UAOSU Committees & Caucuses
Committees
Our union gets work done by bringing faculty together through focused committees and task forces.
The Communications Committee is chaired by the union Secretary and ensures that both our bargaining unit members and the communities that we work in remain up to date on the issues affecting our union. We do this by composing materials for publication via email, our union’s website, and our social media accounts. If you love composition, social media, and/or website design, contact Secretary Diana Castillo.
The Finance Committee has two main responsibilities: building UAOSU’s budget and reviewing UAOSU’s finances. If you have a mind for financial matters, contact Treasurer Filix Maisch.
The duties of the Grievance and Contract Administration Committee are to assist faculty with workplace issues, work to resolve grievances, to study labor law and grievance procedures as they pertain to the needs and interests of the union, and to provide the Executive Council guidance on the desirability to pursue grievances to arbitration. If you want to help your colleagues and ensure that our Collective Bargaining Agreement is enforced, contact Chair Louisa Hooven.
The duties of the Membership and Organizing Committee include outreach to new faculty members, coordinating the Contract Action Team for our 2024 contract negotiations, recruiting new union activists, and keeping faculty engaged with our union. If you want to help your union grow and building faculty power at OSU, contact Chair Steve Shay.
The Social Justice Committee coordinates with the UAOSU committees and caucuses, as well as University Offices, Centers, and Institutes to advance and promote equity and diversity at OSU and within the union. We develop specific strategies for outreach to other faculty unions; for public communications in the community; for internal communications; co-sponsor trainings with other committees to enhance values and practices of inclusion and equity across our union. If you are passionate about social justice issues, contact Chair Kenny Maes.
Caucuses
Caucuses are a place where members can come together with shared concerns and interests. Any three members can start a caucus, which must be approved by the Executive Committee.
If you are interested in starting or joining a caucus, please contact us at info@uaosu.org
The BIPOC Caucus seeks to support and organize Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Faculty at Oregon State, to mobilize our collective voices to improve the working conditions for BIPOC Faculty, and to encourage participation in union membership and union leadership by BIPOC Faculty.
The BIPOC Caucus believes it is crucial that faculty challenge systematic and intersectional oppression in higher education. We strive for social justice, equity, and inclusion within our union to build solidarity and to develop collective visions for empowering BIPOC faculty and students at Oregon State.
We gather together to share our experiences, find community, and envision ways to foster learning communities that respect the worth of all students, faculty, and staff at OSU.
For more information on the BIPOC Caucus, please contact Patti Sakurai.
The Queer Caucus seeks to support, advocate for, and build community with all union members who identify as 2SLGBTQIA+. This includes, but is not limited to, people who identify as Two Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, transgender, queer, genderqueer, gender nonconforming, non-binary, agender, genderfluid, intersex, asexual, aromantic, demiromantic, and questioning.
We seek to pursue changes in institutional policy that will safeguard the rights and affirm the identities of people who identify as part of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community at Oregon State University, regardless of whether or not they are members of the bargaining unit. Additionally, we work in solidarity with other 2SLGBTQIA+ organizations, activists, and community members to dismantle cishetero patriarchy in all its forms. As a caucus we will send one of our members to the Representative Assembly.
All union members are encouraged to attend and observe meetings; however, we aim to amplify the voices of those with lived experiences pertaining to our caucus.
For more information on the Queer Caucus, please contact Kei Lin Chang
The Labor Education Caucus promotes awareness of labor movement histories and cultures, highlighting the intersections between the labor movement and other social justice movements. In keeping with our purpose, we organize events to nurture imagination and participatory learning, based not only on discussion of relevant scholarship within and outside of academia, but also through an exploration of labor movement arts (film, music and song, theater, visual arts, standup comedy, and more). We seek to further develop within our union a historically informed sense of organizing possibilities, strategic thinking, and an appreciation for the rich repertoire of social movement tactics. We also intend our work as a caucus to inspire solidarity across differences, while honoring and learning about and from those differences. Finally, we hope to provide our union and the broader community with those stories that can connect our individual identities and imaginations through a deeper, sustaining matrix of shared, creative struggles toward a more liberatory and just future.
We invite members with similar interests to join us. As a caucus we will send one of our members to the Representative Assembly. In keeping with our embrace of memory and the historical long view, retired UAOSU members are welcome to participate in this caucus, though only actively employed members are eligible to represent us in the Assembly.
For more information on the Labor Education Caucus, please contact Joseph Orosco.