Articles by newsletter

UA Elections! We have elections for six officer positions beginning the first quarter of 2026. All members in good standing are eligible to serve as officers and nominate other members in good standing. Self-nominations are also permitted. If you’re interested in running, our current board members are happy to talk to you and answer your questions. As always, you can contact UA staff with any questions at info@uauoregon.org. Open positions: This year’s Executive Council positions are now open. The Executive Council (EC) is the primary leadership body of United Academics with a focus on initiating, overseeing, or revising the program of the union. The…

UO Campus PIRC Migra (ICE) Watch Training Wednesday, Feb 11th, 5:00-7:00pm On campus, location provided after registration Registration link coming soon, complete this interest form to receive the registration link once it’s available! Join us for an IN-PERSON Migra (ICE) Watch training on Wednesday, February 11th from 5-7pm! The training is two hours and attendees will have the opportunity to join the Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition (PIRC) Rapid Response network at the end of the training (must complete full training). This training provides information on how to identify ICE and other law enforcement out in the community, guidance for how…

As our country and community continue to be terrorized by ICE, many of our members are looking for ways we can protect ourselves and our neighbors. We face unprecedented times having to teach with the possibility that ICE may come to campus in pursuit of people to detain and possibly deport. Many of our students and faculty are scared, and there has been demand for information about what to do if we face ICE personnel while we are teaching or holding office hours. The UA International and Immigration Working Group has created several resources for members to use and share. Download signs…

Dear Colleagues, Our faculty union (United Academics) invites you to fill out a short survey asking about your current levels of trust in our UO administration. We seek to understand how instructional, research, and other faculty members are feeling about UO’s leadership practices over the past calendar year.  Contact the UA staff if you did not receive a link in the email where you typically receive your union’s emails. The survey will remain open from January 26 until 5pm on February 20, 2026. Who can take the survey: Any faculty member currently represented within UA’s bargaining unit. You do not…

Join with your union siblings to HAVE FUN! Do what you love, find new things to love, and the people to love them with–right here in your very own union.    You are your union! You can start your own group! The Tabletop Syndicate All work and no play is no way to go! Unwind, socialize, and strategize while playing tabletop games with UA folks–and any interested family members. No prior experience with games needed. We meet at the UA office from 5:00 to 7:30pm on the second Thursday of each month (e.g., Feb 12 and Mar 12). Enjoy snacks…

Welcome back to campus! We hope your break was jolly and rejuvenating. As we collectively refocus on the job of instruction, research, and service, Higher Ed in the United States is still under threat from many angles. There are many ways to join together, find community, and fight for the academic mission of the University of Oregon and higher education more broadly. Our collective voice is powerful and we hope you find something here that inspires you to contribute. Drop-in to Zoom office hours with UA President Kate Celis Mills This term, UA President Kate Celis Mills will hold weekly…

Dearest Colleagues, It’s been a busy start to the 2025 academic year, and I wanted to take a moment to highlight a few of the many campaigns that UA members have been steadfastly working towards these past months. Despite all of the challenges that we have faced this year, our union is stronger than ever, and I’m delighted that so many initiatives are being championed by rank-and-file members in addition to union officers. For those who are interested in stepping into an officer role, please know that we will be holding elections for several positions in the first quarter of…

UA’s WOKE Toolkit In light of increased ideological and political pressures during the present national administration, United Academics has compiled suggestions for how university faculty of all ranks can protect themselves against future attacks and to fight back if and when they come. These can be found in UA’s WOKE Toolkit.  As a first step, the toolkit works to identify your institutional support networks. The first section lists the main entities on campus that can help you in the event of an attack – United Academics, the UO administration, and the University Senate – and recommends how you can engage…

Over the past few weeks, your union has been assembling a toolkit that we hope will help our members deal with the current war on knowledge and education. With a bit of gallows humor, we’ve taken to calling it the “W.O.K.E. Toolkit.” It contains general advice as well as links to further information on:  Resources on Campus Dangers Beyond the University Walls Protecting Yourself Online Dealing With Doxxing Classroom Precautions Dealing With ICE Please reach out to David Luebke, your VP for Tenure-Track Faculty, at luebke@uauoregon.org if there is any additional information you would like included in this resource. You…

The Fall term General Membership Meeting (GMM) is this Thursday, 5-7pm in Gerlinger Lounge. Dinner and drinks will be available at 5:00, business begins at 5:30. If you can’t join in person, you can Zoom in here. In addition to updates on our efforts to push back against layoffs and the work units should be doing to revise Review and Promotion policies, much of the conversation will focus on current threats to higher education and what we are doing (and should be doing) as a union to push back. Please join us for this important conversation! Important Reminders Open enrollment…