Mitigating rate will decrease for ARP participants
At the December 2021 State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) Retirement Board meeting, it was announced that the “mitigating rate” — the rate charged to participants in the Alternative Retirement Plan (ARP) — will decrease from 4.47% to 2.91% of payroll for Fiscal Years 2023 through 2027.
The mitigating rate is designed to compensate STRS for lost investment opportunity resulting from employees who are eligible for such plans not making contributions to support the STRS retirement plans. This change is based on a five-year rate study that was concluded at the end of the 2021 Fiscal Year.
Several years ago, a group of ARP participants sued STRS over an increase in the mitigating rate. The class action suit was settled and those who opted into the settlement received compensation.
OCAAUP Works for You
Happy New Year! Here is how OCAAUP works for you.
We thought that the New Year would be a great time to remind our members about the ways that the Ohio Conference serves faculty interests.
We know that OCAAUP may sometimes seem like a mystery. You likely are most in tune with the AAUP at the chapter level, which generally has the greatest impact on your day-to-day professional lives.
However, at the state level, OCAAUP does valuable and important work for all Ohio members. With just one staff member and a 19-member elected volunteer board, the Conference accomplishes a tremendous amount each year.
One of the biggest roles of the State Conference is governmental advocacy efforts. OCAAUP is seen as the faculty voice at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus. We regularly engage legislators, track bills, and provide oral and written committee testimony. Our goals are to lobby for greater resources for higher education, as well as protect and advance academic freedom, faculty job security, and shared governance. We advocate for strong pensions to the State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) and Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS) Boards.
We belong to several coalitions with other organizations that work on issues impacting worker rights, collective bargaining, the state budget, education, and public pensions. This work not only strengthens our collective interests, but it also means that other groups have our backs when we are faced with a threat.
In addition to our advocacy efforts, we often work with National AAUP’s Committee A to help individual faculty address infringements to academic freedom and tenure, and we help chapters address wider issues that threaten AAUP principles at the campus level. Over the years, we have had some success mitigating faculty job loss and holding administrations accountable.
We also aid in establishing new advocacy and collective bargaining chapters, build membership at existing chapters, and facilitate information sharing among our chapters. OCAAUP serves as a hub that connects all 25 chapters in the state so that faculty can exercise a collective voice and collective power. We frequently have op-eds published to engage the public on issues of importance to higher education and make the faculty voice heard.
You can keep up with Conference activity by reading our e-mails, checking our website, and attending your own chapter meetings to get updates from your local leadership. Thank you for being an AAUP member and supporting the important work that we do!
Get Involved with STRS
Opportunities to engage in pension issues If you are a member of the defined benefit State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) pension, there are a couple of ways that you can get more involved in pension issues to be an advocate for yourself and your peers. Healthcare and Pension Advocates Coalition For many years, Dr. Rudy Fichtenbaum served as the AAUP member representative to the Healthcare and Pension Advocates (HPA) coalition. Because Dr. Fichtenbaum is now a member of the STRS Board, we need another AAUP member to serve as a representative to the coalition, attending meetings with OCAAUP Executive Director Sara Kilpatrick. Currently, the meetings are virtual, but at some point are likely to revert back to in-person ones at STRS headquarters in Columbus. Travel expenses are reimbursed by OCAAUP. If you are interested in serving in this capacity, please contact Sara Kilpatrick at sara@ocaaup.org. Run for the STRS Board The best way that we can make changes at STRS for the better is to elect new people to the board who understand that the status quo is unacceptable. Retirees have been without a cost of living adjustment (COLA) for eight years, and active contributors to the system are paying in more than what the value of their pension will be upon retirement. But it doesn’t have to be this way, and we need more Board members who will support Dr. Rudy Fichtenbaum and his efforts to improve STRS. Whether you are an active professor or retired, there are positions on the STRS board that will be up for election. If you are interested either now or possibly for the future, contact Sara Kilpatrick at sara@ocaaup.org. |
November 2021 Legislative Update
Legislature wrapping up 2021 session
As 2021 wanes, the Ohio General Assembly remains in session. However, both the House and Senate have stated that they do not expect to meet past December 9; although as with anything with the legislature, that is subject to change. Below are updates on HB 218, HB 327, and SB 135, all of which contain components that impact higher education.
House Bill 218
On November 18, the Ohio House passed House Bill 218. This piece of legislation had not been on our radar, because it was initially introduced as a bill to extend bar hours and exempt bars from the statewide curfew.
In the House Commerce and Labor Committee, a substitute version of the bill was adopted, which included the following new provisions, most of which will sunset in 2025:
- Prohibiting employers, schools or institutions of higher education from requiring vaccines, drugs or other products that use mRNA, DNA or other genetic technology that has not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration;
- Providing exemptions for such mandates for medical contraindications, natural immunity and reasons of personal conscience;
- Specifying that an injury from a mandated COVID vaccine is eligible for workers’ compensation unless the person receives compensation from national vaccine injury programs;
- Barring entities from requiring people to show proof of vaccination to enter facilities or receive services;
- Allowing emergency medical technicians with proper training to conduct COVID tests; and
- Extending civil immunity provisions of prior legislation (HB 606, 133rd General Assembly) through June 30, 2023.
The full House approved the bill mostly along a party-line vote. We would prefer that the legislature stay out of matters on which institutions of higher education already have established their own policies, and this is what we had relayed in opponent testimony to the House Commerce and Labor Committee when they were considering similar provisions under HB 435.
The bill now moves onto the Ohio Senate. Senate President Matt Huffman had indicated that his chamber did not have much of an appetite for this kind of bill, but now that it is on his doorstep, we will see if the Senate decides to advance it to the governor.
House Bill 327
Known as the “divisive concepts” bill, which we have opposed because of the threats it poses to academic freedom, House Bill 327 still has been on pause. There has been no testimony on the bill since September 22. The only activity in the past month was the adoption of yet another substitute version of the bill on October 27.
We are hearing that there could be movement on this bill, or the other similar legislation, House Bill 322, in the two weeks of scheduled legislative session after the Thanksgiving break. While we also are opposed to HB 322 because of the limitations it would place on K-12 education, as well as the Ohio Department of Higher Education, our understanding is that the bill would not apply directly to state colleges and universities. As such, our focus has been on HB 327.
Senate Bill 135
Two hearings have been held on Senate Bill 135 in the House Higher Education Committee. At both hearings, bill sponsor Sen. Jerry Cirino answered questions by the committee, and there also was some invited proponent testimony.
We have been engaging with members of the committee regarding our concerns with the bill. The legislation would grant the chancellor power to establish policies to close low-enrollment programs and make decisions about new programs based on in-demand jobs. This could cause instability for programs and faculty.
Additionally, we are concerned with the provisions of the bill that would force state institutions to establish new bureaucracies for free speech complaints. Most of our institutions already have processes for all kinds of student complaints, and this has the potential to invite more issues than it would solve.
Moreover, we have pointed out that SB 135’s language promoting uninhibited free speech is in direct conflict with the provisions in HB 327 that restrain free speech. The legislature is going to have to reconcile whether it actually wants free speech on college campuses or whether it wants to restrict certain topics and the manner in which they are discussed.
We will provide further updates as these processes continue.
Call for Nominations for 2022 Elections
President, Secretary, At-Large Position to be elected We are now seeking nominations for the 2022 Ohio Conference AAUP Board of Trustees’ elections. In accordance with our governing policies, nominees must have been a member for at least two years and current on dues to be eligible for a trustee position. Nominations should be sent to Sara Kilpatrick, Executive Director, at sara@ocaaup.org no later than January 15, 2022. Below are the positions to be elected directly through the Conference elections next year. Those who are elected will serve a two-year term beginning September 1, 2022. -President -Secretary -At-Large Member: Private Institution (nominee must be a member at a private institution) The President shall preside at Conference meetings and, with the approval of the Trustees, arrange for the Conference meetings and appoint Chairs of the standing committees; shall execute such matters as are referred to him or her at Conference meetings and by the Trustees; and, in consultation with the Trustees, shall take such other actions as are judged necessary to carry out the objectives of the Ohio Conference, and shall report at the next Conference meeting any actions taken by the Trustees during the time between meetings. The Secretary shall keep the Ohio Conference records, including minutes of meetings of the trustees and of the Conference. The At-Large position for private institutions is supposed to provide the Conference board with a perspective from private institution faculty and to communicate with private institution chapters to see how the Conference can best serve them. The Conference Board has four Saturday meetings each academic year that trustees are expected to attend, one of which is the Annual Meeting. Traditionally, these have been in-person meetings, but in the last two years have been virtual on account of the pandemic. Trustees also oversee the executive director and provide direction for the organization. Serving on the Board of Trustees is a rewarding way to engage in statewide AAUP issues and state government advocacy. If you have questions, or would like to submit a nomination, contact Sara Kilpatrick at sara@ocaaup.org. |
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- …
- 20
- Next Page »