Upcoming events tailored to faculty regarding relationships

Wednesday, March 28--1:00 p.m–1:50 p.m.: How Faculty Can Identify and Address Relationship Abuse (lunch provided)

Steve Heck Room, 1140 Boylston Street

Who can attend: Faculty

In a session tailored to faculty, participants will learn to identify signs of an abusive relationship, as well as the dynamics of those who are experiencing abuse. This session will also discuss effective ways to support someone experiencing relationship abuse. Please RSVP and indicate meal preference here.

 

Wednesday, March 28--2:00 p.m.–2:50 p.m.: How to Identify and Support Positive Relationship Dynamics

Steve Heck Room, 1140 Boylston Street

Who can attend: All students, faculty, and staff

In a session open to the Berklee community, participants will identify characteristics of healthy relationships, including relationships involving intersectional identities. Participants will also learn how to identify the dynamics of abuse and support a friend in an abusive relationship. Please indicate your interest here.

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What IS cutting-edge, anyway?

What IS cutting-edge, anyway?

Fact is, much of what we do at Berklee is NOT cutting-edge; at least not in the way some might think.

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Contract ratified

Contract ratified

On Thursday, November 16th, the Berklee Faculty Union ratified the one-year bargain agreement in a meeting open to all full members. 

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BREAKING NEWS

BREAKING NEWS

We are happy to announce that the Berklee Faculty Union and Berklee College of Music have reached a tentative contract agreement, subject to the ratification vote of the faculty.

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Press Release: Faculty Union to Demonstrate Unity at Berklee College of Music Opening Day, September 1, 2017

Press Release: Faculty Union to Demonstrate Unity at Berklee College of Music Opening Day, September 1, 2017

BOSTON — The 600-plus Berklee faculty and 200-plus Boston Conservatory at Berklee faculty members will rally on September 1 to show unity in support of a fair contract for Boston Conservatory faculty. 

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Berklee Faculty Union welcomes 200+ new members

Berklee Faculty Union welcomes 200+ new members

It is now official! The Berklee Faculty Union has grown by a third now that Boston Conservatory faculty are in the fold. We warmly welcome our new colleagues and are full of excitement to go forward together.

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Response to "Your workload could be aging you"

Response to "Your workload could be aging you"

We have received many responses to our blog post regarding workload and stress. Below is one, posted with permission but with the name removed.

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Student Evaluations Paint A Faulty Picture

Student Evaluations Paint A Faulty Picture

Berklee student evaluations paint a faulty picture. How can we regain focus?

"We’re confusing consumer satisfaction with product value" -Philip B. Stark, UC Berkley

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Faculty Working Conditions = Student Learning Conditions

Faculty Working Conditions = Student Learning Conditions

Members of the Berklee Faculty Union attended a conference on collective bargaining in higher ed. Here are some nuggets they brought back...

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Mili Bermejo: Service to Students, Colleagues, and Art

Mili Bermejo: Service to Students, Colleagues, and Art

Our friend and colleague Mili Bermejo passed away on February 21. She had been serving students as a member of the Voice Department faculty since 1984.

Her teaching went hand in hand with her continued artistry...

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Your workload could be aging you

Your workload could be aging you

Even though we are on spring break, many Berklee faculty members are working hard on their teaching, research, and creative work. Is your workload causing you chronic stress? Berklee faculty member Kathleen Howland explains how you age 6 years for every year you live in chronic stress.

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Berklee Faculty Vision for 2025

Tom Plsek and Jimena Bermejo-Black

Tom Plsek and Jimena Bermejo-Black

SPACE and SUPPORT
World-class facilities and working conditions: 

  1. Teaching spaces that allow for flexibility in scheduling to meet the needs of students in rooms that promote a sense of ease and comfort, and which both preserve our hearing and have world-class acoustics.
  2. Ensemble, classroom, and studio spaces that promote making music with our students. Spacious rehearsal halls with excellent acoustics for performing, teaching, and learning.
  3. Quality office space with adequate privacy for every individual faculty member that permits each of us to hold office hours and to do work in a room that enhances our ability to support our students, to plan our classes and lessons, and to pursue our creative work.
  4. World-class concert halls for a world-class institution.

TIME to THRIVE
A workload that is an example to other world-class music institutions: 

  1. A workload that is an example to other topflight institutions in the nation, and one that allows us to respond more fully to the needs of all of our students.
  2. An optimal workload that permits our faculty to pursue the creative work that supports our essential musical and intellectual growth and that is an inspiration to our students.

AFFIRMATION and APPRECIATION
Significant resources allocated to faculty: 

  1. Compensation for faculty that reflects Berklee’s role as a leader of higher education in Massachusetts.
  2. High priority for significant grants, special project funding, and for compensated technological and pedagogical training.
  3. Commitment by the College to a higher ratio of full-time to part-time faculty, which strengthens the foundation that underlies the core mission of the college: world-class teaching by our world-class faculty.
  4. Affirmation by the College of senior faculty: the value of their instruction, creative contributions, experience, and wisdom provide unique perspectives that benefit the entire Berklee community.
  5. Strong support for our faculty as we address the diverse learning styles of our students and the many cultures they represent.

VISIBILITY and TRANSPARENCY
High priority and accessibility for faculty advancement: 

  1. Fair, transparent, and clear criteria for determining wages, promotions, sabbaticals, and part-time to full-time conversion.
  2. Transparent processes for faculty access to development and research funds. Explicit dedication of and ample funds for faculty support, training, and grant awards, and clear visibility for these funds.
  3. Develop connections to and support faculty with national and international grant research and programs.

COMMUNICATION and COLLABORATION
A clearly stated commitment to faculty in Berklee’s Vision for 2025: 

  1. In both the Berklee Vision 2025 and the Capital Campaign planning and implementation, our vision sees the inclusion of a stated commitment to faculty support and compensation, and to the development of these priorities.
  2. Our Faculty Vision for 2025 includes meaningful communication and collaboration: these are at the heart of effective teaching and great music. We see a stated commitment towards building trust across our institution, furthering Berklee’s ability to achieve the greatness to which it aspires. 

"I fought you at the beginning, but you made it a better school"

"I fought you at the beginning, but you made it a better school"

As part of a Labor Day-themed event in September 2016, Associate Professor of Liberal Arts Kevin Block-Schwenk interviewed Professor Dennis Leclaire, who has taught at Berklee since 1980, about the 1986 Faculty Strike, as well as what Berklee was like before then.

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So, I decided to go back to school (part 5 of 5)

So, I decided to go back to school (part 5 of 5)

When I am done with this degree I will have an immense amount of satisfaction.  I can feel the level of intellect with which I write and speak and comment on music is rising, so I might even be able to comport myself like a civilized human being when this is all over.   At the very least I will most likely get paid more by the institution at which I teach, and if we wind up living somewhere else I will be hireable.  

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So, I decided to go back to school (part 4 of 5)

So, I decided to go back to school (part 4 of 5)

I’m telling lots of jokes here to keep this interesting, but really I am learning so much in this program and I wish I’d done it sooner.  I hope to graduate before I am eligible for the AARP.   It’s making me a better teacher, too.  

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So, I decided to go back to school (part 3 of 5)

So, I decided to go back to school (part 3 of 5)

So I applied.  Not to a whole lot of schools, just to NEC, my alma mater, where some people still know me, and if that didn’t work then I’d weigh my options.  I got some super recommendations.  I sat in a room and took 8 hours of History and Theory entrance exams (after reading music history books and reviewing German 6th chords for a few months).  When I went to audition it was for Ken Schaphorst and Frank Carlberg, who used to crash on my couch in J.P. when he was in town in the late 90’s...

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So, I decided to go back to school (part 2 of 5)

So, I decided to go back to school (part 2 of 5)

So, I’ve spent the last almost 20 years spending my teaching income (I teach sometimes at University of NH, and I taught for a few years at the University of Southern Maine) on my creative career.  I’ve tried to produce records for a variety of artists, write tunes and arrangements for them and support them through the recording process.  I’ve played with lots and lots and lots and lots of singers, and that is often fun.  There have been peaks and valleys to this playing career of mine… 

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Please USE YOUR NAME when commenting, to facilitate constructive discussion. Also, remember that this is a PUBLIC and searchable web site that can be seen by anyone: colleagues, department chairs, students, etc. Comment thoughtfully.