Co-President’s Message Many years ago I asked a PSU professor how he managed to snare, of all things, a reserved parking space. Those precious pieces of real estate were usually set aside for vice presidents, deans, and a handful of other heavy hitters. "I taught at another urban university before I came here,” he explained. “I knew that I had to negotiate parking before I negotiated anything else—including salary.” Parking has always been a big issue at Portland State. Unless you walked, biked, or rode public transportation—a more responsible way to get to campus, but not always practical—you had to elbow your way to a parking space every morning and pay handsomely for the privilege. This summer parking came up again, and this time it hit especially close to home. On June 2, professors emeriti received a letter notifying them that the University would impose a fee for parking if they were employed by PSU. That prompted a response from your friends and colleagues along the lines of “Hey, wait a minute!” (It’s possible some responses were even stronger.) To refresh your recollection, all professors emeriti get free campus parking. And, until June 2, even those emeriti professors who took post-retirement employment by the University still got free parking. The fact is, those post-retirement jobs are almost always less than .5 FTE, and sometimes are only .1 FTE. A monthly parking tab of $130 is going to put a serious dent in the paycheck. Long story short, RAPS got involved, most particularly Sue Poulsen and Dawn White, last year’s copresidents, and Eileen Brennan, our RAPS Sheet editor and professor emerita of social work. Spurred on by Sue, Dawn, and Eileen, PSU-AAUP filed a grievance in early July, and on August 3, Phil Lesch, executive director of PSU-AAUP, reported that the decision to charge emeritus faculty for parking was reversed. Chalk up a victory for RAPS! And that’s a good way to start the year. Speaking of which, I hope you can join us for another year of engaging activities and presentations, starting with a tour of Portland’s magnificent Japanese Gardens. A major expansion completed last spring added 3.4 acres and made the gardens ADA-compliant. On behalf of our co-president, Dawn White, and the entire RAPS Board, I invite you go join us at the Japanese Gardens on Sept. 21 and at our monthly meetings throughout the 2017-18 academic year. —Doug Swanson, Co-President Please Update Your Contact Information Have you moved, changed your phone number, or changed your email address? Please contact Rebecca Butterworth in the RAPS Office at rapsmail@pdx.edu, or call her at 503-725-3447. Leave a message if Rebecca is not in the office. This will assure that you receive our mailings, email announcements, and the 2017 RAPS Membership Directory. 2
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