Board of Trustees Approves Collective Bargaining Agreement

The East Central College Board of Trustees unanimously approved the negotiated collective bargaining agreement with faculty for the 2017-2018 school year at the July 20 meeting.

“We came up with many creative solutions to the issues this year,” said ECC-National Education Association (NEA) President Sue Henderson. “I am very thankful for the faculty and administrators involved in the process.”

Several new policies were added for the new school year including creating more opportunities for faculty to develop and work on projects and initiatives, allowing NEA officers scheduled release time to perform official duties and reframing the division chair roles to have a greater focus on learning, teaching and mentoring.

“We want to create an environment at East Central College where our faculty have the flexibility and resources they need to succeed,” said ECC V.P. of Academic Affairs Dr. Tia Robinson. “It’s vital to our student’s success to have our faculty engaged and involved.”

Several revisions were also agreed upon from the previous agreement.

“We are reducing office hours from 10 to 7,” said Henderson. “This puts East Central College more in line with comparable institutions.”

Henderson added that many students don’t take advantage of office hours, so the NEA wanted to figure out a way for faculty to interact with more students.

“We are redefining where office hours can take place,” she said. “We want our faculty to meet students where they are. That is why we are allowing office hours to take place in labs and The Learning Center.”