MCCC Fall Conference: Something for Everyone

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This year’s MCCC Fall Confer-ence, held on Sept. 27, had anumber of new workshop top-

ics and featured some politically barbedcomedy by Cambridge’s own JimmyTingle. Approximately 70 members at-tended the event held at a new location,the Courtyard by Marriott in Marlbor-ough.

This year the MCCC presented twoFriend of the Community Colleges Leg-islative Awards to Sen. Harriette Chan-dler (D-Worcester) and Steven Tolman(D-Brighton) to recognize their commit-ment to public employees and commu-nity colleges. Because of the constraintsof a busy election season, neither senatorwas able to attend, both Chandler andTolman will visit the MCCC Board inNovember.

Vice President Donnie McGee pre-sented a special Member Advocate Awardto Jack Flannagan who recently retiredfrom MTA after spending over 30 yearslobbying at the state house in behalf ofmembers. McGee praised his expertise,his commitment, and his effectiveness.Flannagan thanked her and returned thecompliment, telling the audience thatMcGee herself has become an effectivelegislative advocate. He went on to stressthe importance of member involvement,especially in this year’s election.

Jimmy Tingle entertained the as-sembled group before dinner with hisunique combination of personal, social,and political topics. From Scott Brown

and political advertisements to Wall Streetbailouts and healthcare reform, he broughtout the lighter side of politics. But he gotserious near the end saying that educationis a form of national defense.

The workshops were presented by amix of MCCC members and MTA staffpeople that focused on the use of technol-ogy and political action.

The technology workshops includedone titled “Social Media as an Organiz-ing Tool” co-presented by QuinsigamondChapter President Andria Schwortz andSarah Nathan from MTA Communica-

tions. Both presenters have usedFacebook and Twitter as forms of com-municating with and organizing mem-bers. The workshop had a hands-oncomponent where participants were ableto put the basics into practice.

MTA attorney Ira Fader gave a veryinformative presentation about the use ofelectronic communication in the work-place. Email and the internet are ubiqui-tous and employees are using them forwork functions as well as for personalpurposes while they are at work. Plus,

Continued on Page 2

This Is Really Big

Sign displays at the September 21 gubernatorial debate show a fiercely contested election that has clearly becomea two-person race with much at stake. (photo by Don Williams)

Comedian Jimmy Tingle entertained members at the MCCC Fall Conference withhis sharp political wit. (photo by Don Williams)

This year’s election is a crucial one. With thenational economy in a slow, jobless recovery,almost every state is in crisis as they must balance

their budgets. There is dissatisfaction everywhere.The opponents of incumbent candidates are ener-

gized because their own displeasure is magnified by thestagnant economy. Supporters of incumbent candidatesare despondent and depressed by the situation.

Both Massachusetts and the nation may see a signifi-cant turnover of governmental branches. Nationallythere could be a legislative switch. Here, the legislaturewill still have a Democratic majority, although thepolicies of those in office may be different. But theexecutive branch could see an enormous change.

For public employees and public colleges a changeof governor would create significant problems. Thereare enormous philosophical differences between thecandidates, and this includes their attitudes towardspublic higher education.

Two tax-cutting ballot questions also have negativeimplications for public education at all levels. Taking$2.5 billion out of the state’s coffers in an alreadystressed budget will have to force drastic cutbacks.

Higher ed. in particular suffers inordinately when thestate has a cash flow problem.

MTA is urging all of its members to get involved inthe election in any way they can. Every member is asked

to spend five hours working on some campaign activity.Be it for a ballot question, a congressional campaign, ora state legislature or constitutional office, MCCC mem-bers can’t afford to sit this election out. �

MCCC NewsThe Official Publication of the Massachusetts Community College Council / Volume 12, Issue 2 / October 2010

CorrectionsPage 2 Page 4Page 4Page 4 Apathy to Action Page 3Dirty Dozen

208

Transforming Apathy into Action

Page 2

Strategic Action

By Donnie McGee,SAC Chair & MCCC Vice President

Debates are heating up. The rheto-ric is raging. Attack ads resound.Catchy sound-bytes ring out while thecandidates campaign. Another elec-tion year is in full swing.

It’s déja vu. Just another season ofpitched promises, political finger-pointing, and tax cutting ballot refer-endums. It’s predictable political the-ater. But wait: Many would-be votersare not paying much attention. Thepolitics this season are really not thesame.

A two year-long recession and aninterim Scott Brown election have po-larized the nation. The clamor from thecrowds ranges from tea party outrageto progressive indignation. And reces-sion-era pain makes the blame-gameeven more intense. Midst voter angstand anger, though, much apathy re-mains.

We must transform such submis-sion into thoughtful, focused action.Or Election Day decisions could dic-tate agendas that are punitive to all.Education votes and voices must domi-nate these crucial fall campaigns.

In the governor’s corner, CharlieBaker’s plans would surely challenge

educators and public education. Hesupports its privatization. His $2 bil-lion tax cuts would truly burden col-leges and communities. Baker’s prom-ise: Cut 5,000 public employee jobs,slash retirement and health insurancebenefits, and “take on” unions.

Governor Patrick has had to maketough choices during a severe, twoyear recession.

But Massachusetts is recovering twiceas fast as the rest of the nation. Patrickclosed corporate tax loopholes to easebudget shortfalls and exposed the hide-

the-debt policies of previous administra-tions. The federal monies he fought forsaved 8,600 educator jobs and increasedfunding to public higher education.Patrick’s promise: Work with educators,business leaders, and elected officials tostrengthen the (state’s) economy whilesupporting cities and towns.

And all should pay heed to the Ques-tion 3 campaign. At press time pollsgive the edge to this slash the sales taxplan. A win would mean a state rev-enue loss of $2.5 billion and a furtherdismantling of public higher educa-tion. Full-time positions would beeliminated; funding, taken from col-leges; and fees, hiked for students.Cuts to local aid would close libraries,parks, and senior centers – and threatenpublic safety. Paying less in taxessounds good, but the consequenceswould be severe.

The 2010 election is just around thecorner. It’s a dead heat between Bakerand Patrick, between tax cuts and com-munity well-being. Let’s end this politi-cal drama appropriately. Your voice andyour support are needed in these cam-paigns.

Act now: Re-elect Governor Patrickand defeat Question 3. Ensure that publiceducation has a fighting chance in theyears to come. �

Continued from Page 1

MCC Fall Conference . . .given the nature of college instruction, many of mem-bers are using employer-owned hardware and systemsfrom home. Fader’s basic message was that if theemployer provides it they have access to what you do onit. He warned that privacy is diminishing.

Ken Takvorkian of Mount Wachusett ran his popularunion trivia quiz with clickers. This was a fun way to seethe educational advantage of using these individual hand-held devices to get a class fully involved in a presentation.By asking questions of the group, an instructor, and thegroup, can see how every participant responds.

On the non-technological side there were work-shops that addressed both individual and collectiveissues facing MCCC members today.

Vice President Donnie McGee, MTA lobbyist JuliaJohnson and MTA Consultant Miles Stern conducted apolitical action session. Key topics were the status ofhigher ed. contracts in the legislature and the impact onhigher education of the governor’s race and the ballotquestions.

Holyoke Chapter President Aaron Levin andKathleen Doherty, who chairs the MTA GLBT Is-sues Committee, led a session that discussed issuesfaced by gay and lesbian members in the workplace.Using videos of various workplace situations, theyexplored responses to the problems that were pre-sented.

Betsy Smith, who is one of two Adjunct/Part-timeat-large MCCC Directors, led a lively discussion titled

Retiring MTA lobbyist Jack Flannagan was presented with the Friend of CommunityColleges Member Advocate Award by Vice President Donnie McGee at the FallConference. (photo by Don Williams)

“Bridging the Gap: Moving Towards Being One Union”where full-time and adjunct members discussed thethings that divide them, but more importantly focusedon what they have in common.

MTA Consultant Katie D’Urso conducted a sessionon Day Contract issues and the MCCC Classificationsystem. This is a regular feature at the Fall Conferenceand is always a popular one, especially with first timeattendees.

Attendees were very positive about this years Con-ference. Individual workshops were well attended, andit seemed that there was something of interest foreveryone. The new venue was well suited for the event.Access was easier than at the previous location and therewas ample parking. �

MTA attorney Ira Fader gave a detailed presentation onthe pitfalls of electronic communications in the work-place at the Fall Conference. (photo by Don Williams)

Aaron Levin, Holyoke Chapter President and MTA member Kathleen Doherty led a workshop on workplaceissues confronted by gay, bisexual, lesbian, and transgendered persons using a series of video presentations tofoster discussion. (photo by Don Williams)

Charlie Baker’s Dirty DozenGubernatorial candidate

Charlie Baker has put forwardhis “Baker’s Dozen”–13 pro-posals for saving the statemoney. Some of them havemerit and some are of ques-tionable value. But some ofthem are downright danger-ous for those of us working atstate colleges.

I’m not going to pick aparthis 13 proposals individually,but I am going to present 13inconsistencies on his policyproposals, campaign state-

ments, and attitudes towards public higher educationemployees. I’m calling them Baker’s Dirty Dozen.

1.) Baker’s first four proposals are all anti-union,mostly public unions, but private sector unions aswell. He has a long history of anti-union animus, andbeing a founder and director of the Pioneer Instituteshows this early commitment. Note the Baker ad

Joe LeBlanc,MCCC President

Community Colleges Take Center StageEarlier this

year, Presi-dent Obamasigned the stu-dent loan billinto law. Themeasure willsend $43 bil-lion in new aidto higher edu-cation, includ-ing $36 billionto Pell Grants.Some of thismoney will

trickle down to community colleges.This month, Second Lady Dr. Jill

Biden led a White House Summit onCommunity Colleges. In a White Houseblog titled “50 States/50 Stories” Dr.Biden set the tone, asking stakeholdersto work together and persist in tellingtheir stories.

America’s number one spokesper-son for community colleges will need

to earn an “A” in persistence to take thesummit’s institutional effectiveness fo-cus and translate it into sustained in-creased funding for America’s needi-est institutions of higher learning. Let’sgive her big points for trying.

Best practices alone won’t producefive million new graduates over thenext decade. Kind words and photosand videos tell a grand story, but miss-ing from any of this time in the spot-light is a commitment to adequate fund-ing. A White House video to publicizethe summit includes all the familiarstories about community colleges. TheSecond Lady cites the need to makeAmerica aware of our colleges and pro-grams. With soaring enrollments andlow costs – thanks to the recession andrecord numbers of adjunct faculty –America is already aware of ournation’s higher education bargain.

The President calls community col-leges “essential to a competitiveworkforce,” while stressing the need to

share innovative ideas. And let’s notforget those private sector partnerships.One such partnership with The PrincetonReview and Bristol Community Collegewill soon add scores of adjuncts to aninstitution already leading the state in useof contingent faculty.

And the video highlights the successstories. A student talks about opportunityand access. U.S. Transportation Secre-tary Ray LaHood says community col-lege gave him a chance to find himself,praising his professors for being student-centered and the college for its low cost.

Community college opened doors foranother student. A CEO says it changedhis life and allowed him to find himself.Journalist Jim Lehrer cites finances asdriving his decision to attend a juniorcollege in Texas. His family couldn’tafford the tuition UT-Austin, but the $10community college tuition made it pos-sible for him to attend college.

The summit’s breakout sessions fo-cused on ease of transfer, completion

rates, affordability, online learning, sup-port for military families and veterans,and industry-college partnerships.

Summit organizers encouraged shar-ing ideas and encouraged communitycolleges to sponsor similar events. Dr.Biden is asking us to tell our stories. It’stempting to be cynical about all of this,but let’s assume that America’s attentionspan is still engaged after the closingsession ended at 4 p.m. on Oct. 5. Let’shope that the message sticks.

You can begin to make a differenceby sending your stories to Dr. Biden. Mystory will be about my son, a communitycollege graduate. In his story, NorthernEssex Community College saved his life.He has returned the favor to the Com-monwealth by becoming a teacher.

Let’s trust that Jill Biden and thePresident will continue to use the bullypulpit in coming years. The stakes aretoo high to lose this opportunity toengage our nation in a discussion abouttheir future, our future. �

Page 3

In Solidarity

Don Williams, MCCCCommunicationsCoordinator

running on television accusing Deval Patrick ofcolluding with “union bosses.” This is clearly anattempt to separate union members from union lead-ers.

2.) He accuses Gov. Patrick of “kicking the candown the road” on financing current projects thathave maintained and created work during the worstrecession of the last 70 years, while Baker “kickedthe can down the road” on the Big Dig financingduring relatively good financial times just to satisfythe Weld/Cellucci anti-toll and anti-tax agenda.

3.) Baker says that he opposes the Question 3 salestax rollback, and he knows the state would be devastatedby such a cut. But his television ads have a serious anti-tax message that many viewers will connect as supportfor the tax rollback. There’s a logical disconnect here.

4.) Baker has repeatedly stated that he would layoff 5,000 state workers. But on the other hand he hascriticized the Registry of Motor Vehicles for havinglong waiting lines where there have been staff reduc-tions in the dozens. How do you provide more servicewith fewer workers? Workload issues anyone?

5.) Baker’s Pioneer Institute has been a strongproponent of privatizing public services. And Bakerwas a proponent of it in the Weld administration.Given trends in higher ed, like the partnership withPrinceton Review at Bristol Community College, wecould see a significant increase in the influence offor-profit entities.

6.) When Baker ran Harvard Pilgrim he abruptlyclosed down its entire operation in Rhode Islandleaving thousands of patients and service providersin chaos for months. Baker said he didn’t like doingsuch a “brutal” action, but it was a good businessdecision [Boston Globe 9/29/2010]. Will there beany good business decisions at your campus?

7.) As secretary of administration and finance inthe late 1990s, Baker was a key proponent of theMCCC Classification Study. Instead of the tradi-tional K-12 style salary schedule with 12–18 stepsthat the Union wanted, what we got was a long-delayed, private consultant driven, Byzantine sys-tem that the state never fully funded. What did lastwas the increased workload of five courses.

8.) Over the summer, Baker promised to releasea policy on higher education. But with less than amonth ‘til the election, I can’t find his policy any-where. He does say that higher ed is the economicengine of this state, but apparently it’s not importantenough to put a policy out. I don’t know about you,but I have long been suspicious of politicians withsecret plans. And we all know how easy it is forgovernors to cut higher ed.

9.) Baker has said that there are two classes ofpeople. One is the public employee sector with guar-anteed pensions, low-cost health care, and job secu-rity. The other is everyone else whose employmenthas declined. But when the economy turns around,private sector employment will improve significantly.History shows that the public sector will be leftbehind.

10.) Baker criticizes Gov. Patrick for giving stateemployees raises. We just agreed to a second zeroyear, and when it all adds up, the raises over fiveyears average only 1.7 percent. Baker thinks this istoo much. And we will have to negotiate the nextcontract with the governor elected this year.

Members participated in a workshop at the Fall Conference, led by Betsy Smith, that looked at bridging the gapsbetween full-time and adjunct faculty. (photo by Don Williams)

Continued on Page 4

The MCCC News is a publication ofthe Massachusetts Community Col-lege Council. The Newsletter isintended to be an information sourcefor the members of the MCCC andfor other interested parties. Mem-bers’ letters up to 200 words andguest columns up to 400 words willbe accepted and published on aspace-available basis. The materialin this publication may be reprintedwith the acknowledgment of itssource. For further information onissues discussed in this publica-tion, contact Donald Williams, NorthShore Community College, OneFerncroft Road, Danvers, MA 01923.e-mail: Communications@mccc-union.org

MCCC Newshttp://mccc-union.org

Editor:Donald R. Williams, Jr.

President:Joseph LeBlanc

Vice President:Donnie McGee

Secretary:Gail Guarino

Treasurer:Phil Mahler

Page 4

Know Your Day ContractOctober 2010Oct. 26 Accrued professional staff vacation time in

excess of 64 days (480 hours) converts to sicktime. This now occurs twice per year, falling on theend of the last pay period of April and October p. 22.

Oct. 30 Last day to opt out of sick bank p. 22.(Note; membership in sick leave bank is automatic upon firstOctober of a member’s employment.)

November 2010Nov. 11 Veterans Day holiday.

Nov. 21 Unit Personnel Practices Committee established p. 38.

Nov. 25 - Thanksgiving Holiday.Nov. 26

Nov. 26 Professional Staff must use one of the three off campus days p. 46.

(Note: Dates may vary depending on the first day of classes. Most ofthese dates are “last date” standards. In many instances the actioncan be accomplished before the date indicated. �

Baker’s Dirty Dozen . . .Continued from Page 3

11.) Listening to Baker’s statementsone would think that the Massachusettseconomy is a basket case, run into theground by Gov. Patrick’s mismanage-ment. But in fact, the Massachusettseconomy is recovering faster than mostother states. And our unemployment rateis well below the national average. Andthe state leads the nation in job creation.Baker is falsely trashing our state toexploit the electorate’s fears.’

12.) Baker has asserted that Patrick“never cut a thing.” In fact he has cut$4.3 billion from the budget, elimi-nated 2700 state jobs, furloughed 5000managers, and negotiated union takebacks [www.timmurray.org]. We maynot like all of these, but imagine Baker’scriticism if Patrick had not taken theseactions.

13.) MTA has 107,000 members–a significant voting block in the state.Yet Charlie Baker didn’t consider usimportant enough to respond to MTA’scandidate questionnaire, let alone meetwith us. We may disagree with some ofGov. Patrick’s actions, but he has al-ways been willing to meet with mem-bers and their representatives. I havebeen in the MCCC for 31 years, and Ihave never seen a governor as acces-sible and as respectful as Deval Patrick.

Thirteen has long been consideredan unlucky number, and Baker’s own13 proposals plus the additional 13

above are doubly unlucky for commu-nity college faculty and staff. Gov. Patrickhasn’t been all we had hoped, and someof his policies have displeased many ofus, but there is no question that he is thebetter choice for higher ed.

If you’re a Republican, think abouthow voting for Baker will impact youremployment. For whatever other rea-sons you might support him, in termsof your college work he will be ter-rible. He may lower your taxes, butyou will lose income.

If you’re an independent voter,think about the impact that voting foranyone other than Deval Patrick willhave. A vote for Jill Stein or Tim Cahillwill be a vote for Charlie Baker. Whenvoters “send a message” the messagedoesn’t get written down. The electedcandidate defines the message.

If you are a Democrat, get active! Itis not a happy time, and there are lotsof reasons to feel disempowered. Butsitting this election out will make thingseven worse. Talk to your colleagues,your family, and your neighbors. Tellthem how important it is to keep Gov.Patrick in office to complete the workwe elected him to do before theeconomy crashed. As he said at a meet-ing with union members, “I’ll knowwhat to do when he revenues improve.”Don’t think for a minute that we willbenefit when the economy picks up ifCharlie Baker is elected. �

Union workers held signs for the Patrick/Murray campaign at the Sept. 21 guber-natorial debate. (photo by Don Williams)

CorrectionsRegrettably a number of errors were not caught before the last issue went

to press. The following names were misspelled: Charles “Pat” Schmohl, JohnSolaperto, and Randi Zanca. The editor apologizes for these oversights.

Also the list of MCCC members attending the MTA Summer Conferenceat Williamstown came from MCCC office and was incomplete. The moreinclusive list below came from the MTA.

Catherine AdamowiczGabriela AdlerCatherine BoudreauCynthia BrennerPamela DonahueOrland FernandesDennis FitzgeraldNorene GachignardRobert GilliesGail GuarinoChristopher HoethPaulette HowarthThomas KearnsPhilip KukuraDale LaBonteJoe LeBlancAaron LevinTiffany Magnolia

Lois MartinHeidi McCannDonnie (Diana) McGeeM. Lou NessonDean NimmerEric NormentEllen Madigan PrattThomas SalvoCharles Schmohl, JrAndria SchwortzLisa SheldonCandace ShiversKenneth TakvorkianDonald WilliamsMargaret WongDiana YoheRandeen Zanca

Winners of the door prizes at the MCCC Fall Conference, from left, SarahSadowski, QCC; Betsy Smith, CCCC; Mark Bashour, QCC; Carole Dupont,STCC; and Cleo Mavrelion, STCC. (photo by Don Williams)

Quinsigamond Chapter President,Andria Schwortz co-presented aworkshop on using social media suchas Facebook and Twitter to organizemembers. (photo by Don Williams)