Bloomfield College has agreed to pay one year’s salary as severance to full-time professors not being offered jobs as the school prepares to merge with Montclair State University, officials said.
The agreement, which includes several other provisions for nine departing faculty members and up to 33 professors transitioning to the new, Bloomfield College of Montclair Stature University, was ratified Thursday by the faculty union following months of negotiations.
Montclair State announced March 1 that it is not offering jobs to at least 22 full-time employees at Bloomfield College, or about 13% of the faculty and staff. Of the 10 faculty members not offered jobs, one subsequently resigned and is not eligible for the severance, according to the union president. Only those staying on the job through June 30 are eligible for the severance.
Bloomfield College, a small private school in Essex County, is being folded into the larger public university by June 30, pending several outside approvals, officials said. The two schools reached a deal last year to merge in order to save financially-troubled Bloomfield College from shutting down.
“After months of constructive, good faith negotiations, we are deeply gratified we were able to address all outstanding issues and achieve an equitable resolution,” read a two-sentence joint statement from the college and faculty union provided Friday to NJ Advance Media.
“We look forward to a productive and cooperative partnership as we move toward our future as Bloomfield College of Montclair State University,” concluded the statement, whose four signers included college president Marcheta P. Evans and Jim Murphy, a biology professor and president of the faculty union.
The union — a chapter of the American Association of University Professors-American Federation of Teachers — has withdrawn the unfair labor practice complaint it filed in February against the college, Murphy said.
Murphy, a 28-year faculty member, is among those who will be teaching at Bloomfield College of Montclair Stature University.
Other aspects of the agreement include continuing health insurance for all faculty members until September 1, when Montclair State University will begin offering coverage, and giving faculty the option of being paid their next year’s salary starting July 1, officials said.
Those adjustments had been sought by the union because Montclair State University pays faculty members from September through June. Bloomfield College uses a year-round schedule.
Lastly, the nine Bloomfield College faculty members not continuing in their jobs will be eligible to apply for emeritus status, an honorary title whose benefits include continued access to an email account.
Officials have stressed that Bloomfield College will maintain its own identity after it merges with Montclair State, which is located seven miles away.
Bloomfield College will keep its NCAA Division II program, which is allowed to offer students athletic scholarships, for at least the first year following the merger. Montclair State’s sports teams will remain in Division III.
Bloomfield College held its 150th commencement on May 20, with Evans and Montclair State University’s president, Jonathan G.S. Koppell, touting the merger.
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Rob Jennings may be reached at rjennings@njadvancemedia.com.
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