LEO occupies administration building as contract expires
ALEC COHEN / DAILY
Lecturers and LEO supporters march from the Michigan League to the Fleming Administration Building in support of the Lecturers Union April 6, 2018.
On Friday afternoon, about
30 members of the Lecturers’
Employee
Organization
occupied a floor of the Fleming
Administration
Building.
Lecturers camped outside of
University of Michigan Provost
Martin
Philbert’s
office.
Philbert was not present at
the time. They also delivered
handwritten
messages
from
allies written in support of the
union’s efforts to negotiate
a
new
contract
with
the
University.
LEO President Ian Robinson
said when the union dropped
off
similar
messages
two
weeks ago, Philbert responded
through an associate and said
“he wasn’t impressed by that.”
Union members doubled their
efforts, leaving more letters
outside Philbert’s office.
“We came here to deliver
messages to the provost,” he
said. “We knew in advance, we
had been told he wouldn’t be
here, so we decided we would
come here and just stay for a
little just to demonstrate our
seriousness because this is a
very, very important matter.
The term is coming to an end
and this is the last day of the
contract, but we’re not going
away.
We’re
determined
to
make a breakthrough.”
Representing
nearly
1,700
non-tenure-track
faculty
members across the University’s
three
campuses,
LEO
has
prioritized
higher
wages,
improved equity adjustments
and
enhanced
benefits
throughout
the
bargaining
process,
which
began
last
semester and nearly resulted
in a walkout earlier this month.
Union members have blamed
a lack of “political will” on the
part
of
the
administration,
including
the
provost,
for
stalemates in negotiations.
University Provost Philbert
did not respond to a request for
a comment.
LEO’s
current
contract
expires Friday, April 20, but
the terms of that contract will
remain in effect until either
LEO or the University decides to
end it. Should one of the parties
involved announce that it no
longer wants the contract to
continue, the agreement would
officially end 30 days later.
Robinson
said
several
more bargaining sessions are
scheduled before the current
academic term ends on Monday,
April 30.
“That’s
an
important
deadline,”
Robinson
said.
“If we don’t come up with
an agreement that we can
recommend to our members
by that time, we can’t sign a
tentative agreement under our
LEO constitution until the fall
when our members return. If we
wanna get this thing resolved
before fall, we have to do it by
the end of this month.”
According
to
Robinson,
LEO’s bargaining team can
schedule more sessions with the
University if necessary.
“I actually don’t believe we
need a whole lot of meetings to
resolve the remaining issues,”
Robinson said. “Mainly, they’re
just about amounts of money.
Either you are willing to pay the
money or you’re not, and if you
are willing to pay it, it doesn’t
take very long to figure out how
to do that.”
Salary has been a particularly
controversial issue throughout
negotiations.
Currently,
the
minimum starting salary for
a lecturer is $34,500 in Ann
Arbor, $28,300 in Dearborn
and $27,300 in Flint. Union
leadership
called
off
a
potential strike only after the
administration
offered
an
increase of more than $10,000
to the starting salary in Ann
Arbor and more than $8,700 in
Flint and Dearborn.
In
an
email,
University
spokeswoman Kim Broekhuizen
wrote,
“The
university
continues to bargain in good
faith this afternoon and next
week with LEO.”
Lecturers staged the sit-
in after holding a block party
in Regents’ Plaza to thank
students and other allies for
their
support.
Some
LEO
members
voiced
concern
that
with
students
leaving
campus, the union’s bargaining
campaign could suffer a loss of
momentum.
Margot
Finn,
a
lecturer
in
American
culture
and
University courses, said she
hopes the support LEO has
enjoyed
from
students
and
allies continues.
“It is hard to organize on
college campuses because of the
ebb and flow of the semesters,”
Finn
said.
“I
think
LEO
members will continue showing
up and I think a lot of the
community
allies,
especially
tenure-track faculty, will. I’ve
seen so much commitment from
the students, and I hope that
continues into the fall. It’s just
hard to predict the future.”
LEAH GRAHAM
Daily Staff Reporter
Greene and Baer of MVision
win CSG executive positions
Public Policy junior Daniel
Greene and LSA sophomore
Izzy Baer will serve as
the 2018-19 University of
Michigan Central Student
Government president and
vice president, respectively,
according to election results
released late Friday evening.
Representatives running on
their ticket, MVision, also
won a plurality of seats in
the assembly.
Greene
and
Baer
defeated the second-place
MomentUM party executive
candidates,
Engineering
junior A.J. Ashman and LSA
junior Charlie Bingham, by
a margin of 1,512 votes—
more than 77 percent more
votes.
Business
junior
Arathi
Sabada and LSA sophomore
Marianne Drysdale of the
True Blue party came in
third
with
1,464
votes.
Reggie Bee, a corgi known
around
the
University
campus,
finished
fourth
with 1,403 votes, eMpower
— headed by Public Health
senior Lloyd Lyons and LSA
sophomore Frank Guzman
— tallied 771 votes and LSA
junior Sujay Shetty and Law
student Matthew Williams
of aMplify came in sixth.
Student turnout measured
at 23.9 percent, an increase
from last year’s 17.9 percent.
Friday’s results are still
unofficial, as the body’s
election commission has yet
to certify results.
Reggie Bee, the corgi,
placed
fourth.
However,
he
is
ineligible
to
hold
office and was disqualified.
Controversy
grew
on
social media meme pages
about whether votes were
wasted on Reggie, with the
popular
dog’s
Facebook
page even urging students
to cast ballots for eligible
candidates.
The
MVision
platform
focused
on
increasing
resources
for
Counseling
and Psychological Services
and
the
Sexual
Assault
Prevention and Awareness
Center. Greene and Baer
expressed that these goals,
and the entirety of their
platform,
was
rooted
in
direct experience. In the
same vein, the two hope to
bring attention and support
to
those
experiencing
oppression
from
their
“invisible
identities.”
During the campaign, the
ticket also advocated for
monthly
town
halls
and
open dialogues in response
to immediate “high impact”
events on campus.
Prior
to
running
for
executive
office,
Greene
and Baer both served in
representative roles in CSG,
with Baer acting as the
assembly’s vice speaker in
the winter semester.
Greene said he thought
there were many valuable
ideas
in
other
party’s
platforms which he would
work to include in his own
agenda as president.
“I think that what I’m
doing in this coming week
is
bridging
relationships
with the other candidates
and parties. I want to make
sure that their voices aren’t
lost,” Greene said. “They
bring a lot of institutional
knowledge and opportunity
and phenomenal platform
points that, although they
weren’t a part of necessarily
the
MVision
platform,
they
definitely
speak
to
student concerns on our
campus,
and
regardless
of what platform I ran on,
those
parties
and
those
candidates brought ideas to
the table that should not be
dismissed based upon the
election victory.”
RIYAH BASHA &
SOPHIE SHERRY
Managing News Editors
Revised sexual misconduct
policy redefines harassment
The University of Michigan
is
updating
their
policy
and
procedures on Student Sexual
and
Gender-Based
Misconduct
and Other Forms of Interpersonal
Violence in accordance with the
policy’s annual review. E. Royster
Harper, vice president for Student
Life, announced the policy changes
via email to students and faculty
Thursday.
According to the email, the
University is required to hold the
annual review to consider existing
policies and make revisions as
needed.
The
University
and
representatives from the Office of
Student Conflict Resolution, the
Office for Institutional Equity, the
Sexual Assault Prevention and
Awareness Center and the Office
of the Vice President and General
Counsel conducted the review.
The definition of gender-based
harassment will be changed to
include the resolution of harassment
cases that intersect with other
federally protected identities such
as race, national origin, disability
or veteran status. The definition of
intimate partner violence has been
revised as well to emphasize that
the University believes emotional
abuse is a reoccurring behavior and
not an isolated incident.
In an effort to improve the
sanctioning process, cases that used
to be heard by a voluntary board
of OIE and OSCR-trained faculty,
staff and student representatives
will now be heard by professional
OSCR staff. This approach will
reportedly ensure professionals
with significant training will be
responsible for determining proper
sanctions.
Rackham
student
Kamaria
Porter, who currently serves on
the
sanctioning
board,
wrote
in an email she understood the
volunteer board may have been
an unsustainable process due to
competing schedules and the large
time commitment of case review
sessions.
“Being on the board is a huge,
unpaid
time
commitment,”
Porter wrote. “It includes reading
sometimes hundreds of pages,
deliberating for hours, and follow
up emails. In addition, we had an
8 hour training. Sometimes things
come up and board members
can’t be available. That model
doesn’t seem sustainable in terms
of securing volunteers who are
already deeply involved in a
professional job, serving as faculty,
or pursuing a degree full time.
Finally, the option of mediation
between an accuser and the
respondent is now available in cases
of non-penetrative sexual assault.
Last week, OIE released its
annual report on prohibited student
conduct,
which
found
sexual
misconduct reports increased by
40 percent from 2016.
In addition to Harper’s email,
the University also released a
statement in the University Record.
Pamela Heatile, the University’s
Title IX coordinator and senior
director of OIE, said these policy
revisions both make the document
more comprehensible and assist in
the resolution of gender and sexual
misconduct cases.
“We are confident that these
changes will make the policy and
procedures clearer and easier to
understand, while also addressing
some important changes that are
significant to the adjudication of
these cases,” Heatlie said.
According
to
the
U.S.
Department of Education website,
Title IX states, “No person shall,
on the basis of sex, be excluded
from participation in, be denied
the benefits of, or be subjected
to
discrimination
under
any
education program or activity
receiving
Federal
financial
assistance.” In accordance with
Title IX, any applicable institution
is required to hold a self-evaluation
as a guarantee that the institution
is actively working to eliminate
gender-based discrimination.
In the past, the University
has been investigated by the U.S.
Department of Education for their
handling of a sexual misconduct
case in 2014. The University was
later criticized by students for
failing to release reports of the
investigation.
In collaboration with the Obama
administration, the DOE’s Office
for Civil Rights released a “Dear
Colleague” letter to universities
in 2011 as a commitment to Title
IX, which obligated universities to
respond to sexual assault claims
promptly.
However,
activists
now fear much of the progress
which was accomplished under
former President Obama will be
reversed by current U.S. Secretary
of Education Betsy DeVos and the
Trump administration.
RACHEL LEUNG
Daily Staff Reporter
Reggie Bee, a
corgi known
around the
University
campus finished
fourth with 1,403
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
Fall 2018 — 1C
UNIVERSITY
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