Missouri National Education Association and STLCC board approve raises
BY: OLIVER PULCHER
Staff Writer
Over the course of seven months, prior to the designated “back to school” period of time for students nationwide, members of the college community who are responsible for keeping the school running and education on track were in negotiations to bring about pay raises for faculty members, as well as other benefits.
From the beginning of this year, in January, to shortly before the spring semester began, educators and members of STLCC’s NEA (National Education Association) board have been in talks with Meramec’s administration to decide on changes to the contract for all full-time staff, following the 2018 reduction in force.
According to NEA president Dr. Emily Neal, a 3 percent raise for both 2018 and 2019 were ratified in the July 13 meeting of the two teams and officially approved at the final July 19 STLCC board meeting.
These raises are an increase over the normal 1.9 percent annual raise that the college has implemented in the past via the “step system,” said Neal. The step system is a means of implementing raises which bases the amount of the increase each teacher will receive upon several factors, including time with the college, amount and quality of education, the seniority a particular staff member holds, and for the professors, the amount of teaching experience they have, said Neal.
The January meetings also clarified and solidified a five-year contract on the transfer processes for faculty, and outlined a more liberal definition of the academic freedom faculty are given, said Neal.
These changes were all verified and decided through interest-based bargaining, a process of decision making that is based on how interested the negotiators and attendees of the meetings are in certain topics, said Neal.
The current contract also outlines academic freedom for faculty, as well as clarification on why, how and when professors can be transferred between campuses and departments, said Neal.
As a result, according to Neal, faculty will be better able to create lesson plans that they believe will benefit students more and will improve their ability to teach their subjects as effectively and inclusively as they like.
Additional negotiations are planned for 2019-2020 to discuss further changes to salary plans based on the financial health of the STLCC budget.
