Campus Connections

Issue Date: November 19, 2007

News and Notices

LCCSSA, administration announce new contract

Members of the Lewis & Clark College Support Staff Association will receive median pay increases of 7.1 percent, 5.4 percent, and 6.3 percent over the next three years under terms of the new contract agreement between the college and union.

The contract was ratified by the overwhelming majority of LCCSSA members earlier this week. The pay increases for 2007-08 are effective November 1.

Other highlights of the deal include two new pay grades on the top of the wage range, a new wage table that precisely spells out pay advancement based on years of service, and a more than six-fold increase in professional development funds available for union members.

“We are genuinely happy with the contract and feel that it is a good base for all future contracts,” said Robyn Ward, serial acquisitions specialist at Watzek Library and a member of the LCCSSA negotiating team. “Getting a new wage scale was huge for us. We look forward to our next negotiations in 2 1/2 years when we will continue to address wages and benefits.”

Also on the LCCSSA negotiating team were Meg Coryell from Athletics, Marilyn Sbardellati from Transportation & Parking, Lisa Frenz from Business Services at the Law School, and Brian Strauss from Instructional Media Services. Brett Nair of the Associated Federation of Teachers served as lead negotiator for the union.

Representing the administration were David Ellis, vice president and general counsel; Greg Walters, assistant vice president for human resources; Carl Vance, vice president for Business and Finance; and Kris Codron associate director of human resources.

Members of the team expressed satisfaction that the deal accomplished the aims identified by the union and College as essential to any new contact: namely, that it be fair, equitable, and easy to understand, that it create a clear system for employees’ progress through a precise wage table, and that it provide for substantial pay increases, particularly for lower-paid employees.

“We listened closely to the union’s case for those objectives, and that message, more than anything else, drove our approach to the negotiations,” Ellis said. “We’re confident this agreement achieves those over-arching objectives and that it brings us substantially closer to our goal of staff pay that is on par with the local wage markets.”

Other features of the agreement include an increase in the maximum sick-leave accrual to 130 days, a requirement that the College interview qualified internal candidates vying for promotions and transfers, and a provision allowing 9- to 11-month employees to carry over accrued vacation from one year to the next.

These enhancements follow the previously announced decision to eliminate the requirement that employees make a 2.5 percent contribution to the retirement plan to receive the 10 percent College contribution.

Ellis saluted the union negotiating team for its commitment to the well-being of the Lewis & Clark staff and the overall health and progress of the institution. “It’s clear that the staff association leadership, like the administration and staff overall, sees us as all being part of the same community.”

Law school negotiation team wins first place

Jacob Bush J.D. ’09 and Levi Johnston J.D. ’09 received the First Place Team Award at the American Bar Association Region 10 Negotiation Competition in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, earlier this month. Bush and Johnston were among the six students selected from the law school.

“The competition judges in Saskatchewan were very impressed with Jake and Levi’s excellent preparation, strategy, outcome, and relationship building throughout the negotiation of each of the Family Law fact patterns,” said Susan Marshall, adjunct law professor and negotiation coach. “Their post-negotiation analysis, sophisticated understanding of the principles of negotiation, as well as the demonstration of effective negotiation techniques, paved the way to first place.”

Bush and Johnston will represent the law school at the national competition in Los Angeles in February 2008 and compete against 24 of the top teams from the United States and Canada in the National Negotiation Competition. The last Lewis & Clark Law School team to take first place at the Regional Competition and to compete in the National Negotiation Competition was in 2002.

Pictured in photo left to right: Jacob Bush, Susan Marshall and Levi Johnston.

CAS student wins American innovation contest held on YouTube

Lewis & Clark senior Adan Vielma recently won a national video contest, culminating in a trip to Capitol Hill and a scholarship from the Task Force on the Future of American Innovation. The purpose of the contest, featured on the popular video-sharing Web site, YouTube, was to show how federally funded research has changed American life. View Vielma’s video here.

Vielma, a communications major from Edinburg, Texas, attended a screening of his video on November 8, in Washington, D.C., during a special event called “Sputnik in the YouTube Age,” hosted by the task force and the Congressional Research and Development Caucus. The event featured two prominent former astronauts – Dr. Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman to travel into space, and Dr. Kathryn Sullivan, the first American woman to perform a space walk.

“Adan’s video wowed the judges by effectively linking the importance of federally funded research to innovations such as the MRI and GPS that have revolutionized our society,” said John Palafoutas, co-chair of the task force.

The task force launched the competition in August as part of a Congressional lobbying campaign to keep the United States globally competitive by reinvesting in science, math and engineering research and education.

View all the contest videos on YouTube.

Rain or shine—run or walk for the Annual Turkey Trot

Treat yourself to a pre-Thanksgiving workout to make room for that holiday meal. Faculty, staff, students, and neighbors are invited to take part in the College’s annual Turkey Trot on Tuesday, November 20, at 12:30 p.m. The 2.1-kilometer run/walk begins and ends in front of Zehntbauer Swimming Pavilion.

The trot is a fundraiser for the Oregon Food Bank; a donation of two cans of food per person is required to participate. Participants will receive a Turkey Trot T-shirt and will be entered in a drawing to win a turkey. Winners in both men’s and women’s jogging group and walking group categories will receive a Palatine Hill Intramural Champion T-shirt.

For more information, contact Dinari Foreman at foreman@lclark.edu or call extension 7127.

Read the Chronicle – online!

The Fall 2007 Lewis & Clark Chronicle is now available online. Readers will find stories about Clare Rosenfeld CAS ’08, diabetes activist; Janis Lochner and Bethe Scalettar’s research on the formation of long-term memory; Kirk Richardson B.A. ’75, president of Keen Footwear; the graduate school’s ESOL program; and Dan Rohlf’s involvement with the return of the salmon to Tryon Creek. Submit letters to the editor at: chron@lclark.edu.

IT offers fall class

Information Technology offers ongoing computer training courses. During the next two weeks, this class is available: Moodle: Assingments and Choice. For more information, contact IT at extension 7020.

People News

New faces, new titles

Several people have joined the community recently, and some continuing employees have taken on new roles and responsibilities at Lewis & Clark. They include the following:

Monica Baker, administrative specialist for annual giving, Institutional Advancement; Minda Heyman, director, Community and Career Connections; Jorge Juarez, reference librarian, Boley Law Library; Sarah Martin, program assistant, Oregon Law Institute; and William “Liam” Pervisky, laboratory assistant, Student Health Services.

Published, presented, honors, and achievements

Faculty and staff serve as ambassadors for the College through their publications, presentations, awards, grants, and other accomplishments. Highlights include:

Paulette Bierzychudek, William Swindells Sr. Professor of Natural Sciences, published an article in the November issue of the journal Evolution, 61 (11), 2528-2543. The article, coauthored with Douglas W. Schemske, is titled “Spatial Differentiation for Flower Color in the Desert Annual Linanthus Parryae: Was Wright Right?”

Jeffrey Jones, assistant professor of law, published a book about the decreasing value of labor in America. The book, titled “An Unaffordable Nation: Searching for a Decent Life in America” (Prometheus Books, 2007), is a scholarly look at the dissatisfaction many middle-class Americans feel with the American dream.

More listings of faculty and staff achievements can be found in our online pressroom.

Lewis & Clark in the news

College faculty and staff are in the news on a regular basis. Read full articles without subscription fees by logging in with your Lewis & Clark e-mail username and password. Recent media appearances include:

Science: William Swindells Sr. Professor of Natural Sciences Paulette Bierzychudek has published a report challenging a theory that has influenced scientists and researchers for decades

Sierra Magazine: Lewis & Clark Law School is featured as a top school for prospective environmental attorneys

Events

Upcoming

Visit the campus Web calendar for events coming up in November and December.

About Campus Connections

Campus Connections is published every other week on the Web for the faculty and staff of Lewis & Clark College during the academic year. Campus Connections is published monthly during the summer.

Next issue publishes on:
December 3

News items should be sent to the Office of Public Affairs and Communications by noon each Wednesday prior to publication.

Submit your information now: connect@lclark.edu

For more information, contact Vanessa Fawbush, communications officer, at 503-768-7992 or fawbush@lclark.edu.