Articles by Kristy Hammond

Dear Colleague:United Academics will be hosting our quarterly general membership meeting remotely via Zoom this Friday at 4pm.The leadership of United Academics will be on hand to answer members’ questions about how the university and the union are dealing with the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Faculty are understandably anxious about the financial impact on the university, their units, and in the case of Pro Tem and Career faculty, their jobs. President Schill indicated that the administration will be talking with us about how faculty can “sacrifice” to help the campus. We anticipate discussing their proposal on Thursday and…

Dear Colleague,Earlier this morning, the leadership of United Academics sent the letter below to President Schill and Provost Philips. This letter was drafted after many meetings and hours of conversation between officers, stewards, and representatives in response to many statements of concern from Career faculty who are up for renewal this year. We have had a very good working relationship with the administration during the COVID crisis, and we are positive that relationship will continue as we discuss how to provide Career instructional faculty with the security they need to focus on their important work. Dear President Schill and Provost…

Dear Faculty, Over the past few weeks, it has felt like something is new and different (and usually worse) every day. The situation for faculty has been difficult – we’re all tired from keeping on top of the news, grading our suddenly-online finals, adapting our work to be remote, the uncertainty about our students’ access, uncertainty about our jobs, having children at home for many of us, and more. It has been hard. And many of you have taken on additional work, on top of all that, for your community, campus, families, and students. In all of our meetings with…

Just a few weeks ago, your union was focused on negotiating a strong contract, handling grievances, and fielding questions and concerns. Prepping for bargaining and meeting administration every week took up a lot of energy, and elected officials and staff were contemplating timelines and strategy. It’s an understatement to say that today we find ourselves in a very different landscape. With COVID-19 spreading rapidly across the U.S., the impact on universities is immediate. Questions and complications arise hour by hour that need urgent yet thoughtful responses. As you know, United Academics is member run and member driven. Faculty officers are…

Executive Summary: Officers of United Academics met with senior administrators to discuss current and future efforts to respond to COVID-19. We pushed admin to make a commitment to the Career faculty who could lose their jobs in the near future. The administration did not make any commitments. On Friday, four officers from United Academics met with President Mike Schill, Provost Patrick Philips, and Labor Relations Director Missy Matella to discuss the administration’s current actions in regard to COVID-19 and the prospects for the next term and beyond. President Schill reviewed the three priorities driving administrative decision-making. He discussed the almost-heroic lengths many…

Dear Colleagues, We hope you are all doing the best you can in these unconventional times. As we started writing this update, it occurred to us that by the time it is drafted, edited, and approved, whatever we had to say about the current state of affairs would be almost surely overtaken by an announcement from the Provost or the Governor, and we’d be sending stale news with advice about inoperative circumstances. Instead, we’ll remind you that UA can be your resource for raising issues and concerns you’d like to have addressed by the administration. The leaders and staff of…

Executive Summary:The administration presented their retirement/buyout proposal. It would give the administration complete control over when faculty could be bought out.Bargaining is suspended for the foreseeable future. The UA office is closed until at least Monday, March 30. Officers and staff are working remotely and continue to be available at [email protected]. Summary:On Thursday, we had our tenth bargaining session. The administration brought three proposals and we presented one.Many of the proposals and ideas we have discussed in bargaining so far have dealt with the issue of who has control of our working lives – we faculty or the administration. Our salary proposal…

Executive SummaryWe proposed a plan that would provide Career faculty with the expectation of continued employment and job security. Under our proposal, Career faculty in their first year would have 30 days’ notice before termination. After their first year, Career faculty can only be terminated with 90 days’ notice for legitimate financial, programmatic, or performance reasons and only after a faculty committee review. Career faculty who have achieved promotion can only be terminated with one year’s notice for legitimate financial, programmatic, or performance reasons and only after a faculty committee review verifies that the termination is legitimate. We renewed our…