3/4/2026

Dear FSU Member,

We are writing to update you about the Candidates Forum and the next steps in the FSU election process. We hope to see you at the Candidates Forum next Wednesday, March 11 from 3:00PM-4:00PM.

Positions up for election this cycle include: President, Librarian, Non-Tenure Track Faculty, and Tenured Faculty. Please note that there was a Pre-Tenure Track position open but no candidates from that constituency submitted a nomination form. The FSU Elections Committee has therefore opted to not open that position for the current election cycle (Pre Tenure members will still be able to vote for President; updates on the Pre Tenure open position will be sent at a later date).

The attached document includes the candidates for each position along with their 150-word statements

FSU Candidates Forum is on Wednesday, March 11, 3:00PM – 4:00PM via Zoom

Meet the candidates for the Faculty Staff Union (FSU) Executive Committee. Come and hear the candidates. Ask them questions.

(contact FSU or Caroline Coscia for Zoom information).

Who is eligible to vote?

FSU Policies states: “Only FSU members in good standing are eligible to participate in elections for the FSU Executive Committee. ‘Good standing’ for purposes of determining eligibility to vote in FSU Executive Committee elections requires the following: (1) that the person in question is in the FSU bargaining unit, (2) that the person in question has been a member of the FSU since at least 5 days prior the start of the voting period, (3) that the person in question is not  in arrears regarding dues payments, and (4) that #1, #2, and #3 have been verified at least 5 days prior to the start of the voting period of any FSU Executive Committee election. The FSU Elections Committee will approve the final voting roster and will have authority to remove or add members to and from the roster based on the ‘good standing’ criteria enumerated above.” Adopted December 6, 2019; Amended 3/24/21. https://www.fsu.umb.edu/content/fsu-policies

Election Timeline

Friday, February 27th, 4:00PM EST to Monday, March 23, 9:00AM EST: This is the official campaign period. The official campaign period is the formal period where candidates can actively promote their candidacy.

The FSU Elections Committee requests both candidates and supporters to adhere to the following:

• Obey all UMass Boston rules on posting of materials.
• Be respectful to all candidates and members when communicating to or from email accounts, social media (including Facebook, X, candidate websites, and other online spaces) and posting of materials.

• Adhere to UMass Boston’s Principles of Employee Conduct Policy: https://hr.umb.edu/media/umassboston/editor-uploads/human-resources/documents/Principles_of_Employee__Conduct.pdf

Voting Period is Monday, March 23 9:00AM EST to Monday, March 30 9:00AM EST

You will receive your ballot via email from Qualtrics. We will send detailed information prior to March 23.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

FSU Elections Committee:

Lynne Byall Benson, Senior Lecturer, Women’s Gender And Sexuality Studies

Andrew Elder, Librarian V, Healey Library

Travis Johnston, Associate Professor, Political Science

Rania Said, Assistant Professor, Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures

3/2/2026

March 2nd to 6th

Thursday, March 5th 11:00AM to 12:15PM FSU Executive Committee meeting

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, March 11^th FSU Executive Committee elections candidate forum, 3-4

Stay tuned for more information

Thursday, March 12th UDC Pizza and Cookies 12:00PM to 1:00PM

Stop by the University Dining Club for some pizza (bring your own beverage) and relax, chat with colleagues and meet new colleagues. Pick up some FSU swag – stickers, buttons and t-shirts.

Thursday, April 16^th, 11AM-1PM FSU Annual Meeting

Stay tuned for more information

Dear Faculty and Librarians,

Welcome to March! Thoughts of warmer days, bright sun and Spring Break make us happy.  Daylight Savings time begins March 8th where we ‘spring forward’ meaning we lose an hour of sleep yet gain later sunsets.

Impacted Residence Hall Students

The FSU met with Provost Berger regarding support for those students impacted by the Residence Hall damage.  Faculty can be provided with a list of their students who have been impacted.  Student support is through individual case management so that each student’s needs are personally met.

If you have any questions related to a student (such as accommodations) please reach out to ProvostSupport@umb.edu

Summer Registration: Remains open through first day of classes

Summer session registration starts March 2nd.   This year’s registration for Summer Session One (June 1st to July 9th) remains open until June 1st.  Summer Session Two (July 13th to August 20th) registration closes on July 13th.

Anti-Racism Grant Recipient: Contending with Whiteness, An Anti-Racism Reading Group Committed to Racial Justice (information from the grant recipients)

Thanks to a funding from the 2026 FSU Anti-Racism Grant, we are hosting this Spring 2026 a critical reading group titled “Contending with Whiteness: An Anti-Racism Reading Group Committed to Racial Justice” at UMB. Together we will read and discuss Anshuman Mondal’s book “Racism and ‘Free Speech'” (2025) on the following six Tuesdays: 3/10, 3/24, 4/7, 4/21, 5/5, 5/12.  All reading group meetings will take place 11 AM – 1 PM in room 041 on the 5th floor in the Wheatley-Peters building.  We have a total of 20 spots available to students, staff, and faculty.  Each reading group member will receive their own copy of the book.  We will also bring refreshments to each meeting.

Please sign up by clicking on this link to fill out a short form.  The QR code listed on the attached flyer will also take you there.  We urge you to do this before March 3, 2026, because we will gather all members for an initial virtual kick-off and orientation meeting on Tuesday, March 3, 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM.  All reading group members will receive a zoom link.

DATE CHANGE: BANNED An Anti-Racism Reading Resistance, March 13th at 4:30PM (information from the grant recipients)

Join UMB’s Race, Ethnicity and Literature concentration for a dynamic reading group series dedicated to the books they do not want you to read.  We are centering on the very stories being removed from shelves across the country. Come to sharpen your critical tools, engage in deep dialogue and help challenge the erasure of marginalized voices.

Join on March 13th at 4:30PM in ISC 3-3300.  This month’s book is the 1619 Project.  Register at https://www.canva.com/design/DAG_o7UgwXI/qqbbvC65zQyJIRD2DEajbg/view?utm_content=DAG_o7UgwXI&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=uniquelinks&utlId=h71f2420bdb.

Call for Delegates: MTA Annual Meeting on May 8th and 9th at the Hynes Convention Center

The 2026 Annual Meeting of Delegates is Friday afternoon, May 8th and Saturday, May 9th at the Hynes Convention Center, Boston.  A virtual option will be available.

This year, in addition to budget adoption, bylaws and new business items, delegates will be electing a new president and vice president.

Each local chapter is allotted to a specific number of delegates who represent the membership.  If you wish to be one of FSU’s delegates, please contact us by March 11th.

MTA Benefits: Vivo Performing Arts (formerly Celebrity Series of Boston)  

MTA members receive discounts on a variety of performances.  Click here for details.

Sincerely,

Caroline Coscia

FSU President

Senior Lecturer II

Political Science Department

1/28/2026

Dear Colleagues, 

The Faculty Staff Union (FSU) holds an election every Spring semester for positions on the FSU Executive Committee.  

The positions up for election or re-election in Spring 2026 include: 

President

Librarian (1 position)

Non-Tenure Track (2 positions)

Pre-Tenure (1 position)

Tenured (2 positions)

The attached document contains an election overview along with the schedule of election activities including nominations, campaigning, and voting.  

Nomination period: Nominations will be accepted during the nomination period: Friday, January 30^th to 4PM on Friday, February 20^th, 2026.  The Nomination Form is attached.  

Term of Office: Each Executive Committee member’s term runs for two (2) years. Those elected in 2026 begin their term at the conclusion of the academic year and serve to May 2028, the end of the academic year.  

Voting Platform: For this election cycle, we will be using Qualtrics. You will receive detailed information about this prior to the voting period in the spring. 

The Elections Committee has our own email account, FSU.Elections@umb.edu. Watch for election communications to come from this email address. 

Please feel free to contact us with any questions. 

FSU Elections Committee:

Lynne Byall Benson, Senior Lecturer, Women’s Gender And Sexuality Studies

Andrew Elder, Librarian V, Healey Library

Travis Johnston, Associate Professor, Political Science 

Rania Said, Assistant Professor, Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures

email: FSU.Elections@umb.edu

2/18/2026

Dear Member,

How do you get to campus? Do you ever drive & park on campus?  Do you take the T? 

Our UMB campus unions have been fighting for years to lower the parking rates and raise MBTA subsidies for all UMB community members– students, staff, faculty and librarians– which most other Boston-based colleges and many public agencies have already done.

For almost three years, a coalition of the Classified Staff Union, Department Chairs Union, Faculty Staff Union and Professional Staff Union, have been meeting with UMB administration regarding parking rates, parking passes, lot designations, public transportation subsidies, and other transportation related issues.

The union coalition proposal focused on:

·        Accessibility: Assure parking costs aren’t a barrier for students and employes to access classes, work or campus events.

·        Sliding Scale parking fee by income: Assure lower-paid employees and students pay less than the current rates.

·        Multi-Use Passes: Expand parking pass options to assist those who drive to campus less than five days a week. This includes a 30-use pass.

·        Public Transit Subsidy: Extend public transit subsidy of 50% to staff, faculty and librarians.

Negotiations and Future Rates

During negotiations, discussions arose about past parking rate increases being large and that these hefty increases (from $6.00 to $9.00 Bayside, and to $15 all other lots) were detrimental to the UMB community.  To counter this, UMB management proposed a process like that used at UMass Amherst, where if parking and transportation expenditures exceed parking revenue, then a minimal parking rate increase may be imposed at the start of the new fiscal year (July 1st). They call this the “accelerator.”

There’s a big difference between UMB and UMass Amherst, though: UMB has added the debt from building the West Garage into the Parking and Transportation budget. This debt is close to $4,000,000 every year. While the current revenues from parking fees are sufficient to cover the staffing, operations, and maintenance of all the parking facilities (as well as pay off some of the annual debt), those revenues are not enough to cover an additional $4 million in debt each year.

The coalition, hearing from many of you, agreed in principle with a method to have small, predictable increases in parking fees each year, and to reduce these periodic large increases every few years. So, we submitted language accepting the idea of an “accelerator” but that limits the amount of the debt we must cover to $2,500,000 annually. In addition, our language proposes capping any increase to parking rates to no more than 0.25% less than the lowest across-the-board salary adjustment received annually by any of the unit members.

Here is what UMB Management’s counter proposal included:

·        Daily Parking Rate: Increase to $18 effective July 1, 2026.

·        Sliding Scale: While they accepted the union’s sliding scale based on income, but for every level they are seeking rates higher than the current rates.

·        Multi-Use Passes: They continue to reject reinstituting a multi-use pass, and only want monthly and semester passes.

·        Public Transit Subsidy: They rejected our 50% subsidy, and only proposed a 20% discount.

·        Accelerator (see Negotiations and Future Rates above): They rejected our language to limit West Garage debt to formula.

Next Steps

The coalition will continue to fight against increases to the daily parking rate, and to demand multi-use passes and an increased transit subsidy.  And we will continue to push back on the accelerator language.

We expect to have a negotiation session within the next month.

What you can do

Sign the petition and tell administration the impact of their proposed cost increase- such as your quality-of-life ability to pay to come to campus on non in person days.

Union Coalition Members

Classified Staff Union: Alexa MacPherson, Jariza Rodriguez and Anna Rose (MTA field representative)

Department Chairs Union: Michael Carr

Faculty Staff Union: Caroline Coscia, Lorenzo Nencioli (FSU Senior Staff), Katie D’Urso (MTA field representatives)

Professional Staff Union: Anneta Argyres, Michelle Browning, Mary Jo Connelly (PSU Staff)