Inbox Spring/Summer 2017

AFT LOCAL 1839 PROFESSIONAL STAFF NEWSLETTER CONTENTS

FROM THE EDITOR

• • • • •

Dean Brianik

FROM THE EDITOR EDITORIAL My Experience with an “Active Shooter” Around the US: Reporting Frauds Workplace Lawsuits May Be on the Rise

Professional Staff Advisory Committee/Editorial Board • Dean Brianik • Venida Rodman • Sachie Tsumura-Tmart • Cynthia Vazquez • Naomi Wright • Allison Thornton, Graphic Designer

EDITORIAL A pair of articles came have been published in the past few months and they have a direct bearing to the goings-on here at NJCU. Both articles (in Aeon Essays and The Chronicle of High Education) talk about a constant need for businesses and universities (which are becoming one and the same) to innovate. Yet, both articles note while innovation is lauded, very little attention is given to the less glamorous work of maintaining the innovations so they remain useful and fixing them when these brilliant “new ideas’ don’t work out as planned.

Unfortunately, NJCU has become addicted to this search for innovation and technology is the University’s mantra.

Technology, be it older like something called PlacePro or something newer like

SPRING/SUMMER 2017

This recently happened to me. Has it happened to you?

I’m on a five-year contract. For the last two cycles, the re-appointment process coincided with my five and ten year wedding anniversaries. 2017 happens to fall on a 10-year anniversary for me. However, last fall, the re-appointment paperwork I should have received, didn’t come.

When I asked Human Resources, I was told I’ll get my re-appointment papers in September. Once I reminded them again that THIS was my re-appointment year, I was told HR made a “mistake.”

How many others of you have received similar “mistakes?” If this has happened to you, please let Sam know at extension 2216. We need to see how many of us are in the same boat and what we can do about it. For those of you who don’t fall under this year’s re-appointment process, double-check your “multi-year calendar” in writing. Don’t let HR make a “mistake” with YOUR future.

Forgive me for being suspicious. I can’t help but wonder if the Administration is pulling a fast one. In prior re-appointments, if someone was not kept on, they had a year to put their affairs in order and find new employment. As it stands now, if I’m not reappointed next year, I’ll be out on June 30th, just a few weeks after the Board of Trustees say I’m no longer welcome.

In fairness, our President, Dr. Henderson, is going through a similar re-appointment process. What I’d like to know is: if she is not re-appointed, will she get that extra year to put her affairs in order? If yes, why aren’t professional staff employees who have served New Jersey City University far longer than her, worthy of the same consideration?

“Student Success” packages, require heavy amounts of data input in order to do their job. The end result is college educated professionals like us, many with Master’s Degrees or above, becoming glorified data clerks and are less able to spend time with students who really need our help.

As an example, like many places where you’ll find professional staffers, Cooperative Education’s, success relies heavily on developing personal connections with students and others. The software it has, Place Pro, is useful as an archive and operates pretty much the same way that newspaper want ads have functioned for decades.

The ironic part is that all of the top internships placers in this office’s history (Andy, Ray, and Peggy) were the ones who were most “technically challenged”. They owed their success not to data entry, but

by teaching students how to get ready for the job market and then introducing them to employers who would give them the first jobs in their chosen field.

It seems that the administration is overemphasizing data and creating nit picking management techniques at the expense of serving students. A certain amount of data entry is always needed. So, too, are basic procedures. But when managers and administrators let regulations run amok (like telling employees how often each day they must check in with the boss or criticizing how an employee looks) that is demeaning to employees who have devoted themselves to serving our students. All it “manages” to do is drive down employee morale.

Dean Brianik Founder, Editor-in-Chief, The In Box

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My Experience with an “Active Shooter” Venida C. Rodman Jenkins

“Glasses and plates fell and broke everywhere. Another customer, who ran in the kitchen with us, had scraped his leg and was bleeding. I called 9-1-1, fearing our demise.”

Some of you may remember the panic that engulfed Penn Station and the neighborhood on Good Friday when word falsely got out there was an “active shooter” at Penn Station. Well, I was there, in Macy’s Herald Square, on that very busy afternoon.

I had no desire to shop for the quintessential Easter outfit or bonnet. I already had my solid pastel dress for Sunday, and that would suffice. What I really wanted was a place to relax and an eatery to meet the growing demands of my appetite. So my husband and I opted for Macy’s Cellar for a light dinner, after leaving a dangerously crowded Penn Station where the trains were delayed indefinitely. It was total mayhem at the station, and we felt that even the world’s largest department store could offer solitude from the madness across the street.

We were sadly mistaken.

Halfway into our meal, we observed a big commotion right next to the restaurant. A few people were running down the passageway while simultaneously looking behind them. Then the crowd grew into a stampede with looks of fear and panic on the passing faces. Those of us in the restaurant finally realized the reason for the hysteria when we heard the unfathomable, “someone has a gun.”

Everyone panicked and darted for cover. Some of us ran into the kitchen, a group of young tourists ducked underneath their table. Glasses and plates fell and broke everywhere. Another customer, who ran in the kitchen with us, had scraped his leg and was bleeding. I called 9-1-1, fearing our demise. According to reports, the 11-story building was placed on lockdown and evacuated. We would eventually come to learn – there was no active shooter. Police over at Penn Station had tasered a man, and rumors spread that there was a shooter on the loose from Penn Station, to surrounding blocks, and eventually to Macy’s. People were injured, and the surrounding area was crawling with emergency personnel including a SWAT team of armed police.

I was able to share this experience during a recent active shooter training conducted by 540 Security and Safety – some of whom responded to the scenes of those puzzling and unsettling events on Good Friday. The training was a collaboration of the Office of Public Safety, the Office of the Dean of Students, and the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management. The purpose of the session, which lasted about three-and-a-half hours, was to raise situational awareness, teach participants safety strategies, and what to include in a survival toolbox (e.g. plastic doorstop, rope, tourniquet, and flashlight). I found it to be beneficial, and it has served to heighten my awareness in certain situations, particularly with crowds.

It is my hope that AFT will be able to conduct this training for its members as this has been a long-time request. In the meantime, I would encourage members to continue to advocate for this workshop, and consider these SURVIVAL tips which were shared at the training: • Size up the situation • Use all of your senses • Remember where you are • Vanquish fear and panic • Improvise • Value living – don’t give up!

• Act like the people who live in the area • Learn basic skills In addition, last semester, Dr. Gail Gordon, Health Sciences, passed along valuable information because of growing concerns over the possibility of an active shooter on campus given the tragedies that have occurred throughout this country and abroad.

Here is the eight minute video and a list of steps to take that Dr. Gordon shared. Both are geared towards a university campus. The video applies to faculty, staff and librarians. It has been suggested that whoever teaches should show the video to students.

Video from Yale website: http://emergency.yale.edu/be-prepared/

active-shooterweapon

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List of steps from the website of the University of Washington:

In a classroom, residence hall or office • If you are in a classroom, residence hall room or office, STAY THERE. Secure the door.

• If the door has no lock and the door opens in, a heavy door wedge should be kept on hand and driven in as hard as you can, and/or use heavy furniture to barricade the door.

• If the door has a window, cover it if you can. Depending on the shooter’s location, consider exiting through windows. Have someone watch the door as you get as many out the windows (ground floor) as calmly and quietly as possible.

• If the windows do not open or you cannot break them or you are not on a ground floor, get out of sight from the door and stay low and quiet. Silence cell phones and other electronic devices.

• If no police units are on scene, move well away from the shooter and find safe cover positions and wait for the police to arrive.

• When officers arrive on scene, you should attempt to move toward any law enforcement personnel or police vehicle when safe to do so while keeping your hands visible to police. Follow the directions of the police.

• Do not leave the area entirely; you may have valuable information regarding the suspect or incident that responding police officers will need. Once in a safe place, stay there.

“If you are in a classroom, residence hall room or office, STAY THERE. Secure the door.”

In hallways or corridors • If you are in a hallway, get to a nearby room and secure it. Unless you are close to an exit, do not attempt to run through a long hallway to get to an exit as you may encounter the shooter.

In large rooms or auditoriums • If in a gym, theater or auditorium and the shooter is not present, move out external exits and toward any law enforcement personnel or police vehicle keeping your hands visible to police. Do what the police tell you!

• Trapped with the shooter • If you are trapped in a room with the shooter, do not do anything to provoke the shooter. If no shooting is occurring, do what the shooter says and do not move suddenly.

• If the shooter starts shooting, take decisive action: (1) freeze: stay still and hope they do not shoot you, (2) flee: run for an exit while zigzagging (if appropriate), or (3) fight: attack the shooter. Attacking the shooter is very dangerous, but may be less dangerous than doing nothing in some cases. A moving target is harder to hit than a stationary one, and the last thing the shooter will expect is to be attacked by an unarmed person. Any option (freezing, fleeing or fighting) may result in a bad outcome.

Open Spaces • Stay alert and look for cover, such as brick walls, large trees, retaining walls, parked vehicles or any other object that may stop gunfire rounds from penetrating.

Always call 911 as soon as it is safe to do so.

Retrieved from: http://police.uw.edu/aboutus/divisions/opst/crimeprevention/activeshooter/

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AROUND THE U.S.

REPORTING FRAUDS: Picture this: You’ve been scammed and want to do something more productive than yell out the window “I’m mad as Hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.” (our apologies to “Network.”) Well, for starters, you can file a complaint and the American Association of Retired Persons has a short list of Federal agencies and national programs that want to hear what happened to you.

These include; • The United States Postal Inspectors – any frauds involving the U.S. mails, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau-which deals with loans, Identity Thefts, debt collectors, and other suspect financial services. (However, this may be on the chopping block of the Trump Administration and Congressional Republicans.)

• Federal Trade Commission (FTC)-handles most types of frauds including Identity Theft and debt collectors who get out of line. The FTC is more of a clearing house of information rather than an investigations unit. The data base can then be used by other law enforcers to go after specific fraudsters.

• Internet Crime Complaint Center-It’s run by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and forwards complaints about phishing scam, investment/sales frauds, and scam e-mails to other law enforcement agencies or regulators.

• National Do Not Call Registry-You need to enter your name into this registry if you don’t want to be bothered by unwanted sales calls. Once your name is on the roster for over 31 days, you can report unsolicited calls. It’s not 100% protection, though. You’ll still get certain types of unwanted calls, such as from political candidates, legitimate charities and/ or pollsters, though.

SOURCE: AARP Bulletin-January-February, 2017

WORKPLACE LAWSUITS MAY BE ON THE RISE

Filing complaints with agencies is one way to deal with being taken advantage of, but lawyers for both management and employees are expecting a rise in employmentrelated lawsuits (at least for the time being) now that the Trump Administration is in power and Republicans control both Houses of Congress. According to a Chicago Tribune article, that expectation comes from the fact that Republicans as a whole are less likely to enforce worker protection rules than democrats. So private attorneys are stepping in to fill the void with lawsuits, both individual and class action.

However, the future of class-action lawsuits for pay disputes may be in jeopardy, too .

The Supreme Court has accepted several cases where employers have forced their workers into binding arbitration agreements that prevent them from filing class-action suits in wage discrimination cases. Corporations believe arbitration will be cheaper for them to defend against complaints, both in terms of time and money. One plaintiff attorney is worried about how the justice might rule, saying that if arbitration agreements are upheld, “it will give a green light to some companies to commit wage fraud.”

The Supreme Court is expected to hear those cases this year.

SOURCE: Chiacgo Tribune. As cited in The Record: January 29, 2017

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