• Communication breakdown: Faculty have been asking about the MAKE UP OF LOST INSTRUCTIONAL TIME form which was emailed out after the January 27 storm. This was the first time the FA was informed there was a form. To be fair, the BOT at their June 19, 2014, meeting adopted a class make-up policy for college closings, but we did not agree to the process by which it would be implemented.
  
  The calendar committee that develops the academic calendars consists of administrators and governance representatives; while the FA gets copies of the academic calendar drafts and we do provide feedback, we have no rep on the committee. We were never approached about the form and firmly believe the MAKE UP OF LOST INSTRUCTIONAL TIME form should be negotiated. We will be meeting with AVP Tempera to discuss this issue shortly. Also, this form requires academic chair approval. This is a workload issue and should have been discussed with the Guild as well.
  
  
• EC meeting dates: The Executive Council will meet on the following dates this semester:
  
  

  February 12	May 14
  March 19	June 2
  April 9

  
  
  

• Spring 2015 adjunct/overload checks: According to payroll faculty will receive adjunct/overload pay on these dates:
  

Faculty teaching early end classes will receive four checks from March 5 to April 16; faculty who are teaching late start classes will receive four checks from April 16 to May 28.

• Finding your total annual dues for your taxes: For tax filing purposes here’s how to find your total amount of dues paid from January to December 2014: In Banner, click the Human Resources tab, then Pay Stub. Click the Deductions History link at the bottom of the page.

• Prescription drug claim forms: Prescription drug claims for 2014 must be received by Daniel H. Cook by April 30, 2015. The form is available at the Benefit Fund office, Southampton 224D (Ammerman), or on our website: www.fascc.org/beta/docs/rx2014.doc.

• EMHP claim forms: Faculty must submit all unpaid 2014 medical claims to Empire Blue Cross by March 31, 2015, to receive reimbursement for covered out-of-pocket expenses. Forms are on the EMHP website: www.emhp.org/members.aspx.


• Student loan forgiveness: In response to our December issue article from Mirkin & Gordon regarding student loans, FA member Steve Schrier (Suffolk Center for the Holocaust, Diversity & Human Understanding) noted that "Forgiveness is also available for college faculty under the public service loan forgiveness program. Federal Direct Loans and Direct Consolidation Loans are eligible provided 10 years of payments are made and there has not been a default.  Faculty with a qualifying loan should get more information at https://studentaid.ed.gov/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/charts/public-service." Thank you, Steve, for your reader feedback!