Posted: March 18, 2009
Contact: Doug Anderson, doug.anderson@MinnState.edu, 651-201-1426
Chancellor recommends no salary increases for administrators
The Minnesota State College Faculty, which represents more than 4,400 faculty members at Minnesota’s 25 community and technical colleges, and the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system today reached a tentative labor agreement that calls for no across-the-board salary increases or annual step increases for the next two years.
The agreement would leave current contract terms and conditions in place.
The Minnesota State College Faculty board will review the tentative agreement and make a recommendation to the faculty at large, which must approve the agreement if it is to take effect. It will then be forwarded to the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Board of Trustees for approval.
The tentative agreement came early in the contract negotiations. The current contract with the Minnesota State College Faculty is set to expire June 30, 2009.
“Minnesota State College Faculty and Minnesota State Colleges and Universities have worked together to reach a tentative agreement that, while not perfect, seeks to maintain the key function of higher education by keeping students learning and teachers teaching,” said Greg Mulcahy, the president of the Minnesota State College Faculty. “In this awful economic climate, both parties must focus on job preservation and high-quality instruction at the colleges.”
Chancellor James H. McCormick praised the Minnesota State College Faculty representatives for reaching an early tentative agreement. “I commend the faculty representatives for their leadership in reaching this tentative agreement during these difficult economic times,” he said.
“By settling this contract early, all of us can focus on student learning, which will serve the state and its residents well in the long run. Our two-year colleges play an important role in training and educating a large portion of the state’s workforce. We know our graduates will be ready when the economy rebounds.”
The other faculty bargaining unit, the Inter-Faculty Organization, which represents faculty at the system’s seven state universities, reached a similar settlement in February. That agreement has now been ratified by the membership and was approved today by the Board of Trustees.
In related news, the chancellor announced today he is recommending that 570 administrators at the state colleges and universities and in the system office would receive no across-the-board salary increases or annual step increases for the next two years. The board is expected to act on that recommendation in May.
The system employs about 19,500 full-time and part-time faculty and staff.
