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NEVADA FACULTY ALLIANCE


ESTABLISHED 1983


NFA News & Opinion

  • 26 Sep 2016 3:44 PM | Deleted user

    The NFA northern PAC has endorsed the following:


    Assembly:

    District 24: Amber Joiner

    District 25: Jill Tolles

    District 27: Teresa Benitez Thompson

    District 30: Mike Sprinkle

    District 31: Skip Daly


    Senate:

    District 13: Julia Ratti

    District 15: No endorsement was made in this race. Both candidates have very good, but different, credentials to serve in the Nevada Senate.


    Regents:

    District 8: Cathy McAdoo

    District 9: Sara LaFrance

    District 11: Jason Geddes


  • 20 Sep 2016 11:16 AM | Deleted user

    Dear NFA-UNLV Chapter Members,


    Welcome back for the fall 2016 semester! During the summer we held elections and I am pleased to announce our slate of new chapter officers:
    Sandra Owens, President https://www.unlv.edu/people/sandra-owens;
    Al Izzolo, Vice President https://www.unlv.edu/people/al-izzolo;
    Barbara Luke, Treasurer https://www.unlv.edu/people/barbara-luke;
    and Nate Bynum, Secretary https://www.unlv.edu/people/nate-bynum.

    We are all long time members of the chapter and we are honored and eager to serve you. We are inviting all members and potential members to our first chapter meeting of the semester. The meeting will be held at noon on Friday, September 23, 2016 in the Greenspun College of Urban Affairs Dean’s Conference Room, 5th floor. Come to the meeting to discuss our/your plans for the chapter, and to enjoy a lunch that will be catered by Stefano’s Greek and Mediterranean Cuisine.


    This year our UNLV chapter and NV state activities will continue to be focused on advancing the academic freedom, shared governance and financial security of full-time and part-time faculty and academic staff through advocacy, organizing, and nurturing strong alliances http://www.nevadafacultyalliance.org.

    NFA-UNLV has a membership seat on the UNLV President’s Advisory Council (PAC) http://www.unlv.edu/president/advisory-council and we will continue to be active participants in the PAC discussions and decisions of the UNLV President and his cabinet members. At our membership meeting we will discuss items that members what me to bring to the next PAC meeting. In August the NFA state board met in Reno and among other items we accepted the endorsement recommendations from the members of our Southern and Northern Political Action Committees. Come to the meeting to learn the details of the endorsed races and the various amounts of money we have thus far donated to individual candidates. We will also have a couple of as yet unendorsed candidates attend the meeting.


    As your new NFA - UNLV chapter president I am committed to improving the employment experiences of our faculty via confidential consultations, supportive advocacy, and policy change. And I invite you to contact me in confidence regarding any matter that may be of concern to you or your colleagues. We want to hear about the problems, solutions, questions, and successes related to your working conditions as UNLV faculty, academic professionals and graduate students. Thank you in advance for your time and energy to be focused our NFA activities in the coming year.


    In Solidarity,

    Sandra Owens, NFA - UNLV President Sandra.owens@unlv.edu (702) 612-6371
    David Steel, NFA Nevada Executive Director (Dsteel@Nevadafacultyalliance.org) Steven Cohen, NFA - UNLV Part-time Organizer (CohenS3@Unlv.nevada.edu)

  • 19 Sep 2016 4:29 PM | Deleted user

    Candidates were informed that they could make a short statement that would be available to voters. The following are the statements that were received, by alphabetical order of last name:

    John Aliano

    My name is John Aliano, Program Director for Videography & Film. I have worked at CSN for six years and feel I can be an asset to the bargaining team and NFA. As we move forward with collective bargaining it is important to advocate for many interests represented by a variety of classifications within the CSN community. I have been an active participant in numerous meetings thus far and will continue to support the best interests of our hard working faculty.

    Regards,
    John



    Jerry Hodges

    My name is Professor Jerry Hodges and I have been at CSN for some 23 years. I have been very involved in college service over these many years and have been a strong advocate for faculty over my tenure at CSN. If elected as a member of the bargaining team, I will continue to be a strong advocate for faculty in the collective bargaining process.



    Aminul KM

    I believe in shared governance. We can make Collective Bargaining a part of shared governance in this beautiful institution of CSN. I will work with the administration on our behalf to make sure that we have proper health and salary benefits. Even though CSN is the one of the biggest community colleges in the U.S, our benefits are less than our peers. Our salaries are below national median, and our health benefits are even worse. How could one of the biggest community colleges in the country doesn’t even fall in the top 500 in salaries and benefits? With inadequate compensation and poor benefits, we are having trouble recruiting the best teachers and retaining scores of our excellent colleagues. A strong CB team can improve our salaries, benefits, and overall environment, and make CSN one of the premier institutions in the nation.

    Aminul KM

    Mathematics


    Joseph Miller

    I believe that the collective bargaining team will play a critical part in the future of CSN, and members of the team should have broad background in terms of the experiences at CSN. A short summary of my experiences is below:

            • Over the years I’ve been a part-time instructor, emergency hire instructor, tenured track, and tenured faculty. I started in 1999 as a part-time instructor.

            • At times in addition to teaching I’ve served as a Program Director and Department Chair.   In both of those positions I strongly advocated for the interests of the Program faculty or Department faculty when in those positions.

           • I’ve served in the Faculty Senate for close to 10 years.



    Jennifer Nelson

    Collective bargaining at CSN gives academic faculty, counsellors, and librarians new status in the shared governance of this college. Through our representatives at the bargaining table, we are made equal parties with our administrators in the processes of contract negotiation. The training for negotiation I have completed over the last two months has by no means made me a perfect candidate for your bargaining team. What I offer is professionalism and over 15 years' experience with faculty issues at CSN, seen from the perspectives of the classroom as a tenured professor, the Faculty Senate  as an Arts & Letters representative, and NFA leadership (currently, as chapter VP and state board Treasurer). If elected as a negotiator, I will work tirelessly to support the negotiating team's efforts to bring the best possible contract to you for ratification. Thank you in advance for your vote.


    Jennifer S. Nelson, Ph.D



    T. Raghu

    NFA Colleagues,
    I have been a professor of philosophy in the department of social sciences at CSN, West Charleston campus, for twelve years. I currently serve at CSN in the Workload & Evaluation Committee, the Strategic Futures Task force appointed by President Richards, and the departmental program review committee. I strongly supported the NFA in its attempt to win the Collective Bargaining election. I have attended the CAPE session on "Faculty Rights and Processes under Collective Bargaining" and, of course, the NFA Collective Bargaining training session. I am strongly committed to achieving expertise in all relevant policies and procedures impacting faculty rights and interests. Ensuring a healthy, supportive, and productive work climate for faculty at CSN is one of my top priorities. Another priority is inclusion, without which diversity is a charade. If elected to your bargaining team, I will work to the best of my ability to alleviate and eliminate work climate factors at CSN which undermine faculty rights, interests, morale, and meaningful participation.
    I look forward to your valuable support in this election. If you have any questions, pl. do not hesitate to contact me by e-mail or by phone.
    Best,
    Thill Raghu


    Steve Soltz

    Dear fellow NFA members,


    I am running for a position on the bargaining team, which will be negotiating your contract terms with CSN. I have been involved with the effort to gain collective bargaining rights since it began. I was never a union man. But the circumstances that have come about regarding our pay and benefits over the last eight (8) years have made it such that I saw no other way to make change, other than collective bargaining. I can assure you that if I am chosen as a member I will do my part to see that the faculty are given the best contract that can be done, under the constraints of Nevada and NSHE law.


    Respectfully,

    Steve Soltz


    Ingrid Stewart

    Dear Colleagues

    The other day I overheard a conversation between my friends Ray and Steve. Ray asked what Steve’s son is doing for a living. Steve said, “Well, he wanted to be a teacher, but I talked him out of that. Teachers don’t make any money. Now he works in marketing and makes over half a mil a year.”

    I felt degraded! After all, isn’t it the teachers who educated this marketing manager as well as the doctors and lawyers and such? Therefore, shouldn’t teachers at least earn a salary they can be proud of and that the public respects?

    I would like to be a part of the NFA negotiation team to try to bring back some pride in being a teacher. I understand that I must be professional in my dealings with the administration, be respectful, and have integrity.

    Now, the other side might say that teaching is a labor of love and teachers shouldn’t bankrupt the system. But if the Clark County Commissioners don’t worry about that when they sent a $750 mil request for public funds to the Governor to build a Raider’s Stadium, I won’t even worry about our much humbler requests. According to Channel 8, about 65% of publicly funded stadiums are no longer used after some period of time whereas our profession keeps on giving.

    Sincerely,

    Ingrid Stewart, Ph.D.



    David Wangsgard

    My name is David Wangsgard, and I would like to serve on the collective bargaining team. I currently serve on the NFA executive board as the chair of Membership and Organizing. For the past two years, I have been deeply involved in our efforts to achieve collective bargaining at CSN. I would like to see these efforts through to the successful negotiation of a robust contract for CSN faculty.


    In solidarity,

    David Wangsgard


    Glynda White

    Dear Faculty,

    I ask for your vote to become a member of the CSN/NFA-AAUP Bargaining Team. See below a few pertinent facts, my qualifications and reasons for seeking this position.

    I am a professor and lead faculty of Business and Employment/Labor Law in the Department of Business Administration. I have been at CSN for over twenty years. My many years of teaching at CSN have allowed me to serve on many college committees, interact with faculty in interdisciplinary areas and, afforded me the opportunity develop new courses for the department.

    In 1998 I developed the Employment Law course which includes a component of Labor Law with collective bargaining. The class introduces to students this area of workplace law as they prepare to enter the business environment. I am currently teaching this class.

    I hold the Juris Doctor degree and, a trained lawyer. My work experience includes working in law offices in different states, EEOC, Nevada Equal Rights Commission (NERC) and the US Department of Commerce, specifically Economic Development of Administration (EDA).

    I am seeking to become a member of the bargaining team because I believe in Academic Collective Bargaining. I have good skills in persuasion and advocacy for the best interest of the unit. It is my position that an effective labor-management plan provides a positive and productive workplace climate for all parties. Academic Collective Bargaining is a method to bring about equality, genuine shared decision making and improved conflict resolution.

    I know how to bargain in good faith and I am a strong advocate. And I want to represent you!


    Thank you for your vote!


  • 15 Sep 2016 10:45 AM | Deleted user

    The NFA southern PAC has been active this election cycle, interviewing and endorsing candidates.

    PAC members have questioned candidates on issues relating to higher education, from funding, including faculty pay, to the potential restructuring of NSHE. So far, SPAC endorsed candidates, all of whom have spoken face-to-face with PAC members, include: 


    Senate:

    Joyce Woodhouse

    Nicole Cannizzaro

    Alexander Marks

    Aaron Ford

    Tick Segerblom


    Assembly:

    Ozzie Fumo

    Elliot Anderson

    Nelson Araujo

    Tyrone Thompson

    Steve Yeager

    Lesley Cohen

    Shannon Bilbray-Axelrod

    John Piro

    Jason Frierson

    Ellen Spiegel

    Chris Brooks

    William McCurdy II


    The NFA northern PAC has also been active. We will be releasing a full list of endorsements prior to the election.

  • 18 Aug 2016 4:59 PM | Deleted user

    Cross-posted from NFA-UNLV blog:

    http://nfaunlv.blogspot.com/2016/08/nfa-unlv-table-at-new-faculty.html

  • 17 Aug 2016 5:28 PM | Deleted user

    The Nevada State College NFA Chapter has launched a new chapter website. It can be found at: http://www.nfa-nsc.org/

  • 11 Jul 2016 10:46 AM | Deleted user

    The results of the bylaws election are in, and the revisions have passed with 93% voting "yes." Thanks to all who took the time to look over the changes and vote on this matter.

  • 22 Jun 2016 6:34 PM | Deleted user
    The NFA State Board has initiated a full membership election to ratify changes to the NFA bylaws. These changes were approved unanimously by the NFA State Board at the Spring 2016 meeting.

    The election will be held shortly. A two thirds majority "yes" vote will be required to enact the changes. On behalf of the State Board, I encourage everyone to vote.

    Changes and explanation:

    Article V.F.2, Quorum: Currently, a requirement for a quorum is one board member from the universities, one from the community colleges, and one from the state college. This has proved problematic because there is only one state college, meaning that the absence of one individual could prevent a quorum. The proposed amendment is to change this requirement to one board member from a northern institution and one from a southern institution.

    Article V.B, Composition of the Board: The proposed amendment moves legal defense coordinator, legal defense evaluator, and past president from voting to non-voting members of the State Board. This was felt appropriate because none of these positions derive from a current election. They are preserved as non-voting members of the Board because they can offer valuable insight and continuity of experience.

    Article V.D, Vacancies: The proposed amendment clarifies that vacancy in the Chapter President position is to be filled by the chapter itself, and not the State Board. This is current practice but the wording in the bylaws was unclear. It also clarifies that vacancies in the State Executive Board are to be filled by the Executive Board itself, also current practice.

    VII.D, VII.F, VII.G, Committees: These are various tweaks to committee composition, intended to make the committees more functional.

    You can view the full text of the bylaws, with the proposed additions in red and deletions struck through, by clicking the following:

    NFA Bylaws with Proposed Revision 6 19 2016.doc


  • 08 Jun 2016 3:00 PM | Deleted user

    After the last legislative session, NFA applauded the compensation increases that were given for faculty, while stressing the need for full funding of merit, as had been our position during the session. We argued that if the state did not fund merit, the system or the institutions should.

    The following was NFA testimony to the Regents, delivered by NFA President Jim Strange shortly after the end of the legislative session. We continue to adhere to this position and fight for merit.

    Statement:

    The Nevada Faculty Alliance urges the NSHE Board of Regents, Chancellor Klaich and the Institution presidents to fund a 2.5% merit increase for NSHE professional staff for each year of the coming biennium. Awarding of merit should proceed according to policies approved at each institution. Awarding of meritshould under no circumstances be detrimental to existing professional positions.

    • Since 2008, NSHE professional staff have endured reduced salaries due to reductions to base pay, furloughs, and a lack of merit pay funding or COLA, while experiencing higher workload.

    • All NSHE employees should be treated equally in terms of merit funding. Nevada classified employees received a merit (step) increase of 2.5% in each year of the coming biennium, whereas NSHE professionals received no merit increase. Awarding merit unequally to NSHE employees will not be beneficial to morale, and could negatively impact our service to students and communities.

    • As Nevada recovers economically, it’s only fair for NSHE professionals be recognized and compensated for their sacrifices during the recession.

    • Nevada is losing its regional competitiveness in its ability to attract and retain high quality professional staff. This has left NSHE institutions at risk of not achieving the levels of student success, transformational research, commercialization of technologies and workforce development which are crucial to Nevada’s economic future.

    • Community college faculty have recently moved from the traditional step system for salaries, and revised evaluation systems to accommodate a true merit-based salary system. Failing to award merit in the first year of full implementation of the new true merit system would be detrimental to morale and call into question the validity of the new system.  

  • 18 Apr 2016 2:39 PM | Deleted user

    In an election held in late March and early April, full-time faculty at College of Southern Nevada voted for collective bargaining, 263-126. On April 15th, the American Arbitration Association counted the votes and certified the result.

    "We are very proud and excited that our colleagues at the College of Southern Nevada have chosen to stand together and form a union with AAUP. We look forward to working with them to ensure faculty has a strong voice on campus," commented Howard Bunsis, Chair of the AAUP Collective Bargaining Congress.

    "We look forward to sitting down at the table with the administration in the fall to discuss faculty working conditions and student learning conditions," said David Steel, NFA-AAUP Executive Director.

Contact Us:

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