MCCC Annual Delegate Assembly

April 22nd, 2013 Comments off

Professional Association members:

This year’s MCCC Annual Delegate Assembly will be held on Saturday, May 4th at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel, 75 Fellon St. in Marlborough.  The Delegate Assembly approves the budget for the upcoming year which includes membership dues.  It also votes on the adoption of any proposed bylaw changes.  Recognizing the significant contributions of individual union members through various awards will also be part of the Assembly.  STCC is allowed to have sixteen union members attend.  If you would like to attend please call or text Nick Camerota @ 413-896-5219.
thank you,
Lynn McDonald

Secretary

ACTION NEEDED ON BUDGET AMENDMENTS

April 22nd, 2013 Comments off
For immediate statewide distribution,
Dear MCCC faculty and professional staff,
Please note that the next 2 months will be filled with budget activity at the State House. As educators, our voices need to be heard in these spending and funding debates. Do know that your emails and calls to legislators truly matter. Just recently, your contacts with legislators made an important difference. The public higher education allocation included in the proposed House Ways & Means Budget represents a 10% increase in FY14 funding over last year’s budget. This is very good news!
This week the House will debate these budget recommendations, so once again, MCCC and MTA need your support on pro-education amendments. Among these, in particular, we support amendments that will increase funding for state scholarships to public colleges and universities as well as another amendment that would ensure that the proposed higher education funding commission does not simply look at how to cut costs, but also closely examines how to fund our colleges to serve post-secondary students with a wide variety of career, transfer, and individual needs.
Please read the email below from MTA’s President, Paul Toner, and Vice President, Tim Sullivan, regarding a  summary of the House budget proposal and what you can do to help strengthen this budget for MA students, from pre-K through graduate school. Then:
  • Go to the MTA’s website and send an email to your State Representative. It will take only 3 minutes to use the Cap Wiz system. (See the MTA email below.)
  • MCCC Chapter Presidents and SAC activists: Be sure that you send your message right away and then personally contact each MCCC leader on your campus (by phone or in person) and ask them to do the same.
Thank you, and please stay tuned: In May and June we will need your input on the Senate Budget proposals and the Conference Committee’s Budget. (The latter reconciles any budget differences between the two chambers.)
Donnie
Diana (Donnie) McGee
MCCC Vice President & SAC Chair
MTA Board of Directors
Email: vice-president@mccc-union.org
Cell: 508-415-1513


ACTION NEEDED ON BUDGET AMENDMENTS
The MTA is asking members to contact their state representatives and urge them to support legislative amendments that would address critically important education funding needs in the House Ways and Means Committee’s proposed budget. …
The committee’s FY14 budget plan, released on April 10, begins to reverse 13 years of cuts in public higher education but is short of Governor Deval Patrick’s proposed budget.
The Ways and Means budget does make a substantial increase in funding for public colleges and universities, as well as a modest increase in Chapter 70 funding. However, early education programs for young children were cut by 3 percent compared to FY13.

Of the hundreds of amendments that have been submitted to the Ways and Means Committee, some address funding gaps for education, providing resources for early childhood education and care and literacy programs in Gateway Cities.

We know that as an educator, you are vitally concerned about the future of education funding in Massachusetts. So don’t delay. Add your voice by going to this Cap-Wiz message system to support MTA-backed amendments:  http://capwiz.com/nea/ma/issues/alert/?alertid=62605621&type=ST&show_alert=1
Sincerely,
Paul Toner & Tim Sullivan

The Public Higher Ed. Funding Crisis: Contact Representatives THIS WEEK – Support Community Colleges

March 12th, 2013 Comments off

Thanks to all who participated in the Public Higher Ed. Advocacy Day last week. More than 600 students, faculty, staff, and administrators met with legislators to highlight the key challenges faced by colleges and universities across this state. Educators and students shared their concerns regarding affordability, access, and the related resources needed for student success.  They spoke out against the chronic and substantial underfunding that has plagued our campuses for more than a decade. Now, it’s time for all educators to communicate a similar message to their State Representatives.

Contact your State Representative this week: Speak out for community colleges
Currently, the MA State Budget is being crafted by our State Representatives. The House will release its preliminary  budget  during the week of April 8th. It is important that you let your Representative (not Senator) know this week that you support additional state revenues. Only then will our colleges be funded adequately and students be served effectively.
The message to Representatives:  Increase state funding; dedicate revenue to Community Colleges
  1. The Commonwealth needs to reinvest in higher education. Educated citizens and a well-prepared workforce  increase productivity and fuel the state’s economy.
  2. Note these concerns:
  • Massachusetts state funding for public higher education is among the lowest in the country, while tuition and fees are among the highest.
  • Funding for public higher education is down by 31 percent since FY01, despite a dramatic increase in enrollment. Academic support services have not kept pace with the  increased enrollment. An over-reliance on non-benefited, part-time faculty and professional staff has further challenged the effectiveness of our community colleges in particular. Our institutions are being asked to do more with less.
  • As state support for our colleges has plummeted, (MA continues to rank among the lowest in the nation in per capita funding for public higher ed.), students and their families are being priced out of an education or saddled with debt in order to attend our public colleges.
   3. Ask Representatives to support new revenues to fund our schools and communities. Currently, the MTA and the MCCC support raising revenues for the Commonwealth in any way that is fair and substantial.  Two current revenue proposals meet these criteria. Each would raise about $2 billion dollars.
    • Governor Patrick’s budget proposal would increase taxes and target new funds for education and transportation.
    • The Campaign for Our Communities’ legislative proposal would support revenues that would serve public education, transportation and our communities through an increase in the income tax. It would also increase the personal exemption to reduce the impact on low- and middle-income families and seniors.

Contacting Representatives:

Representatives need to hear  your message this week. Legislators have indicated that few constituents are contacting them to ask for either increased revenues or increased support for public higher education. They have received more calls from constituents that ask them not to raise revenues at all. Let’s turn that around. Please take action today.
In solidarity,
Donnie
Diana (Donnie) McGee
MCCC Vice President & SAC Chair
MTA Board of Directors
Email: vice-president@mccc-union.org
Cell: 508-415-1513

SPEAK OUT IN SUPPORT OF PUBLIC HIGHER EDUCATION!

March 1st, 2013 Comments off

 

SPEAK OUT IN SUPPORT OF PUBLIC
HIGHER EDUCATION!

Massachusetts’ state funding for public higher education is among the lowest in the country, while tuition and fees are among the highest.THAT’S NOT ACCEPTABLE.We need to do all we can to ensure that our Commonwealth continues to be a great place to live, work and raise a family – and that includes maintaining excellent public colleges and universities.Please join us on Tuesday, March 5, and urge your legislators to support new revenues for public colleges and universities in Massachusetts.

Governor Deval Patrick will speak at the 10 a.m. rally in Gardner Auditorium. After the rally, meet with your own legislators to let them know how chronic underfunding of public higher education has affected your work and your students.

 

9-10 a.m.     MTA members please come to the fifth floor of the MTA building at 20 Ashburton Place to pick up materials.10 a.m.        Gardner Auditorium followed by legislative meetings


To register, visit:

http:massteacher.org/higheredadvocacyday2013

2013 Teaching, Learning Student Development Conference

December 17th, 2012 Comments off

Dear Colleagues,

We invite you to consider submitting a proposal for the 2013 Teaching, Learning Student Development Conference. This year’s theme is:

Community Colleges: Preparing Socially Responsible Learners and Leaders.

If you have a an innovative curricular or co-curricular practice, program or initiatives that you would like to share with other community college colleagues from across Massachusetts in the following areas:

Track 1: Social Responsibility – This track will present curriculum, programs and activities aimed at engaging students in their local and global communities and a focus on social change. Sample topics include service learning projects and programs; internship, externship, and experiential learning opportunities within the curriculum; international programs, social and restorative justice work in and out of the classroom, efforts to engage students in active citizenship, conduct protocol as it relates to education, community standards, and civility, and co-curricular activities designed to increase students’ levels of social awareness and participation.

Track 2: Democratic and Inclusive Pedagogies – This track will showcase pedagogies and programs seeking to make higher education more inclusive and engaging for all students. Sample topics may be inclusive teaching strategies aimed at specific populations such as Universal Design, best practices for including student voice in administration and policy decisions, curricular and engagement activities recognizing the importance of multiple world views, and student learning outcomes that focus on participation in a public democracy in both curricular and co-curricular contexts.

Track 3: Developing Leaders – Sessions offered in this track will highlight effective programs and activities that place students in leadership roles on campus and within the community. Sample topics include leadership development theory and practice, peer mentoring and supplemental instruction programs, conduits for student leadership such as particular experiences or curriculum, as well as programs that promote student leaders within specific academic programs

If you are interested in advancing our community college work in any of the three tracks and want to share your expertise with colleagues please visit TLSD 2013 www.middlesex.mass.edu/tlsd13/ Conference website to submit your proposal today!

Submissions of proposals are now open however the deadline is December 13, 2012.

Please bookmark the conference web site at: www.middlesex.mass.edu/tlsd13/

2013 Massachusetts Community College Teaching, Learning and Student Development Conference Committee members:

Phil Sisson, Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs, MCC, Co-chair TLSD13

Pam Flaherty, Chief Student Affairs Officer/ Dean of Students, MCC, Co-chair TLSD13

Sue Miller, Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs, Cape Cod Community College
Brenda Mercomes, Vice President of Academic Affairs, Roxbury Community College
Steve Ozug, Vice President of Students, Bristol Community College
Rose Pena–Warfield, Dean, Enrollment Management & Advising, Cape Cod Community College
Gretchen Manning, Deputy Director, Massachusetts Community Colleges Executive Office

DCE Contract Tip

November 19th, 2012 Comments off

Appointment

A tentative appointment for one course shall be assigned first to those unit members with the longest seniority.  You should, under normal circumstances, be notified of your assignment at least five weeks prior to the beginning of classes.  You should be given a contract indicating the course(s) and salary to which you have been assigned.  If you have reappointment rights, your course must run in the event that an administrator who hires, fires, or evaluates DCE faculty is teaching a course in DCE.

The DCE Collective bargaining agreement and other relevant documents are available on the MCCC website http://mccc-union.org/dcecontract.htm.   A hard copy of the DCE contract can be obtained from your local MCCC chapter.

MCCC Fall Conference

October 11th, 2012 Comments off

MCCC Fall Conference information and materials are available online at
this address:
http://mccc-union.org/FallConference/index.html

For planning purposes, it is important that you register online by
Monday, Oct. 22 at 4 p.m. Our planning committee has worked hard to
organize workshops with something of interest for every full- and
part-time faculty and professional staff member. I hope you will be
able to join us for a good time with friends and colleagues from Cape
Cod to the Berkshires, not to mention the always popular raffle
drawing with five $100 cash prizes.

I look forward to seeing you on Oct. 24.

Best,
Joe LeBlanc
MCCC

Secret ballot

September 27th, 2012 Comments off
During the September 26th meeting of the STCC Professional Association, the voting membership unanimously ratified a resolution supporting a referendum on the siting of a high school on this campus. The resolution calls for a secret ballot “allowing all non-administrative employees to register their approval of, or opposition to, this charter school by means of a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ vote.”

Accordingly, a polling station and ballot box will be located in the lobby of Building 13 and in operation from 8:30AM to 4:30PM on Wednesday, October 3rd and Thursday, October 4th. Provisions are being made for absentee ballots. Again, the referendum is open to all non-administrative employees, whether full-time or part-time.

For further information, contact Nicholas Camerota, STCC Professional Association President at x 4806 or 413-896-5219.
Thank you,
Lynn McDonald
Secretary
STCC Professional Association

Nicholas Camerota response to Dr. Poe’s letter

September 27th, 2012 Comments off

Thanks for keeping me in the loop. I don’t view your comments as a dispaly of distempter; they reflect the frustrations of many on campus.

A statement hobbled by equivocations might soothe those with more sensitive souls but, given the seriousness of the matters at hand, a timorous message would be a disservice to the campus community. The administration should be told bluntly why Shared Governance failed to retain the confidence of many whose interests it was supposed to represent.

There are times when frankness is far more valuable than diplomacy when striving to secure the common good. I commend you for having the strength of character to address these painful issues in a forthright manner.  I’m quite certain I am not alone in my admiration for you and your efforts to develop a body which encourages the administration to become more open, responsive and accountable to all who work at STCC.

You can be certain that salient points rasied in your draft will be considered by the members of the Professional Association during our September 26 meeting.

Nicholas Camerota

Shared Governance is dissolved and will not be revived at this time.

September 26th, 2012 Comments off

Shared Governance is dissolved and will not be revived at this time.

The committee to restructure SG has arrived at the decision that this form of governance is not tenable on this campus in the current climate. In order for SG to thrive, it is essential that the Administration, especially the Office of the President, support and uphold the decisions made by the committees.

Following the NEASC accreditation process, we received instructions from the commission to look at how SG is not working on this campus and to fix it. To begin this process, the Coordinator of SG (Pamelyn “PJ” Jongbloed) met with President Rubenzahl to discuss how to approach this process and how to address the needs from the NEASC response.

A committee to restructure SG was convened through the coordinating committee. At our first meeting, we discussed what we saw as the problems of SG and how we should proceed. The resounding sentiment from this group, which surprised none of us, was that there was no support of SG from the Administration on campus. The committee decided that we needed to get a clear statement from President Rubenzahl on how the Administration would support any form of SG. The three most recent Coordinators of SG (PJ , Joe Maciaszek, and Brandon Poe) met with President Rubenzahl to discuss what SG means on this campus and to express that he and his Administration had to do to share in this governance for it to be affective.

So, President Rubenzahl attended meetings of the restructuring committee and we started a discussion about what needed to be done. The committee felt that a contract needed to be established outlining the role the Administration would play in this new iteration of Shared Governance. President Rubenzahl agreed to compose a draft of this agreement that we would discuss at the next meeting. That draft was bland and non-committal and was not accepted by the committee. Brandon Poe, with the agreement of the committee, drafted a new statement.

At the next meeting of this committee, with the President’s input, we worked through the points in that new draft and decided on language that was agreeable to all. The result of that exercise is the Agreement which was presented to the campus through the Forum at the end of the Spring. At that same Forum, we all voted to dissolve Shared Governance while voting to have the committee to restructure meet again to present options, or models, of how Governance can continue on our campus.

The result of that meeting is just this: There appears to be no model of Shared Governance that can hope to work on this campus. The morale on campus is abysmal and the mood seems cynical that the Administration would honor, much less participate in, any governance structure which does not allow for carte blanche. It is the strong recommendation from this committee that SG not be restructured and our response to the NEASC letter state as much.

Brandon Poe,
Chair of the Committee to Restructure Shared Governance

Nicholas Camerota
President of STCCPA
The membership unanimously approved the suggestion that PA President Camerota co-sign Dr. Poe’s letter

Unanimously endorse at the STCCPA chapter meeting.