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Youngstown State University Youngstown, Ohio 44555 |
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Youngstown State University Youngstown, Ohio 44555 |
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February 1, 2006
Note: The next meeting of the Academic
Senate is scheduled for March 1, 2006, at 4:00 p.m. Please submit
agenda items and cover sheets for the October Senate meeting to
Bob Hogue by noon on February 20 at the latest. Provide
both a hard copy and a disk or electronic copy of your report and cover sheet
in Word or rich text format. A downloadable cover sheet is available
at the Academic Senate web site [hit "cancel" if asked for a password]:
Note 2: If you want to read or print the pdf version of these minutes and don’t have Adobe Acrobat Reader, you may download the program at the following link: <http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html>.
To save paper, use the Acrobat Reader menus or toolbar to print the file, not the menus or toolbar in your web browser.
Nominations for Senate Chair and Charter & Bylaws:
Minutes of the Previous Meeting:
Minutes of the December 7, 2005, meeting were approved as distributed. To view the minutes, go to <http://www.www.ysu.edu/acad-senate/mindec05.htm>.
Senate Executive Committee (SEC) / Report from the Chair / Ohio Faculty Council Report: Dr. Shipka reported:
As is my custom, I will consolidate my reports.
The Ohio Faculty Council last met in Columbus in December. There was a small turnout and basically those present reviewed the recent settlement by the faculty union at the University of Akron. The January meeting was cancelled to accommodate our scheduled guest who will meet with the group instead on Friday, February 10. Our guest on the 10th is Mr. Jon Husted, Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives.
I have filed a complaint about a possible conflict of interest of Mr. Hunter Morrison, Director of the YSU Center for Urban and Regional Studies, with the Professional Conduct Committee on campus and the Ohio Ethics Commission in Columbus. When I learned that Mr. Morrison is employed by the Urban Design Center, the group that YSU hired as a consultant for the campus centennial master plan as well as a project involving the Wick Avenue corridor, I asked him for an explanation which he declined to provide. I also learned that in his conflict of interest attestment form he indicated that he had no ties to vendors who do business with YSU.
The Labor-Management Review Panel has submitted its report and that report is available on the Senate web page in case you have not yet seen it. You will remember that I, as Senate chair, requested the creation of this panel by President Sweet to study the problems in labor relations on campus in the wake of the recent strikes and to recommend a course of action to alleviate those problems. The Panel believes that we have put our finger on the problems and their causes and outlined a workable plan to improve the labor climate significantly.
Members of the panel are Provost Herbert as chair, Jim Graham, an alumnus who is president of UAW Local 1112 at Lordstown, Dennis Haines, a university benefactor and labor attorney, John Pogue, an attorney, current university trustee, and chair of the Board of Trustees’ Internal Affairs Committee, Eugenia Atkinson, an alumna, Executive Director of the Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority, and a former university trustee who served for eleven years, Dr. Jim Morrison, professor and chair emeritus in psychology and former Senate chair, and myself.
Our findings and recommendations were reached by consensus with unanimity or near unanimity on all issues. We met face-to-face with forty people over three months and we received written testimony from thirty others. Those with whom we met included trustees, administrators, negotiators for all sides, faculty and staff. Some written submissions were anonymous.
In our report we express a sense of urgency about the labor climate on campus, asking that the corrective actions which the panel recommends be taken quickly. That remains our hope.
Our collective judgment is that labor relations on this campus are bad and getting worse and that the administrators responsible for managing labor relations on this campus need to step aside if there is any realistic hope of reversing the trend. We also recommend that certain key union figures voluntarily step down. At this time there are 34 grievances slated for arbitration originating from the classified staff. Each arbitration costs the university between $7,000 and $10,000 in attorney’s fees, not to mention lost staff time. Thus, the breakdown in labor relations is not only a cause of anger, mistrust, and stress, but it comes with a significant price tag. I have made available to you today a graph which tracks university payments to various law firms in recent years up to last August. The two firms which handle the lion’s share of the university’s labor work are Kastner, Westman & Wilkins, and Manchester Bennett. Right now YSU is a cash cow for lawyers. One recommendation of the panel is to appoint an ombudsperson to work among non-faculty employees and their supervisors to attempt to improve relationships and nip potential grievances in the bud so that we can avoid some of these expenses. This is particularly necessary in Facilities. This institution desperately needs problem-solvers, peace-makers, and diplomats who can understand and implement win-win strategies in labor relations.
One myth about the recent negotiations is that they broke down because the trustees and the administration insisted that all employees be required to pay part of their insurance coverage. The testimony showed that the leadership of both unions expected from the outset that they would not conclude these negotiations without an insurance co-payment provision in their labor agreements. While the unions did object to the university’s overall economic offer, including some concessions demanded by the administration of the faculty, they did not reject the principle of shared insurance costs.
The President and labor leaders will be tempted to piecemeal the Panel’s recommendations, approving the ones they like and ignoring the ones they don’t. The Panel believes that that is a sure prescription for disaster.
The fact that our employees returned to work five months ago but the faculty union and the administration have yet to sign a labor agreement and the classified staff union and the administration signed one only several weeks ago is a sign that the gap between management and labor remains very wide.
One knowledgeable witness, a long-time YSU veteran, said to the Panel: “We are in an intermission during a war.” If people with the authority to take the steps that the Panel recommends fail to do so, that intermission will soon end. The Panel has done its part. The rest is up to the President, the trustees, and campus union leaders.
I will be happy to answer any questions.
[Secretary's Note: The chart of payments to law firms is contained in Attachment 1.]
Charter &
Bylaws Committee: No report.
Elections & Balloting Committee: No report .
Professional Conduct Committee Ron Chordas, representing the Professional Conduct Committee, reported on the work of a Case Investigation Subcommittee that was formed in November 2005. A copy of Dr. Chordas' report is contained in Attachment 2.
Gabriel Palmer-Fernandez: In the Ohio Revised Code, there is language regarding children. Did the committee look further into whether children can be hired? The fact that Hugh Chatman said it didn't apply doesn't mean it doesn't apply. Did the committee question the application of the policy regarding hiring children? The subcommittee might not have done its job.
Ivan Maldonado: Hugh Chatman is not an authority on law. Are you stating that the Board Policy trumps the Ohio Revised Code?
Tom Shipka: The Professional Conduct Committee conducted an investigation of this case and concluded that the hiring of relatives as student workers by a YSU full-time employee is not a violation of university policy because it is not clear that student workers are covered by YSU nepotism and conflict of interest policies. The Professional Conduct Committee recommends that university policy be amended to bring it into compliance with the Ohio Revised Code, particularly the Ethics Law. Those who believe that Ohio law has been violated in this case should file a complaint with the Ohio Ethics Commission. Information about how to do that can be accessed online. But, as I understand it, the Professional Conduct Committee's work in this case is done.
Cynthia Hirtzel: In Engineering, there are some student workers whose parents work at the University. Is that a problem?
Tom Shipka: The hiring of a child of an employee is not a problem unless the parent would be a supervisor of the student employee or unless the parent interceded to get the job for the student employee.
Academic Programs Committee: Sunil Ahuja, Chair of the Academic Programs Committee, reported. A list of approved program changes is contained in Attachment 3. The committee will meet again on February 15.
General Education Committee : Bill Jenkins, Chair of the General Education Committee, reported. A list of newly-approved General Education courses is contained in Attachment 4.
New business: Gabriel Palmer-Fernandez introduced the following resolution endorsing the report of the Labor-Management Review Panel:
RESOLUTION ENDORSING
THE REPORT OF
THE LABOR-MANAGEMENT REVIEW PANELFEBRUARY 1, 2006
WHEREAS, a Labor-Management Review Panel was established in October 2005 to determine the reasons for last year's concurrent strikes by Youngstown State University's two largest employee unions and to make recommendations for improving labor relations on campus and particularly future negotiations; and
WHEREAS, the Panel was comprised of individuals whose integrity and dedication to the University are well known; and
WHEREAS, after a thorough and objective process of fact-finding and interviews, the Panel issued a report on January 12, 2006; and
WHEREAS, the labor-management climate on campus cannot reasonably be expected to improve without the full and immediate implementation of the Panel's recommendations;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Academic Senate of Youngstown State University endorses the Panel's report; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Academic Senate calls for the implementation of the Panel's recommendations completely and without delay, and that this Resolution be immediately distributed to all members of YSU's Student Government Association, the Board of Trustees, and the Ohio Board of Regents.
Dr. Palmer-Fernandez moved the approval of the resolution. Motion was seconded.
Bruce Waller: I support the resolution. It is high time this is acted upon.
Cynthia Hirztel: Should the Chancellor of the Board of Regents also be included in the list of those to whom the resolution will be distributed? Dr. Palmer-Fernandez: Yes, I will accept that as a friendly amendment.
Dr. Hirtzel: My only other comment is that I was somewhat concerned that names were used in the report.
Dr. Palmer-Fernandez: President Sweet is calling for campus-wide consultation as if there are still facts out there that need to be learned. However, at least 6% of the campus employees participated in this process, either by submitting written comments or providing testimony to the panel or both. That's enough to establish a high doctrine of statistical significance.
A vote was then taken on the motion to approve the resolution, as amended. Motion passed unanimously.
[Secretary's Note: The full text of the resolution, as amended, is shown below:]
RESOLUTION ENDORSING
THE REPORT OF
THE LABOR-MANAGEMENT REVIEW PANELFEBRUARY 1, 2006
WHEREAS, a Labor-Management Review Panel was established in October 2005 to determine the reasons for last year's concurrent strikes by Youngstown State University's two largest employee unions and to make recosmmendations for improving labor relations on campus and particularly future negotiations; and
WHEREAS, the Panel was comprised of individuals whose integrity and dedication to the University are well known; and
WHEREAS, after a thorough and objective process of fact-finding and interviews, the Panel issued a report on January 12, 2006; and
WHEREAS, the labor-management climate on campus cannot reasonably be expected to improve without the full and immediate implementation of the Panel's recommendations;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Academic Senate of Youngstown State University endorses the Panel's report; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Academic Senate calls for the implementation of the Panel's recommendations completely and without delay, and that this Resolution be immediately distributed to all members of YSU's Student Government Association, the Board of Trustees, and the Chancellor and members of the Ohio Board of Regents.
Adjournment: The Academic Senate adjourned at 4:30 p.m.
For further information, e-mail Bob Hogue .