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Bargaining Update
Hello colleagues,
Your CUTA bargaining team and the District met for negotiations on Thursday, October 24. We continued our long term discussion about the special education program, as well as discussing several other issues.
In addition to continuing our interest-based bargaining process to work on special education, we spent time discussing the possibility of adding 1.5 prep days per year for elementary assessment. The idea is that teachers could use this time to complete assessments each trimester. The District bargaining team will recommend this and see whether there is money in the budget for this added cost.
At our last session, the District agreed to increase the number of Career Technical Student Organization (CTSO) stipends to reflect the increase in Career Technical Education (CTE) pathways. Lead teachers for each CTE pathway at each high school would be eligible for the stipend as long as they meet the requirements stated in the contract. We are working on creating clear language to identify the lead teacher in each pathway.
We moved on to how the District handles differential pay for a member who misses work and has no sick leave. If a member is out sick and has no sick leave remaining, the District pays the member his or her daily rate minus the cost for the substitute teacher ($120/day). If the sick leave is long-term, the sub is getting paid at the long-term sub rate ($150/day). CUTA would like to standardize when a member is charged the long-term rate versus the short-term rate. CUTA has proposed that for the first ten days after the member's sick leave is exhausted, the District will deduct the short-term rate. Days eleven and beyond would be deducted at the long-term sub rate. This ensures that a member who has accumulated sick leave won't be penalized.
For instance, member 1 has 20 sick days saved up. Member 1 goes on a long term sick leave and runs out of sick leave after 20 days. Since the sub has already been in the classroom for twenty days and is receiving long-term sub pay, under our current practice that member would immediately start having $150/day deducted from his or her daily rate. Member 2 has no sick leave saved up and goes on a long-term sick leave. Under our current practice, the first ten days would be deducted at $120/day and day eleven and onward would be deducted at the long-term sub rate. This seems to punish the member who had saved up sick leave. We'd like the practice to be the same for members in both situations. The District is considering our proposal. As an aside, differential pay like this occurs even if the District doesn't need to use a sub or even if the "sub" ends up being a more costly temporary teacher.
The District then spent some time sharing the current progress towards the potential for innovative scheduling at the high school. CUTA shared our tentative vision of the timeline for innovative scheduling.
From our conversations with members, it appears that we are still not close to achieving step 1 in the above timeline. CUTA is not holding this process up. It is a major change and high school teachers have lots of questions that they feel have not been adequately answered yet.
We only have one negotiations session scheduled in November and one scheduled in December. We will continue our special education discussion and begin our discussion on wages and compensation.
If you'd like to see the current version of our contract, here is the link.
Thank you for taking the time to stay informed.
Charlie Snyder
Bargaining Chair
Chico Unified Teachers Association
Bargaining Update
Hello colleagues,
Your CUTA bargaining team and the District met for negotiations on Wednesday, September 25. We discussed a wide range of issues, and we agreed to set aside large chunks of this year's bargaining sessions for the purpose of improving working conditions for special education teachers and the overall efficiency of special education programs.
Over the past three years of negotiations, we have consistently added challenges faced by special education teachers to the agenda. Despite hours of discussion, both CUTA and the District felt that we were continually adding new agenda items without effectively solving previously added items. The list of challenges for special education just got longer and longer. Special education is challenging as it is dictated largely by underfunded federal mandates. Still, we believe that we can work together to make positive change. We will share more specific information about ideas for moving forward as we move through the interest based bargaining process (IBB). The IBB process emphasizes finding common interests on issues to facilitate making solutions. CUTA and the District share an interest in improving working conditions and increasing efficiency in the special education programs.
We also discussed the progress being made with innovative scheduling at the high school. Since the interested parties (teachers and administrators) have settled on some form of an eight period block, we can begin discussing what contract language would be needed to represent that schedule. We can also begin negotiating student contact numbers. Your bargaining team wants to make it clear that we are waiting for a clear sign from the high schools that there is significant support for making a change of this magnitude. We don't feel that has been demonstrated yet. Until we see that a specific schedule has been chosen and that teachers have come to a rough estimate for the number of student contacts they are willing to accept, we can't move forward in negotiations in anything other than a hypothetical way. A multi-year test of a different high schedule will require new processes for CUTA. We need to be sure there is strong support for a specific approach among teachers at the high schools.
As Kevin noted in an email last Thursday, Greg Ford, a PV math teacher and bargaining team member has spearheaded the effort to bring a STRS (State Teachers Retirement System) training to our next district-wide staff development day on Tuesday, October 15. The District has enthusiastically supported this idea. If you are interested in attending this training, you can sign up with the link below. As Kevin said, "Signing up doesn't mean you are obligated to go nor will you be turned away if you don't sign up. We are just trying to get a rough head count so we can reserve a big enough room and tell STRS how much material to bring." The training is geared towards teachers in the early to middle parts of their careers. Here is the link.
We moved on to a discussion of elementary assessment. The District has developed a new assessment continuum which they believe will lessen the burden of assessment in K-5. This continuum is being piloted by special education teachers this year. There was some confusion among elementary teachers about whether they were supposed to be using the continuum this year, and the District confirmed that the continuum is only being piloted by special education. Confusion may have stemmed from a link on the District site that displayed the continuum of assessments if you clicked on elementary assessment. That has been changed. The District has made CBM testing optional, and they have replaced the CCCS assessments with interim assessment blocks after teachers indicated their dislike for the CCCS assessments. The continuum of assessments will also eliminate baseline testing for most students. We hope that this will make elementary assessment more manageable. Your bargaining team brought up the idea of returning to the model in which each teacher had a small assessment budget to allow for two sub days for assessment during the year, but the District is not interested in moving in that direction at this time.
Lastly, we discussed the possibility of having one stipend per CTE pathway at the high schools. Originally, the three stipends per high school in the contract was enough to cover the need, but these programs have expanded significantly. We will return to this discussion at our next session.
Wage Agreement (repeat information from the last bargaining update)
We are entering the final year of our three year wage agreement, and this year the per ADA percent change for Chico Unified is 3.47%. With a tiny adjustment based on changes in last year's number,this means our raise this year is 3.48%. This 3.48% increase is applied to the salary schedule, the District health benefits contribution, and all other compensation related dollar amounts in the contract. With this final raise in the three year agreement, we have earned a 13.42% total compounded raise over the three years. In addition, the District covered their portion of the increased contribution to STRS without passing those costs on to us. We will explore future compensation increases over the course of this school year. The District was a willing and generous partner in negotiating these wage increases. We appreciate the District's commitment to making compensation a top priority.
This wage agreement is structured to wait until September to get the most accurate percentage possible from the state. Your September check will include the 3.48% raise, and you will receive a small retro check in mid October for the 3.48% missing from your August check. In October, the new health benefit premiums go into effect, and they did go up this year, so you may see a slight decline in your check from September to October.
Here is the link to the new CUTA salary schedule on the District website.
Thank you for taking the time to stay informed. If you'd like to look at our contract, here is the link.
Charlie Snyder
Bargaining Chair
Chico Unified Teachers Association
Bargaining Update
Hello colleagues,
Your CUTA bargaining team and the District met for our first negotiations session of the school year on Thursday, September 12. We discussed a wide range of topics that will occupy much of our bargaining time this school year, with an emphasis on special education, all-day kindergarten, elementary assessment and employee compensation.
Wage Agreement
We are entering the final year of our three year wage agreement, and this year the per ADA percent change for Chico Unified is 3.47%. With a tiny adjustment based on changes in last year's number,this means our raise this year is 3.48%. This 3.48% increase will be applied to the salary schedule, the District health benefits contribution, and all other compensation related dollar amounts in the contract. With this final raise in the three-year agreement, we have earned a 13.42% total compounded raise over the three years. In addition, the District covered their portion of the increased contribution to STRS without passing those costs on to us. We will explore future compensation increases over the course of this school year. The District was a willing and generous partner in negotiating these wage increases. We appreciate the District's commitment to making compensation a top priority.
We structured the wage agreement to wait until September to get the most accurate percentage possible from the state. Your September check will include the 3.48% raise, and you will receive a small retro check in mid-October for the 3.48% missing from your August check. In October, the new health benefit premiums go into effect, and they did go up this year, so you may see a slight decline in your check from September to October.
Here is the link to the new CUTA salary schedule on the District website.
Negotiations for 2020-21
The Camp Fire was a disaster on a historic scale. We will feel the fallout for years to come. One way in which Chico Unified has been impacted is through increased enrollment. Welcoming new students to our District can make staffing difficult to plan at times, and the permanence of the enrollment increases from the Camp Fire have been hard to judge. Our special education programs have been strained in some areas by these enrollment increases, and this has been coupled with a shortage of teaching candidates for these positions. The District is working hard to find a solution for overages in caseload and class size in SDC at the junior highs. The high schools appear to be adequately staffed for the moment, but the numbers continue to change. CUTA will discuss the District's options with affected members in the coming days.
Special education in general appears to be an increasingly complicated and difficult position. Our special education teachers work with some of our most vulnerable students, and many feel increasingly overwhelmed by the needs of their students and the requirements of the job. We are planning to spend a lot of time this year working with the District on ways we can relieve some of the pressure on our special education teachers. Unfortunately, there are no easy fixes. The issues are multiple and diverse. I will not try to list them all here. We spent time in negotiations reviewing and adding to our list for the school year. Thank you to members who have shared their concerns with us.
In addition, we are continuing to expand our all-day K program through a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the District. As new schools transition to all-day K, new issues and unintended consequences crop up. This is why we are using an MOU. We hope to resolve as many issues as possible before committing to permanent contract language. We will begin work on permanent language this year.
We also are considering adding an additional step in the grievance process. Currently, there are no active grievances, and it is a testament to the close and transparent working relationship between CUTA and the District that we have had no grievances for several years. When a grievance does occur, CUTA and the District share an interest in adding a mediation step before the grievance goes to arbitration. Arbitration is a very costly process with a long timeline. Adding a mediation step--in which a state-appointed mediator reviews the issue and attempts to solve it--could be a cost and time effective way to resolve a grievance. We are currently studying mediation contract language in nearby districts.
Lastly, CUTA and the District are working with STRS to provide employee retirement training sessions at two of the Districtwide staff development days this year. Our goal is to provide a training targeted towards teachers in their mid-careers and a training targeted towards teachers at the end of their careers. Thank you to the District for enthusiastically agreeing to allow these trainings to occur during their staff development days.
As we open negotiations for the 2020-2021 school year, CUTA looks forward to continuing to grow the positive, transparent and productive relationship with the District that has developed over the last three years.
Thank you for taking the time to stay informed. If you would like to look at our contract, here is the link.
Charlie Snyder
Bargaining Chair
Chico Unified Teachers Association
Tentative Agreement Reached
Hello colleagues,
I've attached a copy of the tentative agreement between CUTA and the District that has resulted from this year's negotiations.
We will hold a general membership meeting on Wednesday, May 29, from 3:30-4:00 p.m. Voting will be from 4:00-5:00 p.m. The site is still to be determined.
Voting will continue from 5:20-8:00 p.m. at the CUTA office at 819 E 5th Avenue. Any members are welcome to stay and help count the votes.
Thank you!
Charlie Snyder
Bargaining Chair
Chico Unified Teachers Association
Bargaining Update
Hello colleagues,
Your CUTA bargaining team and the District concluded negotiations on Thursday, May 5, with a final review of this year's tentative agreement (TA), which is scheduled for your vote on Wednesday, May 29. The voting site is still to be determined. We will hold a general membership meeting from 3:30-4 p.m., and voting will run from 4-5 p.m. Your CUTA team will then return to the CUTA office at 819 E 5th Avenue, and voting will continue from 5:20-8 p.m. Any member is welcome to stay and help count the ballots. The general contents of the TA are listed below, and members can ask any questions at the general membership meeting. We will also email out a final draft of the TA in the coming days.
In addition, we discussed several ongoing issues. One issue we touched on was the prep period, or lack thereof, for some of our members who work with our most challenging students. If the nature of certain classrooms is such that the District and the member determine that the teacher really can't send the students out for a prep period, then the teacher works through his or her prep and is paid 6/5ths. There was some concern that a couple of teachers of some of these very challenging classes were going to have a scheduled prep next year when the teachers felt that the students couldn't really handle going out into other classes. The District assured us that the process is to try to schedule a prep in the master schedule and then to work as a team to decide if it would be appropriate or not to send those students out to other classes. Simply scheduling the prep period in the master schedule isn't the final step in the process. It's quite possible that, after review, it will be determined by the team that a prep isn't really feasible, and the teachers would then be paid 6/5ths.
We also discussed the Career Technical Student Organization (CSTO). There are a number of teachers whose work is funded through grants, and there is a significant amount of work beyond the school day. The District only provides stipends for up to three positions at each high school to compensate teachers for the work outside of the school day (for example, traveling for multiple days to competitions), but there are more than three teachers completing work outside of the school day. The outside work is required to receive the grant, but some teachers are not being compensated. The District agreed that this program has grown significantly, and they have agreed to discuss ways in which all participating teachers are compensated. This may be through grant money directly instead of through stipends. In any event, this is a topic we will continue to work on with the District.
We have received permission from the District to schedule STRS retirement trainings as options during the District-wide staff development days next year. Our goal is to schedule two trainings on October 15, 2019, and two more trainings on February 11, 2020. These are the "menu" DWSDs, when members have a selection of options to choose from. One training will be focused on teachers in the middle of their careers, and the other training will focus on teachers towards the end of their careers. We are also going to try to schedule a STRS training for new hires on June 11, which is one of the new hire summer training days. The District has been very agreeable to providing these valuable trainings to our members on District time, and we appreciate their cooperation.
Lastly, CUTA is proposing a small dues increase this year with the addition of a formula in which dues increase when the salary schedule increases. The proposed dues increase using the new formula would $0.76/month next year and $1.08/month the following year. The wage increases we have negotiated have increased CUTA costs, and this formula would allow us to continue to provide the time and resources towards future work. In addition to the formula, this proposal would create three "bands" or levels for the percentage of dues members pay. The description below will also be on the ballots.
Proposed Dues Formula:
The proposed dues formula uses a three-year rolling average based on salary schedule increases. For example, if this dues formula were in place, over the last three years the salary schedule has increased 0% (2016-17), 2.46% (2017-2018), and 6.98% (2018-2019). That is a three-year rolling average of 3.15%. If this formula is approved by you this year, our dues increase next year (2019-2020) would be $0.76 per month. Based on our projected raise next year, the three-year rolling average for 2020-2021 (the two previous years 2.46%, 6.98% and 3.5% projected) would be approximately 4.31%, which would translate to a dues increase in 2020-21 of $1.08 per month.
In addition, this dues formula will adopt the same dues categories that CTA uses. Currently CTA dues are broken into three categories based on FTE: Category 1 for members whose assignment is more than 60% (full dues), Category 2 for members whose assignment is more than 1/3 but not more than 60% (50% dues) and Category 3 for members whose assignment is 1/3 or less or on unpaid leave (25% dues).
Dues increase votes must occur at school sites. CUTA site representatives will bring ballots to your sites and ask you to vote on this between Friday, May 17, and Thursday, May 23. After the ballots have been delivered to the CUTA office by 4 p.m. on May 23, any member is welcome to help count ballots or oversee the counting process. This is a separate vote from the TA. As mentioned above, the TA vote will be on Wednesday, May 29.
This has been another positive year of negotiations with the District. Next year will bring new challenges as we come to the end of our three year wage agreement. The projected raise for next year, the final year of our agreement, is 3.5%. CUTA appreciates your support as we work to improve the working conditions for you and make this the best school district we can for our students.
If you'd like to look at our contract, you can find it here. Thank you for taking the time to stay informed.
Charlie Snyder
Bargaining Chair
Chico Unified Teachers Association
Bargaining Update
Hello colleagues,
Your CUTA bargaining team and the District met for negotiations on Wednesday, April 24. We spent the majority of the session reviewing the agreements we reached this year to put in a tentative agreement (TA) for you to vote on. The vote will take place in late May after a general membership meeting. Details about the time and location of the vote will be forthcoming.
The following includes a brief summary of the items in the tentative agreement (TA).
In addition to completing the draft of the tentative agreement, we reviewed and agreed to continue our current MOUs (memorandums of understanding) with some changes. Our current MOUs with brief explanations are listed below. MOUs are approved by E-Board and only become a part of the contract if agreed on by the District and CUTA and voted on by general membership in a TA.
We had a little bit of time left to check in on issues we are currently negotiating. The District expects the report on its special education program to be finished by early May, which will hopefully allow us to spend time during our final two sessions discussing the many issues we are trying to address in this area.
The District has agreed to include STRS trainings on the District-wide staff development days. STRS trainers will tailor presentation for young educators, mid-career educators and veteran educators and may provide information for additional, sensible investment options. We are trying to work out the best times to offer these training sessions, and the District is being very gracious in sharing their time to allow these presentations. We are also looking to provide STRS training for brand new teachers, and again the District has offered us time at one of the new teacher training days in the summer. This is a great example of the District accommodating CUTA member needs, because they want the best for our members, too.
Next year is the final year of our three-year wage increase agreement with the District. We have begun preliminary discussions about what a compensation increase might look like in 2020-2021. Although we have no way of predicting future state funding, we can start to examine various ways to offer compensation increases. This is the start of a long discussion.
In addition to the general membership meeting and vote on this year's TA, we will also be holding site level votes on a formula to use for a dues increase. Our president, Kevin Moretti, sent an email explaining the formula CUTA would like to establish for dues increases. The formula would result in a very small increase of $0.76 per month next year for full-time teachers and an increase the following year of a little over $1 per month. For a detailed explanation, please see Kevin's email. The dues increase would allow CUTA members working on union issues to continue to devote the necessary time for working closely with the District on working conditions, compensation increases, and other issues.
If you would like to view our current contract, you can find it here. Thank you for taking the time to stay informed.
Charlie Snyder
Bargaining Chair
Chico Unified Teachers Association
Bargaining Update
Hello colleagues,
Your CUTA bargaining team and the District met for negotiations on Thursday, April 11. We have three remaining bargaining sessions this school year, and we are beginning to put together a tentative agreement for you to vote on in late May. In addition, we are reviewing all of our current MOUs to adjust and renew as needed. We also continued to discuss issues related to all-day K, special education, long-term independent study, medical benefits for retirees in special circumstances, bargaining release time, CUTA trainings at District-wide staff development days, coaching stipends, and MAA.
We opened the session by sharing the specific feedback we received from all-day K teachers at the meeting we held in January. The District listened closely to the K teachers concerns about the training of aides. They have ideas about how to get the aides more training in classroom management and other important skills. We also shared some teachers' concerns with the age-appropriateness of the prep lessons being provided, while recognizing that the District has control over what is delivered during prep time. We also shared that one site did not get to choose whether or not the all-day schedule would have a delayed start. The District is in full agreement that the default position is a two-week delayed start for the all-day schedule and that all teachers and admin would have to agree to start the schedule earlier. This MOU will govern all-day K next year, and we will begin writing contract language during 2019-2020.
We have been discussing how to clarify the process by which special education teachers can get support based on both caseload and class size. We have also expressed an interest in establishing class sizes for RSP teachers. These discussions are on hold until the District receives a report on the special education program from School Services of California. Once that report has reached a final draft stage, we will continue our conversation.
We are also trying to clarify the procedures for how the state can grant the District a waiver to increase an RSP teacher's caseload from 28-32. We have received conflicting information from the California Department of Education. We have been told that the RSP teacher must agree to the waiver by one expert, and we have been told that the RSP teacher can register their disagreement on the waiver form but the District can get the waiver anyway. We are exploring the issue further so that we can be sure that we are following the law.
We are still working on the details of the long-term independent study MOU, focusing on caseload numbers.
CUTA shared an interest with the District to allow members to receive retiree health benefits from the District if they resign from teaching and meet contractual age and length of service requirements for receiving retiree health benefits, but are not yet drawing STRS benefits. Our current contract language states that a member who has been with the District at least 10 years, is 55 or over, and "qualif[ies] and [is] in the process of receiving retirement benefits" from STRS will receive health care benefits from the District until the member is eligible for Medicare. We can imagine occasional situations in which members might want to resign from teaching but not yet be ready to begin drawing STRS benefits for financial reasons. With tight parameters, this could be a net savings for the District and benefit a member in this somewhat unique situation. The District is running numbers on various scenarios and they are also considering the philosophical question of whether it is right to pay benefits to someone who no longer works for the District and may actually be employed elsewhere. We are also checking to see whether SISC would allow this. This is a scenario that is unlikely to impact many members, but it could help some.
A recent court case upheld the position that school districts have to cover the costs for a "reasonable" amount of time for union negotiations teams to meet and prepare for bargaining. Since the word "reasonable" is undefined, we are working with the District to come to an agreement on a specific number to add to the contract.
Next, we moved on to a discussion of the menu of options available to staff on District-wide staff development days. CUTA offered to provide a training class on STRS, and the District has expressed an interest. We are working on the possibility of offering a STRS training session on the District-wide day on the first day back after the summer and potentially again at one of the later District-wide days, as well.
The District has agreed to add a stipended position for a girls wrestling coach. It will be a varsity coach position in category 3 in the contract.
Lastly, we discussed the MAA program. Currently, there is no MAA funding coming into the District, but it may resume at some point in the future. Our contract says that eligible MAA reporters who are CUTA members will receive 50% of CUTA's portion of MAA dollars. The District wants to find out if those members would rather use that money for program needs, perhaps by working on committees to choose specific, potentially large-dollar items. CUTA will discuss the District's ideas with eligible MAA reporters.
Our CUTA president, Kevin Moretti, sent out an important email yesterday. CUTA will hold a vote this year on a very small dues increase. The proposed dues increase for next year is $0.76 per month. CUTA has not raised dues for more than eight years. During that time, we have negotiated nearly 20% in raises along with negotiating countless smaller items with the goal of improving your working conditions. The small dues increase will allow us to continue to provide the support you deserve. We are proposing a formula that would link very small dues increases to raises. Kevin's email explains it very well. Please take the time to read his email. Our bylaws state that any vote on an increase in dues must take place at the site level.
If you would like to look at our contact, you can find it here. Thank you for taking the time to stay informed.
Charlie Snyder
Bargaining Chair
Chico Unified Teachers Association
Bargaining Update
Hello colleagues,
Your CUTA bargaining team and the District met for negotiations on Wednesday, 3/27/19. We discussed a wide range of ongoing topics including District student admission policies, member attendance at District-wide staff development days, elementary assessment, long-term independent study, coaching stipends, providing work for suspended students, and medical benefits for retirees not yet receiving benefits from STRS. It was a productive session.
The District began the session by following up on CUTA's question about District policy regarding the entry of new students into a class. They confirmed their initial thoughts from our last session. By law, homeless students must be enrolled and admitted to class "on the spot." For all other students, the District policy is to encourage parents to bring their child to school on the day following enrollment so that the teacher can be notified and given advance warning. However, in the event that parents insist that their child be enrolled immediately, the District will grant the parent request. In the vast majority of cases, teachers will receive advance notice of a new student being enrolled in their class.
We then looked at data on member attendance at the District-wide staff development day (DWSD) on January 15. Contractually, members are docked ¼ day if they don't attend a DWSD, provided they aren't sick or excused by their administrator. The District was relatively pleased by the data, which showed an attendance rate of approximately 90%. In the event that a member shows habitual non-attendance at DWSDs, an administrator may have a conversation with that member.
For our next topic, we returned to elementary assessment. We have been encouraging the District to find a way to minimize the impact of elementary assessment on classroom instruction, and it has been a challenge, since many teachers have indicated that they value the majority of the existing assessments. In fact, nearly 80 of our TK-2 teachers responded to a survey (out of 125 total TK-2 teachers). Even the three least popular assessments were supported by over 60% of the respondents. The District and elementary DLC have worked hard on this. They are going to eliminate the requirement for the 3rd math I-Ready diagnostic and they are going to make CBMs no longer mandatory.
In addition, the District and the elementary DLC are in the process of designing a reading assessment continuum which, in theory, should reduce the overall number of assessments needed to be administered. Basically, students would take reading assessments in order of complexity until they demonstrated mastery on each assessment, and at that point, teachers would no longer be responsible for re-administering a mastered assessment to that child. Currently, students have to continue to be assessed during testing windows on assessments they have already mastered. This would eliminate the need for mandatory baseline assessment every year, and it would allow teachers to assess the students at their appropriate level, rather than having to deliver every assessment to every student during every testing window. The District is confident that they can provide clear data sheets showing where each student is to make organization more manageable. A plan like this could mean that an intermediate teacher might find themselves responsible for administering a test they are unfamiliar with, but the District feels confident that by eliminating CBMs, sites will free up more support for intermediate teachers who need help administering unfamiliar assessments. This conceptual plan is not complete, but the District and elementary DLC will continue to work on it in the hopes that it will serve our students better and make assessment more manageable for elementary teachers. At some point, elementary members will see presentations about this idea from DLC members.
We are still working out the details of the long term independent study programs offered by the District. Currently, caseloads for these programs are governed by MOUs, which we need to adjust and re-negotiate annually. We have continued to gather information from our members teaching in these programs, and our discussions with the District are ongoing.
On another front, the District is willing in principle to add a stipended coaching position for girls wrestling. In theory, it would fall under category 3 of head varsity coaching stipends. Although the District is avoiding adding any new costs at this time, they recognize the growth of this sport at Chico High, and they also don't want to run afoul of Title IX. They are going to explore the situation further, but they are responding positively to this idea.
Our last major topic of discussion revolved around how and when teachers provide work to suspended students. With the Board policy changing from teachers "may" provide work to suspended students to teachers "shall" provide work to suspended students, we have been working on a way to make this work for students and teachers. The District plans to propose to the School Board a similar concept to what we have discussed in negotiations. In this policy proposal, teachers have two choices. The teacher may provide the student the work at the time of the suspension and expect the work when the student returns, or the teacher may choose not to provide work and the school will provide packet work. In the latter case, the teacher cannot hold the suspended student responsible for assignments missed while on suspension because the teacher declined to provide the work. However, the teacher may require the suspended student to take any assessments that he or she missed upon return from suspension. As the District works through the challenges of allowing Chromebook access at ISS, it should be easier for teachers to provide students work.
If you'd like to look over our contract, you can find it here.
Thank you for taking the time to stay informed.
Charlie Snyder
Bargaining Chair
Chico Unified Teachers Association
Bargaining Update
Hello colleagues,
Your CUTA bargaining team and the District met for negotiations on Wednesday, February 27. We had a long agenda, and we had a productive discussion on all of the agenda items.
Kevin Moretti, your CUTA president, began the session by sharing information about a District-led meeting to look for solutions to the problem of student violence against teachers in the classroom. Although this is not a widespread problem, it does occur, and CUTA and the District both share an interest in helping teachers in this situation. The meeting included both data and information gathering and brainstorming, and Kevin felt it was very productive as a first step.
We moved on to asking clarifying questions about current RSP class sizes and about how elementary RSP teachers provide intervention support for non-RSP students. We plan to meet with elementary RSP teachers to gather input. Diane Olsen will be joining our next session to continue this discussion, as well as to discuss caseloads and class sizes for all other special education teachers. CUTA has an interest in clarifying the caseloads and class sizes for non-RSP special education teachers and in understanding how and when special education teachers receive extra support in their classrooms. We also have an interest in having a class size maximum for RSP teachers.
Next on the agenda, we discussed a way to streamline the process for CUTA to meet with new employees hired in the middle of the year. Currently, Kevin meets with newly hired teachers before the school year begins to share information about the union. It is more challenging to meet with teachers hired during the school year. The District plans to schedule a monthly meeting for any new hires during that month to meet with Kevin. This is another example of positive cooperation between the District and CUTA. We appreciate that cooperation very much.
Short-term independent study continues to generate questions from members. At our last session, the District said that short-term independent study would be for absences from 5-10 days long. In exceptional circumstances, short-term independent study could be granted for up to 15 days. We discussed what would constitute an "exceptional circumstance". The District has now provided packet work for up to 10 days for elementary, middle and high school. We asked for the District to provide an additional 5 days of packet work for elementary, middle and high school, if they plan to grant 15 days, even if it will only be granted occasionally.
Our next topic was elementary assessment. We have heard concerns about assessment from elementary teachers for a long time, and we have struggled to find a way to address it with the District. Oftentimes, the District hears the opposite from elementary teachers. They hear from teachers who say they value all or most of the assessments and don't want to get rid of any. We decided to try to get some actual data to work with, and we focused on TK-2 teachers as a starting point. We created and sent out a survey to all TK-2 teachers (roughly 125 people) which asked them to rate each assessment as one of the following: informative to parents, informative to teachers, both, neither, or not applicable (assessment not used in that grade level). We have received 78 responses. We are hesitant to draw ironclad conclusions from the results for several reasons. For one, almost 50 teachers didn't respond. For another, we are not expert survey designers; it's possible that our rating system for assessments doesn't fully capture teacher concerns.
With that caveat, the data shows that the vast majority of assessments used in TK-2 were rated by a strong majority of responding teachers as valuable to parents, teachers or both. The exceptions to this were the I-Ready reading and math diagnostics and the CCSS math and ELA assessments. These four assessments were rated as valuable to parents, teachers, or both by 55-65% of respondents. About 35-45% of respondents rated these four assessments as valuable to neither parents nor teachers. In essence, even these less popular assessments still showed support from a majority of responding teachers.
We also received 42 written comments of which some were quite detailed. One unifying concern through the written comments was that there simply wasn't enough time to complete the assessments, valuable though they may be. There were also more specific concerns. We are combing through these comments to try to find common concerns about the timing and frequency of specific assessments.
This leaves us in a challenging situation. In some ways, it seems like what we thought teachers were saying and what the District thought teachers were saying were both correct. Teachers are concerned about assessments, although they generally value the data gathered from the menu of assessments. What they are concerned about is time: both the time needed to give and score the assessments and the time lost for instruction. Creating time is hard. Even if the District was willing to provide more prep time or sub days to handle assessment, teachers would still be losing classroom time with their students. Our next step is to go through the notes and information gathered from the DLC-led conversations at sites. We will continue working on this issue.
We moved on to discuss the possibility of establishing an end time for called meeting time. Currently, a member can be asked to attend up to eight hours of called meeting time each month with a limit of sixty hours in a school year, and called meeting time must begin within fifteen minutes of the end of the student day. The District-wide staff development days, Back to School Night, and Open House are exceptions to the start time rule. There is nothing in the contract about when called meeting time needs to end. CUTA suggested capping called meeting time at 90 minutes, and the District is considering the idea. This would apply only to District called meeting time. IEPs are not called by the District; they are federally mandated meetings.
Several members have asked about the process for when a new student enters a classroom midyear. The District shared that administrators and office staff try to give advance notice to teachers, especially elementary teachers, so that teachers can be prepared to welcome the new student, but that there can be exceptions. Administrators and office staff will always recommend that the child start on the following day so that teachers can be informed, but in certain situations, the child will start attending on the spot. Legally, if a student is homeless, the District must enroll the student on the spot and allow them to begin attending school immediately. Additionally, if a family is insistent that their child enter the classroom right away, the school is going to allow it.
Based on a request from a member at Chico High, CUTA asked for the District to consider adding girls wrestling as a sport eligible for a coaching stipend. The District will go to the School Board with the request. Like other sports, there will have to be a minimum number of participants, or the sport would have club status. If the Board agrees to add girls wrestling, we will explore what category of coaching stipends it will fall under.
We also shared with the District concerns that have been raised by band and drama teachers at the high school level. In order to put on performances and concerts, the teachers have to do a large amount of fundraising in order to be able to pay members of the community for key tasks such choreography, costume and set design, and many more. Some of our band and drama teachers asked for these extra task positions to be stipended to relieve some of the fundraising duties. The District expressed an understanding of the large amount of work and an appreciation for the high quality of the performances, but they said that with the large increases in compensation, they are not able to add to the budget currently. In fact, they are looking to make cuts in the budget to make sure they stay fiscally sound. To be fair to the District, CUTA encouraged the District to repurpose dollars to pay for our raises. The concerns raised by the band and drama teachers are an example of a worthy cause that can't be addressed right now because of our generous increase in compensation.
We also discussed the future of the MAA program. It's possible that MAA dollars may eventually begin to flow into the District again. Currently, the District is in the process of paying off a penalty to the MAA program, but after that penalty has been settled, CUTA and the District share an interest in deciding how to allocate those potential future MAA dollars. The contract says that members eligible to be MAA reporters will receive 50% of the MAA dollars received by the District. The contract also says that CUTA will encourage eligible members to participate, but members are not required to. The District has expressed an interest in seeing those dollars spent on students. CUTA suggested setting up committees of eligible MAA reporters (nurses, speech therapists, and special education teachers) who could decide on how to spend the MAA dollars on bigger budget items in their departments. Some members have said they would prefer to simply receive the money as personal compensation. CUTA suggested to the District that if these members had access to 100% of the MAA dollars to spend on department needs, instead of just 50%, they might be more interested in this approach. The District is considering that option, and CUTA will be checking with its members. This is still all theoretical, because nobody knows if MAA dollars will actually return to the District.
We also discussed the process for providing schoolwork to students who are on in-school suspension (ISS). Teachers may provide work for the student at the time of the suspension and hold the student accountable for the work when the student returns to the classroom, or teachers may give the student the work when they return and give the same number of days as the suspension length for the student to make up the work. There have been issues with students being able to use Chromebooks when on ISS, and Andrew Moll, the administrator a Fairview, will join us at a future session to iron out the situation.
Lastly, we discussed when the responsibility for lesson planning shifts from the teacher to the sub when a teacher goes on medical leave. The short answer is that lesson planning becomes the sub's responsibility when the sub starts to receive long-term sub pay. The longer answer is that the sub may start to receive long-term sub pay at different times depending on the member's medical leave. The sub starts to receive long-term sub pay on the eleventh day of subbing for a member on medical leave. If a member knows that he or she will be gone on medical leave for more than ten days, the sub will begin to receive long-term sub pay on day one of the leave and is responsible for lesson planning from the beginning. If a member doesn't know how long his or her leave is going to be, the member is responsible for lesson planning until the eleventh day.
We are scheduled to meet with the District next on Wednesday, March 13. If you have questions, please feel free to email me. If you'd like to look over our contract, you can find it here, which is on our website: chicouta.org.
Thank you for taking the time to stay informed.
Charlie Snyder
Bargaining Chair
Chico Unified Teachers Association
Bargaining Update
I wanted to make a quick clarification about short term independent study.
If a family requests short term independent study and the school approves it, teachers have three options.
Option 1: Assign your classroom work to be completed during the absence period. Grade the work when the student returns and include it in his or her grade.
Option 2: Assign the generic packet work. Grade the packet work when the student returns (you can use a simple "credit/no credit" grade if you want). Do not assign zeroes or F's for your classroom work that the student missed while he or she was gone. This option doesn't exist yet for high school, but the packets are being developed, so it will be an option in the future.
Option 3: Assign some combination of your work and the generic packet work. Grade the work when the student returns. You can include the portion of your classroom work that you assigned for the short term independent study in the student's grade.
Each site will develop its own procedures for how to access and assign the packets.
Thank you,
Charlie Snyder
Bargaining Chair
Chico Unified Teachers Association
Michelle Bunch serves as Vice President and Public Relations Chair for CUTA.
October 2019


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Starting your first full-time, entry-level job can be intimidating. Don't let your nerves overcome you on your first day at work. If you missed it, be sure to check out Part 1 of this series.
This video, hosted by College Recruiter's Content Manager, Bethany Wallace, offers five more tips to help you shake off the first day jitters and prepare for your first day of work with confidence.
If the video is not playing or displaying properly click here.
1. Observe.
On your first day at work—or even within the first few weeks or months of a new position—spend more of your time observing and listening than you do talking, saying yes, and volunteering for every opportunity that comes your way. You will learn a lot about company culture, your coworkers, your supervisors, and your new position by observing. You can figure out which circle of work friends you want to align yourself with and which group of friends to join for happy hour. You'll figure out how to fit in and how to avoid major communication pitfalls. And you'll avoid getting in over your head by overfilling your plate with unnecessary commitments, too.
2. Say yes to lunch.
On your first day and within the first week of work, you may be invited to lunch by coworkers who are trying to make you feel welcome. In general, it's a good idea to say yes. Going to lunch isn't a huge commitment. It gives you an opportunity to network and to learn about the workplace in a less threatening and less formal environment. If you go to lunch with someone and determine you don't necessarily click as friends outside of work, you haven't lost anything or made a commitment to joining that person for lunch every day of the week. No harm, no foul.
3. Silence your cell phone.
You have to be responsible enough to remember to do this yourself; chances are, no one's going to remind you, and there's nothing more embarrassing than your phone buzzing or ringing during a team meeting, onboarding training session, or worse yet, an all-company meeting. Take it a step further and implement a personal policy of avoiding carrying your phone around with you during work. Sure, everyone needs to send an occasional personal text message or personal email. But for the most part, work while you're at work, and tend to personal business when you're not at work. This helps you to stay focused on doing a great job and learning the ropes of your new position, and it demonstrates respect for your coworkers when you're communicating with them (rather than gazing at the screen on your phone).
4. Use names.
Referring to people by their names is a great idea throughout life for several reasons, but it's particularly helpful when you start a new job. When you refer to coworkers by name, you make them feel more important. This is a basic networking tip. In addition, referring to people by name often softens the blow when you're making requests, giving orders, sharing information, and sending emails which otherwise seem cold and impersonal. And lastly, referring to people by name helps you to remember who you're talking to.
5. Say thank you.
When coworkers, supervisors, and others at your new company treat you with kindness and courtesy during the onboarding process, respond with gratitude. Say thank you if someone opens the door for you, gathers office supplies for you, sets up your computer, or invites you to lunch. You might even consider writing thank you cards or at least emails to individuals who go above and beyond to make you feel welcome during your first few weeks of work. Remember, you're establishing long-term working relationships with people within your company, and what better way to do that than to demonstrate gratitude for their help and kindness.
For more onboarding tips, check out our onboarding YouTube playlist and follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
When entry-level candidates apply for jobs, they often claim to have great soft skills. However, after employers hire candidates, they may find that candidates don't have the excellent soft skills they boasted about possessing. This creates a problem for employers in the onboarding process and afterward, too, as they are left to deal with new employees lacking basic soft skills required to adapt to the workplace and corporate culture.
Can the new employees interact well with their teammates? Are they capable of making strong decisions on their own without input from management every step of the way? Do new employees manage their time well, resolve conflicts as they arise, and communicate clearly, effectively, and appropriately with clients and coworkers? If the answer to any of these questions is 'no,' employers have big—often expensive–problems on their hands.
Pete Joodi, Distinguished Engineer for IBM, provides entry-level job seekers and employers with insight into why soft skills matter so much in today's workplace, particularly in the field of information technology. In this interview by Bethany Wallace, Content Manager for College Recruiter, Pete Joodi discusses the soft skills dilemma.
If the video is not playing or displaying properly click here.
At IBM, Pete Joodi, Distinguished Engineer, focuses on research and innovation in information technology. He focuses on optimization strategies; his goal is to find ways software and technology can improve energy efficiency, cost containment, and compliance.
Pete mentions that within the last 50 years, the world has truly expanded thanks to technology. We need to know how to work with each other now more than ever. This is the reason soft skills are more important than ever before.
IBM conducted a study in 2014. One of its findings indicated that soft skills are in great demand by employers but are most lacking in students graduating from institutions of higher education today. Pete Joodi doesn't see this as a negative finding, however. Instead, it indicates an opportunity for growth and improvement for employers.
At IBM, the focus is on leading and contributing to technological innovation in the 'cognitive era.' Candidates applying at IBM need the following soft skills in order to succeed: communication skills, teamwork and collaboration skills, problem-solving skills, adaptability and flexibility skills, language and translation skills, ability to interact well with colleagues and clients, critical thinking skills, and conflict resolution skills.
Truly, soft skills are highly relevant at IBM. The world is more complex than it was, but it's also more rewarding to work in the world today. In order to create consumable products, IBM and other companies must hire candidates with excellent soft skills.
For more details about how to improve your soft skills, transferable skills, and non-verbal skills, visit CollegeRecruiter.com, follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook, and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
So you just landed your first entry-level job and are graduating from college soon. Congratulations! You're completing two major milestones simultaneously. After you celebrate, settle in, watch this short video hosted by Content Manager, Bethany Wallace, and read this brief article before showing up for your first day of work.
What is "onboarding?" Why should you care about it? And how should you prepare for it?
According to The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), onboarding is "the process by which new hires get adjusted to the social and performance aspects of their jobs quickly and smoothly, and learn the attitudes, knowledge, skills, and behaviors required to function effectively within an organization." Thankfully, most companies no longer have a sink-or-swim mentality regarding new employees. They have recognized the costs associated with recruiting, hiring, and training new employees, and they want to retain top candidates. In order to do so, they attempt to help new hires transition into the workplace as quickly and as smoothly as possible.
That's the good news for you as a new employee.
That doesn't mean you don't have a part to play in the onboarding process, though. Here are five quick tips to ease the transition from recent grad to entry-level employee.
If the video is not playing or displaying properly click here.
1. Onboarding is a two-way street.
When you're a new entry-level employee, you'll have a reasonable amount of jitters on your first day of work (and beyond). You'll feel concerned about what to wear, who to talk to, and how to behave during meetings. This is totally normal.
But if it eases your mind, just remember that onboarding—the process of acclimation—is a two-way street. Your employer is just as concerned about making a great first impression on YOU as you are about making a great first impression on her. Does your new employer treat you well on your first day? Did your new coworkers greet you or ignore you? Did your supervisor have materials and office supplies waiting for you, or did you have to wait for three days for a computer to be set up? These might seem like minor details, but they're really not. Pay attention to the way you're treated.
There are many common onboarding mistakes employers make that reflect negatively on the employer and affect their ability to retain great employees (like you!). The way your employer (not just your supervisor, but everyone in the company) treats you speaks volumes about the corporate culture and work environment. This helps you make your decision about whether this company is a good long-term fit for you as an employee.
2. Don't glaze over during orientation.
Even though orientation at many companies can seem a little dry (okay, ahem, boring), the information covered can actually be important. While the information covered may not be presented in the most entertaining manner, it's probably information you need to either perform your job well or to function well in the workplace. Either way, attempt to pay attention rather than zone out by playing with apps on your phone. Not only will you appear to be a more engaged employee to your new employer, but you'll also retain more of the content covered (which might come in handy later when you're expected to remember it).
3. Stick around during breaks/lunch.
It's easy to give into the temptation to skip out during breaks or during lunch and dinner invitations, which are totally optional, but that's when you have the opportunity to truly network with your coworkers and supervisors. Not only will you build genuine working relationships with others, but you'll also learn more about company culture by attending these "off the record" events. You'll see people's true colors and be more likely to enjoy the next day's "on the record" events if you connect well with your coworkers over dinner the night before.
4. Ask questions.
If you're sitting through a training session or orientation workshop and feel confused or have a question, speak up! Don't be afraid to ask questions. Many new hires often feel too intimidated to ask questions and wind up struggling in the workplace for weeks, or even months, as a result.
If you're too intimidated to speak up during a large meeting, take notes and ask your supervisor questions later.
5. Get a mentor (or two).
Many companies now provide new employees, particularly recent college graduates, with official mentors. However, you may want to consider seeking out your own mentors. It's never a bad idea to find one mentor in your company (someone with at least a few years of experience) and another mentor in your "dream" career field. This person might wind up being your career mentor for life, so select someone you truly admire and whose career path you may want to emulate. A career mentor can provide guidance from time to time and advice when times are tough in your career journey. It helps to hear an objective voice and encouraging word from someone you admire.
You've already done the tough part of landing a great entry-level job; just continue preparing yourself for those first few months of work as you transition into a brand new employee. You're going to do a fabulous job.
For more onboarding tips, read our blog and connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.
Did you know that 65% of employers admit that clothing can be the deciding factor between similar candidates in the hiring process?
Apparently what you wear—and your overall interview appearance—really matters. It's important to plan ahead for your interview, and that includes thinking about your interview appearance from head to toe. No one wants to wake up the morning of an interview, hitting snooze too many times to the point of having to skip a shower, yanking the first presentable outfit out of the closet, dreading the interview the entire time. That's really setting yourself up for interview failure.
Set yourself up for interview success instead by watching this video featuring College Recruiter's Content Manager, Bethany Wallace. You'll learn seven simple ways to enhance your interview appearance.
If the video is not playing or displaying properly click here.
1.. Research the position, the company, and the career field.
Expectations for interview appearance and attire vary based on these criteria. If you're interviewing in a super casual work environment, you can get away with wearing business casual attire (slacks, blouse, and flats). However, if you're interviewing at a large corporation for a management position, you better don a business suit. Doing your homework and understanding the corporate culture in advance will help you avoid major interview appearance mistakes. If your homework doesn't help you make a clear decision, stop by the career services office on campus and ask for advice.
2. If in doubt, err on the side of conservative and classy. Translation: wear a suit.
If you aren't sure what to wear, and your research yields few clear results, wear a suit. It's better to dress up than to dress down for a job interview. Your future employer will most likely be impressed that you took time and energy to invest in your interview appearance.
If you wear a business suit, be sure it's clean, pressed, and tailored. If you can't afford to have it dry cleaned, clean it yourself on the gentle cycle and iron it carefully on the lowest setting. Have it tailored to fit you (or hem it yourself if necessary), but do not wear a suit with cuffs that are too long and too-long hemlines. This makes you look like you're wearing your grandma's suit, and that's not a cute look for anyone.
3. Don't blow your budget on interview attire.
As a college student or recent grad, you simply can't afford to spend hundreds of dollars on an expensive suit or interview outfit. Be savvy and scour consignment stores for great deals on secondhand suits in excellent shape. Try to find suits that are still considered modern or fashionable, though, if possible. You don't want to sport a look that was popular three decades ago.
4. Clean up.
Don't sleep late the morning of an interview. Take a shower and practice good hygiene in every way. Clean hair, nails, and teeth let your interviewers know that you take pride in your interview appearance as well as minor details—and this lets them know you'll take pride in the work you'll do for them if hired. Skip heavy doses of cologne and perfume, and avoid exposure to cigarette smoke before a job interview.
5. Avoid excessive everything.
Flashy jewelry, sparkly eyeshadow, dangly earrings, bold neckties, colorful patterns, and fun socks are all great ways to demonstrate your personality in everyday life. Skip these over-the-top accessories when dressing for your interview, though. Neutral colors and subtle patterns (or solid colors) are better choices for suits and clothing items. When choosing jewelry, shoes, and accessories, think classic.
6. Put the focus on you, not your appearance.
By taking the previous tips into consideration, you'll allow yourself the freedom to relax. This will help potential employers to focus on YOU, not your appearance. You won't be fidgeting or fighting your own outfit. Instead, your future boss will notice your soft skills, your ability to work the room, your great laugh, and your attention to details when answering questions and responding to others.
You never want recruiters to remember the way you fixed your hair the day of an interview. You always want them to remember the reasons you listed for why they should hire you.
7. Remember that if you're not comfortable and confident, you can't focus on the content of your conversation with your future employer.
Lastly, choose clothing and accessories you feel completely comfortable and confident wearing. If you feel constrained or awkward, it will show in your facial expressions and body language, and that won't win you any brownie points. You want to appear alert, focused, and grateful for the opportunity to be interviewed. If you're thinking about how tight your jacket is, whether your pants are going to rip when you stand up or sit down, or how large the blister is on your right foot while you're touring the job facility, you will certainly not have a Zen quality about you.
Write a great resume, apply for jobs, and prepare well for interviews. Be sure to follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube for regular job search assistance and for more Tuesday Tip videos and articles like this.
Organizations often overlook having an open house or another face-to-face meeting as a relatively inexpensive way to hire multiple people for one or more roles. The best candidates do not apply for jobs simply because they're open to taking new jobs, and they happen to be qualified for jobs recruiters want filled. College students and recent graduates are far more likely to be interested in applying, interviewing, accepting job offers, and staying with a company for years if they understand the organization, the work environment, and the team they'd be working with from the beginning of the process. (more…)
As graduation draws near, anxiety along with trepidation of getting a decent job seems to take over. Why not save yourself from impending doom by being prepared beforehand and present yourself in the best possible manner for recruiters to hire you? Opportunities are endless, but it is up to you how you avail them. We hope to guide you to pave your career path and minimize the imminent danger lingering around the horizon of not doing justice to your years of academics and hard work. Formulating an effective job search strategy will bring you in close proximity to recruiters, searching ardently for a potential candidate and increase your chances of getting hired. (more…)
Employee resource groups (ERGs) are groups voluntarily led by employees who share common interests, life experiences, and/or backgrounds. These groups serve to advocate for employees. As a result, workers benefit on a professional and personal level. ERGs can also assist in supporting a company's goals, such as achieving diversity and inclusion in the workplace. They are a win-win for both employees and employers.
College Recruiter is currently focusing on employee resource groups (ERGs) and is publishing the opinions of experts based on a series of questions. In today's article, Mary Beth McGrath, Vice President of Global Talent Management at Level 3, discusses the importance of ERGs and how they benefit both employees and employers. (more…)
I'm sure you can think of at least one story, involving you or someone else, in which an employee had one too many drinks at a company function and was the subject of a great deal of gossip afterwards.
It can be hard to know whether or not it's cool to knock one back at a work party, especially if you're new to that particular business or are fresh out of college, where drinking at social events was the norm. Some work cultures are more laid back than others, and you may feel pressured to have at least one beer or glass of wine at a company event.
This can be a huge problem for some of us who tend to make some not-so-great decisions when we drink. While embarrassing moments make for great stories in college, they can have negative implications on your career. (more…)
Summary: What are entry-level recruiters looking for when they size up a potential job candidate?
When you encounter a recruiter at a job fair or networking event, what traits might this person be looking for as they shake your hand and chat with you for a few minutes? And when a recruiter starts a dialogue with you online, what traits might she be scanning for as she reads your messages and skims through your resume?
What kinds of qualities and signals will make a recruiter's ears perk up? What keywords, personal traits, and non-verbal messages will inspire them to pick up the phone and chase you down before their competitors get ahold of you? And what traits will make them glaze over and move onto the next candidate in line? Here are a few of the ways recruiters size you up, regardless of your industry. (more…)
If you're looking for an entry level job by networking, the following post talks about one strategy that could make the difference.
Job searching be much easier if you already knew plenty of colleagues who could tell you if their workplace is awesome — or awful. And put in a good word for you. But you don't know people at every company… because most of us don't network as much as we should. Your challenge: get your foot
Top Internships for Students
Popular Jobs for Recent Grads
Jobs in Growing Industries

subset: commoncrawl


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Retailers in China are taking sides in the rivalry between Alibaba and Tencent, and the latest battle ground is coffee: Chinese upstart Luckin Coffee is teaming up with Tencent on the heels of a partnership between Starbucks and food delivery service Ele.me, which is a unit of Alibaba. With Tencent and Luckin's relationship, WeChat payments will be available at the coffee chain's store and through online orders. In addition, the companies plan to look into payment innovation, such as facial recognition technology and robotic delivery.
WeChat Pay Deputy General Manager Lei Maofeng was quoted in South China Morning Post as saying that the company hopes "the cooperation with Luckin coffee will create a new lifestyle of 'smart retail' through tie-up on user traffic, technology exploration, application scenarios and management abilities."
As of now, Luckin Coffee already offers some innovative technology: Customers can monitor the progress of their orders through a livestream and have them delivered in an average of just 18 minutes. Those capabilities haven't been ignored by Starbucks, which is taking on Luckin's delivery service through its tie-up with Alibaba.
These latest developments in China's coffee space come as Starbucks was seeing a slowdown, which it is now blaming on third-party delivery services just weeks after boasting about its expansion in China, it was reported in late July. The coffee retailer also saw a decline in third-party companies placing big orders for delivery to their customers, which had been resulting in long in-store lines. But Starbucks' partnership with Ele.me could give the retailer a boost in the country, as it aims to nearly double its number of stores in China by 2022. Sharon Zackfia, an analyst for William Blair, said in July that "an imminent announcement of a delivery solution is an important first step, as is a rollout of mobile ordering."
In China, the market for coffee is valued at roughly 100 billion yuan annually. Instant coffee comprises 72 percent of the market, and fresh-brewed coffee makes up only 18 percent. Chinese consumers drink an average of 4.5 cups per year, while U.S. consumers drink an average of a whopping 269 cups of coffee per year. Even so, these latest coffee partnerships show the importance of delivery.
On-demand services are not just important to customers looking for their morning cup of coffee without having to wait in line at their local coffee shop. They have also become "an entry point to other services, such as mobile payments, and also provide further insight into consumer spending patterns," South China Morning Post reported in an article about the Tencent and Luckin tie-up.
The Race to Reach Retailers
The battle over coffee shops comes as archrivals Alibaba and Tencent have invested more than $10 billion in retailers since the beginning of last year. Their efforts have left retailers feeling they need to align with one of those players. As Kantar Worldpanel's Jason Yu told CNBC, "All of the retailers in the brick-and-mortar world are very worried. They have to take a side. Otherwise, they are afraid they will be eaten alive in the future."
That push is driven by the large cash piles and rising share prices of Alibaba and Tencent. At the same time, those eCommerce companies are locked in a race to get consumers and merchants to join their payment, logistics, social media and Big Data platforms. Working with Alibaba and Tencent comes with its benefits: Merchants can access payment systems and logistics services, as well as Big Data. When Alibaba invested $486 million in February into one retail-centered Big Data firm, in particular, Alibaba said the deal could "help brick-and-mortar retailers succeed in the digital age."
Like their American counterpart Amazon, Alibaba and Tencent are fashioning identities that have less and less to do with online shopping and more to do with an integrated life approach. The companies are rolling out mobile payments at even more physical stores. Alibaba took an 18 percent stake in supermarket and convenience store operator Lianhua Supermarket Holdings in 2017. At the same time, Alibaba and its financial services arm, Ant Financial, invested over $1 billion in Chinese food delivery service Ele.me.
How will the battle between Alibaba and Tencent over retailers turn out? Many coffee and food deliveries could help determine that.
Digital transformation has been forcefully accelerated, but how does that agility translate into the fight against COVID-era attacks and sophisticated identity threats? As millions embrace online everything, preserving digital trust now falls mostly on banks and FIs. Now, advances in identity data and using different weights on the payment mix afford new opportunities to arm organizations and their customers against cyberthreats. From the latest in machine learning for fraud and risk, to corporate treasury teams working in new ways with new datasets, learn from experts how digital identity, together with advances like real-time payments, combine to engender trust and enrich relationships.


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Next-generation sequencing of immunoglobulin gene rearrangements for clonality assessment: a technical feasibility study by EuroClonality-NGS
One of the hallmarks of B lymphoid malignancies is a B cell clone characterized by a unique footprint of clonal immunoglobulin (IG) gene rearrangements that serves as a diagnostic marker for clonality assessment. The EuroClonality/BIOMED-2 assay is currently the gold standard for analyzing IG heavy chain (IGH) and κ light chain (IGK) gene rearrangements of suspected B cell lymphomas. Here, the EuroClonality-NGS Working Group presents a multicentre technical feasibility study of a novel approach involving next-generation sequencing (NGS) of IGH and IGK loci rearrangements that is highly suitable for detecting IG gene rearrangements in frozen and formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue specimens. By employing gene-specific primers for IGH and IGK amplifying smaller amplicon sizes in combination with deep sequencing technology, this NGS-based IG clonality analysis showed robust performance, even in DNA samples of suboptimal DNA integrity, and a high clinical sensitivity for the detection of clonal rearrangements. Bioinformatics analyses of the high-throughput sequencing data with ARResT/Interrogate, a platform developed within the EuroClonality-NGS Working Group, allowed accurate identification of clonotypes in both polyclonal cell populations and monoclonal lymphoproliferative disorders. This multicentre feasibility study is an important step towards implementation of NGS-based clonality assessment in clinical practice, which will eventually improve lymphoma diagnostics.
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|Persistent URL
|dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41375-019-0508-7, hdl.handle.net/1765/117562
Scheijen, B, Meijers, R.W.J, Rijntjes, J, van der Klift, M.Y, Möbs, M. (Markus), Steinhilber, J. (Julia), … Groenen, P.J.T.A. (2019). Next-generation sequencing of immunoglobulin gene rearrangements for clonality assessment: a technical feasibility study by EuroClonality-NGS. Leukemia. doi:10.1038/s41375-019-0508-7


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Posts in Category: Major Works
Bridge nears completion
MONTHS of delays have finally come to an end with the Golden Ball Bridge's damage reaching the final stages of repair.
Water milestone
THE small farming community of Stanley reached a significant milestone earlier this month when it took its concerns about groundwater extraction to the office of…
Pedal Push reaps $1 million grant
INDIGO Shire will be on the world stage after a $1 million funding announcement was made this week for an all-season Epic Mountain Bike Trail…
Pedal push for adventure, history and the economy
A PROJECT worth $2 million set to boost North East tourism is a step closer with mapping of an epic mountain bike trail through Stanley…
Hope for bailey bridge opening
INDIGO Shire Mayor Bernard Gaffney has announced that a temporary Bailey bridge on the Wangaratta-Beechworth road will be opened for traffic as soon as Regional…
Picking up the pieces
A FIERCE two-day period of rain last Thursday and Friday flooded streets, waterways and houses.
Subdivision approved
INDIGO Shire Council, on Tuesday night, approved a 10-lot subdivision close to the centre of Beechworth.
Mixed bag for locals from federal budget
CATHY McGowan (MHR, Indi) has labelled Tuesday night's federal budget announcement as "a black day" for the mobile black spot program.
NBN plans fixed wireless roll-out
NBN is to make application to Indigo Shire Council to establish a fixed wireless facility in Beechworth's Payne Road.
Mayday loses $5m hub
THE Indigo community might lose a multi-million dollar cycle tourism and entrepreneur incubation development because of issues with Mayday Hills site.


text: Recorded in October 1970 at the Chess Studios in Chicago and released in 1971, Getting Ready... is proof positive that King was the man and that Shelter Records was one cool label. The record includes a cover of Jimmy Rogers' classic "Walking By Myself" and King references Rogers also in the lyrics of another track on the record, "Living On The Highway". Rogers was the first artist to record for Acoustic Sounds' own APO Records label and the first to appear in concert at Acoustic Sounds' Blue Heaven Studios. 200 gram vinyl.


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Joyful insights to be communicated from within.
AFFIRMATION: I honour the child within me, and know this child can enter the kingdom of heaven.
Shakes-to: Violet flecked with Gold
Keynote: Joyful insights communicated from within.
72 Angels: Imamiah
How to Use: Apply in a band around the body in the area of the 2nd/chakra and the 5th/throat chakra.
Can help to show a joyful face and communicate peace (blue) and insight (orange) regardless of the difficult events or circumstances influencing the present. As the "codices of light" penetrate our deeper inner structures, the energies of B72 may help to bring balance to all levels of being.
DISCLAIMER: The information on this website is intended as a sharing of knowledge and information from the research and experience of Alison Effting and the Biochemic Tissue Salts and Aura-Soma communities. The website content is based upon the opinions of Alison Effting and the writings of Dr WH Schuessler, Dr GW Carey, Vicky Wall and John Michael Booth, unless the authors are otherwise noted. This information is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional, nor intended as medical advice. We encourage you to make your own health care decisions based upon your own research and in partnership with a qualified health care professional. Please do not take yourself off any prescription medication before consulting your doctor.
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This gorgeous Fulton home is highlighted by a gourmet style kitchen with gas cooktop and professional hood, upgraded cabinets with crown moulding, stylish backsplash, unique granite counter tops, a large Island with bar seating, farm style sink and upgraded GE Profile appliances. The kitchen opens up through 16 foot atrium doors to a beautiful 20 x 21 ft. travertine patio. This home is located on a premium corner lot with open views from the kitchen. The master suite offers a large en-suite with a soaker tub, dual sinks with upgraded cabinets, a stylish mosaic backsplash, a large walk-in closet and an oversized shower with a bench. Upgraded stylish faux wood plank tiling, surround sound stereo, security system, RO & soft water system plus many other features round out this stunning like-new home
Listing courtesy of Flagstaff Innovative Realty. Selling Office: Farnsworth-Ricks Management & Realty, Inc..
All information should be verified by the recipient and none is guaranteed as accurate by ARMLS. Copyright 2020 Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service, Inc. All rights reserved.


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When the Windrush scandal broke, it was largely seen as Theresa May's fault, given the Prime Minister had introduced the hostile environment policy when she was Home Secretary. But this week, the focus has shifted to Amber Rudd, and whether she knew what was going on once she took over the role.
This afternoon the Guardian has a leak which suggests Rudd's grip on her department is even weaker than we'd previously thought. Following a chaotic 24 hours in which the Home Secretary told MPs on the Home Affairs Committee that there were no Home Office targets for immigration removals and then corrected herself in the Commons the following day, the newspaper has now published a secret memo which suggests Rudd was wrong to say she did not know about these targets.
The memo, which was written by Hugh Ind, the director general of the Immigration Enforcement Agency, for the minister and her senior colleagues, says the Home Office has 'set a target of achieving 12,800 enforced returns in 2017-18'. Yet when she was summoned to answer an urgent question in the Commons on this matter yesterday, Rudd told MPs that 'I was not aware of' the targets that the immigration arm of her department had been using.
It may well be that Rudd was not intentionally misleading Parliament: she might not have known about the targets because so much paper crosses a Home Secretary's desk that it is impossible for one person to keep up. But that's why a Cabinet minister has special advisers and a private office, and why preparing for select committee appearances is no small task. What this latest leak, and the way events have unfolded over the last few weeks, has told us is that Rudd does not have the grip on her department that her predecessor enjoyed.
Theresa May was notorious as a micromanager, superseded in reputation only by her special advisers Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy, who did far more than advise: they saw themselves as directly responsible for the day-to-day running of the Home Office. This was why May was able to achieve the almost miraculous feat of moving from that department into Number 10: she didn't let go of anything for long enough for it to turn into a row. That's not to say that May didn't have to weather crises when she was Home Secretary. It's just that when something went wrong, such as with the UK Border Agency, she would ensure that her opposite number couldn't get a hold on it enough for the row to last very long at all.
That opposite number, incidentally, was Yvette Cooper, who was Shadow Foreign Secretary until 2015. Cooper is a good politician, but May always managed to outwit her. This week, though, we saw what the now Chair of the Home Affairs Committee can do with a less well-armoured Home Secretary: it was during Committee's evidence session on Wednesday that Rudd started the latest debacle over targets. It's unlikely that this will be the last debacle, either.


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Mario games
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 Review (Switch)
Summer fun with familiar chums
November 5, 2019 - It's been 4 years but Nintendo's and Sega's star players are at it again in another Olympic-sized package so let's head to the games.
Read more: Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 Review
Super Mario Maker 2 Review (Switch)
Endless 2D platforming fun
July 3, 2019 - Making your own Mario levels and playing fellow fans' creations is a ton of fun so let's see how the formula holds up in this Switch sequel.
Read more: Super Mario Maker 2 Review
Super Mario Galaxy vs. Super Mario Odyssey
Mario reaches for the Stars... and Moons
June 7, 2019 - With such humble 2D beginnings, Mario has evolved into a 3D platforming marvel so let's compare 2 of his most epic adventures.
Read more: Super Mario Galaxy vs. Super Mario Odyssey
Super Mario Kart: SNES Racing That's Still Fun
Mario's first kart racer
May 6, 2019 - Super Mario Kart was the first Mario Kart game which is a series that still sells millions of copies so let's see how it holds up today.
Read more: Super Mario Kart: SNES Racing That's Still Fun
Super Mario Bros. 3 vs. Super Mario World
Tanooki Suits and Cape Feathers
April 5, 2019 - Nintendo's platforming plumber has been on dozens of incredible adventures yet these classics remain 2 of his best. The question is; which one of these timeless 2D platformers will win this Versus showdown?
Read more: Super Mario Bros. 3 vs. Super Mario World
Super Mario World vs. Yoshi's Island
Which is the better SNES platformer?
February 22, 2019 - Super Mario World was one of the launch titles for SNES and it showed what the console was capable of. It remains one of my favorite platformers of all time because of the pixel-perfect 2D graphics, its secrets, and how fun and creative the levels are.
Read more: Super Mario World vs. Yoshi's Island
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey Review (3DS)
The brothers become snacks
January 28, 2019 - Following the remake of Superstar Saga, here's an updated Bowser's Inside Story for 3DS with a cool bonus game starring Bowser Jr.
Read more: Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey Review
Mario Kart vs. Mario Party
A multiplayer Mario matchup
January 25, 2019 - Nintendo excels at making fun multiplayer games so let's take a look at a couple of their best series and see which one claims victory.
Read more: Mario Kart vs. Mario Party
Top 10 Super Mario World Secrets
Explore Dinosaur Land like a pro
October 15, 2018 - If you haven't played Super Mario World yet then please give it a try; it's the most well-known game on SNES for a reason and a perfect example of what makes Mario games fun.
Read more: Top 10 Super Mario World Secrets
Super Mario Party Review (Switch)
Nintendo Switches up the festivities
October 7, 2018 - Everyone's favourite mustachioed hero has been throwing epic parties since before the turn of the century. Seeing as he had the moxie to prepend the word Super to his latest mini-game fueled bash, let's see if it's deserving of its title.
Read more: Super Mario Party Review
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With the youth market playing an ever-important role in shaping the success or failure of any new product, you can't afford to not involve them at the testing stage. And, as one of one of the most responsive, engaged and verified youth panels around, our panellists are perfect for in-home user product testing.
We work with a variety of agencies and end clients conducting studies across different market sectors, covering everything from food and drink to personal care products. Our panellists love it!
Our dedicated project management team always ensure participants do not reveal or disclose a new design to the public. We take great care to ensure they appreciate the confidentiality of each product they test and are made aware of the consequences of sharing images and/or videos on social media or online.


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November 18, 2015
For More Information Contact:
Judy Durham
Entrants Challenged to Demonstrate Creativity with Ability to Design and Print an Engaging Infographic
Reston, VA — The Graphic Arts Education and Research Foundation (GAERF) announces the launch of the GAERF 2016 Student Design Competition, themed "Infograph It!" This eighth annual contest challenges participants to combine their critical thinking and creativity with cutting-edge technology to design and create an engaging printed item with an infographic—defined as a visual graphic that presents complex information or data quickly and clearly—on the topic of their choice. The design must also incorporate a reference, URL or other, to the source of information on their chosen topic. Entries will be judged on design, ability to convey information quickly, and inclusion of reference to the information source. One secondary and one post-secondary school winner will be identified for each of the first, second and third place awards.
The competition is open to all students attending secondary or post-secondary institutions in the continental United States who are studying in a graphic communications/printing, advertising, graphic design or interactive media program. Entries selected by GAERF will be judged by a panel of industry professionals.
First place winners and their instructors will receive a two-day trip, all expenses paid, to attend GRAPH EXPO 16 in Orlando, FL. The winning students will receive an award of $2,000 presented during GRAPH EXPO 16's Career Awareness Day, Wednesday, September 28, 2016. Second place winnerswill be awarded $1,500, and the third place winners will receive $1,000.
"GAERF is proud to continue its commitment to supporting education initiatives by encouraging creativity and self-expression in students through the art of design and production," said GAERF President Ralph Nappi. "This year's competition centers on effective graphic design to convey complex information and will serve to recognize our best and brightest students, as well as the significant commitment of their instructors."
For complete information about the GAERF 2016 Student Design Competition visit: graphicCOMMcentral.org/gaerf2016.
About GAERF
The Graphic Arts Education and Research Foundation was created in 1983 by the Graphic Arts Show Company's (GASC) three founding partners: Epicomm, NPES and Printing Industries of America. GAERF's mission is to develop the next generation workforce for the graphic arts industry. GAERF is managed and directed by NPES from their headquarters in Reston, Virginia. For additional information about the Foundation and its programs, visit the GAERF website at: www.gaerf.org or phone toll-free: (866) 381-9839


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Area archeologica del Sepolcro degli Scipioni
Typology: Monuments
Address: Via di Porta San Sebastiano, 9
Zone: Rione Celio (Terme di Caracalla) (Roma centro)
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Telephone booking: 060608 tutti i giorni ore 9.00-19.00
Opening times
Open to organized groups (max 12 people) by reservation only.
Phone Booking required;
Groups and schools: tel. +39 060608 (daily from 9.00 am to 7.00 pm)
Disable visitors can access only the tomb, but not the columbarium.
Regular Tickets:
Adults: € 4,00;
Concessions: € 3,00;
Free admission to residents in the city of Rome and in the Metropolitan City on the first Sunday of each month.
Please note: The price of the ticket does not include guided tours organized by Cultural Associations.
Phone Booking required;
Groups and schools: tel. +39 060608 (daily from 9.00 am to 7.00 pm).
Modalità di partecipazione: Booking required
» Obligatory
» Telephonic
This burial ground is situated near the Via Appia, just off Porta San Sebastiano (the entrance is from street number 9 of via di Porta San Sebastiano) in an area that includes several funeral complexes. The tomb was discovered by chance in 1614. A new discovery took place in 1780 by the owners of the land where the tomb is situated. It belonged to one of the most ancient and famous patrician families of the Roman Republican Age, the Cornelii Scipiones. The tomb was dug out of the tuff bank at the beginning of the third century BC and consists internally of a square room with four large pillars at the center spared by the tuff that divide the room in four galleries. The sarcophagi were placed within spaces dug out specially for them along the walls and the pillars. The sarcophagus of the founder of the family Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus, consul in 298 BC (whose original is now in the Vatican Museums), is situated at the end of the central corridor in front of the entrance. Around the middle of the second century the tomb was enlarged by digging out a smaller single room next to the first one. The external facade also dates back to this period. It consists of a high base with a moulded frame and is surmounted by a prospect of six semicolumns that framed three niches, where the statues of the poet Ennius, Scipio Africanus and Scipio Aemilianus were probably placed. The base was decorated with paintings of historical scenes and a stylized wave motif. Traces of the decorations remain. Three arched doors open on the same base: a blind door (now replaced by a passage that leads to a medieval calcar that has partly damaged the tomb), a central door that led into the more ancient tomb and a door on the right (the only one still preserved) that accesses the more recent tomb. When the Cornelii Scipiones family died away at the beginning of the empire, the tomb was reused shortly in the Julian-Claudian Age (beginning of the first century AD) by their heirs the Cornelii Lentuli that used some of the loculi for cremations.
All'interno di
Culture and leisure › Cultural heritage › Archaeological heritage
See also
Culture and leisure › Green › Gardens, villas and urban parks
Agreement with
Hospitality › Services › Tourist services and fairs
Last checked: 2020-06-08 10:30


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Lakeview Market at KLO and Pandosy
A family run grocery store with over 50 years of local history.
Here is what you will find at this terrific local market.
It's hard to believe that Lakeview Market has been on the corner of KLO and Pandosy since 1946. Bill Jones and his wife Barbara bought the store in 1968 and it's still in the Jones family today. Lakeview Market continues to be committed to the old-fashioned values of customer service and quality product at a reasonable price.
Our motto "If you want to shop locally, we have already done it for you" relates to how we pride ourselves in providing locally produced products in all areas of our store. Lakeview Market has assisted many local companies in getting their start by selling their products and can help you in your quest for a hundred mile diet. As an example Little Creek Salad Dressing was first sold at Lakeview Market and is now a very successful company and in return we now sell it at the best price available.
Lakeview Market is the kind of store that has everything you really need in a store that does not take 15 minutes to get from one end to the other. The meat department is excellent and the bakery and produce also first class. They take pride in sourcing and providing local foods and produce and have an amazing staff that is always helpful.


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UPDATE 2: Services have been restored
UPDATE: The problems seem to be getting worse, with Account Management and PlayStation Video now impacted on PS4, PS3, and Other.
Sony and various other sources are reporting that PSN is currently down for nearly all players. The specific services impacted are Gaming and Social and the PlayStation Store . Of course those two make up the majority of player's activities on their PS4's, making this a bad situation for players.
There were no maintenance windows announced for this time, so this is certainly an unplanned outage. How long it will last is the only real question at this point. The official PlayStation Network status page gives the following warnings:
"You may be experiencing issues related to launching games, applications, and/or social features such as trophies, messaging, or friends list. We appreciate your patience while we address this."
"You may be experiencing issues related to features on PlayStation®Store. We appreciate your patience while we address this."
The issues are currently isolated to the PS4, with PS3 and PS Vita unaffected, except for the PlayStation Now service, which is also having issues at the moment. That warning reads "You may be experiencing issues related to accessing content from PlayStation®Now. We appreciate your patience while we address this."
Sony is well aware of the issues players are experiencing and has already assured fans that technicians are taking a look. We'll update this post with any news as the problems continue.
- This article was updated on:March 8th, 2018