Dear colleagues,
I hope to see you at the Town Hall for the School of Medicine this Thursday at 6:30 pm. If you are in the School of Medicine, your participation is key! If you’re on main campus, come show your support for our colleagues in the SOM. What is going on there affects us all. Zoom link: check your WSU e-mail.
A few more updates below.
2022 SELECTIVE SALARY REVIEW FOR NON-TENURE TRACK FACULTY
One of the new changes to the collective bargaining agreement concerns the way that selective salary increases are calculated for non-tenure track faculty. The formula for faculty is normally 3/7ths research, 3/7ths teaching, 1/7th service. But in many cases, Teaching Faculty were not eligible for a full increase unless they undertook research outside of their teaching responsibilities. Similarly, non-tenure track research faculty may not have had teaching opportunities, so they could never get a full score in teaching.
New language reads: “For persons not holding tenure-track classifications, consideration shall be given to those portions of the unit factors and general University criteria that apply to their assignments and may be assigned a higher proportion of their increase through the selective-salary process in one (1) or another of the three (3) categories to reflect that assignment.” (Article XII.C.4)
As you will have seen from yesterday's announcement from Associate Provost Boris Baltes, we will be putting together a committee to make recommendations for adjusting selective salary factors for non-tenure track faculty. But in the meantime, we have worked out a solution for this first year. Non-tenure track teaching and research faculty (excluding clinical faculty) will be allowed to opt-in to the following plan if they choose:
For research faculty: 6/7 research, 1/7 service
For teaching faculty: 6/7 teaching, 1/7 service
For example, if a teaching faculty member chooses to be rated only on teaching and service, they would be eligible for double the merit raise in the teaching category.
You will have until January 28th to let your Chair/Dean/Supervisor know if you wish to opt into this plan. Selective salary committees will evaluate all faculty as normal with the same benchmarks in each category, however, for a faculty member who has chosen this option they will not be given a score on teaching or research (depending on the faculty type). The LSC will be organizing an information session to address any questions you may have, or feel free to email office@aaupaft.org.
STUDENT DEBT
I have already heard from one Academic Staff member whose debt has been erased since submitting paperwork when changes to Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) were announced last fall. If you have not yet looked into applying for debt forgiveness, I encourage you to look into PSLF. Twenty-five of our members attended aDebt Clinic last week organized by AFT. Faculty member Kathy Elrick provided this summary:
“Those who have made 120 'qualifying payments' through an income driven repayment plan on certain federal student loans and have worked for a public-sector employer (i.e. government, schools/universities, non-profit) can apply for PSLF. The current moratorium period for including several previously denied types of federal loans, and for people whose qualifying employers were previously denied, is until Oct. 31, 2022. AFT's affiliate Summer can help with the employer verification form, which is the starting block for the process of PSLF.
The debt clinic covered the types of federal loans that are now being included in PSLF, such as the FFEL Stafford and the Perkins Loan. Private loans are still not included (e.g. from loan servicer Sallie Mae, now part of the private loan section of Navient). Retirees who have made the 120 qualifying payments under an accepted employer can get forgiveness though it may be contingent on when they worked for the employer, since PSLF started in 2007.
Reminder on the Covid-19 pause: federal student loans are not being collected right now, and the interest is not accruing (not true for private loans). However, federal loans are not considered to be in forbearance either. Each month they are currently on hold because of this particular pause, and count towards a qualifying payment of the student loans. More info: forgivemystudentdebt.org”
DONATE TO THE AFT MI PAC
As you know, Michigan’s electoral maps have been redrawn and many more districts than usual will be competitive in 2022. Each year, our state affiliate, AFT MI, collects donations through its PAC to help pro-education candidates win their races. Consider supporting the American Federation of Teachers MI PAC to support candidates state-wide: https://aftmichigan.org/pac/
I hope to see many of you this Thursday at 6:30 pm.
In solidarity,
Danielle
