Articles by Kristy Hammond

A new academic year with new challenges. We’re here to help.

Dear Colleague, It’s a new academic year and there are new challenges to face. United Academics is here to support you. Who YOU are. You are the faculty represented by United Academics! You are tenure track faculty at the assistant, associate, and full professor levels. You are research faculty such as research assistants, associates, technicians, and research professors. You are librarians and you are instructors. You are Career faculty and you are pro tems. Together we are UNITED ACADEMICS! Who we are. We are a community of scholars and our (proverbial) doors are open to discuss issues that arise on…


MOU Ratified

We are pleased to inform you that the membership has ratified the Memorandum of Understanding to restore Career faculty FTE, institute a payroll reduction plan, and allow faculty to resubmit requests for promotion by a vote of 461 to 34. The negotiations over this agreement were not easy, and UA leadership appreciates everyone who watched the bargaining and lent their support. We still have work to do to change the Career contract system. We will keep you informed of the progress we are making. We anticipate asking membership to ratify an agreement on a new system in fall. Again, thank…


Planning for Fall Term

Last Wednesday, Provost Philips sent instructional faculty and graduate employees a message describing a change in the approach to in-person teaching in the fall. Instructional faculty and GEs have been given the option to opt out of in-person teaching in the fall, if they have not done so already. This is great news, and we welcome this new decision by the Provost. We recommend that faculty take the opportunity now to consider the latest available information and decide whether or not they would like to opt out of in-person teaching in the fall. We have studied the university’s plans for in-person…


August 4, 2020 Town Hall

United Academics held a virtual Town Hall on Tuesday, August 4, 2020. A Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page is posted here on the United Academics webpage. The FAQ responds to the dozens of questions we received during the meeting and over the last several months. If you don’t see answers to your questions there, drop us a line at [email protected]. We will continue to update the FAQ as new issues arise or information becomes available.


We have a deal!

After four weeks of tough bargaining, we struck a tentative deal with the administration over the restoration of FTE, a progressive salary cut package, and the outlines of how we will revise the system for employing Career faculty. The bargaining team believes this is a good deal and a vast improvement on the salary cut plan offered in April.Before we get to the details, the bargaining team would like to give a hearty thank you to all the members who tuned in to watch. Over 200 unique viewers joined some part of the sessions. Bargaining via Zoom is new to all of us, and…


Summer Bargaining So Far

United Academics and the administration reconvened last week to discuss potential salary cuts, the restoration of fall FTE for affected Career faculty, and a plan for expectation of continuing employment for all Career faculty. The bargaining conversations have begun with each side presenting and discussing the principles that inform their thinking on the issues we’re bargaining. Our primary goals are to restore FTE for those who were renewed with low FTE in the spring and to institute an expectation of continued employment that would eliminate the administration’s ability to dramatically change career faculty FTE year to year. We have also…


Campaign for Caregivers: Please sign the petition!

Recently, the Center for the Study of Women in Society sent an urgent request to University of Oregon leadership asking for action to alleviate labor inequities for faculty, staff, and GEs that have arisen from the coronavirus pandemic. As the faculty testimonials  below demonstrate, COVID-19 has uncovered many aspects of our institutional practice that have historically rendered the labor of caregivers invisible and left them more vulnerable. By “caregiver,” we mean anyone who regularly looks after a child, a dependent, and/or a sick, elderly, or disabled person without pay. Caregivers can be of any gender and are usually members of…


State of Oregon Campus Resources For DACA Students

Oregon’s public universities and community colleges are encouraging DACA students to consult with immigration attorneys and potentially renew their applications as soon as possible. Students needing assistance in renewing DACA paperwork can reach out to contacts at each institution. A list of contacts for Oregon’s public universities and community colleges can be found here. United Academics asks for your help in amplifying this message and sharing these resources with Oregon’s DACA students.


Registration Information for Upcoming Bargaining Sessions

Dear Colleague, The United Academics bargaining team met with the administration bargaining team for four hours on Friday, June 26, to begin our summer bargaining sessions. In these sessions we are attempting to find agreement on restoring FTE for Career faculty who had their FTE cut in May, a fair salary cut plan to address anticipated deficits, fixing the broken Career contract system, and a better retirement/buyout plan for our tenured faculty. This first session was designed to have the parties discuss principles as we attempt to solve our mutual problems. Our team presented some basic bullet points and we discussed how…


Bargaining Starts Friday, June 26, 2020

On Friday, June 26, from 1-5 pm, the United Academics bargaining team will begin conversations with the administration bargaining team about restoring the FTE of Career faculty scheduled to work reduced FTE next year, fixing our broken system of employing Career faculty, revising our current TTF tenure reduction/retirement program, and determining what a fair and equitable salary cut plan might look like if one is needed. This bargaining session will be on Zoom. Your video and audio will be muted, and the chat feature will be disabled. Neither party has bargained remotely before, so your patience will be appreciated if…