Via electronic ballot, from Dec 17th to Dec 21st, the AAUP-BHSNJ will be conducting a ratification vote of the tentative agreement we reached with university last month. We reviewed key aspects of this agreement at our annual meetings and our town hall. For those of you who missed the town hall, it can be accessed here. The proposed articles of the new agreement are also available here. We will be updating our website next week to make accessibility to some of the major provisions easier. Our governing body of the AAUP-BHSNJ supports ratification of this agreement. Highlights of the agreement are below. Please note that a more in depth summary of these highlights, as well as further details on the vote, will be sent next week. For questions, please email executive.director@aaupbhsnj.org

For all Faculty

• 2 -years of retroactive base pay increases paid immediately (3% dated to July 2018, 3% July 2019)
• 2 -years of merit increases to base pay with the first starting July 2021 (3%) and the second in July 2022 (2.5%)
• Raises are protected from any declaration of fiscal emergency by the University.
• A review process to correct pay inequity
• New parental and family leave policy for bonding with a new child
• The ability to grieve non-reappointments
• The ability to appeal the failed promotions for Non-Tenure Track Faculty

For Clinical Faculty

• Preservation of NJMS Clinical compensation taxed in a similar manner as historically used by the UPA
• Minimum total fixed pay set to the 25th percentile of AAMC Benchmarks for RWJMS Faculty
• Extra variable payments for RWJMS faculty between the 25th and 40th percentile of AAMC Benchmarks
• A continuation of the current Clinical Incentive Plan funded at $3.5 million for FY21 (paid out December 2021) and FY22 (paid out December 2022)

For Research Faculty

• A new Research Incentive will be paid out in September 2021
Additional other research incentives for faculty with training grants and R01s

Potentially Negative Aspects for Faculty

• Starting July 1, 2021 and expiring July 31, 2022, a possible one-time 0.5% - 1% reduction to base salary for faculty who receive an overall "needs improvement" or "unsatisfactory" on their annual evaluations and where a a committee jointly chosen by the union and the university does not sustain an evaluation appeal
• Changes to tail policies for NJMS Clinical faculty
• New Research Incentive may pay less to certain faculty depending on funded level of rFTE