STCC PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION MEMBERSHIP MEETING MINUTES

October 23, 2003 

Location:  13/114

Call to Order:  12:52

Reports and Announcements 
Secretary's Report, Minutes of September 25, 2003, Lynn Kleindienst

• Mary Donovan corrected the minutes saying it was the fault of the college and not the postal service with the error of her check being sent to the student. Motion to accept minutes as amended, R. Rodgers, Mary Donovan  Passed.
   
  Treasurer's Report, Ken Czuchra
• Category Summary Report 2nd Qtr '04 & Net-worth 10/23/03. Motion to accept, Terry Glanville, R. Rodgers  Passed.
• The $500.00 revitalization grant application has been sent and Ken will know something by the next meeting.
   
  MCCC Director, Sandra Cutler
• There will be a trifold flyer "Welcome to the MCCC" distributed to everyone by STCC PA Room Representatives.
   
  President, Carol Mathison
• ERIP - 63 names have been turned in campus wide and 42 names are firm for early retirement.
• The faculty and staff appeals have been completed but there are still some problems with six incomplete appeals.
• The IT staff has been reclassified with several new classification specifications written. Bob Baraldi wrote letters on behalf of his staff.
• There is a need for one more person for the Bylaws and Rules Committee and one more person for the Nominations and Elections Committee.
• Pamela White will serve on the UPPC Committee.
• The Executive Board decided to initiate a stipend for officers of the Executive Board.  This may be an incentive for running for office on the board.
• All members should fill out a travel form.  Fill the form out once a year and it covers you for the whole year.  This is Liability coverage for union travel and business.
   
  Grievance Coordinator, Maureen Bourbeau
• No report.
   
  SAC Report, Sandra Cutler
• Political action remains a strong focus.  Romney is now attacking the Pension Plan. More involvement and unity is necessary.
• Lobbying for contract funding included Romney watches.  STCC's turn for Boston lobbying is scheduled for October 28th. 

GPO/WEP Update, Carole Dupont

• Everyone on GroupWise has been receiving regular updates and should be aware of the national movement, spearheaded by NEA, to contact representatives and senators to get onboard to repeal these Social Security Offset provisions.
• Carole said that to date, AARP has not supported our efforts to repeal the GPO/WEP.  We need to send positive letters telling them our stories and asking for help.  Then we should email them on October 31st and follow through with a phone call.
• 270 Representatives and 26 Senators are on board for GPO/WEP to date - our efforts are working.
   
  Special Guest Speaker, Joe LeBlanc, Vice President, MCCC and Katie D'Urso, MTA Consultant
• Status of contract funding - Getting closer to having full support of the legislature. Hopefully MCCC will get included even though our contract was never approved for funding.
• Contract negotiations for Day and DCE in the planning stages - focus right now is on funding the current contract.
• CAS petitions: issues should have been resolved long ago as they were a part of a memorandum of agreement in the last bargaining contract. (CAS refers to a person who was hired who should be in the bargaining unit but was not placed there.)  Since at least 50% of the petitions have not yet been resolved, the college presidents have agreed to pay one half the cost of resolution of these cases that may involve intervention of a mediator or arbitrator.  Bert Scannipieco emphasized that the MCCC should have everything in writing.
• The law states that paychecks should be issued every two weeks for DCE employees.  A recommendation has gone to the Presidents' Council for action.  Also, the recommendation has been forwarded that DCE courses be counted as part of total day workload.
• A Higher Education Caucus has been formed comprised of over 82 legislators/legislative assistants who are community college graduates.
• The Student Evaluation Form will be official as of its use in Fall, 2003.
• The MCCC has instituted a grant to provide Student Interns in the Statehouse.  Forms will be available for those who wish to nominate themselves or others for this internship experience.
• The survey regarding '03 positions should be sent out to the membership for completion sometime in the next week.
• Some campuses no longer issue mid-semester grades except as specifically requested by students.
• Carol Mathison requested more information about the transfer of property in lieu of cash into the pension fund.  Katie will put in a legal request for this information.
   
  Motion to adjourn, Sandy Culter, Ken Czuchra  Passed. 
  Acting Secretary, 
   Jane Kmon