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Summary of Memorandum of Agreement with the Wentworth Administration

Wentworth Faculty Federation

August 22, 2022

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Length

Previous collective bargaining agreement will be extended by one year.

May 1, 2022-April 30, 2023

One-year extension was requested by the Administration in order to give new provost a chance to get settled at Wentworth and build a relationship with Federation before negotiating a 3-year CBA.

Most provisions in previous CBA will be extended.

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Compensation

4% increase to base salary, effective May 1, 2022.

Merit Pay for 2022:

Pool of $150,000 will be split equally among bargaining-unit members.
Each member’s share will be added to their base salary.
Merit will be added to salary before percentage increase.
Merit salary increases will be retroactive to the 10th pay period of 2022.
Merit salary increases will be included in the first paycheck two weeks after Federation ratification of CBA.

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Benefits

Faculty:

Institute will pay 70% of health insurance rather than 60%. Other Institute benefits will remain the same: faculty pension-premium, 100% (10% of salary); disability premium, 100%; liability insurance premium, 100%; group life insurance, 100%, paying two times base annual salary; dental insurance, 50%.

Librarians:

No change from previous contract. Librarians will receive same benefits as non-executive staff. (Executive Committee will aim to correct this in negotiations next year.)

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New Salary Minimums for Faculty��

Assistant Professor	Previous: $60,000 New: $69,500
Associate Professor	Previous: $70,000 New: $75,250
Professor	Previous: $85,000 New: $97,250

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New Salary Minimums for Librarians�

Librarian I	Previous: $48,000 New: $58,000
Librarian II	Previous: $54,500 New: $63,000
Librarian III	Previous: $61,500 New: $68,000
Librarian IV	Previous: $65,000 New: $73,000

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Program Coordinators

Joint Federation/Administration committee will be established to discuss the role and duties for a new program coordinator position in the bargaining unit.

Committee will be established by October 1, 2022, and will consist of 3 members chosen by the Federation and 3 members chosen by the Administration.

Committee will create a one-year pilot program for program coordinators. After the pilot, the committee will assess its effectiveness and whether to maintain position in the bargaining unit.

This aspect of the agreement will be part of a side letter attached to the CBA, and will not be in the CBA itself.

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Evaluation Review and Grievance Processes

Revised evaluation-review process:

Faculty member with concerns about their evaluation can appeal to their dean, the associate provost, and the provost, in that order, rather than their chair, their dean, and the provost.

Revised grievance process:

Faculty member first tries to resolve the grievance with their dean (rather than their chair), informally.
If the grievance remains unresolved, the faculty member can file the grievance in writing with the vice president of employee relations and engagement (rather than their dean).
If the grievance continues to be unresolved, the faculty member can file an appeal in writing with the provost.

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Graduate Teaching and Pay

Graduate classes will be considered as in-load for faculty teaching load calculations. Graduate credits will count as four-thirds (4/3) of an undergraduate credit for purposes of calculating load.

Graduate overload compensation will be set at a rate of $2,667 per graduate credit.

It will be the right of each individual faculty member to decline to teach any given graduate course on a case-by-case basis, as well as the right of each individual faculty member to accept or refuse to serve as a thesis advisor for a graduate student.

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Graduate Thesis

Individualized Graduate Thesis:

Thesis Course Coordinator: Will be treated as a graduate course, listed as primary instructor.

Individual Thesis Advisors (with a course coordinator): Will be compensated at graduate overload rate based on student-credit-hours (i.e. $2,667 per 20 student credit hours) and will not count towards load.

Individual Thesis Advisors (without a course coordinator): Will be compensated at graduate overload rate based on student-credit-hours (i.e. $2,667 per 10 student credit hours) and will not count towards load.

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Paid Parental Leave

Wentworth will provide 11 weeks of paid parental leave rather than 3 weeks, as in previous version of CBA.

Paid parental leave can be taken consecutively or intermittently.

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Librarians

Librarian sections of contract will include new references to the American Library Association’s Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) standards.

“Where consistent with its operating needs, Wentworth will endeavor to use the American Library Association’s Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) standards for Academic Librarian without Faculty Status.”

“Librarians shall engage in professional development as defined by the ACRL Standards”

“Librarians shall perform their duties, as enumerated in their job descriptions and in accordance with the highest ethical and professional standards of their professions as set forth by ACRL.”

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Necessary Language Changes

All references to Chairs will be replaced by “Dean” or “Dean or Associate Dean.”
Reference to NEASC will be replaced by NECHE.
Reference to “Faculty Days” will be replaced with “Opening Days.”
All language will be made gender neutral.