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I am writing today to offer my perspective on the current state of negotiations — the impasse between the university administration and the CMU Faculty Association.
In your remarks at this week’s Board of Trustees meeting you discussed the difficult state of the contract negotiations between the CMU Faculty Association (FA) and CMU’s administration. In a part of your statement you referred to comments I made at a meeting on Wednesday afternoon. You put it this way: “As a professor eloquently said at the Trustee-Faculty Liaison Committee yesterday, we cannot let this negotiation process undermine what everyone has and is working so diligently to create.” This captures some of what I said to the committee, but the overall sense is wrong. Here’s why:
It is time to be clear: the Board of Trustees must be held accountable for the mess that Central Michigan University has become. But the eight appointed public officials who make up the CMU board hide from the public, including the CMU students, faculty, employees and other interested persons. They refuse to comment. I am still waiting for an answer to an email I sent to a trustee a week ago, not to mention an acknowledgment. The trustees were appointed by a governor and gained the approval of the state senate before taking office for their eight-year terms. The university trustees at the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University are elected by the statewide voters. Just like other elected public officials, they must face the public. But CMU’s trustees think they are different since they were not elected by the public and will never have to face the voters. They are so committed to secrecy that they covered up trustee Jacqueline Garrett’s resignation in July 2009 until March 2010. Why are the trustees hiding? Because they believe they can operate as a private corporation’s board of directors, who are running some big company, and they can make their decisions in secret and then hide out while their surrogate does their “dirty work.” Here are some examples of what I call “dirty work” done for the trustees by their surrogate, President George Ross, that have led to the mess that is the current negotiations between the university and its faculty union. • No. 1: The trustees hired and are paying tens of thousands of dollars to a union-busting law firm to handle negotiations with the Faculty Association. • No. 2. The trustees changed a 40-year policy by refusing to extend the FA contract when it expired June 30. This abrupt switch led to the FA job action that disrupted the first day of classes. It also prevented faculty who earned promotions last year from receiving them. • No. 3. The trustees approved a news release by Ross’ underlings that stated falsely the UTF (part-time and temporary faculty) and GSA (graduate students) unions had accepted contracts for this academic year without raises. This was patently false and I called this to the trustees’ attention at their July 14 meeting. The trustees told me and other presenters beforehand that the trustees would not comment on what we said (more secrecy). The misstatement violated the university mission statement that calls for “honesty and trustworthiness.” • No. 4. The trustees approved a legal filing to Isabella County Court that stated that CMU was forced to cancel the first day of classes on Aug. 22 because of the FA job action. This could not have been further from the truth as CMU stated repeatedly to students that classes were being held and that students should report. Again, the mission statement of “honesty and trustworthiness” was violated. Again, the trustees said nothing. • No. 5. The trustees have not been forthcoming about the true cost of the proposed College of Medicine. Ross and his predecessor Kathy Wilbur have acknowledged that CMU is spending $5 million a year of current students’ payments and state subsidy money on the med school. A closer investigation suggests that CMU is committing tens of millions of dollars to the new med school — far more than the $5 million a year — and that the money will come from current undergraduate and graduate students’ payments and from state subsidies because CMU cannot privately fundraise the money needed to operate the med school. Why does CMU keep raising tuition? To pay for the med school. • No. 6. The trustees act like CMU has to be on a tight budget because times are tough in Michigan, but the truth is that CMU is an island of prosperity in a sea of economic difficulty. CMU has a gigantic surplus of $228 million, more than half of its annual spending. As the FA contract crisis gets messier and messier, the trustees remain silent and hide out, content to allow the drip, drip, drip of destruction of a great university, all in the name of giving the med school an IV drip, drip, drip of unending cash. John K. Hartman, professor of journalism
I’m writing to the campus community to raise awareness for the Supervisory-Technicals (STs) on campus.
Dear President Ross,
As Central Michigan University prepares to commemorate its 120th anniversary, it is an appropriate time to reflect on the past, review the growth and transformation happening at present, and have the foresight to enact steps to transport the university to its highest level in the future.
I wanted to provide some additional insight to the “Muffled Media” editorial published in the August 26th edition as well as the “Misinformation” editorial on August 29, 2011. It was made apparent to me late Tuesday evening (August 23rd) in an open, frank student conversation that there were unanswered questions on a number of topics related to the August 22nd work stoppage, the filed Temporary Restraining Order on the FA, faculty contract issues, and university finances.
Very clearly stated and quite widely used, the mission statement of the Central Michigan University Student Government Association is: “Dedicated to inspiring improvement throughout its community by providing and promoting advocacy amongst and for its constituency, in hopes of developing a healthy and diverse learning environment while fostering a positive image of our university.” Put exceedingly simply, SGA is responsible for promoting ‘advocacy of the students,’ at whole, of CMU and to provide to them a ‘healthy learning environment.’
Best friends Granger senior Justin Burnham and Washington senior Abbie Diaz are distributing encouraging letters to every Central Michigan University faculty and staff member.
I have been teaching at CMU for eighteen years now, as what the university calls a “fixed term employee.”
I appreciate your "students lose" headline because I believe students need to realize just how much of a stake they have in the current negotiations and that the significance of what is occurring goes well beyond the temporary confusion surrounding any missed classes.
Are you angry about the current bargaining situation between CMU and the Faculty? If I were a student, I would be. I am a professor, and I can assure you I am deeply disturbed by these negotiations. Here is a brief primer on why I am so upset:
Michigan received tremendous news (the week of July 31) when Fitch Ratings announced that it revised our bond rating outlook from stable to positive. Fitch is one of the leading national bond rating agencies, and its ratings affect the ability of governments and schools to finance projects. This is a very positive sign for our state, and it represents the first step in improving our AA- bond rating and improving our economy.
As a Central Michigan Life alumnus I have worked with many fine reporters, one of which is Maria Amante. But there is one thing she is not: a pop culture analyst.
Throughout the year it has been our pleasure to collaborate with CM Life and reporters from a wide range of media outlets in their coverage of university news. We take seriously our role of assisting CMU administrators and staff in working with reporters, which has prompted this response to Wednesday’s CM Life editorial.
The brains of some people are built to lie, says a new study. Psychologists at the University of Southern California screened 108 people, classifying them as either habitual liars or truth-tellers.
I applaud Mr. Inks and you for not censoring the comments on his “tasteless” article concerning the 9/11 Truth Movement. It is too bad he did so little research before writing the piece but hopefully the replies will inspire him to seriously investigate topics before betraying the trust of his readers again as so many “journalists” in this nation have become accustomed to doing. Had he attended the Richard Gage, AIA presentation at Lawrence Technological University on April 18 (I was there), I am certain he would not have been so quick to dismiss the unified professional opinion of almost 1500 licensed architects and engineers who all agree only explosives could have caused the level of destruction we witnessed in NYC on 9/11.
Michigan’s legislature is letting Kennecott Minerals rip off the state and not pay its fair share in taxes on the copper, nickel and precious metals they plan to mine in the Upper Peninsula (Eagle Project).
In response to “SGA backs gender-neutral housing” published Friday, March 25
Attempting to succinctly and clearly explain something as complex as a university budget is difficult for trained professionals, let alone us lay people.
