A Message from the Chancellor
April 28, 2006
Dear Members of The CUNY Community:
I am pleased to report to you that the University and the
Professional Staff Congress/CUNY (PSC) have reached a tentative
collective bargaining agreement. The tentative agreement, which
covers the period November 1, 2002 through September 19, 2007, is
subject to ratification by the union's rank and file members and to
adoption by the Board of Trustees. The agreement leverages a
contract extension, reforms, and productivity measures to increase
the value of the package, while remaining consistent with the
pattern agreements negotiated with unions representing other
University employees. Through tough but creative bargaining, the
parties have crafted an agreement that provides salary increases,
additional contributions for the Welfare Fund, and improved working
conditions, in ways that also enhance academic programs, research,
and student support. The agreement is detailed and nuanced, but I
would like to highlight some of its key provisions:
Salary increases: The parties agreed to across-the board wage increases as follows:
- 2.5%, effective May 1, 2004
- 2.75%, effective May 1, 2005
- 3% effective May 1, 2006
- $800 rate increase for full-time instructional staff, effective September 19, 2007
- 1% uncompounded increase for teaching and
non-teaching adjunct titles and continuing education
teachers, effective September 19, 2007.
These across-the-board increases are in addition to the annual step
increases, which are currently in place and which the University
will continue under the new agreement. As of May 1, 2006, full
professors and higher education officers at the maximum step will
earn $101,435 annually.
Welfare Fund: The University and the PSC had a mutual goal in
this round of bargaining of ensuring the fiscal health of the
PSC/CUNY Welfare Fund. The University has been assured by the PSC
that the support negotiated in this round of bargaining for the
PSC/CUNY Welfare Fund will stabilize the Fund's finances for at
least two years beyond the contract expiration date of September
19, 2007. The University will provide the following additional
support:
- Approximately $30 million will be provided in a
one-time cash payment to the PSC/CUNY Welfare Fund to
address the Fund's depleted reserves.
- In addition to increases in the per capita
contributions negotiated between the City of New York
and the Municipal Labor Coalition, the University's per
capita contributions to the PSC/CUNY Welfare Fund will
increase by $200 over the course of the contract.
- The University will make an additional annual
contribution of approximately $2.2 million to the
PSC/CUNY Welfare Fund.
Support for Research: The parties agreed to significant
measures to improve the research environment at the University:
- When jointly-supported legislation becomes law, the
tenure clock will be increased to seven years, the
national norm, which will provide newly-hired,
untenured faculty more time to engage in scholarly
activities in furtherance of their candidacy for
tenure.
- When the tenure legislation becomes law, these
newly-hired faculty will receive 12 additional hours of
reassigned time for a total of 24 hours of reassigned
time during their first five years of service to
support their scholarship.
- Also, upon the tenure legislation becoming law,
fellowship leaves currently remunerated at the rate of
50% of salary will be remunerated at 80% of salary.
- The teaching workload at New York City College of
Technology will be reduced to 24 classroom contact
hours per year to promote research at that college.
- The University will have the opportunity to appoint
50 more Distinguished Professors than previously
permitted by the contract.
- Travel Funds, PSC/CUNY Research Awards, the HEO/CLT
Professional Development Fund, and the Distinguished
Professor stipend will all be augmented by the same
percentage increases as salaries, and an Adjunct
Professional Development Fund will be created.
Academic and Student Support: The University and the PSC also
agreed to measures that will support the overall academic program
and enhance service to students.
- The agreement provides that the faculty annual
leave period will end three weekdays earlier than the
current contractual date of August 30. This adjustment
will enable the University to create an academic
calendar that focuses on academic considerations,
rather than contractual limitations, and will provide
additional time before and after the start of classes
in the Fall semester for contact with students and for
professional activities.
- In furtherance of its goal of increasing the
percentage of courses taught by full-time faculty, the
University will create 100 full-time lecturer lines
that will be open for application to adjunct faculty
who meet specified eligibility requirements. This
commitment is not part of the collective bargaining
agreement.
- To further integrate adjunct faculty into the life
of the campus and to promote their access to students,
the University will make efforts to provide adjunct
faculty with University e-mail and voicemail accounts
and, where feasible, to list them in department
directories.
I believe that we have negotiated a good, fiscally responsible
agreement that both addresses the union's concerns and builds upon
CUNY's renewal. I hope that the tentative agreement receives swift
approval from the union's membership and from the University's
Board of Trustees so that the process of securing the necessary
funding through legislation may proceed expeditiously. I thank you
all for your patience during these negotiations.
Sincerely,
Matthew Goldstein
Chancellor
The City University of New York
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