"People say, what is the sense our small
effort. They cannot see that we must
lay one brick at a time.”
-Dorothy Day
From the EA President
October has been a month of “new” developments for faculty at MCC, most notably the appearance of our new Vice President for Academic Affairs, as well as a new Contract. On behalf of the EA, I wish to welcome Dr. Amy Fugate to MCC. MCCEA Vice President Gail Knapp and I had the pleasure of serving on the search committee that recommended Dr. Fugate, and I have already had the opportunity to work with her in several meetings. We look forward to working with her and wish her a smooth transition into her new role.
MCCEA members joined the Bargaining Team and the Board of Directors in emphatically supporting the 2006-2009 Faculty Master Contract reached on September 25, 2006. The official election results were:
188 YES 91%
19 NO 9%
The MCC Board of Trustees also approved the settlement, which means that we now have a working Collective Bargaining Agreement for the next 3 years. During the October 23, 2006 Board meeting of the MCC Board, I addressed the Board regarding three outstanding concerns or “footnotes” to the new contract. Given the high percentage of yes votes, I wanted to make these issues part of the record of our ratification process. For that same reason, I reprint these points here in the pages of the Forward.
1) “Fair Share”
During the past couple of years, administrators made the claim that faculty had not done its “fair share” in addressing the fiscal concerns facing Mott Community College. We have consistently been on record that this is false. I believe that after the implementation of this contract, even those administrators will agree that faculty have done more than their fair share here at MCC.
- Faculty were the only employee group to return a previously-negotiated raise to help address fiscal concerns (we did this in 2004).
- Faculty are the only employee group to address the rising ORP obligation of the college; we did this twice (2004 & 2006).
- Faculty are the only employee group to make fundamental changes to contractually-negotiated health care benefits by adding a PPO plan.
- During the one time that faculty were included in the so-called “fair share rebate,” our Board of Directors elected to make a $64,000 contribution to the Foundation to create a Textbook Crisis Fund for MCC students.
Faculty have shown true leadership in working for the fiscal health of MCC, and this contract should put an exclamation point on the end of that sentence.
2) ORP/Health Insurance
This contract contains major changes to Optional Retirement Plan (ORP) contributions and health insurance. The impacted members were obviously not happy about this, but again our election results show how well MCC faculty measures their individual interests with the collective interests of the College and the people it serves.
A serious concern about ORP participants remains. A small class of MCC employees—not all of them faculty members—were given erroneous advice about their choice of a retirement plan when they were hired. The choice of retirement plan is irrevocable, and many of our members in the ORP program made the decision with erroneous information about the availability of health insurance coverage in the state pension plan. To date, the College has been unresponsive to the concerns of this small group of impacted employees.
It is positive that we were able to negotiate the creation of a post-retirement group health insurance plan paid for by the retiree. This is a step in the right direction. But I continue to think that the college has an obligation to these employees in light of the erroneous information that was provided to them.
3) Counseling
Finally, this contract impacts our 7 full-time counselors in a very specific way, eliminating a definition of their 35-hour work load that has been used by that department since 1971. During the negotiations, it was clear that
the administration either does not understand or wishes to blur the lines between counseling and advising. Advising is the process of helping students make educationally-sound decisions about course selection, program requirements, and career paths. Counseling is a broader interpersonal helping relationship that involves a professional helping a student with thoughts, feelings, and actions for the purpose of enhancing their life.
The administration has, at various times, stated that MCC should no longer provide counseling services to its students. We could not disagree more. Our student population includes many of the most vulnerable members of our community. This is not by chance, but by design. We set out to serve those who need us most. It was also stated during bargaining that MCC will not hire a single new counselor under the current contract. We also disagree with this pronouncement and call upon the administration to begin by replacing the recent vacancy in Counseling & Student Development.
- Steve Robinson
From the Ed-Pac Chair
Remember the MEA Endorsed Candidates on November 7th!
When you go to vote this year, don’t forget the MEA candidates who support education in Michigan. The MEA endorsed candidates are:
Governor: Jennifer Granholm(D)
Attorney General: Amos Williams (D)
Secretary of State: Carmella Sabaugh(D)
Michigan Supreme Court: Justice Michael Cavanaugh & Jane Beckering
State Board of Education: Reginald Turner (D) & Casandra Ulbrich (D):
MSU Board of Trustees: Faylene Owen (D) and Dave Porteous (D)
U of M Board of Regents: Kathy White (D) and Julia Darlow (D)
Wayne State Board : Eugene Dricker (D) and Debbie Dingell (D)
Genesee County Candidates
State Senate 23 rd District: John Gleason (D)
State Senate 26 th District: Deborah Cherry (D)
State House 34 th District: Brenda Clack (D)
State House 48 th District: Richard Hammel (D)
State House 49 th District: Lee Gonzales (D)
State House 50 th District: Ted Hammon (D)
State House 51 st District: Fred Starzyk (D)
The MEA also recommends a NO vote on Proposal 2 and a YES vote on Proposal 5.
Don’t forget to cast your vote for education in Michigan on Tuesday, November 7 th. The polls are open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.
-Paul Rozycki
Steve Schmidt given Hall of Fame Honor
MCC basketball coach Steve Schmidt was recently inducted into the Greater Flint Area Sports Hall of Fame. For his great success with the MCC team, both as athletes and students the honor is well deserved.
Forward Focus: Robert Dudock
As a regular feature the Forward introduces our new full-time faculty with their answers to ten questions about themselves. Robert Dudock has joined our faculty this semester.
1. Name and position at MCC...
Robert Dudock, Biology Instructor
2. Educational/occupational background...
Mott Community College – A.A., A.S.; Michigan State University – B.S.; Wayne State University – M.S. / Worked as a part-time instructor at WSU, LCC and MCC teaching various biology courses.
3. I came to MCC because........
As a former student, I knew MCC was an excellent place to be a college student. Now, having taught at a few different institutions, I felt there was no place better to make a positive impact on the lives of new students, young and old.
4. I teach what I do because........
I love biology of all types. To me, there is little that could be more fascinating than the way living things act and react both with each other and the rest of the environment.
5. What I like most about being at MCC is .............
I like the rich history of Mott, both the college and the foundation that supports it. Further, it’s always interesting to meet the individuals that make up the varied student base.
6. The thing that bothers me most about MCC is .....................
Like all smaller institutions of learning, especially community colleges, there is often an undeserved stigma that they do not measure up to larger institutions when it comes to quality of education. This is truly unfortunate since many of the best instructors I’ve ever had as a student were here at MCC.
7. The most important or significant book I have ever read is ….
Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond
8. One person I admire is ...................
My wife, Lorraine. I’ve learned more than I thought possible in the years I’ve known her and yet each day, I realize there is still so much left to learn. Without her, I would not be half the person I am today.
9. To get away from the classroom I enjoy ……
My family & friends, volleyball, playing cards, reading, writing, traveling, tennis, playing music.
10. My proudest accomplishment is ……..
I’m not sure as I’m proud of many things in my life, but I hope to accomplish more. Ask me again when I retire.
Vol. 38 No. 2; A publication of the Mott Community College Education Association. Edited by Paul Rozycki, with the assistance of MCC faculty members. Editorials express the opinions of the writers and do not necessarily reflect opinions of all members of the MCCEA or its Board of Directors. Send information for the Forward to Paul Rozycki, MMB 2000, or call 20514