Table of Contents
Board of Education Meeting, 2.14.19
Kenny Ascheri and Robin Geyer both spoke during the Public Comment. See their individual messages here: [Kenny’s Message] [Robin’s Message]
The Board will be asked to make a decision about outsourcing Food Services and the Titan Bookstore at the March 14, Board of Ed Meeting. The college Administration, through Brian Kelly, presented 4 scenarios for balancing the 2019/20 budget. One of those consists of outsourcing both Food Services and the Titan Bookstore. This is the one the Administration is recommending to the Board.
The Budget Development Subcommittee (BDS) are meeting weekly and have also developed a tentative budget for 2019/20 which does not include outsourcing these 2 services. Both the College Administration proposed budget and the BDS proposed budget include tuition increases and reduction to personnel. In both cases the reduction in personnel consists of vacant positions that already exist and/or those vacant positions due to retirements.
At the February meeting Employees from Barnes and Noble gave a presentation and will be presenting to the faculty in the near future. Both LCCEF and LCCEA are against outsourcing of the Titan Bookstore and Food Services. We have presented arguments against these changes at every Board Meeting. LCCEF has also presented your statements to the Board and many employees have used the public speaking time to express their thoughts and ideas.
We believe that some of the Board members are also against outsourcing, but we don’t know if there will be a majority of the Board to vote it down. Please plan to be in attendance at the March 14 Board of Education Meeting, held in the Boardroom, 6:30pm. Show your support, wear your t-shirts and buttons, sign up to speak. It does make a difference!
Early Separation Incentive
Reminder the deadline to accept this Early Separation Incentive is in 10 days, March 1, 2019. This will likely be your last chance to receive this separation incentive. We recommend you consult with a personal financial planner before making your decision.
Insurance Committee
A group of 16 employees, both Classified (10) and Managers (6) has been formed to research Insurance Options. We have met twice, have established 4 topics to research and created 4 subcommittees based on the 4 topics.
Topics include:
- Health Savings Accounts (HSA)
- OEBB
- Section 125
- Impact Options.
The 4 subcommittees will meet separately from the group as often as they believe is necessary and the entire group will meet every 2-3 weeks to report back. Our Insurance is with PacificSource (both Classified and Managers) until Oct 1, 2019. We are trying to be proactive in researching options so members have enough time to digest the information and make informed decisions. Though we did an insurance Request for Proposal (RFP) in 2017, we may be doing that again now to insure we have the most up to date information when assessing options. More as things progress.
Lane’s Governance Review
Lane’s Governance System has been under review for nearly a year. A taskforce was created by President Hamilton to assist in the process. The taskforce included 29 employees from all 3 groups. Four working groups were formed from the members of the task force in the following areas:
- Data Synthesizing and Evaluation
- Principles and Evaluation Criteria
- Framing Questions
- Models and Best Practices
Now the Governance Subcommittee (GSC) of College Council are meeting to assess the information from the work groups, a governance survey from 2014, Council IEC Reports, Minutes from 3 forums and Fall and Spring Inservice activities, BP 325 Council Self-evaluation, and the Operation and Governance Manuals. Our goal is to create recommendations to College Council and ultimately President Hamilton. Currently we are considering 3 models
a) Incremental improvements
b) substantial improvements to the current system
c) throw it out and design entirely new.
The Governance Subcommittee consists of 2 classified (Robin Geyer and Kyle Schmidt), 2 faculty ( Jessica Alvarado and Adrienne Mitchell) and 1 manager (Paul Jarrell). For more information visit the governance blog site.
Constitution Committee Update
Reminder to submit your ballot by this Wednesday, February 20, 1:00pm. This vote is to amend the Constitution and Bylaws (CBL’s) so that the Constitution Committee can prepare a thorough rewrite of the Constitution and Bylaws and then submit that rewrite to members for approval with another vote. Currently the CBL’s state we can amend but do not specifically state we can rewrite the CBL’s. Our CBL’s were originally written 47 years ago.
Classification and Compensation Study
The C&C Team are meeting on approximately a bi-weekly schedule. We are currently working on the material for the Classification Workshops we plan to make available to classified employees to explain the point factor system, among other things.
Once we have the workshop material ready, we will release the list of jobs and subsequent point factors. This list is generated from those who submitted a PAQ so, if you did not submit a PAQ, your job will not be on the list. The team will meet again on February 25th, 2019 to review the draft material in preparation to release the list and the the workshop dates/times.
Step 2 is the appeal process for those who believe they were placed incorrectly on the point factor. When the appeal process is complete the consultant at LGPI will go out to market to determine pay scale of comparable jobs in the market.
Lisa Fragala for LCC Board of Education
LCCEF proudly endorses Lisa Fragala for Lane Community College Board of Education. Lisa is a 2nd grade teacher in Eugene, an active member in multiple labor union organizations including our local labor chapter and the OEA Board Director for District 5. Lisa continues to bring her passion for social justice, a local workforce, and love for Lane’s community to each position she holds.
Lisa was a student at Lane years ago and has great memories of her time here. She told the local labor chapter that she remembers our college as an unforgettable part of her higher education experience and recognizes the significant impact LCC has for other students’ lives and the community as a whole.
Please read more about Lisa on her campaign page here. Also like and share her Facebook page Lisa Fragala for Lane Community College Board.
Results of the Workload Survey
Thank you to everyone who completed this survey! The results will help your Union Leaders advocate for specific needs.
Forty-four (44) Employees from thirty (30) departments participated in the Workload Survey. Many departments lost FTE in the last 5 years and much of the work has been push onto the remaining staff, including part-time/hourly/student workers. Sometimes, work is left undone. 70% of the participants feel there is not enough staff to serve students and hiring more full time employees was the most popular suggestion.
See the full summary here.
Bargaining – Economic Re-opener
The college submitted their demand to bargain. Our first meeting is this Friday, February 22. At this meeting we will establish meeting guidelines and dates for recurring meetings.
This is an economic re-opener and is expected to cover the next 2 years. Wages and insurance will be the biggest part of bargaining. Our insurance contract expires October 1, 2019. In addition to economics we plan to bargain the impact of the Janus decision and fixing the language in our contract that refers to fair share employees. We have 4 subcommittees formed to research, and provide information and insights for the negotiations team at the table. Those subcommittees are:
- Communications
- Insurance
- Surveys
- Contract Language (Janus Impact)
If you are interested in serving on the Bargaining Team or Bargaining Committee please reach out to us via our Interest Form.
Upcoming and Current Work.
Many hands make light work! We could REALLY use your help! To participate in any of these opportunities, or to find out more, click here.
- Bargaining in Spring 2019
- The Constitution and ByLaws rewrite
- LCCEF Contract Committee (educate members and managers)
- Member Organizer Institute
- Officers in Training
- Worksite Leaders
- Grievance council
Our union by the numbers
- Membership: 345 full members
- Officers: 8 officer positions filled / 3 positions vacant (1 COPE Chair, 2 Member at Large)
- Labor Management: 17 active cases including 3 multiple member/group issues, 88 resolved since Jan 1, 2018, helped place 17 members in new positions.
Fitness & Happiness
Wendy Simmons, Lane’s Wellness Program Director, has agreed to allow the LCCEF to include her Happiness messages in our weekly updates. Thank you Wendy!
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This week we’ll focus on self-compassion and optimism, as the two go quite well together. When we show self-compassion we improve our mental well being, we are happier and more likely to be satisfied with life.
Self-compassion involves:
Self-kindness: being warm and understanding towards ourselves when we feel inadequate.
and
Common Humanity: recognizing that suffering and feelings of inadequacy are part of the shared human experience—something we all must go through.
Try one of the following three challenges this week:
Challenge #1 – Are you treating yourself as you would treat a friend?
Watch the 19 minute TED talk below and then write a response about how you can use the information to be more compassionate with yourself about something you are trying to work on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvtZBUSplr4
Challenge #2: Negative Thoughts
Challenge three automatic negative thoughts this week. Our beliefs about the causes and impact of events are often based on inaccurate thinking patterns. Luckily, there are some ways to challenge our initial beliefs about a situation.
Ask yourself these types of questions and see how it changes your attitude (it may help to write your answers down).
Personalization: Who caused the problem? Who is actually responsible? Me? Not me? What is true in this case? What evidence do I have to support my belief? What aspects of the situation can be controlled? What parts of the situation can I actually do something about? These types of questions encourage you to use the influence you have, which enhances your belief in your ability to get through challenging situations.
Permanence: How long will this problem last? Is this stress going to last forever? Can I see an end to this stress?
Pervasiveness: How much of my life will this problem affect? What areas of my life won’t be affected?
Challenge #3 Focus on your Strengths
The more you can practice focusing on your strengths and not dwelling on mistakes you’ve made, the easier it will be to feel positive about yourself and the direction your life is taking.
If you find yourself thinking harsh thoughts about your personality or actions, take a moment to stop and think about something you like about yourself. Try this a few times throughout the week.
If you get a chance, I love hearing about your experiences and stories, but if you don’t have time, I don’t want to add to your stress, so you don’t need to respond.
Have a great week of being kind to yourself,
Wendy
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