EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Your UAOSU bargaining team and the administration team met from 9:30-3:30 on Thursday, January 23. Much of the session focused on discussion of how temporary FTE reductions will work within continuous appointments for promoted faculty. We are glad to say we came to a tentative agreement on Appointment and Reappointment and Termination Not for Cause – this marks a significant win for faculty stability. We also passed Academic Classification and Rank and Academic Freedom. The administration passed Health, Safety, Facilities, and Worksite. We also came to a tentative agreement on our Letter Of Agreement on Promotion Criteria.
UPCOMING SESSIONS
Use the links below to add these to your calendar.
- Wed Jan 29 9:30am-12:30pm Cascade Hall 141
- Tues Feb 11 11am-4:30pm Cascade Hall 141
- Tues Feb 18 9:30am-4:30pm Cascade Hall 141
- Tues Feb 25 9:30am-4:30pm Cascade Hall 141
FULL UPDATE
We spent most of this session finalizing key issues and safeguards for faculty on continuous appointment (promoted non-tenure track faculty). At our previous session, the administration team had passed Appointment and Reappointment and Termination Not For Cause, but we had outstanding questions about how the language in these articles would apply to the kind of occasional fluctuations in FTE that sometimes occurs – for example, when a class is canceled and other work isn’t provided to fill that gap. We had productive conversation with the administration team to work through these issues. This is what good bargaining looks like: when both sides come prepared to solve problems together, listen closely, and consider multiple perspectives. Ultimately, the administration team agreed to language we had previously passed in these two articles (available here and here). With these tentative agreements, we now have a system where all promoted non-tenure track faculty will be on continuous appointments, with an expectation of ongoing employment. Permanent reductions in FTE, or the ending of an appointment, will go through the process outlined in Termination Not for Cause, which includes a notice period of at least three months; is limited to situations in which there is a genuine need to cut the position (i.e., a lack of funding, or reduction in the size of an academic department; and includes the right of return if the work comes back within two years. This is a significant improvement in job stability for instructors, FRAs, and RAs upon promotion, and we are proud to have reached agreement on this issue. Details around the implementation timeline are yet to come, so please stay tuned.
In addition, we passed two other counterproposals. In Academic Classification and Rank, we continue to argue that faculty whose jobs are reclassified to another fixed-term/continuous position should not have to go through a competitive search – this matches existing practices using search waivers. We continue to include extension duties in the list of primary duties that should be classified within our bargaining unit, and we will be sending some example position descriptions to the administration team to help them understand these duties. We continue to maintain that the administration must provide notice if they move a part or all of a position out of the bargaining unit, and that non-student employees who are assigned duties that are typically done by members of our bargaining unit should receive an appropriate (bargaining unit) appointment for that work.
In Academic Freedom, we continue to press for language that would protect faculty rights to free expression at work, in light of OSU’s recently updated policy on freedom of speech and expression. The administration team asked some clarifying questions and we hope that they have come to understand our concerns. We continue to work through language governing when faculty grades can be changed, as well as language describing access to shared governance opportunities.
The administration team passed back Health, Safety, Facilities, and Worksite. The outstanding issues in this article relate to Flexible Work Arrangement Agreements – while we have previously used language from existing OSU policy, the administration has cut much of that language.
At the end of this session, we also reached tentative agreement on our LOA on Promotion Criteria, which ensures that our union will be able to negotiate any substantive revisions of promotion criteria and the development of new criteria for any new categories.
Our website provides a table with links to all of the proposals passed in these negotiations.
The next bargaining session is 9:30am–12:30pm on Wednesday, January 29 in Cascade Hall 141. Even if you can only drop by for half an hour, your attendance matters: show the administration that faculty are watching this process.
You can find a list of the currently scheduled bargaining sessions, as well as read our updates and proposals at uaosu.org/bargaining.
Our power in negotiations comes from all of us working together as a united faculty. Becoming a member is the first step in supporting your bargaining team and securing a strong second contract . You can become a member online by going to uaosu.org/join.
In solidarity,
Kelly McElroy and Your Bargaining Team