Articles by newsletter

Greetings, my excellent colleagues,This new academic year at the University of Oregon brings a bit more change than usual, such as a new athletic league, a new Provost, new programs beginning in UO Portland, and a record number of new faculty.We’ve also seen changes to the Executive Council of United Academics:Kate Mills (Psychology) is our new Executive Vice President. Kate’s enthusiasm and can-do attitude will be key for her work on the Contract Action Team to coordinate and ratchet up all of our individual efforts during these final months of negotiations on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.Ed Wolf (Music) is…

My Experience at the 2024 Democratic National Convention Last month, I had the privilege of attending the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago as a delegate for Oregon. I was pleased to see the strong union representation throughout the event, indicating that labor was welcomed and respected at the Convention. In addition to the excitement of the main events and speeches, I valued the chance to connect with fellow rank-and-file unionists—making new friends, sharing stories, and reaffirming our solidarity in the fight for working families. I also had the opportunity to meet with leaders in the labor movement, including AFT…

Every regular term of the academic year the University of Oregon publishes a course resource page, which includes some ready-made materials to launch courses. Part of this is a “starter syllabus” which has a general outline plus a lot of sample language folks can use when preparing a syllabus. Fall Term resource webpage Starter syllabus webpage The University Policy section of the starter syllabus, starting on page 13, has a few different examples of language for: Access and Accommodations Accommodations for Religious Observances Your (Students’) Wellbeing Basic Needs Respect for Diversity Academic Integrity Student Experience Surveys (Designated) Reporting Obligations Academic…

Our Fight for Fair Salaries Your bargaining team meets with administration again this week on Thursday, September 26th, from 12:30 to 3:30pm. Please note that we will gather in Lillis 112 – right down the hall from the room we typically meet in. We will present several articles, including Article 26: Salary. We have pored over the data underpinning the administration’s most recent proposal and have developed our counterproposal based on, and in response to their data. We anticipate a robust conversation about compensation during the session. We will also present our counterproposals on review processes for tenure-related and Career…

Your bargaining team met with the administration once again on August 26th for our final session of the summer.  Though we continue to make progress on several non-economic articles, we continue to engage them on several points of contention that your team feels are important to improve our current contract. One of those sticking points concerns the grievance process. United Academics hopes to codify a time frame in which faculty members can engage in what we have called an Independent Conflict Resolution Process. Oftentimes faculty members do not immediately seek out assistance from their union when problems arise, and they…

Greetings, We are writing as representatives of the Executive Council of United Academics of the University of Oregon (UA). UA is the exclusive union representative of faculty at the University of Oregon. As faculty representatives, stewards, and leaders, we work every day to improve our university and the state of higher education in Oregon. We are writing today to update you on the status of our negotiations with the administration for our fourth full Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). While there has been quite a bit of progress on certain articles of the CBA with give and take from both faculty…

Bargaining Update for August 13 Your United Academics bargaining team met again with the administration’s team last Tuesday. While we continue to make progress on several non-economic issues, the administration’s intransigence on faculty salaries is becoming increasingly clear. The administration returned Article 26 – Salary to us. Once again, they have not moved from their initial offer of 3% raise pools for each of the next three years. Of course, given that inflation has hovered around 3.3% for the past year, their offer represents a pay cut in real terms, on top of the real losses faculty have experienced throughout the pandemic. Despite expressing an…

Bargaining update for July 2, 2024 We hope that everyone is enjoying their summer, whatever that may entail for you and yours.  Though there is a bit of a lull on campus, your bargaining team will continue to meet with the administration throughout the summer. Please remain engaged to help us secure a dignified contract. Attend sessions when able! Thank you for your presence in the room, showing the united support of our faculty, even in the summer months. Our next session is on Monday, July 15 from 12:30-3:30 pm in Lilis 440 [a different location than usual].We met with…

BargainingJoin us tomorrow, Tuesday, July 2, for our first bargaining session of the summer. We’ll meet in Chiles 125 from 1:30-4:30pm. If you can’t make it in person, Zoom in here. Please note the change in timing from our usual schedule.Will the administration team bring a counterproposal on Article 26: Salary? Only one way to find out! Your team will bring counters that touch on Career faculty job security, pro tem employment, unit policies, and leaves.Let’s keep up the momentum we built during the academic year! And make sure your calendar is marked for these upcoming sessions: Monday, July 15…

Your bargaining team recently met with the administration on June 13th. Thank you to everyone who turned out! It was a lively time. There was even an impromptu singalong of union solidarity songs courtesy of UA’s Vice President of Diversity & Equity, Ed Wolf of SOMD. Enthusiastic members filled the bargaining room and showed up on Zoom. We estimate that 150 faculty members showed up at some point. Your presence was felt by the administration team as well as your bargaining team! As a reminder, we will be having bargaining sessions throughout the summer, so please consider joining in person if…