University Council-AFT Insider November 2014

University Council-AFT Insider
November 6, 2014
 

In this issue: 

·       Unit 18 Bargaining Survey Now Available Online

·       Welcome Us, Support Us, Thank Us—Recommendations for Our Tenure Track Colleagues

·       Do Student Evaluations Really Measure Teaching Effectiveness?

·       UC-AFT in the Library—Agreement Reached on Requests for Points in Librarian Merit Reviews

·       UC-AFT Member Spotlight--Carla Arbagey: Unit 17 Bargaining Team Member, LAUC-R Vice Chair and Recipient of the 2014 CLA Technology New Leader Award

Unit 18 Bargaining Survey Now Available Online
The Unit 18 bargaining team has placed our bargaining survey online. If you haven’t submitted a paper version of the survey, please follow this link to the online version. We will continue to collect the paper version, so please return them to the designated person on your campus. In addition to the survey, members of the bargaining team will be visiting each campus to discuss member priorities for bargaining. 

Welcome Us, Support Us, Thank Us—Recommendations for Our Tenure Track Colleagues
UCB Lecturer, Patrick Iber, recently penned an article for Insider Higher Ed recommending a few ways in which tenured and tenure track faculty can be more supportive of contingent faculty. Iber suggests that TT faculty welcome, support and thank contingent faculty, in addition to supporting contingent faculty unionization.  Critiques like Iber’s are at the heart of UC-AFT’s You See (UC) Democracy?campaign.  Attend your local’s next meeting to find out how you can get involved.

Do Student Evaluations Really Measure Teaching Effectiveness?
The Chair of the UC Berkeley Statistics Department, Philip Stark, has published a critique of the way student evaluation data is used to evaluate faculty at Berkeley.  He argues that the teaching effectiveness rating on student evaluation forms does not measure teaching effectiveness, and that the reliance on average scores is invalid, among other arguments.  The current practice for lecturer reviews is to give overwhelming weight to this data.  Please join our conversation on this topic on our Facebook page. 

UC-AFT in the Library—Agreement Reached on Requests for Points in Librarian Merit Reviews
On Friday October 24, a delegation of Unit 17 bargaining team members met with UCOP contract administrators to discuss the librarian contract and issues that have arisen since the MOU was ratified.  One key outcome is an agreement that librarians under review can now request a specific number of points in their personal statements.  Here’s a brief update from Unit 17 Chief Negotiator, Axel Borg.

UC-AFT Member Spotlight—Carla Arbagey: Unit 17 Bargaining Team Member, LAUC-R Vice Chair and Recipient of the 2014 CLA Technology New Leader Award
Carla Arbagey has spent the better half of her life working in libraries.  Her mom was a librarian, her first job was in a public library, she was a student worker in the library at UCR, and over the last few years she’s worked her way from library assistant, to temporary librarian, to a permanent position as the Electronic Resources Librarian and subject specialist for Classics, Philosophy and Humanities at UCR. As the LAUC-R Vice Chair and Chair elect, and as an active UC-AFT member, Carla is working to bridge the LAUC/union gap at UCR by opening up communication on topics of shared interest.  To learn more about Carla, her recent CLA award, and the wonderful work she is doing within the library and within UC-AFT, please read our Member Spotlight interview.

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The University Council – American Federation of Teachers is an affiliate of the California Federation of Teachers, the American Federation of Teachers and the AFL-CIO.