UPI @ WIU March 25, 2016March 31, 2016 Save WIU Save Macomb Rally

UPI and AFSCME are sponsoring a non-partisan march and rally on March 31 to highlight the close connections between WIU and Macomb and how the funding crisis is endangering both. The march will begin at 4:30 in Sherman Hall Circle and proceed to Chandler Park where a brief rally will be held at 5:30. Persons representing UPI and AFSCME will deliver brief accounts of how the funding issue is affecting them. Attending the march is a powerful act of solidarity between the university and the town, between labor and management, between the elected and the electorate, between each and all. A well attended march and rally can send a message via both the media and word of mouth to those who are in a position to do something about this unfolding catastrophe that our town, our university, our community, our relationships with one another (divorce and death rates rise under economic stress, friendships are sundered by forced relocation, etc)

are in danger. If you are interested in helping with the march and rally (and this is an easy way to do something to help stop the slide into the abyss), please contact Rebekah Buchanan.

Library Bird Watching viaWebsters

April 1 Rallies in Chicago

. Large demonstrations protesting the governor’s fiscal strangulation of higher education and social services are planned in Chicago on April 01. UPI will be sponsoring a bus (paid for with COPE funds, not dues) to the rallies—and if enough people sign up we will sponsor more than one bus.

The first rally will be at higher education ground zero, Chicago State University, around noon. The second, much larger, rally will be held downtown at the Thompson Center around 4:30. We will travel to the Thompson Center via the Red Line. After the rally,

we will make our way to the bus on foot. UPI will pay for taxis for persons with mobility problems.

The rally at the Thompson Center is being sponsored by an alphabet soup of unions from AFSCME, to CTU, to IEA, SEIU, to UPI who represent educators and social service workers. These events are important because, if successful, they can frame the debate about higher education and social services that will begin on April 4 when the legislature returns to work. Tens of thousands of people protesting the governor’s attack on the middle and working classes (an attack on public higher education is an attack on these classes) can send a strong message to Springfield and the nation.

A bus will leave Macomb around 7:AM from the parking lot in front of the old Hyvee (now WIUM and Head Start), returning around midnight. We appreciate that is a very long day—but a long day now may help prevent a much longer fiscal night later.

Persons interested in getting on the bus, go to http://goo.gl/forms/yPhxhLW2Un and sign up.

1

UPI @ WIU March 25, 2016

Lobbying Training

On March 29th, at 3:30 pm in Malpass 180 UPI will host Maurine Magliocco (former UPI @ WIU president) and Nick Yelverton (lobbyist for UPI and a pension expert) as they give a session on how to lobby politicians. This session was so well received at the recent House of Delegates meeting, that we decided to bring them to campus to repeat it. WIU and UPI need effective lobbying from faculty and staff during this time of fiscal crisis. Lobbying cannot be something the administration or the UPI does on our behalf. Legislators want to talk with, and need to hear from, constituents directly affected by their actions. So if you are interested in lobbying but a bit uncertain as to what it would entail, this session is for you. It would be very useful if we could bring 20 to 25 people to Springfield or to legislators’ district offices to share our stories and ask for our share (and our students’ share) of the budgetary pie chart.

Negotiations Update

The administration and the UPI have begun discussing ways in which the UPI can help the university in this time of fiscal need. UPI has helped in this way twice before: in 2010 and again in 2014. Union members have collectively sacrificed millions of dollars in the process—and we are still sacrificing. The lost salary from 2010 and 2014 will influence fiscal lives till we retire or quit

What does the giveback look like? The following is an in-the-works description. So it

could change. That said. At the moment we are looking at voting on rescinding the 1% raise and also voting (separate ballot) on 3% temporary giveback that will last from July 1, 2016 to June 30 2018—at which time our salaries will return to their current levels. As noted, the two considerations will be voted on using separate ballots. They are not connected to one another, i.e. neither depend on the other.

The 3% two-year giveback is in the form of deferred compensation. Members of the bargaining unit will have an opportunity to be paid back if certain triggering events occur i.e. something signifying a return to some semblance of fiscal normalcy. At that point the deferred compensation is slowly paid back. The slowness is to avoid the university having to make a large balloon payment. We are sacrificing immediate repayment for the good of the institution.

If no triggering event occurs, we don’t get paid back. That’s the risk we are taking with this loan. On the other hand, a straight salary reduction or

2

UPI @ WIU March 25, 2016furlough has no chance at all of getting paid back.

We are still negotiating the nature of the triggering event or events. I am confident that we will identify an event or series of events that will satisfy both parties.

Triggering event and payback or not, salaries return to normal in FY 2019.

The date of the election is tied to getting the details of the proposal finished. Both sides are meeting regularly. We’re hoping for a mid to late April election.

Retirees: Persons who sign irrevocable intent to retire will be excepted from the program. Likewise, persons in the bargaining unit making less than $40,000 will be exempted from the program. Typically, this category would only comprise those who are two years out from retiring. We are trying to figure out a way to capture those who are three years out as well. The norm is two years. Capturing people further out is advantageous both to individual UPI members (who can retire “on time”) and to the university as it gets more high earners off the books sooner rather than

later, which takes pressure off the bottom line. The three year option is still in the “maybe” category.

Furlough Days: Some of our ASP members have voiced a desire to take furlough days instead of deferred compensation days.1 ASPs (and only ASPs) will have the opportunity to do so.

Donating More than 3%. Some members of the bargaining unit have wished with an ardent vociferousness to donate significantly more than 3% in deferred compensation or furlough days. We heard you. The agreement will offer those that can afford more a voluntary way to donate more.

The deferred compensation days and furlough programs will begin in FY 2017, i.e. July 1, 2016.

We are also negotiating non-cash givebacks from the administration. This part of the negotiations is still very much in flux. Things that are being considered: decreasing tutored study, increasing the number of

1 Persons with children have said they would rather go without pay and forgo paying for childcare on that day.

compassionate care days, improving the sick leave bank, creating more flexible vacation caps, providing better notice of non-renewal of contracts for Associate Faculty. If you have ideas for non-cash improvements to the contract, please let us know.

Important Funding Milestone: 2016-2017 MAP Grants Suspense Date ≥ 03/10/2016.

The “suspense date” is the date on and after which Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC), estimates that the coming year’s MAP funds have already been encumbered by students. This date changes year by year according to the estimated amount of MAP money available and the number of FAFSA applications received. This year the Suspense date was March 10, 2016. Students submitting FAFSA after March 10, are likely not to receive MAP.

3

UPI @ WIU March 25, 2016Of course, if the

Rauner--caused MAP funding crisis is not resolved, then WIU and many other public institutions will enter into a guessing game about another, more personal and darker suspense date.

Fronting MAP: Grant or Loan? All public universities fronted MAP money for FY 2916. This was the right and wise thing to do. But how do these schools think about that money? Do they consider it a grant to the student (in the eyes of the law MAP is a grant) or do they consider it a loan to the student in place of MAP? This is not only a question of interest to universities. Sen. Chapin Rose introduced legislation requiring students who leave the state to repay their MAP funding.

Student Protestors at January 25 BOT meeting

But what of the universities? On December 2015, ISAC released an interesting report that demonstrates a diversity of views on the nature of the money fronted for MAP.

ISAC surveyed public and private institutions who get MAP. 6 of the 12 public universities responded. According to the report, “Fifty to 61 percent of respondents from each sector indicated they are undecided as to whether they will require a student to pay any shortfall if MAP funding is ultimately reduced. Thirty-three percent of public university respondents and 31 percent of private institution respondents indicated they will require students to pay any shortfall in MAP

funding, while 50 percent of community college respondents reported they will not require students to pay any shortfall.”

The report goes on to say, “Fifty percent of private institution respondents, 40 percent of public university respondents, and 33 percent of community college respondents indicated that a MAP funding shortfall, resulting in an unpaid balance, will prevent a student from enrolling in a subsequent term, transferring, or graduating at their respective institution.”

It’s troubling that some institutions are so hard up for money that they were (are?) considering penalizing low income students for taking the fronted MAP money. Which institutions were (are) they? Impossible to say. The report does not name any of the institutions; though it is my understanding that WIU views the MAP money it fronted as a grant—again fairly and wisely—and, so, does not expect repayment.

WIU does not expect repayment from students, but we do expect it from the state. For this reason it was doubly tragic that

4

UPI @ WIU March 25, 2016because of the actions of a few the SB 2043 override failed in the House: Low income students were tossed to the curb and so were their institutions and the communities that depend on those institutions.

Higher Education Bills before the Legislature

There are a number of bills before the Illinois General Assembly that deal with higher education. Jeanette Malafa, WIU’s lobbyist in Springfield, named a few of them at the March 11 BOT meeting. None of these are law yet and may never be. That said: SB 2941 allows students to enroll in classes irrespective of being in debt to a community college or university. Currently, if someone owes the university money, she can’t register for classes. SB 3118 is an interesting bill that aims to partially reimburse students for tuition increases. It “requires each public university

located in this State to reimburse its full-time resident undergraduate students a portion of the tuition charged in the form of a grant applied directly to a student's financial aid account. Provides that to determine the per-pupil grant amount, the university shall calculate the difference, if any, between the current fiscal year's aggregate appropriations to the university and the previous fiscal year's aggregate appropriations to the university and divide that amount by the number of students enrolled in the previous academic year. Provides that 50% of this calculation then equals the per-pupil grant amount, to be awarded to currently enrolled students to reduce their tuition costs (unless the current fiscal year's aggregate appropriations to the university are equal to or less than the previous fiscal year's aggregate appropriations). 

“?” you might (I did) say. Essentially, it is a way to discourage institutions from raising tuition in years that they get a raise in appropriations. To see what this might look like we must take a trip back

in time—to FY 2014. If you take the difference between FY 2014 and FY 2013 appropriations (52,755,100 – 51,279,933 = 1,457,167.) Divide that by 9,873 (FY 13 undergrads if that is what is meant by “number of students” 2) = 149.41 Then divide that by 2 = $74.70 partial reimbursement for the 4.9% tuition increase in FY 2014 that was projected in the day some people still call “back in the day” to create $1,200,000 in new operating funds.

Photo from a Possible Dystopian Future: Simpkins Hall post continued

Rauner vetoes

Gov. Rauner and the General Assembly may not agree on much but when it comes to higher education both seem to agree on one thing: They are both deeply suspicious of university and community college administrators. Much of 2 If graduate students are included, then the tuition reimbursement would be $63.00 per student).

5

Airport Marriot at O'Hare

UPI @ WIU March 25, 2016their higher education legislation is aimed at reigning in what they imagine to be bloated regimes of overcompensated administrative fat cats. Compensation (and competence) scandals at the College of DuPage and UIUC have shocked the conscience of the General Assembly (if that is possible) and the governor (ditto). Not all fat cats are equally obese. WIU’s are considerably leaner than most—as we have noted in the past. Even so many faculty and staff feel that WIU’s administrative ranks could be trimmed by combining colleges or eliminating a VP area. UPI members strongly supported doing both in the November survey.

Now, back to the proposed laws: SB 2156 doesn’t allow severance pay (as, for example that given to the former College of Dupage president or which was to be given to the Former Chancellor of the UIUC) to be counted as earnings for pension purposes. If a higher ed executive, say, gets a $400,000 fond farewell from his or her BOT, it will no longer astronomically boost their pension earnings. SB 2157 states that BOTs at community college

must undergo 4 hours of training a year in the niceties of “ open meetings law, community college and labor law, freedom of information law, ethics, sexual violence on campus, financial oversight and accountability, audits, and fiduciary responsibilities…” The law also provides for the dismissal of any BOT member who refuses to do the training. A similar bill (SB 2174) provides for the training of the BOTs of public universities.

SB 2170 is a kind of administrative fiscal iron maiden. It provides “all public universities will submit a cost certification that certifies the level of spending dedicated to administrative costs for the current academic year. Provides that beginning with the 2017-2018 school year, a Board of Trustees of a public university may not enact a budget that contains tuition or fee increases above that of

the tuition and fees set in the 2015-2016 academic year until the Auditor General has verified that the cost certification submitted by the public university and due in the same calendar year of the proposed tuition or fees increase has shown a decrease of administrative costs by 25%.” In other words, unless the administrative cost goes down considerably, tuition and fees cannot go up even minimally. It will be of interest to see if this bill makes it to a vote and what the final admin cost / tuition ratio is.

WIU to Switch to Google Apps for Education

WIU is going to transition from D2L to Google Apps for Education, a platform widely used in K – 12 and which is now being adopted in higher education.

I have already made the switch. I am one of the university’s “Google Guides.” Not surprisingly the new e-mail looks and feels…like G-mail. Your e-mail address does not change. It still reads yourname@wiu.edu. The address is linked to a G-mail account and with it a Google Drive account and

6

UPI @ WIU March 25, 2016entrée to Google Classroom—not activated yet. See image below.

New WIU email

If you are an early adopter, I would suggest subscribing to the Google Guru, a blog which focuses on various uses for the different Google Apps and also explains new or “hidden” functionalities. The Guru uses both short videos and text to explain things. To top things off, it is free.

7