Mission College Faculty Guild

 March 26th  Meeting Highlights

• Joanne Waddell, Aft 1521 Guild President, urged faculty to attend the  April 19, 2013 Guild Benefits & Retirement Conference at Trade Tech: register at www.AFT1521.org

 Retirement may seem far away, but attending these events may be one of the best moves you will ever make.

•  Chapter President update: We viewed the initial part of the Accreditation team report, in which Dr. Rota recognized the value of the collective efforts of the Union Leadership Summit, especially in terms of the Collegiality Pledge. Dr. Rota emphasized the importance of making our actions match our words or “walking the walk.” To listen to Dr. Rota’s speech go to:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLA6AJvpIXY    (8.04 begins discussion of pledge)
•  As a symbolic gesture of goodwill, olive branches were presented to Senate, ASO, & Administration leaders who were present at the meeting. Why an olive branch? It was given not simply as a sign of peace, but as a sign of resilience, strength, light,              knowledge and life. 

Other Important News:

• In addition to our efforts to create a harassment free workplace, we continue to work hard at making sure that the contract and your rights are observed.
• Spring 2013 Seniority Lists – are now posted athttp://www.lamission.edu/instruction/senioritylists.aspx  Note: there is a 20 working day statute of limitations for contesting the lists.

          This 2012 – 2013 year we have successfully made seniority lists publicly available via posting to all faculty for the first time!

• Department adjunct representative elections are currently taking place for:Chicano Studies, Professional Studies, Foreign Languages, Library, Life Sciences, ESL, Dev. Comm.& Learning Skills. If you are a ranked adjunct in one of these departments, check your LAMC email for election details. Consider running for office.
• Department Chair elections for Chicano Studies, Foreign Languages and Professional Studies are currently scheduled for May 1, 2013 If you are a full time faculty member or a department representative in one of these departments check your mail for details.

           We are a good month ahead of when elections were held a year ago!

• Intersession Priority Lists will be posted early next week. I will send you more details on this early next week. Very few sections which will be offered this summer session.  Ask your chairs for details.

             We are finally on target with our intersession priority lists, which should have been published in fall of 2011!

• Fall 2013 offers: if you have not yet received an offer for fall 2013, you should contact your chair.

• Health Benefits: If you have health benefits, CALSTRS will be contacting you and asking you for verification of the eligibility of your dependents. This request is independent of requests from the LACCD of the same nature.

           If you have dependents who are no longer eligible, you must remove them from your account by the end of June to avoid penalties.

           Keep an eye out for correspondence from CALSTRS.

• Announcements:

              MERF application due date April 30, 2013 see AFT1521.org website

           Scholarship due date: April 19: see AFT1521.org website

         If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me. I try to answer all inquiries within 48 hours.

• View the Nov. 27th, 2012 Guild Meeting at:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7h03d3uli5E
• View the Dec. 4th, 2012 All Union Collegiality Pledge meeting at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1S0iSMV2U5w    (correction; Louise Barbato LAMC AFT Guild President)

The Collegiality Pledge reads:

Collectively, we as union members are making a commitment and pledge to move toward a more collegial and

productive campus climate at Los Angeles Mission College.

We Pledge

 • to keep an open mind and put pre judgments aside when communicating with others;

 • to be mindful of our own actions and statements and the effect these have on others;
 • to resolve differences in a respectful manner, through open dialogue;
 • to speak out when witnessing bullying and to let it be known that this type of behavior is not tolerated;
 • to refrain from sending harassing, intimidating and/or threatening messages through electronic mail or other means as stated in the district E-76 regulation; and
 • to follow respectful email etiquette and to say “no” to group emails that harbor vicious attacks on colleagues by replying, “No, this is unacceptable.”

 We request that
• any reports of workplace bullying be treated seriously and investigated promptly, confidentially and impartially;
• all employees be encouraged to report workplace bullying, and any employee who make a complaint or witnesses a situation of bullying is not victimized;
• a formal conflict resolution group be established on campus, and that it be made up of union representation and administrators who will process complaints of bullying. Members of this group are to be formally trained in conflict resolution                     
• support be given by administration to spread the message of collegiality and anti-bullyism contained in this pledge.

Finally, we request that all members of the Mission College family be held accountable for bullish behavior.

This pledge is in support of the California Education Code, LACCD Board Rules, all union contracts and all college processes which are presently in place .