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PSU-AAUP Successor Contract Ratification Summary

April 20, 2021 / PSU-AAUP

We have great news. The PSU-AAUP Collective Bargaining Team and PSU Administration have come to tentative agreement on our next contract!!! Members will receive an email from ElectionBuddy, our PSU-AAUP voting system, to vote for contract ratification on Wednesday. 

We have been bargaining our tentative contract with PSU Administration since July 2019. It has been so long since we’ve begun, that the PSU-AAUP bargaining team had two babies conceived, born, and grown into toddler-hood during this time! (We dedicate this contract to these new honorary PSU-AAUP members!) We are soon going to open the ratification vote, which closes on May 5th. 

Despite the setback in bargaining because of the pandemic, our eight contract extensions, Administration’s numerous delays, and having a tough time coming to agreement on the many issues, we feel we have solid contractual advances for working conditions and wages. Read on in the summary below to learn more about this new tentative contract.

If you’d like to learn more about the contract before voting, please visit one of our two contract info sessions  -  Members will receive an invite link via email. 
 


PSU-AAUP - Successor Contract Ratification Summary

Below is a brief summary of the agreements that are yet to be ratified to complete the current contract negotiations. They are in the order that they have been agreed upon, not the order they will appear in the contract. Some items that will appear in the final contract are not included here since they have already been ratified to allow for early adoption. 

What you will see in the linked PDF document is not the contract in its entirety and final format. Rather, you will see a series of agreements of different types. Each agreement resolves an issue or a set of related issues with language that will be inserted into the contract during the ongoing “housekeeping” phase. The labels for the different types of agreement are:
 

  • Tentative Agreement (TA): resolves an issue identified by one or both parties at the start of the bargaining process.

 

  • Memorandum of Agreement (MOA): resolves a new issue that emerged after bargaining was underway and the parties consented to add it to the agenda. Several MOAs concern issues related to the pandemic. A TA that requires ratification before the contract has been finalized may also become an MOA for that purpose – e.g., the MOA on COLAs that took effect in January and February. MOAs can become part of an article in the contract or be appended to the end of a contract.

 

  • Memorandum of Understanding (MOU): identifies agreed-upon approaches to resolving an issue, or clarifies the interpretation of existing contract language.


Many MOAs and MOUs have already been ratified by the membership. This ratification vote considers the remainder of TAs, MOAs, and MOUs necessary to complete the new contract. These are listed in chronological order of the date of agreement and are identified by the Article in which the new or revised language is to appear. Where the agreement concerns a revision of existing language, you will see that formatted as a strike-out or addition.
 

Articles, TAs, MOAs, and MOUs


Article 26 - Holiday Closures (pg. 6)
If the university is closed, researchers may come to campus if necessary for their research.

Article 17 Section 9 - Alternative work arrangements and flexible schedules (pg. 7)
Procedures for AP to obtain and be evaluated on alternative work schedules including remote work, compressed schedules, non-standard work days, and flex time are more clearly explained. APs can make up time for a temporary need for time off like a doctor’s visit where the time can be made up outside of regular business hours.

Article 17 Section 12 - Service to the University (pg. 9)
Service to the university by an AP will be considered part of the regular workload if assigned by the supervisor, or agreed upon by the member and supervisor. APs may still participate in service even if a supervisor doesn't agree that it is part of the regular workload if it doesn’t interfere with the regular workload.

Article 10 Section 9 - (MOA) - New Hire Orientation update to include HB 2016 provision (pg. 10)
The University will provide the AAUP with 30 minutes to meet with new employees of the AAUP bargaining unit at campus wide New Hire and Faculty orientations.

Article 24 Section 9 - Faculty Workload/Work Distribution (pg. 11)
The agreement recognizes that Tenure Track and Non-Tenure Track faculty members will not be assigned unreasonable or excessive workload. A new procedure for addressing workload concerns for faculty has been created. This mirrors the process already in place for APs.

Article 17 Section 3 - Description of Structure (pg. 13)
The new job groupings (families) and levels have been updated.

Article 17 Section 4 - Annual Review of Position Description and Request for Review of Position Placement (pg. 14)
AP position descriptions will be reviewed annually. An appeal procedure has been established if APs feel their position description or position placement is not correct.

Article 22 - Section 3e - Incorporate the Faculty Senate procedure “Elimination of Academic Units” into the CBA (pg. 18)
Language was added to reflect the change in the procedure for the elimination of units that was agreed upon in the Faculty Senate.

Article 19 Section 3 - Professional Development and Support (pg. 20)
The annual contributions to the IPDA accounts will remain at $1100 for TT, $600 for NTTF, and $500 for APs. Members hired mid-way through the year will have a prorated amount added to their IPDA accounts. Members hired at 0.5-0.74 FTE will have 75% of the total amount.

Tentative agreement - Status Quo (pg. 23)
An agreement that status quo would be maintained for monetary levels in Articles 19, 14, 30, and 31 (IPDA, Faculty Development Grant, Promotion and Tenure, Retirement, and Insurance.

LOA - Task Force on State of Academic Freedom at Portland State University (pg. 24)
A Task Force on the State of Academic Freedom at Portland State University is to be created that will include representatives from the Association, Faculty Senate, and the Office of Academic Affairs.

Articles 12 and 24 - Academic Freedom (pg. 25)
A guide detailing resources and support available to members of the university community who are experiencing harassment or other undo pressure from individuals or groups off campus will be made.
Article 12 - Language will be added: “The University affirms its continued commitment to the protection of academic freedom with changes in the political and technological landscape.”
Article 24 - Academic Freedom
The aforementioned guide will be referenced in Article 24 section 4.

Research Bridge Funding Pilot Project (pg. 27)
The research bridge funding has been extended for fiscal years 2021 and 2022 for the amount of $70,000.

TA on Ad Hoc Committee on Student Evaluations (pg. 32)
An Ad Hoc Committee will be tasked to Craft Language on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the University Promotion and Tenure Guidelines and to examine how student evaluations and course surveys should be used in faculty reviews and promotions.

Article 11 - Release Time (pg. 33)
Minor revisions to how AAUP members are released from their duties to perform bargaining. 

Article 17 section 5 and 6 (pg. 36)
Section 5 - APs moving into a new job level with a salary higher than the maximum will retain their salary. APs moving into a new job level with a salary lower than the minimum will have their salary raised to meet the minimum.
Section 6 - Beginning July 2022, any AP who has worked at PSU for more than four years will receive a $1600 salary increase at their next evaluation, if their annual evaluations have been rated satisfactory or above. AP’s will be eligible for pay increases every four years thereafter.

Internal Postings (pg. 38)
Any AP or NTTF laid off before Dec 2021 on the recall list can apply as internal candidates during the 10-day internal posting of AP positions.

Effects of Implementation of the Accommodations Testing Program (pg. 40)
In response to the University's refocused plan for student accommodation testing procedure, training will be provided to faculty concerning accommodation testing and proctoring. Reports will be provided to AAUP that will assess the impact of these changes.

AP Performance Improvement Plan (pg. 50)
The University will provide support and training for supervisors about the AP evaluation process.
If an AP receives a negative evaluation, a written performance improvement plan will be offered by the supervisor.

Article 25 - Streetcar access (pg. 51)
In response to PSU losing access to free ridership on the Portland Streetcar, it has been agreed that AAUP members will be offered Streetcar passes at the PSU negotiated discounted rate. Any member who needs to use the streetcar to commute between work sites can obtain a letter from their supervisor to get a pass valid for the current academic year.

Article 32 - Leaves (pg. 52)
A new article has been created outlining the variety of leaves available to members. Sabbatical leave has been moved into this article.   

LOA for Article 18 Section 2(f) - Transition into new PCAR process (pg. 64)
To transition NTT-CA instructional faculty members from the previous 3-year review cycle to the new 5-year review cycle it has been agreed that members' next review date will be 5 years after their last evaluation. Since a pay increase has been linked to a positive PCAR review members who received a positive PCAR at the three-year ark will be eligible for the newly negotiated PCAR salary increase effective September 16, 2022 without  the need to undergo another evaluation.

Supplement to COVID impact MOA Effects of Reopening from Campus Closure revised provision for return to campus from remote work (pg. 66)
Members returning from remote work to campus before Dec 2021 will receive 3 weeks' notice that they will be required to return. This is in addition to previously negotiated provisions concerning the return to campus after the pandemic.

Article 18 Section 2f (all of Article 18 is included)- post continuous appointment reviews (pg. 70)
NTT-CA instructional faculty members will be evaluated on a 5-year cycle. Dossiers will be due October 1 the year members are eligible.

Remainder of Economic Issues (pg. 85)
Some economic issues have already been ratified to allow for timely implementation (including COLA). Details of outstanding issues including:

  • Inversion, Compression & Equity Adjustments salary adjustments to bring salaries closer to market values, 
  • Salary minimums have been updated.
  • Tenure-related promotion salary increases will be 8%.
  • PTR salary increases will be maintained at $4,788.
  • PCAR salary increases will be $1,900 starting September 2022 that will be effective Sept 2023.
  • APs reassigned to a higher level within the same job family will receive a pay increase of $2237 (9 month) or $2723 (12 month).
  • APs will be eligible for $1600 salary increase every 4 years (see Article 17, 6(b) for details)
  • There are no changes to insurance or retirement benefits.


We have agreed to discuss economic details of the contract again after 2 years (which will be Nov 2021). This will allow discussions to consider the financial situation of the University after the pandemic. 

This contract will expire November 30, 2024.

Covid-19 Retirement Transition Program (pg. 97)
Tenured faculty wishing to retire between July 1, 2021-June 30, 2022 can work at 0.5 FTE while maintaining full pay, and then would relinquish tenure by June 2022. 

Article 24, Section 10 - Remote Work (pg. 99)
A new section to the contract has been added that outlines remote work, how to apply and some provisions that accompany the university’s remote work policy. 

Housekeeping (pg. 102)
In this section it is agreed where all items added to or modified in the contract prior to the start of negotiations are to be placed in the next contract. This will be done again post ratification of the above agreements to bring all items into the current contract either as contract language or appended MOA, MOU, or LOA.


See the full Successor Contract Ratification PDF

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