Summary of Tentative Agreement
between
The Montana Board of Regents of Higher Education
and
Helena Teachers Union

 

Modify the 1999-2001 agreement as follows.

 

1. 1.1 PREAMBLE

Change to read as follows: This agreement is entered into by the Board of Regents of Higher Education, hereinafter referred to as the employer, and Helena Teachers Union, MEA-MFT, NEA, AFT, AFL-CIO, hereinafter referred to as the union.

This agreement is negotiated in accordance with the public employees collective bargaining act. A purpose of this agreement includes but is not limited to establishing terms and conditions of employment. The parties intend to engender an atmosphere conducive to the development of quality education under the governance of the Board of Regents and to develop an effective and harmonious relationship between the parties.

 

2. 2.1 RECOGNITION

Change to read as follows:

A. Recognition

The Board of Regents, hereinafter referred to as the employer, recognizes the Helena Teachers Union, MEA-MFT, NEA, AFT, AFL-CIO, hereinafter referred to as the union, as the sole and exclusive bargaining representative of all faculty in the bargaining unit. The union recognizes the Board of Regents as the statutory governing body of the Helena College of Technology of The University of Montana.

B. Bargaining Unit

The bargaining unit covered by this agreement shall include all instructional faculty members with a .5 FTE or greater appointment (nine (9) or more credits per semester) and who are employed for both terms of the academic year. Individuals appointed for a single semester are excluded from the bargaining unit. New employees hired into non-teaching positions shall be excluded from the bargaining unit. The bargaining unit status of a current teaching employee who transfers to an instructional related, non-teaching professional position shall be determined at the time of the transfer. The term faculty member as used in this agreement means a member of the bargaining unit.

 

3. 4.4 SECRETARIAL SUPPORT

Change to read: Faculty members shall have access to available services in the areas of computer services, copying, record keeping, and other support services.

 

4. 4.8 FULL-TIME FACULTY MEMBER PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Change the first and second sentences to read as follows: The academic year calendar shall consist of one hundred sixty-four (164) scheduled work days and six (6) flexible work days. The flexible work days will be decided upon with the Associate Dean. Disagreements concerning use of flexible days shall be referred to the Labor-Management Committee for resolution. It is recognized that the Labor-Management Committee may not have an opportunity to resolve the disagreement until after the fact.

 

5. 4.13 SABBATICAL ASSIGNMENTS

Change subsection E. as follows: The salary paid during a sabbatical assignment shall be 60% of the employee s academic year salary or a prorated amount for sabbatical assignments of a shorter duration and shall be calculated based on the same methodology as regular faculty. Faculty members on sabbatical shall be allowed to receive reimbursement for expenses directly related to their course of study and shall also be allowed additional compensation not to exceed 40% of their regular salary, upon approval of the President or designee. All outside compensation must be received through the College for reimbursement to the employee. A faculty member on sabbatical leave shall continue to accrue seniority during the period of sabbatical leave and the employer will continue its contributions to the group insurance plan on behalf of the faculty member. No leave benefits shall accrue during a sabbatical assignment.

 

6. Add the following new section:

4.16 STATE TRAINERS

1. State trainers shall be placed in a separate instructional area for layoff purposes as outlined in section 9.4.

2. State trainers shall be eligible for promotion and tenure. Level definitions and criteria for promotion and tenure that are unique to state trainers shall be mutually developed by the Labor-Management Committee by December 1, 2001 and be in effect upon approval of the Dean and President or designee.

3. State trainers may be hired for a fiscal year appointment or an academic year appointment at the discretion of the employer (exceptions provided for in section 4.16.8). Faculty members hired for a fiscal year appointment shall receive 1.22 times the academic year salary and shall be entitled to accrue vacation leave provided by Regent policy.

4. Tenured state trainers who were initially employed on an academic year basis will not be required to accept a fiscal year appointment. They may, however, by mutual agreement accept a modified work schedule wherein their 170 work days are scheduled throughout the fiscal year. A modified work schedule may be a condition of employment where such requirement is made known to the faculty member upon initial employment.

5. State trainers employed for an academic year may be required to accept work beyond 170 days. State trainers who are required to work in excess of 170 days shall receive an increase in their compensation according to the overload pay provisions.

6. State trainers are not exempt from any protections provided for in the collective bargaining agreement.

7. Any current state trainers with an academic year appointment will not be required to accept a tenure-track fiscal year appointment as a condition of employment. A modified work schedule may be adopted by mutual agreement.

 

7. 9.1 TENURE

Change to read as follows:

A. Tenure is the right to annual renewal of employment from academic year to academic year except in cases of termination for cause or layoff. Tenure is with the College through which it is granted and is not with the Board of Regents or any entity other than the College.

Tenure is awarded by the Board of Regents, following peer and administrative review and recommendation by the President in accordance with procedures established by the College.

The review prior to granting tenure and the subsequent recommendation to the Board of Regents will normally be made in the fifth year of employment. Four academic years of full-time service at the College are required before a faculty member is eligible to make application for tenure. While normally the sixth contract of full-time employment carries continuous tenure status, unless the faculty member is given notice of termination, tenure will not be awarded without appropriate review and recommendation by peers and supervisors. Tenure is awarded for quality of current professional performance and promise for such future performance, not merely for completing a certain length of service. It is equally incumbent on the faculty member and the administration to insure that a tenure review occurs at the proper time. In no event shall the failure to give any notice constitute an award of continuous tenure by default.

Just cause will be the standard for the termination of tenured faculty members except in the case of layoff.

Only full-time faculty member are eligible for tenure. A full-time faculty member who is tenured and is reduced to part-time status but remains in the bargaining unit shall retain tenure at the reduced level. Faculty members who are notified in writing at the time of hire and rehire that their positions are temporary are ineligible to apply for tenure.

Faculty members who were granted tenure prior to the effective date of this agreement shall retain their tenure status until resignation, retirement, layoff or termination for cause.

 

8. 9.2 PROBATIONARY FACULTY MEMBERS

Change to read: Prior to achieving tenure, faculty members in positions not identified as temporary with full time academic year teaching contracts are denominated as probationary faculty members. Probationary faculty members have the right to serve to the end of the contract period but not beyond unless terminated for cause during the term of the contract. Unless an individual contract expressly provides to the contrary, the contract period for all faculty members shall be the academic year. Regardless of the term of any individual contract, no such person has, or shall acquire, a right to reappointment for a period in excess of the academic year.

The employer may terminate probationary faculty members by giving written notice of termination by March 1st in the first and second years of service, by February 15th in the third and fourth years of service, and by September 30th in the fifth or later years of service. No reasons for the termination of probationary faculty members at the end of the contract period need be provided. The employer shall have the option of providing employment or severance pay in lieu of any portion or all of the notice to which the faculty member is entitled, so long as the extension of employment or severance pay is commensurate with the notice to which the faculty member is otherwise entitled.

A faculty member hired into a temporary position is not eligible for tenure. However, up to three (3) years of full-time service in such a position shall count toward probationary service toward tenure if the temporary faculty member is subsequently hired into a tenure track position without a break in service, unless the faculty member and the President or designee agree to the contrary in writing. Faculty members shall be informed in writing at the time of hire or rehire that their position is temporary in nature. Appointments to temporary positions lapse at the end of the academic year or the term specified in the letter of appointment, whichever occurs first, unless terminated for cause during the academic year. The notice requirements for probationary faculty members do not apply to temporary appointments.

 

9. 9.4 LAYOFF

Change to read: Layoff is defined as the termination of tenured faculty members for programmatic or financial reasons. Within thirty (30) calendar days from the faculty member s written notice of layoff the Dean shall submit a layoff plan to the local union. The union shall have thirty (30) calendar days to review and comment upon the plan, during which time its representatives may meet with the Dean at a mutually agreed upon time and place. The Dean may revise the plan after the period of comment is over and shall forward the plan first to the President or designee and then to the Board of Regents for adoption, amendment or rejection. The decision of the employer to implement layoff is not grievable.

Within an instructional area layoff shall be in reverse order of seniority, unless an exception is necessary to assure the qualifications of the remaining faculty members meet the needs of the continuing programs. No tenured faculty member shall be laid off if probationary faculty members are retained within the instructional area to teach courses the tenured faculty member is qualified and capable of teaching. The selection of one individual rather than another for layoff may be challenged under the grievance procedure.

Each tenured faculty member laid off shall be informed in writing by September 30 of the final academic year of employment.

For two (2) academic years from the date of layoff a tenured faculty member retains the following rights

a. The position of the laid-off faculty member shall not be filled unless the laid-off faculty member has been offered reinstatement in his previous tenure and seniority. The faculty member shall have thirty (30) days in which to accept or decline. If the offer is declined, any further rights under this section are extinguished.

b. If the laid-off faculty member applies for an open position within the bargaining unit at the College of Technology, and the position is subsequently filled by the employer, the laid-off faculty member shall be hired into the position provided the laid-off employee s qualifications for the job in question are substantially equal or above those of other applicants. If hired pursuant to this subsection the previously laid-off faculty member shall retain tenure unless the President or designee and the faculty member agree to the contrary in writing and shall retain previously accumulated seniority. Any salary shall be prorated for less than full-time employment. Once a comparable offer of employment is made to a previously laid-off faculty member, all further rights under this subsection are extinguished.

 

10. 10.1 SALARIES

Change article 10 as follows:

 

A. Salary Factors for 2001-2002

The following factors and methodology will be used to determine faculty member salaries for the period from July 1, 2001, until June 30, 2002.

 

1. Effective November 1, 2001, minimum salaries for each level are as follows:

Level I: $27,845

Level II: $31,240

Level III: $35,778

Level IV: $40,306

 

2. Effective November 1, 2001, in addition to the above specified minimum salary, faculty members will receive $275 for each year of full-time teaching and related occupational experience through July 1, 2001. Up to a maximum of ten (10) years of related full-time teaching or occupational experience may be recognized for newly hired faculty members.

3. Faculty members with an appropriate doctoral degree shall receive a $1,500 salary stipend. Faculty members receiving a stipend for an appropriate doctorate shall not be given any additional stipend for their master s degree. Faculty members with an appropriate master s degree who are below Level III shall receive a $1,000 salary stipend. Faculty members who are at Level I and have an associate degree shall receive a $1,000 salary stipend and those with a bachelor s degree shall receive a $2,000 salary stipend.

4. Notwithstanding any of the factors outlined above, no full-time faculty member shall receive less than the following increase in base salary for AY 2001-2002. Faculty at Level I will receive a minimum increase of $785; faculty at Level II will receive a minimum increase of $880; faculty at Level III will receive a minimum increase of $1,008; and faculty at Level IV will receive a minimum increase of $1,136. Stipends for degrees are not subject to the minimum increases provided for herein.

 

B. Salary Factors for 2002-03

The following factors and methodology will be used to determine faculty member salaries fro the period from July 1, 2002, until June 30, 2003.

1. Effective November 1, 2002, minimum salaries for each level are as follows:

Level I: $28,725

Level II: $32,227

Level III: $36,909

Level IV: $41,580

2. Effective November 1, 2002, in addition to the above specified minimum salary, faculty members will receive $275 for each year of full-time teaching and related occupational experience through July 1, 2002. Up to a maximum of ten (10) years of related full-time teaching or occupational experience may be recognized for newly hired faculty members.

3. Faculty members with an appropriate doctoral degree shall receive a $1,500 salary stipend. Faculty members receiving a stipend for an appropriate doctorate shall not be given any additional stipend for their master s degree. Faculty members with an appropriate master s degree who are below Level III shall receive a $1,000 salary stipend. Faculty members who are at Level I and have an associate degree shall receive a $1,000 stipend and those with a bachelor s degree shall receive a $2,000 salary stipend.

 

4. Notwithstanding any of the factors outlined above, no full-time faculty member shall receive less than the following increase in base salary for AY 2002-2003. Faculty at Level I will receive a minimum increase of $880; faculty at Level II will receive a minimum increase of $987; faculty at Level III will receive a minimum increase of $1,131; and faculty at Level IV will receive a minimum increase of $1,274. Stipends for degrees provided for in paragraph 3 above are not subject to the minimum increase provided herein.

D. Recruitment Adjustment Stipends

The employer may at its discretion pay newly hired faculty members a recruitment adjustment stipend of up to $10,000 in additional compensation when external market pressures make recruitment of qualified faculty in that discipline extraordinarily difficult. Where practical, faculty members of the search committee will be consulted when it is deemed necessary to offer a recruitment adjustment stipend to an applicant. Faculty members receiving a recruitment adjustment stipend will be eligible for base increases, experience increases, and promotion and minimum increases on the formula driven salary (not excluding the recruitment adjustment stipend) which are negotiated in subsequent years. Recruitment adjustment stipends will be subtracted out of the formula driven salary when calculating salary increases and promotions and then added back into the faculty member's salary. In no case will the academic year salary of a faculty member who has been given a recruitment adjustment stipend be reduced.

E. Merit Awards

Non base-building merit awards may be implemented during the term of the agreement at the discretion of the employer.

F. xe Frozen SalariesFrozen Salaries

Faculty members who have received unsatisfactory evaluations may have their salary frozen and are exempt from the provision granting a minimum increase upon recommendation of the President or designee and concurrence of the Labor-Management Committee (or an alternative committee agreed upon by the parties at the College). Faculty members who have had their salary frozen in a previous year and who believe their performance has substantially improved may request that their salary be restored to the level it would have been in the absence of a freeze, effective the beginning of the next academic year. In no case shall any retroactive payment for prior fiscal years be made. The decision of the Labor-Management Committee in this matter is final and not grievable.

G. Level Definition and Threshold Criteria for Promotion

1. Level IV: Appropriate master s degree and five (5) years at Level III plus 720 hours of approved professional development activity, or appropriate doctorate degree and five (5) years at Level III plus 570 hours of approved professional development activity, service or scholarly development.

 

2. All Professional development activity used to meet threshold criteria for promotion must be approved by the employer. The approval process for each campus location shall be communicated to faculty. Prior approval is recommended. If a faculty member's request for approval of a professional development activity is denied, the faculty member may appeal the denial to the Labor-Management Committee or an alternative process agreed upon by the parties but may not appeal such denial through the contractual grievance procedure.

 

7. Part-time teaching experience at regionally accredited colleges universities that is at least half time shall be recognized on a pro rata basis. For example, a faculty member who teaches half time for ten (10) years will be credited with five (5) years of full-time teaching experience.

10. Delete.

12. Delete.

13. Delete.

 

H. Promotion Timelines and Procedures

1. The College of Technology shall have promotion procedures and criteria. Promotion procedures and criteria shall be updated periodically and must be approved by the Labor-Management Committee (or an alternate committee agreed upon by the parties) and the President or designee. Promotion procedures shall include an opportunity for evaluation and recommendation by faculty members as well as the appropriate levels of the administration.

 

11. 11.3 COPIES OF AGREEMENT

Change to read: Upon final ratification, the employer shall prepare the agreement and give a copy to the bargaining agent. Employees shall have access to the agreement electronically or may request a copy from the employer or the bargaining agent.

 

12. Add the following new provision:

11.9 Letters of Agreement: Previous letters of agreement, side bar agreements and memoranda of understanding between labor and management that are not incorporated into the subsequent collective bargaining agreement are null and void.

 

13. 12.1 TERM OF AGREEMENT

Change 1999 to 2001 and change 2001 to 2003.

 

14. APPENDIX A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING FACULTY WORKLOAD

Change to read: The following factors (in addition to other appropriate factors) may be considered when making workload assignments: total number of students, number and nature of course preparations and student need. The instructional workload for full-time probationary and tenured faculty shall normally fall within the range of 30 to 34 credits per academic year. The instructional assignment for a full-time probationary or tenured faculty member shall normally not exceed 750 hours per year. It is recognized that the instructional workload of some full-time faculty may be less than 30 to 34 credits when there are additional non-instructional assignments. Faculty teaching more than thirty-four (34) credits or 750 hours per year shall be eligible for overload compensation in accordance with Section 10.3 or a reduction in non-instructional assignments at the discretion of the campus administration. Bargaining unit faculty who teach at least fifteen (15) credits in a semester shall not receive a prorated salary during that semester.