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YSU faculty would receive bonuses, lose extended teaching service
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
Items agreed upon by negotiators for both the Youngstown State University faculty and administration include a combination of bonuses and pay increases based on academic rank over the life of the pact.
Also agreed upon are a reduction in summer pay and abolishment of the extended teaching service, according to information distributed to faculty members and obtained by The Vindicator.
Gabriel Palmer-Fernandez, chief negotiator for the YSU-Ohio Education Association, said no talks are scheduled until Sept. 2. He said although the faculty team and the federal mediator are available Aug. 26, the administration’s team hasn’t said whether it will meet that day.
Classes begin Wednesday.
Ron Cole, YSU spokesman, wouldn’t discuss what he termed “the nitty-gritty” details of contract negotiations.
“There have been several weeks of talks,” he said. “Progress has been made in some areas, and we’re looking forward to continuing those talks and getting an agreement as soon as possible.”
In a memo to administrators last week, Kevin Reynolds, YSU’s chief human-resources officer and chief negotiator, said the administration’s team wanted to meet twice this week, but the union balked. Palmer-Fernandez said union members need time to prepare for classes.
According to the information distributed to faculty, both the faculty union and the administrative teams have agreed to faculty members’ getting bonuses with no percentage increase the first year of the contract. The amount of the bonus would be $1,000 for full professors, $750 for associate professors, $650 for assistant professors and $500 for instructors.
In the second year, there’s also a bonus based on academic rank and a 0.5 percent increase to base pay for all members. The bonuses are $1,200 for full professors, $950 for associate professors, $850 for assistant professors and $700 for instructors.
There would be a 2 percent pay increase in the third year but no bonus.
YSU’s fiscal-year 2015 general-fund budget is $149.8 million, and the amount budgeted for faculty union salaries and benefits is about $35 million, according to the university.
The average faculty salary is $72,657. With benefits, that average increases to $95,907, the university reports.
The cap for summer pay also would be reduced, according to the information obtained by The Vindicator.
Faculty members who teach during the summer are paid 3.25 percent of their salary per credit hour. Under the current pact, the amount upon which that calculation is based is capped at $80,000. The two sides have agreed to lowering that cap to $65,000, according to the information.
Before the current contract, there was no cap.
Extended teaching service (ETS) would be abolished under what’s being considered. This year, those eligible for retirement would receive a $40,000 buyout paid over five years in place of ETS. That option, however, would be available only this year.
According to the information distributed to faculty, it would save the university $1.9 million.
Under the expiring contract, ETS is available to eligible retired faculty members for up to five years. They receive an assignment of 42 teaching hours distributed over the chosen number of years, up to 11 hours per semester and 13 hours per academic year.
Under the current contract, ETS faculty are paid an amount equal to the number of teaching hours taught multiplied by a percentage of their nine-month salary at the time of their retirement, or a percentage of $100,000, whichever is less. The percentage for this past school year is 3 percent.