EFSC Trustees OK New 3-Year Faculty Contract

A new collective bargaining agreement with full-time faculty was unanimously approved Monday by the Eastern Florida State College Board of Trustees.

The three-year contract with the United Faculty of Florida Brevard Chapter runs from 2018-21.

The basic annual faculty salary will increase $1,000 in 2018-19; $1,250 in 2019-20; and $1,500 in 2020-21. The salary for new faculty hired will go up the same amounts.

UFF members ratified the contract last week 187-18, with four abstentions.

“We are very fortunate to have excellent faculty who are committed to helping our students succeed from the first minute they step on campus,” said college President Dr. Jim Richey.

“The new agreement recognizes that professionalism and ensures our students will continue benefiting from their expertise and the personalized instruction they bring to the classroom.”

In other matters, the Board welcomed two new trustees recently appointed by Gov. Rick Scott. They are Bruce Deardoff and Dr.  Edgar Figueroa.

Deardoff is the chairman of Deardoff Automotive Group, which is comprised of several auto dealerships that employ more than 350 people in Central Florida, including Island Mercury, Jaguar and Land Rover on Merritt Island.

He is also a former member of the Canaveral Port Authority Board of Commissioners, helping guide the Port through a period of unprecedented growth that included more than $1 billion in capital spending on new projects. The work strengthened the Port’s role as an important engine of economic growth along the Space Coast and in Central Florida.

Figueroa is a trauma surgeon at Health First’s Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne, where as a member of the Health First Foundation Board, he was instrumental in raising awareness and funds to launch the hospital’s trauma center.

His many other accomplishments include serving as vice president of Holmes’ medical staff and chair of its Credentials Committee, and as Assistant Professor of Surgery and Medical Director at the University of Florida Health Science Center in Jacksonville. He is also a Fellow of the American College of Surgery and a member of the American College of Physician Executives.

Board chair Alan Landman called the new trustees, "exemplary community leaders who are dedicated to the mission of the college and doing everything they can to help our students succeed."

The five-member Board went on to re-elect Landman chair and Ron Howse vice chair for one-year terms.

The Board also heard from Associate Vice President for Athletics Jeff Carr who previewed the upcoming 2018-19 athletics season, saying the 11 teams are primed to make strong runs on both the state and national stage.

"We have some of the best coaches in the nation who work just as hard off the field as on the field with our student-athletes," said Carr.

"The strong support from Dr. Richey and the Board of Trustees has been instrumental in making our program a major success."

Carr went on to introduce coaches from the teams, noting their impressive winning records and appearances in state and national tournaments.

The meeting also featured the presentation of a Telly Award won by the college's television station WEFS for a video staff produced to help market EFSC's aviation maintenance program. The video is shown on WEFS-TV, social media and on the program's website at easternflorida.edu/go/aviation.

Telly Award honorees are chosen from 12,000 entries from all 50 states and five continents and showcase the best work from respected advertising agencies, television stations, production companies and publishers.