'Ask Annie' Is On the Way!
We want to help.
The purpose of the FA Education Committee is to demystify our contract and make it more accessible to our membership. Some of the ways we will be doing this is to identify relevant and timely contract areas to spotlight throughout the academic year as well as invite questions about the contract from faculty.
You can submit questions to our new column, Ask Annie, using our contract question submission form link. The new column will be published after we hear from you!
We are also working to educate our FA Council members to become more knowledgeable and aware of different provisions in the contract that may not be well known. For example, at our first Zoom meeting of the year, we spotlighted the area in the contract (I.4.0) that details how faculty can be reimbursed 50% of their professional membership dues each year up to $250. And did you know that ALL FACULTY, regardless of classroom or non-classroom are obligated to complete 5 hours of institutional service each week (C.2.4)? We also took a deeper look at what Reassigned Time translates to in terms of weekly hours. For example, a 3LHE or .20 RT equates to 8 hours per week (C.4.1).
While our contract has been developed to protect and advance faculty working conditions, we acknowledge that we have the further responsibility to fully explain its benefits and protections in a clear and useful manner. Our Education Committee—Mary Gross, Leigh Cotnoir, Michelle Farnam, Kristi Wish, Steve Isachsen, and I—have identified have a number of ways you can learn more about our Contract, your rights, and your responsibilities: attend the FA sponsored education events, visit our FA website, read articles in our newsletters or messages coming from your Exec team, and other ways we plan to roll out in the next year. So stay tuned for more updates and information!
