Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1950 [PAGE 5]

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BOARD OF TRUSTEES

[July 21

MATTERS PRESENTED BY THE PROVOST

The Board considered the following matters presented by the Provost acting for the President of the University.

HEADSHIP OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ART

( i ) The President of the University has approved the following request from Professor Frank J. Roos, Jr., of the Department of A r t : "This is to request that I be relieved of my duties as Head of the Department of Art, as of September I, 1948. By continuing as Professor of Art, I will be able to resume my research which, I feel, has been too long interrupted." The President has appointed Professor Allen Weller, Chairman, Professor C. V. Donovan, and Associate Professor James Shipley as a Committee to administer the Department of Art beginning in September, 1948. Confirmation of these administrative changes is requested.

On motion of Mr. Nickell, these changes were approved and confirmed.

PROPOSED AGREEMENT WITH REGARD TO OPERATING ENGINEERS IN CHICAGO DIVISIONS (2) Following the Board's action on June 15, 1948 (Minutes, page 1153), I have carried on negotiations with Mr. Anthon J. Imhahn, President of Local 399 of the International Union of Operating Engineers, with the assistance of Mr. Donald E. Dickason, Director of Nonacademic Personnel, Mr. Paul Hartley, Associate Director, and Mr. Charles E. Reid, Assistant Chief Operating Engineer at the Chicago Professional Colleges. After long face-to-face discussions followed by telephone conversations, there is an unofficial agreement on the following proposal: That the basic rate of pay for the operating engineers be $2.25 an hour, with the option of a 48-hour week straight time, the hourly rate to hecome effective as of July I, 1947, but the payment of the differential to be on the basis of the 40-hour week which was in effect to July 1, 1948. It is understood that consistent and proportional changes will be approved for chief or supervisory engineers. On the assumption that official confirmation will have been received from the Union officials, I recommend approval. Perhaps a few words of explanation would be helpful. On a 40-hour week the new rate comes to $390 a month; on a 44-hour week, $430 a month; and on a 48-hour week, $470 a month. It will be recalled that the average hourly rate for the four hospitals listed is $1.63; for the four universities, $1.71 ; for the six public institutions (exclusive of the Housing Authority, which was low), $2.35. The average rate for the business and industrial enterprises in the City of Chicago is $2.00. Our offer, therefore, falls between the rates prevailing in private institutions and those in the other public institutions. Director Dickason and Director Havens are agreed that no lay-offs are contemplated under the new wage scale. The main thing accomplished by the proposed agreement is that we shall not be tied to a utilization of any political subdivision as a bench mark for establishing this wage scale. In arriving at the figure of $2.25, what we have done is to average the other hospitals and universities and the political subdivisions in determining the new scale. I am pleased to report that Mr. Imhahn has acted in good faith throughout these proceedings and I believe that we have a basis for labor peace on this front. I recommend, therefore, that the above proposal be adopted.

On motion of Dr. Meyer, this proposal was adopted as recommended.

PURCHASE OF RESIDENCE PROPERTIES FOR STAFF HOUSING (3) The purchase of additional residence properties is recommended as part of the special program of residence properties acquisitions for rental to faculty personnel previously authorized by the Board of Trustees. Houses are needed for at least two new department heads. 1. 701 West Delaware Avenue, Urbana. The purchase of this property at a price not to exceed $30,000 is recommended. This is one of the better faculty homes