In a brief meeting that lasted several minutes on Friday, Sept. 30 the Eastern Michigan University Board of Regents approved the two-year collective bargaining agreement between the university and the EMU Federation of Teachers.
The two-year contract affects nearly 90 full-time lecturers who are represented by the EMUFT. The minimum base salary from the last contract will be raised to $34,000 and a 2.5 percent base salary increase will be effective every year in the two-year contract.
Spouses who are 100 percent removed from EMU's health plan and Additional Eligible Adults (AEAs) will no longer be covered as a primary if they obtain coverage through their own employer, with a one-time offset paid to employees affected by this change.
The Board of Regents went over two other items on the agenda before adjournment. Sarah Shire Brown, head women's gymnastics coach at EMU, was approved for a five-year employment agreement. Brown will receive a salary of $71,500, fringe benefits and $1,000 as an incentive payment for a Mid-American Conference regular season or tournament championship.
The Board also approved the University's Capital Outlay Plan for the renovations of Strong Hall. Even though the planning authorization for the project was approved in June by the state, the State Legislature's routine process requires EMU to resubmit the project renovation plans.
Mike Morris, chairman of the EMU Board of Regents, delivered a statement at the opening of the meeting regarding the racial graffiti incidents on campus in the past few weeks. Morris expressed his support of EMU President James Smith as well as the Department of Public Safety in their investigation of the person or people responsible for the graffiti incident.
The statement read, in part,
"The members of the Board of Regents, all of whom care very much about this University and in particular its students, wish to express their solidarity with the University community in the condemnation of the hateful racist messages that were spread on our campus last week. The two incidents have caused great fear, anger and frustration for many of our students, faculty and staff -- and have damaged the welcoming and inclusive environment that everyone at the University works so hard to create and that our students deserve."
