Dear Staff,

We're glad to introduce our latest model for professional development, Professional Learning Communities for Professional Readings and to present each of you with a list of our recently purchased professional books.  Additionally, you will find a downloadable sign-up sheet for anyone who might be interested in joining a PLC sometime during this school year. We now have four formats. A more complete description of PLCs can be found inside the BTC Fall 2014 Newsletter/Catalog.

Dear Colleagues, as we continue to negotiate with the Administration on your behalf, I want to emphasize that all of our "asks" are based on a sense of fairness and Respect for Faculty. We believe that discussing each article of the contract and jointly reaching a solution is respectful. However:

We know how generous our members are and we know that many of our members are involved in their communities.  If you would like to share your story regarding the work you are involved in within your community,  please email pfairbanks@andr.org with your information.

The next Bargaining Session is scheduled for Monday, October 6th from 1:30pm - 4:30pm in the ATC at the Downtown Campus.

Click here to download a pdf version. 

Check Your Pay & Deductions

Now that you have received your August pay, please be sure to check that the numbers are correct!! If you use direct deposit, pleased go to ess.sccoe.org to check your rate of pay and deductions.
Divide your gross annual salary by 11 - this should be the monthly gross on your pay stub.  If you receive an additional Master's Degree Stipend ($1,000) or Doctoral Degree Stipend ($1,500), that should be added onto your annual salary. Then look at the rest of your pay stub to make sure there is nothing that looks wrong.

It is with great sadness that we bid farewell to a long time friend and colleague. AFT-Maryland retiree, Betty Pitt, passed away on September 6, 2014. She will be greatly missed.

The Bargaining session last Friday was well attended by faculty.

The support for our work continues to grow (a lot of new members have joined!) and signals our determination to the administration. A special thanks to those who stayed late with us.

Firstly, we made it clear that salary is the faculty's priority (witness the high number of folks teaching overload and summer courses for extra money) by leaving our salary proposal quite high ($3300 and 3%) for each of the next two years. We also reduced or removed some items from our original proposal in making our second.

In a strong bi-partisan showing, the US Senate on Monday voted to consider a constitutional amendment that would allow congress to regulate political contributions for an election. The proposed amendment would overturn the controversial 2010 Supreme Court ruling, commonly known as “Citizens United,” which granted corporations first amendment rights in contributing to campaigns.

At its executive board meeting on August 28th, the Maryland State AFL-CIO announced its endorsed candidates for statewide office for the 2014 general election. The announcement of these endorsements follows a relatively successful primary election season for labor in the state, in which nearly 90% of the AFL-CIO’s endorsed candidates won their party’s primary.

The Healthcare Cost Containment Committee met on Monday Sept 8, 2014 to review HEP enrolled members and begin the process of removing them for non-compliance with 2013 HEP Medical Screening requirements.  Click MORE for additional details.