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Cat-loving chihuahua suckles seven abandoned kittens
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Browns sick after sick loss in Detroit
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No. 1 Akron to play Stanford next
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Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster
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Post-game defensive quotes
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Kent State defeats Rochester College, 63-44
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Gameblog: Cavs vs. Philadelphia 76ers
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OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad
Varsity Letters:
Four area football teams play tonight
All Da King's Men:
The Onion, By Any Other Name…
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Will Health Care Reform Pass?
Akron Law Café:
Health Care Financing Reform: (70) Savings in Medicare Advantage
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TIME TO GET YOUR COLLECTOR CARS WINTERIZED
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Faye Dunaway to be Evicted?
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Monique asks how to get tickets for the Polar Express.
Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall
HRLite House:
Personal Rant – You are All Wrong About Jobs, or the Lack of Jobs, Being the Reason People Do Not Live in NEO
Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go
University reaches tentative deal with tenure-track instructors
By Carol Biliczky
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Tuesday, Aug 05, 2008
Kent State reached a tentative agreement with its tenure-track faculty early Monday, just hours shy of a strike vote.
The contents of the agreement were not released pending a vote by the faculty and, if approved, by the university's board of trustees.
But KSU spokesman Tom Neumann confirmed the package includes benefits for the partners of heterosexual or homosexual couples, a wage increase of about 9 percent over three years, and ''ways to enhance innovation and excellence in teaching and improving the student experience.''
He declined to be more specific.
''When you see the details of the contract, I think it will become clear,'' he said.
Lee Fox, president of the tenure-track unit of the American Association of University Professors at Kent, could not be reached for comment.
This spring, the university tried to head off negotiations with its three unions with an offer to continue their existing benefit packages for a year.
University officials said they were unsure how much state money KSU will receive in the next biennial budget in 2009 and wanted to wait until that was done before negotiating.
The AAUP's tenure-track faculty unit rejected the offer, saying it wanted a higher wage increase than the 3 percent the university was offering.
Last week, the unit's leadership said it would take a strike vote today if negotiations were not wrapped up by the union's deadline of Thursday.
Meanwhile, a second faculty unit in the AAUP agreed to the university's offer.
The nontenure-track faculty will receive a 3 percent raise, health benefits at no added cost, the continuation of a competition that awards 25 bonuses of $4,000 each and other existing KSU benefits that include dental, life and personal-accident insurance.
The one new benefit in the contract extension is domestic partner coverage, which both tenure- and nontenure-track faculty had sought for about a decade.
For an unmarried partner to receive the complete menu of KSU benefits, the couple will have to provide bank records or other verifiable records to show they are in long-term relationships.
The third union, Local 153 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, also rejected the university's offer to extend benefits. This unit, which covers custodians, groundskeepers and others in support staff positions, will begin negotiations with the university in September.
The tenure-track unit of the AAUP covers faculty members who have tenure — in essence, lifetime employment — or are in a job in which they are eligible for tenure. Nontenure-track faculty members are hired on one-year contracts.
Carol Biliczky can be reached at 330-996-3729 or cbiliczky@thebeaconjournal.com.
Kent State reached a tentative agreement with its tenure-track faculty early Monday, just hours shy of a strike vote.
Get the full article here.
