Distance Education Committee

Chair: William Duffy
Members: Steve Frechette, Stefanie Gouveia, Tahais Martins, Emily Brown ex officio

Tuesday, May 5, 2020
MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT
Between the Massachusetts Community College Council – DCE Unit and the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education/MA Community Colleges

The terms below are applicable only to courses offered for Summer 2020 sessions at the Massachusetts Community Colleges in the Division of Continuing Education. Unless otherwise modified below, the terms and provisions of the applicable DCE Collective Bargaining Agreement remain in effect.

1) Glossary of Terms for this Agreement Only:

Face-to-Face: A class/course in which the instructor and the students are in the same physical location.
Online: A class or course conducted under the Distance Education Agreement.
Remote: A class/course originally intended to be face-to-face but which no longer is able to be conducted face-to face-due to health concerns of the international COVID-19 pandemic. The instructor has academic freedom in how the course content is provided to the learners.

2) Compensation / Training

A. The BHE/community colleges agree that faculty who are assigned to adapt a course online under the Distance Education Agreement in Summer 2020 shall be compensated pursuant to the Distance Education Agreement.

B. The BHE/community colleges agree that compensation for required training (which may include ‘refresher’ training for those faculty that have previously received training for remote classes in Spring 2020), as determined by the College, to teach a remote course in Summer 2020 shall be paid $100. Any additional training not related to the teaching of a remote course in Summer 2020 shall be made pursuant to the terms of the DCE bargaining agreement including, but not limited to, Article 13.01. Nothing in this paragraph shall prevent a college from compensating faculty for remote class training at a higher rate. Nothing in this paragraph shall prohibit discussions consistent with this Agreement between Colleges and local Chapters regarding Summer 2020. The parties agree that nothing in this paragraph shall be deemed precedential.

3) Seniority

A. The BHE/community colleges agree that any faculty member currently with seniority in the DCE unit, who submitted an availability form or was assigned a course for Summer 2020, will not lose any previously accrued seniority under Article X, regardless of whether they teach a class in Summer 2020; such DCE unit member shall not lose any previously accrued seniority unless they would otherwise lose seniority and do not teach a class before January 2021. Those DCE unit members who have taught only courses during the Summer, since Summer 2017, who have submitted an availability form or were assigned a course for Summer 2020, will not lose any previously accrued seniority regardless of whether they teach a class in Summer 2020; such DCE unit member shall not lose any previously accrued seniority unless they would otherwise lose seniority and do not teach a class before September 2021.

B. The BHE/community colleges agree that any faculty member who has taught classes in the DCE unit, but not yet earned seniority under Article X, shall be held harmless and not lose their accrued classes taught toward seniority unit as set forth in Article 10.02. If they taught 3 or 4 courses over the most recent three consecutive fiscal years as of September 1, 2020, they shall be placed on the seniority list if they teach a fifth course in the Fall 2020 semester, and have received a satisfactory evaluation in a work area. Those DCE unit members who have taught only courses during the Summer, since Summer 2017, who have submitted an availability form or were assigned a course for Summer 2020, will not lose any previously accrued seniority regardless of whether they teach a class in Summer 2020; such DCE unit member shall not lose any previously accrued seniority unless they would otherwise lose seniority and do not teach a fifth course before September 2021, and have received a satisfactory evaluation in a work area.

4) Evaluations

The BHE/community colleges agree that the colleges shall not conduct or consider student evaluations nor perform classroom observations for classes during Summer 2020.

5) Other

The BHE/Colleges agree that they shall not contest unemployment insurance claims filed by MCCC DCE unit members who submitted a teaching availability form for Summer 2020 and were offered a tentative appointment to teach a course(s), and due to the current health pandemic such courses were cancelled by the College, except in instances where the unit member was dismissed for cause.

For the BHE: Michael J. Murray, Esq,
Director of Employee and Labor Relations Massachusetts Department of Higher Education

For the MCCC: John McColgan
DCE Impact Bargaining Chair MCCC

The Distance Education (DE) Agreement is part of the DCE Contract which is posted on our website under Info for Members –> Contracts –> DCE Contract, starting at page 35.

Resources:

Sunday, March 24, 2019
From: Mario Garcia-Rios

Our next meeting is Monday, March 25. There is nothing to report since the last meeting of the DL committee.

Wednesday, November 14, 2018
From: Mario Garcia-Rios

At the October meeting the committee discussed the possibility of rewriting the definition of a “hybrid” course at Bristol. I was asked to write a blurb addressing the reason for rewriting the “hybrid” course definition. Here is what I sent to April for her preliminary consideration:

We are exploring the possibility of revising the Bristol description of “Hybrid” course. In particular, we hope to include in the description, language that standardizes changes made to the component of the course that meets “face to face”on a per instructor basis, so that the course delivery is more uniform within disciplines. Currently, there is a degree of flexibility in determining the number of hours per month or per semester that students must meet with the instructor face to face. In essence, it is up to the instructor of the course to determine the frequency of face to face meetings. We feel that this flexibility should continue, but within certain boundaries.

I also have the following draft statement, which attempts to give an example of what may happen when there are no guidelines to determine face to face meeting times:

We hope that if a given course must be reassigned after the scheduled has gone public and communication between faculty and students has started, the disruption to students’ expectations are minimized.

Please keep in mind that this is just a draft of an idea that the committee is considering. I imagine that the discussion will continue at the next meeting.

Tuesday, October 16, 2018
From: April Bellafiore, Dean of eLearning

Took me a few extra days to write up the notes but here is the summary of the topics the group would like to discuss this year:

Hybrid definitions
The course development process
OSHA and lab sections for hybrid courses
How to foster innovation
Lab sciences online
How to incorporate more professional development/training/workshops in scheduled Professional Days
Civility issues online
Academic dishonesty/integrity

I’d like to propose that at our next meeting on October 29th that we begin a conversation regarding hybrid definitions. Attached is a copy of some national definitions as well as a quick overview of local institution and how they designate eLearning/online/hybrid courses.

Our current definitions are here:
http://www.bristolcc.edu/locations/elearning/courses/

You’ll see that we currently (and historically) have defined hybrids as 50% – 99.9% online and have had a wide variety of models over the years (and within terms). The question is whether or not we should designate/redesignate how we define hybrids. 50% or more? 80% or more? Weekly, a few times a term, every other week? Other?

If I can provide you with any additional information prior to the meeting please let me know – otherwise I look forward to our conversation in a few weeks!

Definitions of eLearning by Gary E. Miller

Distance Learning Branding