07/03/2019
2 July 2019
Dear Colleagues,
On June 26, 2019, the Negotiating Committee of the RISD Full Time Faculty Association (NEARI) reached a tentative agreement with the Administration for a contract for three academic years (2019-2022). The Executive Board and the Negotiation Team unanimously endorse this contract. We feel the gains we made during negotiations far outweigh a 1-2 year extension of the current contract, as initially proposed by the Administration.
I am going to summarize the main points of the new contract. There were language changes and formatting changes, and those can be found in the redlined contract attached to this email.
We attempted to ensure that the contract reflected current practice. For example, there has not been an arbitration panel for at least 16 years; the current language inserts “arbitrator” instead, which has been the practice.
Please note that we substituted gender neutral language for gender specific language in this iteration of the contract.
Salaries and stipends
Salaries will rise by 3% each of the three years of the contract, for an overall raise of 9% over the three years.
In July 2020, the base salary for Assistant Professors will rise from $57,500 to $64,000. That change will affect the salaries in subsequent years of service.
In July 2020, the base salary for Associate Professors will rise from $70,000 to $75,000. That change will affect the salaries in subsequent years of service.
The stipend for graduate program directors will rise from $7,500 to $7,725 in AY 2019-20, $7,950 in AY 2020-21, and $8,195 in AY 2021-22.
The stipend for concentration coordinators will rise from $4,825 to $4,970 in AY 2019-20, $5,119 in AY 2020-21, and $5,272 in AY 2021-22.
The materials fund rises from $500 for all faculty and librarians to $750 for pre-critical review faculty and $600 for post-critical review faculty and librarians.
A faculty member’s salary may be reviewed by the Provost if they complete a terminal degree that advances artistic/scholastic practice and teaching after hire.
Faculty Rights
We inserted language that makes clear that faculty have Weingarten rights, which means that a faculty member can choose to have union representation with them if they are asked to come in for a meeting with the Administration. Weingarten Rights guarantee an employee the right to Union representation during an investigatory interview. These rights, which were established by the Supreme Court in 1975 in the case of J. Weingarten Inc. must be claimed by the employee. The supervisor has no obligation to inform an employee that s/he is entitled to Union representation.
"A faculty member is entitled to have an Association steward or representative present during an investigatory meeting that may lead to the imposition of discipline. Except when the College determines it is necessary to meet with the faculty member without delay, a meeting may be postponed for not more than a day if an Association steward or representative is not readily available."
Reappointment and review
For reappointment, faculty no longer have to submit a full dossier, though they may choose to do so.
Reappointment materials:
Current Appendix B
Current cv
Syllabi from every course listed on evaluations
Any other material the faculty member, department head, or dean believes will support their performance
Promotion and critical review still require the submission of a dossier.
Dossier:
Current Appendix B
Letter from faculty member applying for promotion or critical review
Current cv
Syllabi from every course listed on evaluations
Examples of student work
Examples of professional work
Any other material the faculty member believes will support their performance
Optional and encouraged are letters of recommendation from faculty or professionals outside RISD.
Term appointments can now be for two years, not just one.
Department Heads
College service as a criterion for review for department heads rises from 20%-40% to 35%-60% on Appendices B, C, and G. Teaching drops from 50%-55% to 30%-50%. Community engagement drops from 0%-30% to 0%-25%.
The release time for the Experimental and Foundation Studies Programs Head increases from one course to two courses.
Side agreement that the departments of Architecture, Graphic Design, HPSS, Illustration, Industrial Design, Literary Arts and Studies, and Theory and History of Art and Design will receive an additional TU release to be granted to another faculty member in their department for specified administrative tasks for each year of the contract.
In addition, a pool of five TUs each year of the contract will be administered by the Deans and Office of the Provost to relieve the administrative, curricular planning, or programmatic burden on the Department Heads. Department Heads may apply to the Vice Provost for this relief.
Graduate Program Directors
Side agreement that recognizes the need for relief for departments with graduate programs and without graduate program directors. Academic Affairs will meet with those department heads to coordinate assistance to alleviate their administrative burden.
Librarians
We attempted to make the librarian language more transparent and group it together so it was clear.
Librarians can serve on all committees that faculty can, and can be considered for appointment to the CFA by the Provost.
Side agreement that the librarians and the dean of libraries will develop research protocols for research during the academic year.
If you have questions about the contract, please contact these members of the Executive Board:
Jonathan Highfield [email protected]
Ken Horii [email protected]
Todd Moore [email protected]
Mark Pompelia [email protected]
Anne Tate [email protected]
(Jennifer Prewitt-Frelino is traveling.)
The Negotiating Team consisted of the above faculty and Aaron Forrest, Paula Gaetano-Adi, Pete Gingras (NEARI), Adela Goldbard, and Andy Martinez.
Because of the newness of the Workday system and the desire to put more money in your pockets over the summer, the Executive Board has chosen to conduct the ratification vote electronically.
You will shortly be receiving an electronic ballot where you will vote “yes” to ratify of this contract or “no” to refuse to ratify it, or “abstain” if you choose not to vote.
Thank you, and all my best.
Jonathan
