• Peter Potamianos, Chair
• Bill Terrell
• Olfat El Malach

It is imperative that we don't let Gov. B and the Illinois Assembly get their hands on SURS. The vast majority of you are already affected by the Social Security offsets which have yet to be repealed. Changes to SURS would negatively affect you even more.

Vicki Root-Wajda
From: Michelle Couturier, Region 32 UniServ Director

Please read the following e-mail message and attachment, and forward the information to other COD local members. Thank you.

-----Original Message-----
From: Donna L. Manering [mailto:manering@midwest.net]

As you know, the Governor has proposed changing the way that SURS must compute the interest rate in the Money Purchase Plan. This change would affect current SURS members. Last year nearly 60% of the retirees retire under the Money Purchase Plan rather than the 2.2% defined benefit plan.

Legislators have indicated to IEA's chief lobbyist, Rich Frankenfeld, that very few university/community college members have contacted them in opposition to this provision. We echoed SURS and told legislators that this change is probably unconstitutional in that it diminishes one's benefit.

Legislators need to hear from you right away. I have attached a postcard to be sent to legislators. Please forward to your members and ask them to send as many postcards as possible to legislators. To find area legislators and those serving on various committees, go to the ilga.gov website.

Thank you for your help.

Donna L. Manering, Ph.D.
Illinois Education Association Higher Education & Student Program Director

The election / meeting will be held at the CODAA Spring Meeting on Wednesday, May 25th at 2:00 - 4:00 PM, in BIC Room 2049.

According to CODAA by-laws:

• Members must be given reasonable time to send in nominations or nominate from the floor of the meeting. Write-in votes are possible.
• Two weeks must elapse between announcement of candidates and the date of the vote.
• Only bargaining unit members may vote.

The following are the announced candidates ( so far ):

Office	Candidate	Candidate
President	Peter Consolazio	???
Vice-President	Suzanne Vondruska	???
Secretary	John Richey	???
Treasurer	Diane Rzeszewski	???
IEA / COD rep	Cindy Kneisler-Moore	???

http://newmedialearning.com/psh/dupage/index.htm

"This is the Sexual Harassment Training Website. It is not mandatory that P-T faculty take this training, but it is highly recommended for your protection. If you are on record as having taken the training, you can be represented by the school if an accusation is made."

Note: If you wish to have physical proof of completion of this course, you will need to have a printer hooked up and turned on, at the time you take it. A printable receipt will be available ONLY after successful completion of the course.

The Presidents of the IEA Naperville West Suburban Office are planning to go to Springfield to confront legislators due to developments that affect education.

The plan to alter ERO and now the Governor’s proposed budget greatly affects all education employees.

Contact Dave Griffith, President of Naperville Unit Education Association (NUEA), and let him know how many members from your local would like to join other members out of the West Suburban Office to Springfield.

IPACE Funds should be used for these activities, e.g. bus, substitutes, lunch.

Please contact Dave at (630) 369-1555 no later than March 23, 2005.

The College of DuPage Adjuncts Association invites all part-time instructors at the school to its quarterly meeting. The meeting takes place on Tuesday, February 22nd at 5 PM in IC Room 2063. Kathy Wessel, chief COD Trustee, will be there to answer questions. also, pizza will be served.

If you will be attending, please RSVP the CODAA mailbox in IC 2070 by Thursday, February 17th.

Thanks to the tireless efforts of NEA members and other activists during the congressional recess, the House version of the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 594) now has 296 bipartisan cosponsors. The latest additions are Ben Chandler (D-KY), Candice Miller (R-MI), Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Ron Kind (D-WI).

Is your Member of Congress a cosponsor of the Social Security Fairness Act? Check the NEA website at http://www.nea.org/lac/socsec to find out. You can e-mail your Senators and Representatives directly from the site and urge them to support full repeal of the GPO and WEP.

Legislative Status

NEA staff met On April 21 with staff of Representative Shaw (R-FL), chair of the Social Security Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee. As previously reported, Chairman Shaw had earlier put forth several proposals to address the harsh impacts of the Social Security offsets. NEA had informed Chairman Shaw that the proposals were unsatisfactory, given the goal of eliminating the GPO and WEP.

Chairman Shaw ' s staff did not present a new proposal at the April 21meeting. However, as a result of the meeting, Chairman Shaw will meet shortly with Representatives McKeon (R-CA) and Berman (D-CA) - the primary sponsors of the repeal legislation - to work out a proposal. NEA has informed Chairman Shaw and his staff of the necessity to move quickly to put forward a proposal for NEA ' s review.

Given the ongoing negotiations, Representatives McKeon and Berman continue to believe a discharge petition is not necessary at this time. (Representative Turner (D-TX) has introduced a discharge petition in the House of Representatives - a procedural mechanism to bring a bill directly to the House floor for consideration. The petition currently has 142 signatures - all Democrats.)

We recognize that the pace of the negotiation process may be frustrating, especially to those who are losing benefits due to the unfair offsets. NEA remains confident in Representatives McKeon and Berman' s commitment to resolving the issue and addressing the unfair offsets. We firmly believe that the progress that has been made - including the continued presence of Chairman Shaw at the negotiating table - is due to their efforts as well as to the strong, effective advocacy of NEA members and other activists across the country.

We will keep you informed as to the progress of negotiations as well as to necessary any change in strategy.

Activists at Work:

Texas Teachers Press Tom DeLay:

NEA/TSTA local leaders from the greater Houston area gave U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) a surprise reception back home in Texas. Texas State Teachers Association (TSTA) and Texas Federation of Teachers (TFT) members - some 400 to 500 strong - marched together to a DeLay rally to express their displeasure the Congressman's failure to support repeal of the Social Security offsets.

DeLay accused the teacher unions of giving out false information and implied that teachers don't understand the issue. NEA GPO/WEP Cadre member Joyce-Roberta Miller Alper addressed DeLay and minced no words in laying out the facts:

• Teachers are informed.
• Teachers are discussing their own earned money lost through WEP and their spouse's earned money lost through the GPO.
• Mid-career changers faced with the loss of their own earned benefits and/or a spouse's earned benefits are dissuaded from entering the profession.
• And more.

News reporters - barred from the event by Delay - waited outside the closed doors to interview teachers as they exited.

Alaska Passes GPO/WEP Resolution

Thanks to the efforts of NEA-Alaska and NEA GPO/WEP Cadre members Jerry Patterson and Gayle Harbo, the Alaska Senate passed HJR 30, which urges the Alaska congressional delegation to support repeal of the GPO and WEP, by a vote of 18-0. The Alaska House had passed the resolution earlier by a vote of 37-0. As a result, 55 of Alaska ' s 60 legislators (with 5 absences) have sent a positive message to Congress. Alaska activists have also educated both candidates for Alaska ' s U.S. Senate race about the issue, and both have agreed to support repeal.

WHAT YOU CAN DO !

• Call or e-mail your Member of Congress. Thank Members who are already cosponsors and ask them to urge their leaders in Congress to make this legislation a priority. Urge Members who are not cosponsors to add their names to the bills. You can e-mail Members of Congress from NEA ' s website at www.nea.org/lac. Just select " Social Security. " The website provides sample message points for e-mails, but we encourage adding personal stories for greater impact.
• Talk to the media. A sample letter to the editor is available on NEA s website at www.nea.org/lac/socsec/editorltr.html.
• Spread the word. Fact sheets, talking points, and other materials are available on NEA ' s website at www.nea.org/lac/socsec. Use this information to educate colleagues, friends, and family about the offsets.
• Talk to other affected individuals - firefighters, police, other government employees - and encourage them to join the fight.
• Share your information. Send stories about your local efforts on this issue to Carrie Lewis at clewis@nea.org.

As an NEA affiliate, CODAA must hold a secret ballot election of a delegate and successor delegate to the NEA National Assembly, to represent our interests. The successor goes if the delegate is unable to go.

Eligibility Requirements: member of CODAA and IEA-NEA, in good standing.

Election will be held in March (either March 10 or 17, actual date to be decided this week)

If interested, contact Vicki Root-Wajda 630-942-2511 or email:

Here are details

CODAA
College of DuPage, IC2070
Glen Ellyn, IL 60137

ASP Research
P.O. Box 82
Morris, IL 60450

03/23/03

Dear COD Part Time Faculty Member:

You have been identified as a Part Time Faculty Member at the College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, during the current school year. ASP Research has been chosen by the College of DuPage Adjuncts Association (CODAA) to survey the needs and desires of the part time faculty. CODAA is interested in your opinions concerning employment conditions at COD.

It is well documented that understanding working conditions, identifying areas that need improvement, and building faculty morale are important for successful teaching. Whether it is one class or ten that you are teaching, your input is important to us!

Please take a few moments to complete and return this short survey so CODAA can make your working experience a better one. Estimated completion time is less than seven minutes. CODAA President Diane Rzeszewski stresses the importance of everyone's participation.

Please return the survey by April 11, 2003, to be included in the results.

You can fax your responses to 815-795-6726, or mail them to CODAA Survey c/o ASP Research, P.O. Box 82, Morris, IL, 60450. You can also leave them in the CODAA mailbox in the part time faculty room at COD located in IC2070, or email them to ASP@mtco.com. Thank you for your help.

All information will be used exclusively for the purpose of conducting this survey, and will not be used or transferred in any other manner. If you are not teaching any classes in 2002-2003, please disregard this survey.

Sincerely,

Diane Rzeszewski President CODAA / IEA-NEA

Michael Allen Consultant ASP Research

For further information, email CODAA at president@codaa.org or ASP at ASP@mtco.com

Take the survey

Bob Lichtenbert has agreed to research this issue, but we need all on the list to send information on pst experiences so we can get the lay of the land preparatory to reporting the situation and then trying to improve it. Send info &/or the best contacts in your organization to Bob.

Please be aware that you should NEVER put your SSN in an e-mail message - it's like writing it on a thousand postcards and then mailing these to a thousand random people !

E-mail, unless it's strongly encrypted, is not a secure medium and should never be used for confidential personal information. As it traverses from mail server to mail server enroute to the recipient, it can be easily opened and read by any number of people.

The incidence of identity theft is rapidly increasing these days, and technology helps the criminals to do it. Let's not make it any easier for them.

Regards, Oleh Sydor, CODAA Webmaster

An information and ratification meeting of all College of DuPage Adjuncts Association Bargaining Unit members is set for:

Date:  Monday, July 1, 2002
Location:  I.C. 2069
Time:  4:00 pm Discussion and questions
Vote:  4:30 pm VOTE ON CONTRACT ( following discussion/question period )

The negotiating team led by Vicki Root-Wajda, CODAA, and Mark Sharrard, IEA/NEA Uni-serve, is pleased to announce a tentative agreement with the College of DuPage. Some of the features you can learn about include:

• significant increases in salary
• fair share, or binding membership in the association
• "kill fee" for cancelled assignments
• office hours as part of work load reported to SURS (important for pension benefits)
• recognition of the association
• eligibility to join CODAA and retain membership therein
• academic freedom
• reasonable preference for teaching assignments
• grievance and arbitration procedures
• unchanged benefits regarding sick days, insurance, and tuition
• four year agreement includes quarter to semester conversion

Participation in college wide committees has been achieved via a letter of intent from Mike Murphy, COD President.

All CODAA BARGAINING UNIT MEMBERS need to come to the meeting to cast your vote for or against the agreement. *

THIS OPPORTUNITY WILL NEVER COME AGAIN. MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD !!

*A majority of those voting is needed for ratification of the contract.

This is the culmination of four years of hard work by thousands of citizens around the state, and goes a long way toward overturning the most oppressive aspects of the despicable Harper decision, which effectively denied collective bargaining rights to Illinois college adjunct instructors. We were the ONLY state employees singled out for such a dubious honor.

This is an important victory not only for Illinois adjuncts, but for all Illinois citizens that are concerned about the future of higher education in the state. Adjuncts must be given better pay, benefits, health coverage, and pensions. Schools can no longer be allowed to subsidize all their other expenses on the backs of adjuncts. Today's victory shows that politicians recognize that we are an important constituency in higher education, and it is time that administrators face up to this fact as well.

Thanks to all of you for your help and support, and please spread the word about this good news. We are also grateful for the steadfast efforts of Senators Cronin and Dillard, co-sponsors of HB 1720 in the Senate, to pass this important legislation despite the strong resistance of entrenched anti-labor forces. More information will be posted on the CODAA Website when it becomes available.

Until then, let's celebrate !!!

Here is the information you need to shape the future.

Spread the word ! Here is a printable page for adjuncts to print out, and here is a printable page for your friends and neighbors.

Here again, is general information about HB 1720.

Besides contacting Senators Cronin and Dillard, it can't hurt to let your own Senator know that you want HB 1720 passed. Here is a great tool for finding your legislators !

Check here for a list of local ( DuPage ) Senators.

The school has expressed disappointment to us that so far, few adjuncts are helping to get out the vote on this issue. Again, it is directly in our best interests ( major pay increase ), to have this passed. If you can help with canvassing and / or phone calling, please e-mail Dr. Christopher Picard, Vice-President of Academic Affairs. He will forward your message to the volunteers committee. Thank you.
Here is a page with links to the school's Web information area regarding the referendum.

Hello,

Hope your semester (or quarter) is off to a good start!

We are continuing to promote the passage of HB 1720 (part-time faculty bill). Will you help me to get members and leaders to make contacts with legislators in the next two weeks? The Senate is in recess until January 29 and we are asking that people make visits to the following legislators:

Senator Kirk Dillard - He is a supportor and is co-sponsoring the bill but we don't want him to forget! He does not have any opposition in the primary but would still like to keep IEA's support. Can anyone help organize a delegation to talk with Dillard about the bill?

Senator Dan Cronin - Also a supporter of the bill. An IEA recommendation meeting is being held on January 21 and it would be good to have some higher education people at the meeting to thank Cronin for his support. Also, we would like to have a group of people walk the precincts to distribute Cronin brochures. Would it be possible for COD to schedule a reception for Cronin sometime in February? We can use IPACE funds to support this effort if needed. Can someone organize a delegation to visit Cronin?

Senator Peter Roskum - He is not opposed in the primary. We need to have a delegation visit Roskum to ask him to continue to support the bill.

Senator Watson - I will try to meet with him in the next two weeks. He has a good relationship with some of the UD's in the area and I am going to try to get one or two of them to attend my meeting with Watson.

Rich Frankenfeld tells me that these contacts are vital to the passage of the part-time bill. Sending cards or making phone calls at this point are okay but will not be as effective as face-to-face visits.

Please determine who you will try to visit and invite others to go with you. Please let me know when you have a meeting scheduled and also let me know the results of your visits. The main purpose of your contact will be to remind the Senators of the support we need for the passage of HB 1720 and to thank them for their past support. Remember that this two week window is an important time for you to make contacts.

Phone numbers for the Senators can be found at www.legis.state.il.us

Another concern -

Funding for higher education will no doubt take a hit with the state budget in such peril. Calls to the Governor's office asking him to support the requested 3.7% increase in the IBHE budget would not hurt.

Thanks for your help. Donna

Donna L. Manering, Ph.D.
IEA Higher Education Director
100 East Edwards Street
Springfield, Illinois 62704-1999
manering@midwest.net
800-252-8076 Ex. 261

• Securing better pay and working conditions
• Expanding eligibility for the 90% of COD adjuncts that remain disenfranchised
• Maintaining contact with legislators to ensure passage of laws restoring the rights of adjuncts in Illinois

To this end, the union must work as a team - it cannot rely solely on its officers; everyone must do their part. More information can be found on the Union Page.

Thank you, Oleh Sydor, CODAA Webmaster

Even adjuncts in academia, who have otherwise been completely disenfranchised by the notorious Harper decision, are legally protected when it comes to union activity.

You can check on your rights as a worker by going to the Illinois Department of Labor's Website, at http://www.state.il.us/agency/idol/

Also, to reiterate information found elsewhere in this site, CODAA has been told by the Administration that we are a "protected concerted activity", and that anyone who feels they have been subjected to retaliation of any sort, should immediately contact President Murphy or Howard Owens, director of Human Resources.

We want to extend a heartfelt "THANK YOU !!!" to all of you that wrote to your representatives, and to all your family members, friends, and community that also participated in this effort.

However, we have more work to do - we need to get as many voters as possible to contact their State Senators, to get the same message to them - that adjunct faculty deserve the same rights as any other state employees. Information is below. Together, WE CAN WIN !!!

The bill may be voters as possible to send a signal to our senators, to create momentum for its passage. Our petition form is up, but time is of the essence.  Here is information on how to call your senator directly ( a local call to their local office [ NOT Springfield ] -- cheap ! ). And here is a list of the Senate Education Committee...

The dues are $ 5 for one year; $ 8 for two.

CODAA
P.O. Box 5112
Wheaton, IL  60189

Please help !