In attendance: Thomas Morrill, Béatrice Moissinac, Alisha Jones, Shannon Andrews, Gloria Ambrowiak, Kris Osterloh, Drew Hatlen; Ashley Bromley, Angela McClendon
Meeting called to order at 5:15 PM
Minutes from 3-17-2015 Meeting – Approved.
Email Decisions – (1) Approved Election Committee’s C&B amendments. (2) Approved all-member email about C&B amendments.
Board of Trustees Meeting Debrief – Last Wednesday the various committees met and on Thursday the whole Board met. Ashley attended most of both days. The Board approved getting rid of the final step of the tuition plateau for undergraduate students. The weighted average increase is 7.5% but some students will see an increase of up to 11%. The Board doesn’t have the authority to cause an increase of that size, so they will request approval from the state’s HECC (Higher Ed Coordinating Commission). The one “nay” vote on the increase was from grad school dean Brenda McComb. (Yeah, not even the student on the Board voted against the increase.) She also questioned the logic of increasing in-state graduate tuition, because it mostly just makes grants more expensive, doesn’t actually increase revenue. She said OSU should be making it easier to put grads on grants. Ashley felt that the tuition conversation was a good start to figuring out which Board members CGE may or may not get along well with. Thomas, Nikki Wiseman, Shannon, Kris, and Ryan Beaston attended on Thursday to speak in the public comment section about the budget troubles in CLA and other departments, as well as having grad student representation on the Board. Next steps: Ed Ray requested a summary of what we’ve heard from grads in CLA; Thomas will work on this. We need to reschedule the meeting for Sherm with CLA heads (the one we’d scheduled for today fell through when Larry couldn’t attend); Thomas will email Sherm.
Kris Goes to Salem Debrief – Kris went to Salem last Wednesday with some other AFT-OR folks to talk about the bill to get grad student seats on the institutional boards. Met with 8 representatives and/or their staff. Strong support from Rep Joe Gallegos for the bill getting a hearing. Didn’t even get to talk about the bill with Rep Gene Whisnant; as soon as they introduced themselves he started a rant against unions. If the legislators do decide to give us a public hearing, they only have to give 48 hours’ notice. Kris mentions it will be really important to get written testimony from lots of people to be sure we’ll have plenty to say on short notice. Kris will work on an email to Ed Ray as well as Brenda, Taylor, Pat, and Mark (all on OSU’s Board) about getting support for the bill.
Steward Council Meeting – This will be next Monday, March 30. Agenda: C&B amendments (ask Clint & Kevin to lead), upcoming Steward elections, summer health insurance deadline, fair share challenge, office visits, grad school open forums, letter writing campaign (maybe?), OSU budget issues, department updates. Food plan: We’ll do sandwich bar (w/ optional panini presses), potato salad, and salad salad. Gloria will be in charge of the grocery list and shopping.
Game Night – This will be next Tuesday, March 31. It will be at Woodstock’s at 6 PM. We have a pizza budget of $80 and people can buy their own beverages. Gloria will call Woodstock’s to reserve the room. Ashley will make a fb event and Gloria will email about it.
Fair Share Challenge – Mike let us know that he has contacted the challenger in introduction and contacted the ERB for an arbitrator.
Budget Review – The EC looked over projected numbers for the rest of the year, reviewed some added lines & increased lines, and approved a budget update as discussed.
Spring Term EC Meetings – We’ll be meeting on Thursdays at 11:30.
Office Sign – Ashley went to talk with the folks at R3 Engraving about a nice sign for our upstairs office door. She has brought back pictures of several options. Thomas and Shannon will finish the project.
Social Calendar – Most things for spring term are already set. Gloria and Ashley will review it for printing and distribution.
LBL-CLC – Alisha attended last week’s meeting, which was the most dramatic CLC meeting she’d ever seen. There were some people at the meeting from AFL-CIO National. They’re going to be restructuring the regional and local levels. There won’t be any more CLCs and they’ll be replaced with chapters. So we’ll be seeing some changes in the next year.
Meeting ended at 6:55 PM