Category: News & Updates

2024 IEA Representative Assembly, March 14^th – 16th

Delegates: Keith Allen, Cheryl Baunbach-Caplan, Susan Purcell

There were many great speakers at the conference that gave credit to people working in many different capacities in education and helped to encourage and inspire the delegates in general for their good work in education. 

Many important topics were discussed during the conference, and the IEA delegates were given an opportunity to speak for or against specific IEA governing policies.

After the arguments and counter arguments, the process was very fair and democratic,

and the delegates voted for or against each policy.

Overall, the meeting was conducted professionally and very effectively. It was encouraging to see that the delegates were able to take part in important decisions made by the governing officers of the IEA.  Below are some important informational items from the RA.

State University Retirement System (SURS)

SURS is currently only 45.8% funded.  The state must keep making contributions to fully fund.

• SURS has 249,572 members and 72,580 benefit recipients
• Approximately ½ of SURS active members are in Tier II
• Voting for SURS trustees begins 4/1 – May 1, 2024 (Vote for Randy Miller!)
• IEA Tier II

GPO/WEP

Motion passed to petition Congress to repeal the Government Pension Offset and Windfall Elimination Provision (GPO/WEP)

• HR-82 is designed to eliminate the windfall provision.  On Saturday, it was reported that there are now 308 co-sponsors in the House which should be enough to bring it to the floor for a vote.  

Illinois Resolution 596- Treatment of Adjunct Faculty

Susan Sadlowski Garza, Chair of the Committee on Workforce Development, introduced a resolution on the fair treatment of adjunct faculty.  

https://ieanea.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/CCCLOC-Resolution-FINAL-10.07.20.pdf

Wanted! CODAA Officer Nominations

CODAA is seeking nominations for officer positions for AY 2024-25.  All positions receive an honorarium based on responsibilities and time commitment.   A description of the basic duties of each position can be found in our By-laws under the Resources tab on our website.  We encourage all our members to consider running for office.

Use the file linked below to fill out your nominations. Instructions are in the file.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sK4Sj17OHisu3CKwBs7-spEvt1IoTNkUVnbpQHwcTNM/edit?usp=sharing

CODAA invites you to join us on the days and times listed below. The socials are an opportunity to gather with other adjuncts, enjoy some refreshments, and ask a CODAA officer any questions you might have about CODAA benefits or membership.

• Tuesday, February 13th
  • from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
• Wednesday, March 13th
  • from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm
  • BIC 2565
• Thursday, April 25th
  • from 5:00pm to 6:30 pm
  • Room 1225

Governor Pritzker signed into law SB 1235 that ensures members will receive full-service credit for work performed in any month a member makes their required SURS pension contribution on earnings earned in a month.

The legislation only applies to participants in SURS on or after September 1, 2024.

This legislation recognizes that all services rendered and earned earnings will be fully credited to the SURS participants.

This is great news for adjuncts, whose pensions will now not be reduced because they were not receiving full credit.  If you are considering retirement, you may want to wait until 9/1/2024 to take advantage of this change.