Dear Colleagues,
Today your Negotiating Team reached agreement with the administration on a one-year extension of our Collective Bargaining Agreement. Most elements remain identical. In this letter we will discuss only the modifications, all of which relate to the impact of the health crisis. We are working with the administration to draft a memorandum of understanding (MOU). As soon as possible, we will share the MOU with you, invite your questions, and answer them. Finally, we will ask for your ratification via electronic vote we expect to take place no later than next week.
The modifications to the Agreement include the following items.
1. If Rider is allowed to open face-to-face on September 1, 2020 - which seems likely - Article XV (Layoff) cannot be invoked, meaning under those circumstances no layoff notices will be issued during AY 2020–2021.
2. If Rider opens face-to-face September 1, bargaining-unit members may choose individually whether to teach their fall classes remotely or face-to-face. Those who choose to teach remotely must notify their dean of this intention no later than July 1. Analogously, members may choose to teach remotely during Spring 2021 and notify their dean of this intention no later than December 1.
3. The academic year will begin September 1. All courses will meet face-to-face until Tuesday, November 24. The remainder of the semester, including final examinations (if you give them), will occur remotely. Final Examinations will occur Monday–Friday of Exam Week, December 7–11. There will be no Fall Reading Day.
4. Because all courses will at a minimum require a hybrid teaching modality, faculty will notify their deans of how they plan to deliver the remote elements of their instruction, but only if what will occur differs from what was originally planned. (For example a previously planned online course will not change its modality, so no report will be required.)
5. If bargaining-unit members have chosen to teach remotely and the dean cancels one of their classes, the
new course assignment may, under the circumstances of the health crisis, require a third preparation. As always, faculty will teach only those courses for which they are qualified.
6. There will be an early-retirement incentive (ERI) available to members who apply no later than August 1. Those who take it will work a 50% teaching load during AY 2020–2021 for 2/3 of their full-time base salary. During the member's final year of teaching, all medical benefits will remain in place. Past ERI qualifications required minima of 62-years age and 10 years of service.
7. A faculty member shall automatically be granted, upon written notice to the Provost's office, an exclusion of one year from the countable years of service that constitute that individual's tenure probationary period. Such notice must be provided to the Provost's Office no later than June 30, 2020.
Separately, the Provost will send a memo that includes recommendations made by the four pandemic-related task forces that outline some of the possibilities under consideration at this time. Though many suggestions do not impact our Agreement, as is always the case, any change that involves an element of our Agreement would require the agreement of the AAUP.
In closing, we wish to thank you for your support during this process without which we would not have been able to offer these protections under these extraordinary circumstances.
Your Negotiating Team,
Jeff Halpern, Chief Negotiator
Michael Brogan
Dave Dewberry
Herb Gishlick
Joel Phillips
Terri Rue
Elizabeth Scheiber
Art Taylor
Today your Negotiating Team reached agreement with the administration on a one-year extension of our Collective Bargaining Agreement. Most elements remain identical. In this letter we will discuss only the modifications, all of which relate to the impact of the health crisis. We are working with the administration to draft a memorandum of understanding (MOU). As soon as possible, we will share the MOU with you, invite your questions, and answer them. Finally, we will ask for your ratification via electronic vote we expect to take place no later than next week.
The modifications to the Agreement include the following items.
1. If Rider is allowed to open face-to-face on September 1, 2020 - which seems likely - Article XV (Layoff) cannot be invoked, meaning under those circumstances no layoff notices will be issued during AY 2020–2021.
2. If Rider opens face-to-face September 1, bargaining-unit members may choose individually whether to teach their fall classes remotely or face-to-face. Those who choose to teach remotely must notify their dean of this intention no later than July 1. Analogously, members may choose to teach remotely during Spring 2021 and notify their dean of this intention no later than December 1.
3. The academic year will begin September 1. All courses will meet face-to-face until Tuesday, November 24. The remainder of the semester, including final examinations (if you give them), will occur remotely. Final Examinations will occur Monday–Friday of Exam Week, December 7–11. There will be no Fall Reading Day.
4. Because all courses will at a minimum require a hybrid teaching modality, faculty will notify their deans of how they plan to deliver the remote elements of their instruction, but only if what will occur differs from what was originally planned. (For example a previously planned online course will not change its modality, so no report will be required.)
5. If bargaining-unit members have chosen to teach remotely and the dean cancels one of their classes, the
new course assignment may, under the circumstances of the health crisis, require a third preparation. As always, faculty will teach only those courses for which they are qualified.
6. There will be an early-retirement incentive (ERI) available to members who apply no later than August 1. Those who take it will work a 50% teaching load during AY 2020–2021 for 2/3 of their full-time base salary. During the member's final year of teaching, all medical benefits will remain in place. Past ERI qualifications required minima of 62-years age and 10 years of service.
7. A faculty member shall automatically be granted, upon written notice to the Provost's office, an exclusion of one year from the countable years of service that constitute that individual's tenure probationary period. Such notice must be provided to the Provost's Office no later than June 30, 2020.
Separately, the Provost will send a memo that includes recommendations made by the four pandemic-related task forces that outline some of the possibilities under consideration at this time. Though many suggestions do not impact our Agreement, as is always the case, any change that involves an element of our Agreement would require the agreement of the AAUP.
In closing, we wish to thank you for your support during this process without which we would not have been able to offer these protections under these extraordinary circumstances.
Your Negotiating Team,
Jeff Halpern, Chief Negotiator
Michael Brogan
Dave Dewberry
Herb Gishlick
Joel Phillips
Terri Rue
Elizabeth Scheiber
Art Taylor
6/2/2020