Professional Staff Holiday Luncheon

It’s that time of year again. Professional staff are asked to save the date Thursday, December 9th for the annual holiday luncheon. Lunch will be served from 12:00-2:00pm in Student Center 419. Historically, the luncheon provided a formal presentation on a topic of relevance to professional staff. This year, while the luncheon will be more informal and serve as an opportunity to connect/reconnect with your colleagues from across the campus, there will be a small presentation about performance-based promotion and reclassification. As always, we look forward to seeing you and enjoying a festive afternoon full of smiles, stories, and some giveaways as well! Questions or comments: contact Lisa Ambrose at lisa.ambrose@aftlocal1904.org.

Use It or Lose It

As a friendly reminder, please be sure to check your vacation leave balance in Web for Employees.  Per the university policy regarding vacation leave, full-time 12-month employees receive 22 days per year. Review the full policy here.
Full-time professional staff can carry over one full year’s worth of vacation leave.  This means that if you have more than 22 days (or 154 hours) on January 1st, you will lose them.  Therefore, it is wise to check your balance now and see how many hours you have compared to 154.  If you have more, now is an excellent time to work out with your supervisor when you would like to take your remaining vacation leave so as not to lose it. After all, you earned it!
—Lisa Ambrose, Professional Staff Coordinator & Negotiations Leader

Workplace Bullying Workshop

Debra Davis, CNJSCL

Do you think workplace bullying isn’t real? Think again. According to a study commissioned by the Workplace Bullying Institute in 2007, 37% of the workers surveyed reported being either currently bullied (13%) or having been bullied previously (24%). This means that potentially more than one-third of our membership has been or is currently being bullied at work.
If you want to learn more about workplace bullying and what you can do to stop it, come to the Workshop on Workplace Bullying co-sponsored by MSUFT Local 1904 and CWA Local 1031 on Wednesday, October 27, 2010 from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the Student Center, Ballroom A. Refreshments will be served.
The featured speaker will be Debra Davis, Staff Representative from the Council of New Jersey State College Locals (Council). She is the Council's resident expert on this issue and will be giving a presentation on the topic and sharing with you suggestions on how best to disengage from the games bully bosses and colleagues play in the academic workplace.
Want to learn more about workplace bullying and its effects on the workplace, check out the The Workplace Bullying Institute’s website.

Randi Weingarten has some tough things to say about tenure

Tenure and teacher evaluation are the talk of the town. Randi Weingarten, President of The American Federation of Teachers, comments on the documentary "Waiting For Superman" which has some tough things to say about tenure for teachers. Take a look at AFT President Randi Weingarten's *appearance on CBS's "Sunday Morning" yesterday. She addressed the complex topics of tenure and teacher evaluation head-on and provided real solutions.