3/9 Update: Workload, Position Desc., & Appointment/Reappointment Discussed
Our UAOSU bargaining team and the administration team met on Monday, March 9, 2–5pm in Cascade Hall.
The Administration brought a single proposal that covered Appointment & Reappointment, Position Description, and Workload. The Administration’s February 7 proposal on these topics offered quite a bit of movement, and we were hopeful that with similar movement in this iteration, we would be close to agreement on this important piece of the contract. Unfortunately, the proposal made little movement on important issues, and in some cases it rolls back existing OSU policies to the detriment of our bargaining unit members.
Their proposal:
- Does not provide any guarantee of notice of appointment renewal or non-renewal for any soft money funded faculty member;
- Does not provide any guarantee of notice of appointment renewal or non-renewal for faculty members who do not work three consecutive terms in a given year;
- Does not provide rolling contracts for fixed-term faculty members at second promotion (e.g. Senior Instructor II) or even guarantee the existing practice (for instructional fixed-term faculty) of 3 year contracts at second promotion;
- Does not prevent academic units from crafting per course FTE rates for part-time faculty for the explicit purpose of denying them benefits;
- Does not establish a timeline by which notice of course assignment would generally be provided;
- Does not guarantee course reductions for pre-tenure faculty; and
- Does not provide course releases for faculty who have demonstrated exceptional service, even though the Administration team has verbally acknowledged the disproportionate service burden of faculty of color, women faculty, and faculty from other underrepresented groups.
Our most recent Appointment & Reappointment and Workload proposals do address these very real issues, and we hope the Administration will seriously engage with more of our proposed solutions in future proposals.
Our team brought three proposals addressing Compensation, Professional Development, and Periodic Review of Faculty.
Our Compensation proposal:
- Establishes 2.65% across-the-board increases so all faculty keep pace with the rising cost of living;
- Establishes 2% annual merit pools that will meaningfully reward merit by separating out the across-the-board portion of the increase;
- Establishes a one-time 2% pool to address salary inequities after a joint study;
- Increases salary floors for Instructors, including Instructors (ESL) and (PAC), and Faculty Research Assistants; and
- Provides a small child care credit for faculty members who are waitlisted for on campus child care and/or do not receive a child care subsidy despite qualifying.
Our Professional Development proposal:
- Prevents faculty from being arbitrarily denied access to professional development funds; and
- Places limits on the circumstances under which the Administration may sweep funds from indexes or accounts (the Administration currently contends it has an unfettered right to do so).
Our Periodic Review of Faculty proposal:
- Guarantees annual review for fixed-term faculty until they have achieved their second promotion (thereafter at least every three years);
- Guarantees annual review for tenure-track faculty until they are eligible for their second promotion (thereafter at least every three years); and
- Requires that reviews be based only upon assigned job duties in the candidate’s position description.
Through this negotiation process, we have made significant progress in making promotion more equitably accessible. That work only pays off if faculty have high quality, frequent reviews on which to base promotion decisions. Our proposal ensures that faculty have the reviews they need to seek promotion and establish eligibility for merit raises.
Our website provides a table with links to all proposals exchanged in bargaining.
Our next bargaining session is Wednesday, March 18, 9–12 in the Ag Science Room of the LaSells Stewart Center. Even if you can only drop by for half an hour, your attendance matters: show the administration that faculty are watching this process. The most powerful way you can contribute to our success in bargaining is by becoming a member today.
We appreciate your support. You can find a full calendar of upcoming bargaining sessions on our website.
In solidarity,