Phone: (814) 227-2420 www.apscuf.org February 2022 Executive Committee: President – Joyce Overly; Vice President – Mark Kilwein; Secretary – Christopher McCarrick; Treasurer – Xiaofeng Li; Delegates –Joyce Overly, Jennifer May, Annette Rosati, Barry Sweet, Lorie Taylor; Alternate Delegates – Ellen Foster, Jonathan Touster, Cristin Ketley, Nripendra Singh, Karl Sprenger; Coaches President – Matt Hanhold; Coaches Vice President – Matt Hanhold; Coaches Alternate – Keith Ferraro; Coaches’ Grievance Chair – Eric Laughlin; Venango Campus Rep – Renee Bloom; CAP – Joseph Croskey; DRC – Mary Buchanan; Grievance – Mark Kilwein; Health & Welfare – Amy Shannonhouse; Legislative – Jonathan Touster; Membership – Paul Klenowski; Negotiations – Joyce Overly; Nominations & Elections – Rachel Newbury; Social Justice – Cahndice Matthews; Public Affairs/Relations – Christopher McCarrick; Student Liaison – Marc Sanko; Rules & Bylaws – Jamie Phillips; Mobilization Co-Chairs – Jackie Knaust & Andy Lingwall; State Adjunct Faculty Committee – Natasha Dias, Sheila Kazar; State APSCUF Executive Council – Joyce Overly *Faculty Meet & Discuss Team: Joyce Overly, Barry Sweet, Adam Roberts, Mark Kilwein, Jennifer May, Mary Buchanan, Chris McCarrick (rec. sec.) *Coaches Meet & Discus Team: Matt Hanhold, Heath Calhoun, Keith Ferraro, Eric Laughlin, Joyce Overly & Mark Kilwein The President’s Message… Dear Clarion Faculty and Coaches, Happy Presidents Day! (OK, that’s pretty weak as a seasonal greeting, but there’s not much work with between Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day.) I hope the first five weeks of the semester have gone well. Only two more weeks until break. I know I need one! I have some updates on what APSCUF has been working on since the January newsletter. On Wednesday, February 16, the Interim Meet & Discuss team met with management to officially approve the bylaws and curricular policies and procedures developed by the Interim Curriculum Committee (ICC). The ICC documents will guide the development of the curriculum for PennWest in preparation for the official July 1, 2022 launch (pending Middle States approval). The initial focus is on the graduate curriculum, as the goal is to implement new PennWest graduate programs in Fall 2022. Most undergraduate programs will transition to PennWest in Fall 2023. Another task related to the consolidation is the election of campus department leads. As outlined in the Article 6 side letter, department leads will be elected at each campus with faculty in a department where the department chairperson is not physically located. The interim M&D team met with management to review their suggested combinations of departments of less than five faculty members on a single campus for the purposes of selecting a campus lead. I’m happy to report that we were able to stop a plan to have two small departments, Geosciences and Physics, absorbed into larger Clarion campus departments, Biology and Chemistry, respectively, for campus lead purposes. Instead, the 7 faculty members in Geosciences and Physics will share a campus lead. I believe this will give those faculty members more effective representation and also prevent overburdening the Biology and Chemistry leads. I’ve gotten some questions about how contractual committees and local APSCUF chapters will work at PennWest. The side letters outline interim measures for curriculum, promotion, tenure, and evaluation. Keep in mind, however, that our current contract expires on June 30, 2023, and longer-term contract language for contractual committees at integrated universities with multiple campuses will have to be negotiated as part of the next contract. As far as the internal structure of APSCUF, that’s up to us as an organization and will require revisions to the state and local APSCUF bylaws. For the first year of PennWest, I expect that we will remain three separate APSCUF chapters and see if that is a workable arrangement going forward. (Continued on Page 2) February 2022 www.apscuf.org/clarion 1 There is positive news to share. Governor Wolf’s proposed budget for the upcoming year includes a 15% ($75 million) increase in appropriations to PASSHE. Of course, the legislature will have their input on the budget, but this is as good a starting point in budget negotiations for PASSHE funding as I’ve seen in many, many years. Also, the Governor has again proposed his $200 million Nellie Bly scholarship program to assist students at state system universities and community colleges. As always, if you have questions or concerns that APSCUF may be able to help with, please reach out to your departmental representative, any of the officers, Jan, or me. In solidarity, SPRING 2022 MEETINGS (Please mark your calendars!) EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE (EC) @ 3:30 pm Tuesday, March 1 Tuesday, March 22 Tuesday, April 5 Tuesday, April 19 DEPARTMENT REPRESENTATIVE COUNCIL @ 3:30 pm Tuesday, March 8 Tuesday, April 12 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLIES February 18, 2022 (Zoom @ 10:00 am) April 7-8, 2022 (Sheraton, Harrisburg) MEET & DISCUSS @ 2:30 pm Friday, February 25 – Pre-Meet & Discuss Friday, March 4 – Meet & Discuss (tentative) Friday, March 25 – Pre-Meet & Discuss Friday, April 1 - Meet & Discuss (tentative) Friday, April 15 – Pre-Meet & Discuss Friday, April 22 – Meet & Discuss Friday, May 13 - Pre-Meet & Discuss Friday, May 20 – Meet & Discuss MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS, ELECTIONS & GATHERINGS *General Membership Mtg/Meet the Candidate Forum Tuesday, March 29, 2022 @ 3:30 pm *General Spring Elections – Tuesday, April 19 *Clarion APSCUF’s End-of-the-Semester Gathering – Thursday, May 5 @ 4 pm at CRBC (tentative) GENERAL APSCUF & BARGAINING UNIT MEETING is scheduled for Tuesday, March 30, 2021, @ 3:30 pm. Location/Zoom Link will be announced. This meeting will also include “Meet the Candidates” Forum for the 2022 Spring General Elections. There will be a campus visit by State APSCUF President Jamie Martin. Please “pencil in” this meeting on your meeting calendar. NOTE: General Spring Elections for APSCUF Offices and Committees will be held on Tuesday & Wednesday, April 19 & 20 thru Survey Monkey. See Page 5 for General Spring Election timeline and vacancies. WELCOME ABOARD Josh Grubbs from APSCUF’s Labor Relations Department. Josh has been newly assigned to Clarion. Josh also serves California, Cheney, Edinboro and West Chester APSCUF chapters. The Clarion chapter looks forward to working closely with Josh. We would like to THANK Sara Miller of APSCUF’s Labor Relations Department, for all her support to our members throughout the years. Best wishes to Sara who has been re-assigned to other APSCUF chapters across the state. Bim Arthun, State APSCUF’s Director of Membership Services, will be making a campus visit to Clarion University on Thursday, March 31st. Like in the past, Bim is scheduling 30-minute one-on-one appointments to meet with members and answer questions. The schedule runs from 9:00 am till 3:30 pm in the Rhea Conference Room. If you are interested in setting up a 30-minutes one-on-one with Bim, please directly contact Jan Walters at jwalters@clarion.edu to schedule an appointment. Know that spouses are welcomed too. February 2022 www.apscuf.org/clarion 2 ANNOUNCEMENT: The Clarion APSCUF Nominations and Elections Committee is pleased to announce the results of the Special Election for the two vacancies on the University-wide Sabbatical Leave Committee. Congratulations to Amanda Lockwood (Chemistry) Congratulations to Nripendra Singh (Management & Marketing) Thank you to all who participated in the election, candidates, and voters; your contributions are appreciated. COACHES LEADERHIP UPDATE: CONGRATULATIONS and THANK YOU to Matt Hanhold and Heath Calhoun. Matt will be serving as our chapter’s Coaches President. And Heath will be serving as our chapter’s Vice President. Coach Hanhold Coach Calhoun SPRING 2022 SUPPLEMENTAL PAYMENTS SCHEDULE (See additional information on pages 7-10) Overload and Related Payments – March 25, 2022, pay Distance Education Payments – April 22, 2022, pay ATTENTION FACULTY: 20/26 ANNUAL PAY OPTION WINDOW APRIL 1, 2022 THRU APRIL 30, 2022 Nine-month pay faculty who are interested in changing their pay options from 20 to 26 pays, or vice versa, may do so during a window period from April 1, 2022 to April 30, 2022. The change will be effective for the first paycheck of the Fall 2022 semester which will be on September 23, 2022. (For more informaiton, please read pages 11-13 in this newsletter.) If you so choose to change your option, please complete the 20/26 Pay Option form and return it to our Human Resources office in Carrier between April 1 and April 30th. Please do not return the form to our APSCUF office nor to the State APSCUF office. NOTE: This is the only opportunity to make this change during this academic year. The form was attached to the email announcement or you can request the form from our Human Resources office. TAX DEDUCTION CHANGES for 2021: TAX SEASON IS HERE! IF YOU ITEMIZE, PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING 2021 FEDERAL TAX DEDUCTION FOR UNION DUES: CURRENT TAX FEDERAL TAX LAW DOES NOT ALLOW A DEDUCTION FOR UNION DUES FOR THE YEARS FROM 2018 THROUGH 2025. BUT FOR PENNSYLVANIA TAXPAYER PURPOSES, THE FULL AMOUNT OF UNON DUES PAID ARE 100% DEDUCTIBLE. (See memo on Page 6 from President Jamie Martin in this newsletter.) CLARION APSCUF 2022 FALL SCHOLARSHIPS: Applications are now being accepted for the Fall 2022 Clarion APSCUF Scholarship to be awarded to SEVEN (7) Clarion University students. Any student wishing to apply must be currently enrolled at Clarion University with a minimum of 3.2 QPA following completion of the Fall 2021 semester. Eligibility, instructions and “fillable” application can now be downloaded at www.apscuf.org/universities/clarion . Deadline for submission is Friday, March 18, 2022 @ 12:00 pm. Please feel free to share the direct link to the application: Application for APSCUF Scholarship February 2022 www.apscuf.org/clarion 3 February 2022 www.apscuf.org/clarion 4 GENERAL SPRING 2022 ELECTIONS Nominating Petitions packets have been sent via Email the week of February 14th. All Nominating Petitions must be returned by 1 PM, FRIDAY, MARCH 18 to Rachel Newbury, N & E Chair at rnewbury@clarion.edu. NOTE: At this point, the University-Wide Contractual Committee elections will NOT be a part of General Spring 2022 Elections. Elections for these committees will be held once additional details are available. GENERAL SPRING 2022 ELECTION CALENDAR for APSCUF Officers and Committees (only) ➢ February 14: Nominating petitions sent to faculty and coaches electronically ➢ Friday, March 18: Nominating petitions due by 1:00 pm to Rachel Newbury, Chair, Nominations and Elections Committee @ rnewbury@clarion.edu and to Jan Walters, Office Manager @ jwalters@clarion.edu ➢ Friday, March 25: Candidate Statements due from candidates to be published in the Clarion APSCUF April Newsletter (e-mail to jwalters@clarion.edu) ➢ Tuesday, March 29: “Meet the Candidates” Forum @ 3:30 pm on Zoom - Candidates introduced; comments and questions ➢ Week of April 4 & 11: E-mail reminder of the Spring 2021 Election to be held through Survey Monkey. Included will be the slate of candidates and their statements. ➢ *Tuesday, April 19: Ballots sent for voting through Survey Monkey @ 6:00 am to campus e-mail addresses ➢ *Wednesday, April 20: Voting continues through Survey Monkey. Polls close at 4:00 pm ➢ Wednesday, April 20: Announcement of Winners *Note that the General Spring 2022 Elections will be held in conjunction with the Faculty Senate Elections on Tuesday and Wednesday, April 19 and 20, 2022 through Survey Monkey. The Clarion University Faculty Senate Elections will be a separate e-mail ballot. The Following Faculty and Coaches positions are open. (Please review Qualification & Functions Summary.) APSCUF OFFICERS & COMMITTEES: ➢ ➢ ➢ ➢ ➢ ➢ Secretary: 1 one-year term Treasurer: 1 one-year term Delegates to Legislative Assembly: 2 two-year term Alternate Delegate to Legislative: 2 two-year term Nominations and Elections Committee: 3 two-year term Venango Campus Representative: 1 one-year term NOTE: All Coaches Leadership Positions are filled, but APSCUF coaches in good standing are eligible to run for the chapter’s Secretary, Treasurer and Nomination & Election Committee. February 2022 www.apscuf.org/clarion 5 February 2022 www.apscuf.org/clarion 6 February 2022 www.apscuf.org/clarion 7 February 2022 www.apscuf.org/clarion 8 February 2022 www.apscuf.org/clarion 9 February 2022 www.apscuf.org/clarion 10 February 2022 www.apscuf.org/clarion 11 February 2022 www.apscuf.org/clarion 12 February 2022 www.apscuf.org/clarion 13