Yesterday, [12/12/2006—see original email announcement below] the administration announced the creation of a peer mentor program without the consent of APSCUF-KU.
APSCUF-KU has addressed the question of graduate assistants for large classes with the administration for a number of years. Although specific details have been very limited, faculty have expressed an interest in graduate students to mitigate the problems presented by the increasing number of large classes being introduced into our curriculum.
APSCUF-KU brought the issue of graduate students for large classes to the August 2006 Meet & Discuss. However, due to a 90-minute time limit imposed on the meeting by the administration, we were unable to address the issue. At the September M&D, the APSCUF-KU presented a proposal for graduate assistants in large classes. The administration did not produce a response for almost two months.
On 21 November, the day before Thanksgiving break and thirteen weeks into the semester, APSCUF-KU received the Peer Mentor Program proposal. APSCUF-KU scheduled it for Executive Committee on 7 December for discussion. It is on the agenda for Representative Council tomorrow. We have brought the proposal to our governing bodies as rapidly as possible. We have concerns that need to be resolved before APSCUF-KU can support the Peer Mentor Proposal. The fact that this is being done in a few short weeks was a testament to our support for a dialogue with the administration.
Yesterday’s announcement apparently renders all of this discussion moot. This is troubling and somewhat ironic to the extent that we conducted a discussion for Middle States on the topic of governance at Kutztown University just yesterday as well.
APSCUF-KU will not support the Peer Mentor Program until the specific terms and conditions of the proposal are addressed in a manner that complies with past practice, the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and is mutually acceptable to both the faculty and the administration. We believe that this is possible if a dialogue is allowed over a reasonable amount of time.
However, if the administration persists in unilaterally issuing this program, APSCUF-KU will be forced to file a policy grievance and allow the issue to be resolved at arbitration.
Email announcement from George Paterno
----- Original Message -----
From: George Paterno
To: faculty
Cc: Carlos Vargas-Aburto ; bashar hanna ; ikem@kutztown.edu ; Regis G. Bernhardt ; mowder@kutztown.edu ; tstewart@kutztown.edu
Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2006 4:17 PM
Subject: PEER MENTORING PROGRAM SPRING 2007
If your spring 2007 section(s) has an allocation of 100 or more, your section is eligible for the peer mentor program.
No matter which building you are scheduled to use, funds have been allocated to pay a peer mentor to assist you with
this section.
Specifically, any undergraduate student with a 3.0 GPA and 60 credits earned, or any graduate student in good standing can earn $10.00 per hour assisting faculty.
Expectations of the mentor :
Commit a maximum of 8 hours per week during the spring semester to - attend class, provide regular scheduled tutoring, student mentoring, perform clerical duties assigned by the professor in support of this section, as well as proctor quizzes and exams.
Peer mentors are not permitted - to teach, supervise the class or grade assignments.
A pool of students is being created, or you may recommend
a student of your choice.
To request the assistance of a mentor or to recommend a student to be a mentor please contact Tom Stewart, Director of Tutoring Services at tstewart@kutztown.edu.