Academy for Academic Personnel Administration
Fall 2003
Round Table Report
1. Institution Information
Name of Institution/System: Cleveland State University
Name of Individual Responding: William I Shorrock
Title of Individual Responding: Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Faculty Relations
2a. Description of Faculty Bargaining Unit(s) – Size and Composition
The unit consists of all full-time, tenure-track faculty having the academic rank of Instructor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor. It does not include department chairpersons or other academic administrators. Nor does it include any non-tenure track faculty like visiting, term, or adjunct faculty.
Bargaining Agent: American Association of University Professors (AAUP)
Date of First Contract: 1995
Number of Succeeding Contracts: 3
3. Activity Report (e.g., status of current agreement or negotiations, details of last contract settlement, etc.):
We are currently in negotiation with AAUP for our 4th three-year contract. The union responded favorably to the administration’s proposal to try the Interest-Based Bargaining format with FMCS facilitation, as opposed to the more traditional adversarial bargaining. We mutually agreed that no outside counsel would participate for either side. Progress is being made; I hope to be able to report in more detail at the October meeting.
4. Special or noteworthy happenings (e.g., relevant arbitration or court decisions, organizing campaigns, labor agency decisions, etc.)
A long bitter grievance/arbitration involving the noncontinuation of a probationary faculty member in English has finally come to an end. The arbitrator denied the grievant’s contention that the University had violated the contract and had acted arbitrarily and capriciously. His opinion and award completely upheld the University’s right to make such a personal decision based on issues of “collegiality” that impinge upon a faculty member’s ability to perform satisfactorily in the traditional areas of service, teaching, and scholarship. This was one of those nightmare cases where the new faculty member was a demonstrably good teacher and scholar, but who simply alienated everyone in the department with whom she was supposed to work. We may hear more about this in the courts.
5. Special happenings related to fiscal issues (e.g., salary reductions, health and dental insurance costs, reductions in force, early retirement programs, program consolidation or elimination, etc.):
The Board of Trustees approved a 2% salary increase for FY 04 for all non-bargaining employees. In a gesture recognizing the University’s fiscal constraints, the President and all vice presidents and college deans agreed to forgo any salary increase in FY 04. The University’s Health Benefits Committee (composed of representatives from all the unions and the administration) agreed on plan design changes for FY 04 that will modestly reduce the monthly premium cost for employees but will substantially increase the cost for prescription medications. The increased prescription costs may be partially offset if employees opt for less-expensive mail-order prescriptions for maintenance medications.