October 30, 2024
“We are making decisions based on hard data now as opposed to what has historically been done.” Dr. Dan Petree, VP of Finance and Planning
Today’s session opened with the FY2025 ISU Operating Budget presentation by Interim Vice President for Finance and Planning Dr. Dan Petree. This presentation has been made in a number of venues including the Academic Senate, to Chairs and Directors, and at the Academic Affairs symposium. This presentation addresses administration’s take on the historical trends and future expectations of ISU’s budget in relation to state appropriations, tuition income, financial aid, personnel and operating expenses, and the supposed enrollment cliff. The general message from administration is that expenses are rising, and income is not (tell faculty about that!).
After a short caucus, UFISU Co-Lead Spokesperson Dr. Tice Sirmans responded with a number of questions about how calculations are made, what costs are involved in General Revenue, and why historical data is not being used as much to predict future revenue and enrollment. Tice pointed out that according to the chart Petree was using, the total compensation for the entire university was $267 million dollars, but our total bargaining unit (679 faculty) salary last year was $55 million. A 10% raise, which is one of our proposals, would be roughly 5 million. Mark Bennet, Administration Spokesperson, disagreed with this costing, so Tice asked him what administration sees as the cost of an across the board 10% raise. Dr. Petree responded as best he could, with support from Mike Kruger and Mark Bennet, but seemed a bit rattled by Tice’s expert questioning. Bennett responded by saying: “We’re not going to get into that now.“
Bennett then presented a package of two counter-proposals on Grievance Procedure and Non-Discrimination. Although they removed language that would have required two separate arbitrators to hear a grievance if the arbitrability of the grievance was disputed, they continue to demand a procedure that exactly parallels those of other academic unions on campus. They also continue to refuse our language requiring the Union be informed of an informal grievance so that we can advise a faculty member on key timelines and requirements for pursuing a grievance.
The administration added language in Non-Discrimination that moves closer to our position, ensuring that faculty who believe the agreement was violated because of their membership in a legally protected class can file a grievance on the underlying violation while also pursuing outside remedies for the discriminatory behavior. However, they did not include language that would have allowed the Union to file a grievance based on discrimination that harmed the bargaining unit as a whole. Instead, they stated across the table that the Union could report such an issue to OEOA.
Dr. Ashley Farmer, UFISU Co-Lead Spokesperson, presented a counter-proposal on Layoffs. Major changes include language that if an employee is laid off and is still on the recall list, the university must offer previously taught courses or librarianship duties to the laid off employee (or librarian) at their (pro rata) previous pay rate before hiring a new employee to perform those duties.
Next session, Ashley will once again remind Bennett that we are still waiting for economic proposals. The more members we have at bargaining, the more pressure the Administration will feel to respond, and the more likely that they will do so, so please come out, even if only for an hour (the first and last hours are the most impactful). We look forward to seeing you at our next bargaining session, November 12th at 9am!