Association of Professional Administrators

Minutes 2023-01

Date/Time: Friday, January 20, 2023 at 9:00am

Location: Zoom Room

Present

APA Statewide

  • Seth Bean, President
  • Mark Powers, Secretary
  • Aaron Childs, Membership Coordinator (Non-voting)
  • Gerol Petruzella, Web Manager (Non-voting)
  • Catherine Santiago, MTA Field Representative (Non-voting)
  • Roberta James, MTA Field Representative (Non-voting)

APA Chapter Presidents

  • Seth Bean, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
  • Renee Bernier, Bridgewater State University
  • Jane Decatur, Framingham State University
  • Peter Fenuccio, Worcester State University
  • Sherry Horeanopoulos, Fitchburg State President
  • Susan McNeil, Massachusetts College of Art & Design
  • Rosa Taormina, Salem State University

Guests

  • Rebecca Shersnow (Fitchburg VP)
  • Gretchen Mayhew (Fitchburg Grievance Officer)

Absent

APA Statewide

  • Maria Brunelle, Treasurer (Non-Voting)

APA Chapter Presidents

  • Brian Cahillane, Westfield State University
  • Susan McNeil, Vice President
  • Edward Vacha, Massachusetts Maritime Academy

Call to Order

  • 9:08 am

Approval of Minutes

  • Per agreement of the Executive Board, the Minutes of the December 16, 2022 Executive Board Meeting were approved electronically on January 10, 2023.

Public Comments

  • None.

President’s Report – Seth Bean

  1. Demand for bargaining regarding APA unit members in Public Safety on all nine (9) campuses. Waiting to hear back from Management’s General Counsel, E. Sullivan, regarding meeting dates/times.
  2. Bargain materials from the last time posted to the shared drive. Working on creating a new survey using more direct questions.
  3. 2023 Negotiations folder in the shared drive. Open Bargaining Prep Meeting scheduled for January 23, 2023 at 2:00pm via Zoom.
  4. Higher Education Leadership Council (HELC)
    1. Parameter Discussion
  5. MTA Updates – Catherine Santiago
    1. MTA Bargaining Summit, February 3 & 4 held in Boston.
    2. Tuesday, February 28th – Lobby Day Higher Ed for All Advocacy Day · Massachusetts Teachers Association (mobilize.us)
      Busses available from the following locations (sign up for the bus Here): UMass Amherst, Ludlow Park and Ride, Auburn Park and Ride, Mass College of Liberal Arts, Greenfield Community College, Fitchburg State University, Bridgewater State University, UMass Boston, UMass Dartmouth

Treasurer’s Report – Maria Brunelle

  1. Payroll due on Tuesday, January 24, 2023 by 12:00pm.
  2. Approval of December 2022 Treasurer’s Report
  • Amendments: None
  • Motion to approve membership report as presented/amended made:
  • by: R. Taormina 2nd by: P. Fenuccio
  • Vote: Unanimous Action: Motion Carries

Membership and Data – Aaron Childs

  1. 1322 Overall Membership since December 2022. An Increase of 8.
  2. 164 Non-Dues Paying Member. An Increase of 8 since December 2022.
  3. Round One audit on Database. 37 members (11 Non-Paying, 26 Paying) were still listed in the database but had left the campus or transferred out.
    Round Two will be this month to find new hires that aren’t in the database yet.
    MTA will refund APA for overcharges but NEA will not.

Website – Gerol Petruzella

  1. 1 December – 30 December 2022
    1. Website Overview – Users. During December 2022, maapa.org saw decreases in users and sessions relative to November 2022 (Figure 1). The most popular days/times for users to visit the site were Fridays between 10a and 1p ET, and Thursdays between 11a and 12p ET (Figure 2).
    2. Website Overview – Traffic. Traffic to maapa.org was predominantly direct traffic or the result of a Google search (Figure 3). The top 10 most visited pages are indicated (Figure 4).
    3. Website Overview – Other. 
      • I performed content updates on the site including:
        1. Updated meeting minutes.
  2. On 26 June, Google Analytics notified that the current “Universal Analytics” product (which we use for maapa.org) will sunset on 1 July 2023. Web managers are encouraged to move to their new product, Google Analytics 4, as soon as possible. This will require a property setup process to implement and transition, to maintain data continuity. (link to Google’s blog post about the analytics transition.)
  3. After consulting with the Board, I am proceeding with plans to migrate the current Drupal site to WordPress with an intended switchover date of roughly March 15, 2023.

Health and Welfare Fund Report – Susan McNeil

  1. No report.
  2. https://www.mass.edu/forfacstaff/healthwelfare/home.asp

Committee Reports

Budget Committee – Rosa Taormina & Seth Bean

Employee Relations Working Group –

Professional Development – Edward Vacha

Special Committees:

  1. Committee on Legislative Action – Susan McNeil, Seth Bean, & Sherry Horeanopoulos
  2. Committee on Health & Safety – Renee Bernier & Susan McNeil
  3. Negotiations – Contract Committee
  4. Employee Relations Committee – Brian Cahillane, Jane Decatur, & Rosa Taormina

Old/New Business

  1. FAQ of the Month for the Website for February – Higher Education for All Advocacy Day
  2. Health & Welfare Trust Fund: Massachusetts BHE & MTA affiliated unions. How do we as MTA hold the BHE accountable for information on mass.edu as well as holding those appointed from the State to the Health & Welfare Trust Fund to being transparent regarding the function and their budget. First steps – how do we get MTA Leadership to take action with the BHE to update the mass.edu pages as well as to schedule meetings and have quorum at these meetings.
  3. Motion to Move SSU Commencement Grievance to Arbitration – see supporting documents in the shared drive.

    Motion 2023.01.20-01
    Move to have the APA Executive Board to send to Arbitration the Salem State University Commencement Duties Grievance (SSU-2023-??) as Step II has been denied by SSA Management.
    by: R. Taormina 2nd by: S. Bean
    Vote: 1-4-2 Action: Motion Fails

    With this Memorandum, the Association of Professional Administrators (“APA”) Salem State Chapter is filing a Step II Grievance against Salem State University (“University”), on behalf all APA University employees (collectively, “Grievant”), for violations of Article III, §A of the collective bargaining agreement (“Agreement”), pertaining to its annual Commencement ceremonies (“Commencement”).

    The specific clauses of Article III, §A are included here for reference:

    i. Each administrator shall have a written job description, including a general statement of duties and responsibilities required to be performed and discharged, and setting forth the minimal qualifications required for appointment to or continued service in the position to which such job description is applicable.
    ii. The parties recognize and agree that a Board of Trustees, or the President as its designee, may from time to time alter or amend its table of organization, and the President or his designee may alter or amend any job description adopted by it pursuant to the foregoing provision; provided however, that any proposed changes to the applicable job description shall be fully discussed and explained to the unit member by the Appropriate Administrative Area Supervisor prior to implementation.
    iii. The parties recognize and agree that it is the responsibility of each administrator to discharge the duties and responsibilities of his position as those are set forth in the applicable job description.

    Remedy Requested
    I. Immediate cessation of arbitrary and capricious assignment of commencement duties to Grievant;
    II. Immediate cessation in threatening and/or disciplining Grievant for failing to perform commencement duties; and,
    III. Immediate cessation of disparate treatment of Grievant. Additionally, APA seeks that the grievant be made whole and that any and all other remedies deemed just and proper be made.

    Motion 2023.01.20-02
    Move to have the APA Executive Board recommend to APA employees at Salem State University without Commencement Duties Grievance in their job description to “work to rule” as it relates to the Annual Commencement Ceremonies.
    by: R. Taormina 2nd by: S. Horeanopoulos
    Vote: 6-0-1 Action: Motion Carries

    Motion 2023.01.20-03
    Move to have the APA Executive Board draft a letter to the Council of Presidents (CoP) concerning the mandatory assignment of commencement duties to APA employees at Salem State University.
    by: S. Horeanopoulos 2nd by: J. Decatur
    Vote: 7-0-0 Action: Motion Carries
     
  4. Any other proposed Bylaw changes need to be presented the E-Board on January 20, 2022.

    Motion 2023.01.20-04
    Move to amend the APA Statewide Bylaws to define the timeline for the electronic approval of the Executive Board monthly meeting minutes.
    by: M. Powers 2 nd by: S. Bean
    Vote: 7-0-0 Action: Motion Passes

    ARTICLE IV – Statewide Officers by Election
    Section 2. Powers and Duties of Elected Officers
    C. Secretary:
    (4) shall, within seven calendar days following an Executive Board meeting, send to each Chapter a copy of the minutes of that meeting. The Secretary will request electronic approval of the minutes to occur within 72 hours of distribution of the minutes.

    Motion 2023.01.20-06
    Move to amend the APA Statewide Bylaws to allow Chapter Vice President to attend monthly Executive Board meetings when the Chapter President is absent.
    by: M. Powers 2 nd by: S. Horeanopoulos
    Vote: 5-1-0 Action: Motion Carries

    ARTICLE VIII – Chapter and Chapter Representatives
    Section 4. The President of each chapter will be the Chapter representative to the Executive Board. Should the Chapter President be unavailable to attend a regularly scheduled monthly Executive Board meeting, the Chapter Vice President is eligible to attend as a voting member.
     
  5. Wage/Salary Equity on campuses. Bridgewater State University President has agreed to bring in an external partner to review the salary issues, including salary compression. This would be outside of salary adjustment language as found in the APA CBA.

Institutional Issues

Announcements

  • None

Adjournment

  1. Motion to Adjourn made at 12:59pm by: S. Horeanopoulos
    2nd by: J. Decatur
    Vote: Unanimous
    Action: Motion Carries

APA Meeting Schedule 2022-2023:

  • APA Executive Board | 10:00am | Friday, September 16, 2022 | Virtual | Zoom
  • APA Executive Board | 10:00am | Friday, October 21, 2022 | Virtual | Zoom
  • APA Executive Board | 10:00am | Friday, November 18, 2022 | Hybrid | Zoom/TBD
  • Annual Statewide Membership | 12:00am | Friday, November 18, 2022 | Hybrid | Zoom/TBD
  • APA Executive Board | 10:00am | Friday, December 16, 2022 | In-Person | TBD
  • APA Executive Board | 9:00am | Friday, January 20, 2023 | Virtual | Zoom
  • APA Executive Board | 9:00am | Friday, February 17, 2023 | Virtual | Zoom
  • APA Executive Board | 9:00am | Friday, March 17, 2023 | Virtual | Zoom
  • APA Executive Board | 9:00am | Friday, April 21, 2023 | Virtual | Zoom
  • APA Executive Board | 10:00am | Friday, June 16, 2023 | In-Person | TBD

Topics for next round of negotiations:

  • Salary Compression
  • Wage/Salary Equity
  • Longevity
  • Workload
  • Sick Bank Leave Committee Language

webmanager