| President | LuAnn Swartzlander |
| Vice President (Grievance Chair) | Joe Fedorko |
| Treasurer | Frank Brooks |
| Secretary | Beverly Stewart |
In addition, Jim Berger was elected our new Region Council Representative and Beverly Stewart was elected our delegate to the National Education Association’s Representative Assembly in July (in Philadelphia).
The University sends RAFO notices of full- and part-time faculty positions for dissemination to adjuncts. The link below is to a lengthy ad listing positions in all five colleges.
These were announced in the summer::
Most adjuncts are aware that RU has had a sexual harassment policy and many who've recently gone through orientations have been given copies of the policy and asked to sign to that effect. The University now has a broader policy of anti-harassment and it's available by following the link below:
http://www.roosevelt.edu/hr/policies/documents/antiharassmentfinal051607.pdf
At the 2004 NEA Representative Assembly, a "new business item" was passed, calling on the NEA to develop an action plan to deal with organizing and serving contingent workers in higher education. Research for the report was conducted between 2006 and 2007 and the report was drafted in the spring of 2007 and discussed at the Higher Education conference in San Diego in March (several RAFO activists were involved in that discussion). The NEA Executive Committee presented the report to the 2007 Representative Assembly in Philadelphia (Beverly Stewart was our delegate) and the report was approved and will now go into an implementation phase. To read the report for yourself, click here or follow the link to NEA's website:
http://www2.nea.org/he/leaders/images/contingentplan.pdf
The NEA Higher Ed website also has a page on Contingent Faculty Resources, with links to NEA publications: http://www2.nea.org/he/contingent.html
This fall, RAFO will hold its member meetings on multiple evenings at both the downtown and Schaumburg campuses. These will be "open house"-style meetings, so drop in when you have time. Meetings will be held between 4pm and 6pm and snacks will be served. Here are the specifics:
| Auditorium Building (downtown) | Room 244 (Old Faculty Lounge) |
| Tuesday, November 6 | |
| Wednesday, November 14 | |
| Robin Campus (Schaumburg) | Room 322 |
| Wednesday, November 7 | |
| Tuesday, November 13 | |
If you haven't (yet) gotten the newsletter, it's available here as a PDF document - check it out!
Adjuncts and staff from IEA (our parent union) have been working on this for several months (including several people from RAFO). The sessions will focus on issues like contract negotiations, filing for unemployment, health insurance, all as they relate specifically to adjunct faculty. This should be a great opportunity to learn more about what can be done and to get in touch with some of the people doing it in the Chicago area. You can sign up at the door on the morning of the conference, but if you plan on going, please try to register in advance so that food and other logistics will be easier. RAFO will reimburse any RU adjuncts who attend for their $10 registration fee.
More information is available on the flyers for this event:
All adjuncts at RU are entitled to vote for adjunct representatives on the RU University Senate (one Senator from each of the Colleges, excepting CCPA) and on the College Councils. This election is now open online. This is an opportunity for adjuncts to have a formal voice in the governance of the university and the colleges and was an accomplishment of the first contract RAFO negotiated with Roosevelt. Vote online at https://www4.roosevelt.edu/rafo/ (the deadline is midnight May 4).
The RAFO executive committee has voted to express its support for striking adjunct faculty at the Universite Laval in Quebec (they’re called “sessionals” there). They’ve been working without a contract since April 30, 2006 and have been on strike since March 14 of this year, having rejected the university’s last offer on April 3 with an 81% vote. You can find out more information about this on their website (in French) at http://www.ulaval.ca/scccul/site_optimise/introduction.html
Is anyone longing for a trip to Springfield? The IEA, in conjunction with the IFT and other unions, is staging a Higher Education Lobby Day on Wednesday, April 25 in Springfield. A bus is scheduled to leave from the Chicago area early that morning. For more information, contact Diane Davis (our primary staff person with IEA) at BDiane.Davis@ieanea.org or consult the IEA’s webpage on it: http://www.ieanea.org/held2007.aspx
The first weekend of spring break, the Illinois Education Association held its own Representative Assembly in Rosemont. That meeting of about 1200 delegates approved a small dues increase ($1.25 per year for us), which RAFO will absorb as part of the dues increase approved by members last year (i.e. your dues won’t change). It also approved a designated higher education member of the IEA’s Executive Committee, a proposal pushed by the IEA’s Higher Education Council (on which Beverly Stewart and Frank Brooks both serve).
The RAFO office will be staffed on three days a week this spring, beginning on Monday, January 29. The phone number is (312) 341-2394.
Here’s the schedule:
A couple of teaching positions have opened up recently at Roosevelt University. Follow the links below for links to the job descriptions (PDF):
One of the provisions of the settlement, which are confidential, includes an offer to reinstate Giles as an adjunct faculty member at Roosevelt. Giles declined the appointment.
A key development has resulted from the case:
The establishment of an academic freedom oversight committee that will consist of two adjunct faculty members, two full-time faculty members and two university administrators. Although the details of the committee have yet to be outlined, the committee’s charge will be to investigate any academic freedom claims and after reaching a consensus, to make recommendations to the provost. RAFO intends to recommend that this committee meet at least once a year. Although the committee will be in place, it will not limit RAFO’s rights to file a grievance following the provost’s decision.
And, because of the highly successful academic freedom forum that RAFO and the Illinois Education Association hosted, we have decided to make it an annual event to continually focus attention on the on-going need to preserve academic freedom. This settlement ends a yearlong effort to reach an equitable settlement that demonstrates both the university’s commitment to academic freedom and RAFO’s commitment to defend the rights of our members.
For more information, consult our "Academic Freedom Grievance" page.
As part of the contract negotiated between RAFO and Roosevelt University in 2001, Roosevelt's University Senate changed its constitution to allow each of the Colleges (excepting the Chicago College of Performing Arts) to elect an adjunct faculty member as a full voting member of the Senate. In addition, each of those colleges also holds an election for an adjunct faculty member to serve on its College Council. The University conducts nominations and elections for these positions online and the nominations are now open until April 6. RAFO strongly supports this opportunity for adjuncts to be part of the governance of the University and has provided "union business leave" (Article 3, section G) to those adjuncts elected who regularly attend the meetings and report back to RAFO.
Here's some additional information from a recent notice on the University's "broadcast digest":
You may nominate yourself or another member of the Roosevelt University adjunct faculty for the University Senate or College Councils for the 2007-2008 academic year. If your nomination is for someone other than yourself, please ascertain in advance that he/she will be willing to serve for the entire year. Nominations can be submitted online at http://www.roosevelt.edu/adjunct/rafoNominations.htm
Ken Swanson, president of the Illinois Education Association has recently sent an email to IEA members urging them to contact Illinois state senators to urge support for Governor Blagojevich's "Tax Fairness Plan." This bill, also supported by Senate President Emil Jones, is likely to come up for a vote the week of March 26. Here are some excerpts from Swanson's message and links to more information on the IEA's website:
The Tax Fairness Plan would invest 10.5 billion dollars into preschool, elementary, secondary and higher education over four years.
This plan, more than any other, addresses the key needs of public education and it is the only plan that has the support needed to become law.
We have to get behind this plan.
Please, contact your state senator, today and tell him or her they MUST vote for the Tax Fairness Plan. Make it clear that you are a member of IEA and that you expect your senator to support public education by voting for the Tax Fairness Plan.
Attached to this document are links to additional information that also can be found on the IEA Website (www.ieanea.org). Materials include a Q and A about the tax fairness plan and talking points about the plan and how it compares to other plans.
Friends, a great public school is a basic right for every child. Let's give the students and communities of Illinois the future they deserve.
Call your senator today. Let's make history!
Not sure who your state senator is? Go to Project Vote Smart and enter your 9-digit zip code in the box in the upper left of the page and you'll get a listing of all the elected officials representing you. Clicking on your state senator's name will bring up contact and other information.
The I.E.A. has a similar (though not quite as easy-to-use) search box on its legislative page (click on the "View" button next to "My Elected Officials"). They do have more specific information on the officials' education-related positions, however
More information is available on the flyers for this event:
Refreshments, including Irish beer, will be served!
For a PDF version of the flyer, click here.
Roosevelt University is looking for an adjunct faculty member to serve on the Employee Recognition Committee. If you are available and interested, please contact Beverly Stewart at prez@rafo.org.
The ceremony is March 30 from 1:30 to 3:00 and committee members should be available from noon to 3 pm on that particular day. Other than that, the committee meets 2 times for about 2 hours. Generally, the meetings are held at the Chicago Campus.
The National Education Association has recently instituted a campaign for "Professional Pay." This is focused especially on the inequities faced by education support professionals (ESPs) and contingent faculty (us). This is one of the responses to an "action plan" for contingent faculty mandated at the NEA's Representative Assembly in 2004.
The NEA website includes a page on contingent faculty issues with links to some of its online resources for us. Follow this link: http://www.nea.org/pay/contingent.html. More general information about "professional pay" for higher education is at http://www.nea.org/pay/hepay.html.
"This report should be a wake-up call for lawmakers who continue to cut away at financial aid and expect higher education to remain accessible and affordable," Weaver said. "We welcome the Spellings Commission's strong recommendation for an increased commitment to need-based student aid. Yet to give the proposal teeth we need a commitment from lawmakers to provide adequate funding."
The report, "A Test of Leadership: Charting the Future of U.S. Higher Education," is nearly identical to the version approved by the commission last month by a vote of 18-1.
Weaver said some measures in the report, such as simplifying a financial aid form, are bandages for a gaping wound when you consider the financial aid crisis facing many families. From 1990 to 2004, the unmet financial need for families with incomes below $34,000 grew 80 percent while the wealthiest families saw financial aid packages triple. To address this disparity, NEA recommended an unprecedented effort to expand college access by overhauling the financial aid system in favor of substantial increases in need-based aid.
To meet broader higher education goals, NEA called for improving student preparation and providing more high schools with programs on adolescent literacy and dropout prevention, as well as counseling, smaller learning communities and an expansion of AP courses. NEA also cautioned against applying No Child Left Behind's methods to higher education since the law's focus on testing has prompted many school districts to de-emphasize and even eliminate courses in the liberal arts and humanities.
"Meeting these goals requires lawmakers to reshape how they view higher education," said Kathy Sproles, president of the National Council for Higher Education. "The benefits of higher education are much more than bigger paychecks for the graduate or a stronger economy. Higher education is key to promoting an informed citizenry and protecting our democratic society."
You are an integral and growing part of the 2.8 million member Team
NEA. I wanted to give you just a sample of recent NEA activities in
the higher education arena and information about NEA support for your
grassroots efforts. If you have questions, please see NEA's Higher
Education website or contact our higher education program at highered@nea.org.
NEA's Higher Education Site http://news.nea.org/UM/T.asp?A1.38234.21.20.759310
For further information see the Higher Education Section of the NEA
webpage and scroll down.
Press Release http://news.nea.org/UM/T.asp?A1.38234.21.21.759310
Testimony:
Free Exchange http://news.nea.org/UM/T.asp?A1.38234.21.23.759310
For further information see the Higher Education Section of the
NEA webpage, and scroll down.
Higher Education Section http://news.nea.org/UM/T.asp?A1.38234.21.22.759310
For copies of The NEA 2006 Almanac of Higher Education, contact your local union or association president or your UniServ Director. The current Almanac is also posted on the NEA higher education website at. It includes valuable data on salaries and benefits, state funding, collective bargaining, workload, Education Support Professionals, and globalization.
Sign up today and stay informed about new additions and updates to NEA's Higher Education web site.
The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith.F.D.R., March 1, 1945