PSC and CUNY Finalize Agreement on Enhanced PSC-CUNY Awards–Feb. 2014

February 27, 2014

Dr. Barbara Bowen
President
Professional Staff Congress/CUNY
61 Broadway, Suite 1500
New York, NY 10006

Dear Dr. Bowen:

This letter will confirm the parties’ agreement regarding modification of Articles 25.1 and 25.2 of the 2007-2010 collective bargaining agreement between The City University of New York (“CUNY”) and the Professional Staff Congress/CUNY (“PSC”). The provisions delineated below supersede any and all policies and procedures previously in effect pertaining to the PSC-CUNY Research Awards Program, including, but not limited to, any Guidelines or Bylaws previously promulgated by the University Committee on Research Awards (“UCRA”), and represent the parties’ entire understandings and obligations with respect to Articles 25.1 and 252 of the collective bargaining agreement.

I. Article 25.1 will be modified to read as follows :

Funds for PSC-CUNY Research Awards will be provided as follows:

a. Effective July I, 2014, and annually thereafter, CUNY will provide $3,704,218.

b. Effective July 1, 2014, and annually thereafter, CUNY will provide an additional $180,000

c. Effective July 1, 2014, and annually thereafter, the PSC agrees that $130,000 will be provided out of the successor agreement(s) to the 2007-2010 collective bargaining agreement.

d. In addition, the PSC agrees that in negotiations for the successor agreement to the 2007-2010 collective bargaining agreement, the union will use its best efforts to identify at least $250,000 to augment the PSC-CUNY Research Awards.

e. Effective July 1, 2014, and annually thereafter, $50,000 in administrative cost-savings from the CUNY Research Foundation will be added to the funds available for PSC-CUNY Research Awards each year.

f. For the cycle of PSC-CUNY Research Awards that begins during the 2013-14 academic year and for each cycle thereafter, 20% of the funds in the PSC-CUNY Research Awards Excess Fund as of December 1 of each year shall be added to the funds available for that academic year’s PSC-CUNY Research Awards, provided that the PSC-CUNY Research Awards Excess Fund maintains a balance of at least $250,000. The calculation and contribution of said funds shall be effected by December 15 of each year.

2. Article 25.2 (a) will be modified to read as follows:

Eligibility: It is the intention of the parties that the funds for research and scholarly and creative activities shall be available without restriction to all full-time members of the instructional staff, and the untenured members of the faculty in particular, who are on the regular University payroll processed through the Office of the Comptroller of the City or State of New York. The parties further intend that the funding shall be used to support activities in the creative arts and all academically relevant research in the areas of natural science, social science and humanities, including but not limited to research related to curriculum development, improvement in teaching, adaptation of standard educational techniques to special clientele and the relationship between technical or occupational training and the liberal arts curriculum.

3. The Program will have three components as follows: a) Traditional A Awards of up to $3,500 each; b) Traditional B Awards of up to $6,000 each; and c) Enhanced Awards of up to $12,000 each. The Traditional A Awards and Traditional B Awards are subject to review only by the discipline-based panels referenced in paragraph “4” below. The Enhanced Awards are subject to additional expert review, as set forth in paragraph “15” below.

Individuals may apply for only one of the three types of awards in any given year. Faculty are not eligible to apply for or receive a Traditional A orB Award for any year in which they have received or will receive external grant funding or awards of $100,000 or more in direct costs for their research. A faculty member who is awarded such external funding after submitting an application for a Traditional A orB Award must withdraw his/her Traditional A or B application. Tenured faculty may not receive more than two awards during any three-year period, only one of which may be an Enhanced Award.

4. There will be 18 discipline-based panels, as set forth on Attachment “A” hereto. Eaeh panel will be composed of a chair and between four and 12 additional panel faculty members. Any panel chair who believes that more than 12 panel members are needed, owing to the number or subject matter of proposals received, should so advise the Vice Chancellor for Research and the PSC President.

5. Effective with the 2013-14 academic year, it is the goal of the parties to have panel chairs serve staggered terms so that approximately one-third of panel chairs will have to be replaced in any given year going forward. Vacancies that occur in the future as the staggered terms of the panel chairs expire will be filled as follows: the PSC will submit to the Vice Chancellor for Research the names of three tenured, research­ active CUNY faculty, preferably with a history of external funding, for each panel; the PSC will not indicate a preference among the three names. The Vice Chancellor, or her designee, will select the chairs from the three names submitted for each panel. Ideally, the panel chairs will serve for a full three-year term. Any vacancies that occur during the three-year period will be filled utilizing the same procedure. Upon agreement by the Vice Chancellor for Research and the President of the PSC, a panel chair may be invited to serve a second three-year term.

6. The 18 panel chairs selected as set forth in paragraph “5” above will form the University Committee on Research Awards (“UCRA”). There will be two Co-Chairs of the UCRA; one to be designated by the Vice Chancellor for Research and one by the President of the PSC. Both Co-Chairs shall be selected from among

the UCRA members. Ideally, the Co-Chairs will serve for a full three-year term. In the event either of the Co-Chairs is unable to do so, the Vice Chancellor for Research or the PSC President, as appropriate, will select a new Co-Chair from among the then-current UCRA members, including the departing chair’s replacement, who will be selected following the procedures set forth in paragraph “5” above. The UCRA Co-Chairs will report to the Vice Chancellor for Research and the PSC President and/or their respective designees at least once each semester regarding the progress of the program.

7. Each panel chair will select four or more additional tenured faculty members from CUNY colleges other than his/her own to serve on his/her respective panel. Panel chairs may seek the advice of the University Faculty Senate, PSC, and CUNY academic discipline councils in identifying potential panel members. In the rare instance where a panel chair is unable to fill all of the slots with tenured faculty, a request to appoint an untenured faculty member may be made to the PSC President and the Vice Chancellor for Research for their review and approval. Each panel must have senior and community college representation. Panel chairs should seek to have representation from as many different CUNY colleges as possible and should strive to achieve gender, racial, and other forms of diversity as well. In the rare instance where a discipline is taught at a limited number of colleges, the panel chair may select one panel member from his/her own college. Ideally, panel members will serve for a full three-year term. In the event a panel member is unable to do so, the panel chair will select a replacement, subject to the criteria set forth herein.

8. The panel chairs will receive an annual stipend of $3,500, but will not be eligible to apply for awards. The panel members will not be compensated, but will be eligible to apply for awards; however, they must recuse themselves from consideration of their own applications.

9. There will be only one call annually for proposals, to be submitted through the Research Foundation, via the e-application system. Proposals must be received by the Research Foundation by December 15 of each year. Out-of-cycle or emergency proposals will not be considered, and deadlines will not be extended.

I 0. The funds available for the Traditional A and B Awards, as set forth in paragraph “II” below, will be distributed proportionately each year among the 18 panels, based upon the average nuniber ofTraditional A and B applications received in the respective disciplines during the preceding rolling five-year period. Each panel should fund the Traditional A applications that are deemed meritorious, with the goal of allocating
66% of the funds received to Traditional A Awards. The remaining funds should be allocated to Traditional
B Awards. The panel chair should advise the Vice Chancellor for Research and the President of the PSC of
the resulting distribution of funds between the A and B Awards before the Award notification letters are sent.

11. Funding for the Awards will be allocated as follows:

86.5% of the available aggregate funding, as set forth in paragraph “1” above, will go to fund the
Traditional A and B Awards, and 13.5% will go to fund the Enhanced Awards.

Panel chairs will be informed of the total funds available for Traditional A and B Awards in their disciplines by January 2 of each year.

12. Decisions of the panels with respect to Traditional A and B Awards, and decisions of the UCRA with respect to Enhanced Awards, are final. No appeals or requests for reconsideration will be entertained. Award decisions are neither grievable nor subject to the informal complaint procedures of Article 20 of the PSC-CUNY collective bargaining agreement.

Traditional A and B Awards- Procedure

13. Following the annual December 15 application deadline, each panel chair will distribute the Traditional A and B Award applications received by his/her panel for review by the panel members. Each application sball be reviewed by two panel members.

14. The panels will convene as needed by no later than March 15 of each year, at which time the panels will assess the Traditional A and B Award proposals, based upon the various panel members’ review of the proposals received, and select the Award recipients. It is understood that the Traditional A and B Award applications are not subject to budget modifications by the panels. The evaluation of applications will include an assessment of the appropriateness of the budget proposal as submitted. If a budget request is not adequately supported or does not otherwise comport with Research Foundation Guidelines, the panel will reject the application; panels will not reallocate or readjust budget proposals. Traditional A and B Award notification letters will be sent by Aprill5 of each year.

Enhanced Awards – Procedure

15. Each panel chair will select two experts from either within or outside CUNY to review each of the applications for Enhanced Awards submitted to his/her panel. These reviewers will not be compensated. Reviewers may not be members of the applicant’s academic department. An expert reviewer may review no more than three grant proposals in any one year. (Traditional A and B Awards are not subject to such additional review.)

No later than March 15 of each year, the panel chairs will send to the expert reviewers, once they have agreed to act in this capacity, the Enhanced Award applications for their review. They must submit their expert reviews and rating scores to the Research Foundation via the e-application system by no later than April 15 of each year. The expert reviews and underlying applications will then be returned to the respective panel chairs for their review and transmission to the UCRA.

16. The UCRA will convene as needed during the last week of April and/or the first week of May of each year to select the Enhanced Award recipients. Selections should be based upon the respective scholarly and creative merits of the recommended applications. Given the expressed intention of the parties that the PSC­ CUNY Research Award Funds shall be available without restriction to all full-time members of the instructional staff, the UCRA should attempt to grant Enhanced Awards across a variety of disciplines at a variety of colleges. Enhanced Award notification letters will be sent by May 15 of each year.

The Vice Chancellor for Research and the President of the PSC or their respective designees may attend all meetings of the UCRA.

17. Deliberations of the panels and of the UCRA are confidential, and the identities of the expert reviewers may not be disclosed to applicants.

Applicants for Enhanced Awards will receive copies of the reviews of their applications (with the name of the reviewers redacted) when they are notified of the outcome of their applications.

Forms and Supplementary Guidance

18. The Vice Chancellor for Research and the PSC President, or their respective designees, may jointly issue clarifications or supplementary guidance with respect to the procedures set forth herein. The Vice Chancellor for Research and the PSC President will consult with the Co-Chairs of the UCRA, as needed.

This agreement shall become effective as of the date of the last signature below. Please sign on the line provided below to indicate your assent to these terms.