is open. The contract covers that situation: individual faculty members get to make the determination to take a snow day. Article 13, Section 15 states, “…no faculty member shall be penalized financially or otherwise should inclement weather prevent that person from performing his/her normal duties, provided that person…gives reasonable notification of his/her absence.…” This means individuals do not have to call in sick or use a personal day. All that’s required is a timely call in.

SCHOOL CLOSING NUMBERS:
1044–Day Classes 2044-Evening Classes
Listen to KYW NewsRadio 1060 for announcements or check online at www.kyw1060.com
or on
www.artinstitutes.edu/philadelphia.

If the college is closed due to inclement weather, the message on the college’s switchboard at 215-567-7080 will be changed to include this information.

Bill Hooper

A number of faculty at the 12th Week Union Meeting asked for Bill Hooper's mailing address: 

Bill Hooper
4729 Cedar
Philadelphia, Pa 19143.

I am sure Bill would appreciate get well cards and or a small note to let him know he is thought of.

President: Cheryl Leone
Executive Vice President: Alan Gross
Vice President at Large: Cherie Haines, Brian Dickerson, Linda Kudzmas
Treasurer: Wayne Uffer
Recording Secretary: Megan Dennis
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.