Governor Strickland addressing the delegates Friday afternoon.
Michelle White, Andrew Shella, Michael Smithback, and Jack Fatica attended the 72nd annual Ohio Federation of Teachers convention held in Toledo from February 25th-27th (Thursday through Saturday). This year’s convention had more speakers than normal. Delegates heard from Governor Ted Strickland, US Senator Sherrod Brown, AFT President Randi Weingarten, Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, and other influencers from around the state.
While attending the higher education breakout session, we learned of competitive grant money becoming available from the federal government, some of which may be used to hire more full-time faculty. We also received an update on Ohio House Bill 365 concerning collective bargaining rights for adjunct faculty. We completed our work on a couple of resolutions concerning standards of good practices in the employment of part-time and full-time faculty. Brother Smithback presented these resolutions to the delegates and received their approval.
Brother Smithback presenting two resolutions related to higher education.
An awards banquet was held on Friday evening. Brother Fatica was recognized for his work in planning, organizing, and participating in the Summit on Academic Staffing in Higher Education in Ohio that was held in Columbus this past October.