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- March 30, 1982 (Création/Production)
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https://reflections.mndigital.org/catalog/stc:7465#/kaltura_audio
Biographical Information: Fran Voelker was born in Thorp, Wisconsin in the late 1920s. He went to St. John's University, then entered the military for a few years. When he got out of the service in 1955, he accepted a job teaching high school English in Foley, Minnesota, where he stayed for four years. During that time, he pursued his master's degree, which he received in 1959. He accepted a position at St. Cloud State in the Mass Communications department, where he remained until the time of this interview in 1982. While at St. Cloud State, Voelker was active in the Faculty Association, and even served as president of the IFO after the Inter-Faculty Organization (IFO) / Minnesota Education Association (MEA) won the election in 1975.
Transcript Summary: Voelker gave a brief history of his education before explaining into his experience with the Faculty Association and collective bargaining in general. Voelker discussed his early experiences with the MEA in Foley, as well as the motivations of faculty members at St. Cloud State to actively pursue collective bargaining. Voelker believed that many faculty members felt that salaries were bad and their voices were not heard, so frustration began to build until they decided to do something about it. Voelker said the reasons to join the MEA was good, claiming that they had a good training program and a professionalism that really helped the IFO.
Voelker focused on the election in 1975 and said that even if the American Association of University Professors (AAUP ) won the election, he would have joined, as most faculty simply wanted some form of representation. Voelker discussed the work he did with the IFO after the election, including lobbying during state legislature to get funding and meet negotiation deadlines.
Voelker believed that collective bargaining was very successful in defining roles. He said the adversary relationship that resulted between administration and faculty was unfortunate, but did not have to be a result of collective bargaining. It was something he hoped would be amended in the future.