Does Madison College Really Change Anything?

The following text was taken directly from an email from Diane Walleser to MATC staff.

I wanted to update you on the work that is being done with the implementation of the new college logo. As you can imagine, it is a significant project with many components. I will lead the conversion project but will be working very closely with Tech Services, Divisional Business Analysts and all other college work units so we can have a successful implementation. We are still assessing scope and will not have our formal timeline completed until after the first of the year. We know you have many questions, so here is what we can share at this point:
1. Yes, it is okay to start using the logo. Logo style and usage guides are being developed and will be posted to the web for downloading and use by January 1st. If you have an immediate need please let me know and we can get an art ready logo to you.
2. We have a tentative goal of introducing the logo on level one and level two of the converted to new logo by January 1st. The deeper levels of the web will be changed out by the content managers when time and resources permit. Our goal would be to have MATC references removed from the Web site by the start of the Fall semester.
3. Tech Services is working on a plan for the conversion to madisoncollege.edu. In the interim please list realworldsmart.com as the college web address in any printed or web materials. This address will always redirect to our homepage and will be our transition address until our new address is ready for use.
4. We are currently working on a transition plan for employee and student emails. This is a critical part of the conversion and Tech Services is researching available alternatives. Since our email address will be changing sometime in the next six months you will want to limit your supplies of any new materials that list email addresses. As we work out the details we can be more specific on timing of the change so you can plan appropriately.
5. New letterhead, envelopes will be available after the first of the year and letterhead templates will be available on line. We will order business cards for Lead ship Council once we have our new email address confirmed.
6. We will be meeting with all work units on the transition. We will train you on the use of the new logo and help you develop a workable transition plan for your area. We will try and make the conversion as easy as possible and will share the unit conversion schedule once it is completed.
7. We are currently developing a FAQ for the website and a fact sheet for you to share with internal and external stakeholders. This fact sheet can be shared with community members, advisory groups and other groups and will help explain the process and rationale.
We will keep you posted on our progress. In the meantime, let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Please share this information with your staff. Thanks! Diane

It seems like the MATC Administration is spending a lot of resources on what amounts to a nickname change.  The obvious question here is why?  Couldn't those resources be better spent on programs that will help students?  We should all take the time to contact the administration to let them know our frustration over the time and money spent on this frivolous change.

Today's Clarion Article Misrepresents Key Data

An article that appeared in today's MATC Clarion mostly gets it right with a couple of exceptions.  Apparently the administration supplied data that misrepresents key points of contention in the P/t Union contract negotiation.

*1.) Gwen Torkelson is quoted as saying that 77% of the part-time faculty have a seniority level of three years or more. This is categorically untrue. [We] have the raw employee data from the past school year that lists the seniority level of each teacher who was assigned a course. This data was provided to us by the college's payroll department. The breakout is as follows:


0 to 6 semesters seniority- about 63%

7 to 13 semesters seniority- about 15%

14 to 20 semesters seniority- about 7 %

21 + semesters of seniority- about 15%

One of our main messages all along has been that we want to improve part-time instructor retention.  This would save in both training & recruiting costs and provide a better education from more experienced teachers.

*2.) [The Clarion] was provided with "data" that was incorporated into your chart on page 4, and it was presented in such a way as to make the result grossly misleading. The averaging salary for a newly hired full time instructor between 2006 and 2009 was $70,070, plus benefits worth $37,357 per year. That instructor, if teaching a full load will spend 500 hours in the classroom. The part time hourly figures you were given apply only to classroom hours. We are not paid for any work outside the classroom, even though it is expected and necessary (preparing for lecture, grading, etc.). The full time compensation model assumes that over an hour is spent outside the classroom for every hour spent inside the classroom. Only 15 hours of their work week, maximum, is actually spent in the classroom.

In addition, bear in mind that the starting salary average has been increasing , even the $70,070 figure is significantly lower than the average 2009 starting salary.

If you take that $70,070 and divide it by the number of hours the full time teacher spends actually physically present in the classroom, the hourly rate is $140.14/hr. With benefits, it is $214.85/hr. If part time faculty members were paid for time spent outside the classroom, then your comparison might be valid. Perhaps another way to look at it, if you want to use your numbers, is that full time faculty are paid for 2-3 hours of work for every hour spent in class, while part time faculty are only paid 1 hour for every hour spent in class.

We spend just as much time preparing outside of class as full time instructors, so why aren't we compensated as such?
 
*Note:  Retort data complied by P/t Union President Mike Kent.

New Radio Spot

We have a new radio ad that will be playing through the Thanksgiving weekend on WMGN (98.1), WIBA (1310), WOLX (94.9), and WTDY (1670). The spots will run during morning and afternoon drive times, so listen in to hear about what the MATC Part-time Teachers' Union is thankful for.

Looking for a Few Good Tweeters

Any union members who are interested in joining the @MATCPTUnion tweet group can leave a comment below and an administrator will contact you with information.
We want to make this a group effort - so the more, the merrier.

Retention Issues are a Problem at all Levels

NPR's Morning Edition ran this story today regarding new recruits for Teach for America. This program brings recent college graduates to the K-12 classrooms that need them most.
One of the interviewees mentioned that one of the most difficult issues for the program is fear of teacher retention. The monetary cost of training coupled with the time needed to properly train on the job should be familiar issues for the MATC administration. Apparently they don't mind, though, because part-time instructor turnover continues to hover around the 40% mark - an unacceptable level if we are keeping the best interest of our students and community in mind.
That begs the question: Is the MATC administration really doing what is best for the community?

Now On Twitter

That's right, folks - the MATC Part-time Teachers' Union is now on Twitter. Find and follow us @MATCPTUnion.
This will be a collaborative effort with many contributors from various union committees. We had hoped to add another dimension to our public face and social networking was the obvious next step. Please leave any feedback on the Twitter functionality either here or as retweets so that we can work out any bugs.
Thanks in advance.

On Methodology

The best teacher is the one who suggests rather than dogmatizes, and inspires his listener with the wish to teach himself. - Edward Bulwer-Lytton