The UA and administration teams met for our first bargaining session of Winter term (and third since we resumed bargaining in Fall) on Friday, Jan. 28.
The administration team began by presenting counterproposals on Articles 11 (Release Time), 15 (Academic Classification and Rank), 16 (Notices of Appointment), and 33 (Sabbatical).
We presented counterproposals on Articles 12 (Facilities and Support), 20 (Tenure Review and Promotion), and 28 (Fringe Benefits), as well as a new proposal on Article 21 (Appeal from the Denial of Tenure or Promotion).
Our proposed revisions to Articles 12 and 28 are fairly minimal, but important. We maintain that certain equipment, including computers or other electronic devices, is indeed necessary for faculty to do our jobs. And faculty should not be expected to work in classrooms, labs, or offices that are unreasonably hot or cold. We also want to ensure that all faculty have access to equal benefits, such as public transportation passes and tuition benefits for dependents.
The changes UA made to Article 20 (Tenure Review and Promotion) are designed to:
- establish the principle that annual and mid-term reviews for assistant professors are developmental.
- establish disciplinary standards as the criteria to be used in evaluating research quality and productivity for all reviews.
- clarify the process of stopping the clock for any approved leave. Currently, if a bargaining unit faculty member receives a parental, FMLA, or emergency pandemic delay to their midterm review, the clock does not stop for their tenure review unless they request that it stop. Also, we are proposing that all review clocks should be aligned so that if any review clock is stopped, the timing of future reviews should also be delayed for the same amount of time.
- streamline the review process by eliminating sixth-year post tenure reviews for associates, while allowing for expanded third-year reviews if needed.
- regularize development plans to ensure that they accord with their intended goal of helping faculty meet expectations for their next review.
Similarly, our changes to Article 21 (Appeals) are intended to streamline and regularize the appeals processes for all tenure-related faculty reviews.
Finally, a huge thank you to all our colleagues who turned out to watch! While the webinar format doesn’t allow for us to see your faces, we can see a count and list of all who are logged in. It is both heartening to your bargaining team and important for the administration to know that faculty are engaged and taking the time to participate in this process. If you have questions about the session or about any of the proposals, feel free to email us at [email protected]. Please plan to join us for the next two sessions on February 11 and 25, both 11:30am to 1:30pm.