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A hearty thank you to all who tuned in for what ended up being a 12 hour bargaining session on Wednesday! While we did not quite complete negotiations, we are very close to an agreement and optimistic that we will finish tomorrow (Friday). Your team returns to the bargaining table at 9am – please Zoom In for the home stretch! We came out of this session with three new tentative agreements – on Articles 11 (Release Time), 16 (Notices of Appointment), and 20 (Tenure Review and Promotion). Those agreements will be available when signed by both parties. We made significant progress on…

First things first – we are nearing completion of this round of bargaining and may be able to wrap up negotiations this week! We need you to help put us over the finish line. Please Zoom In on Wednesday, June 15 – we will begin at 9am and bargain to conclusion or until the parties decide to call it a day. If needed, another session is scheduled for Friday, June 17 from 9am to noon. Last Thursday, your UA bargaining team presented counterproposals on Articles 15 (Academic Classification and Rank), 16 (Notices of Appointment), 19 (Career Faculty Review and Promotion), 20 (Tenure Review and…

Your UA bargaining team met with the administration twice last week (June 1st and 3rd). Most of our open Articles were in the administration’s court last week – they gave us counterproposals on Articles 11 (Release Time), 15 (Academic Classification and Rank), 16 (Notices of Appointment), 17 (Assignment of Professional Responsibilities), 20 (Tenure Review and Promotion), 30 (Benefits for Retired Faculty), and 32 (Leaves). We also discussed their counters from the week prior on Articles 19 (Career Faculty Review and Promotion) and 28 (Fringe Benefits), as we had not had time to go over these at the table. Key Points…

The UA and administration bargaining teams met for a two-hour session on Wednesday, May 25. Your UA team presented counterproposals on Articles 16 (Notices of Appointment) and 20 (Tenure Review and Promotion). We only had time to discuss the administration’s Caregiving counterproposal, but they also provided counters on Articles 15 (Academic Classification and Rank), 19 (Career Review and Promotion), and 28 (Fringe Benefits), as well as an updated University Distinguished Teaching Professor program description. UA Proposals In Article 16, we proposed moving many of the ideas from our Home Campus proposal to this Article, as it seems a logical place to clarify expectations around work…

As we approach the end of the academic year and in an effort to finish negotiations in the coming weeks, we’ve stepped up the pace of bargaining. We had two sessions last week – Wednesday 5/18 and Friday 5/20. Your UA bargaining team presented counterproposals on Articles 11 (Release Time), 15 (Academic Classification and Rank), 16 (Notices of Appointment), 19 (Career Faculty Review and Promotion), 27 (Public Employee Benefits), 28 (Miscellaneous Benefits), 30 (Benefits for Eligible Retired Faculty), and 32 (Leaves). The administration team did not bring any proposals last week, but provided a Caregiving Concepts document that outlined their thinking in…

A Message from UA’s Incoming President Greetings, my excellent friends. With the upcoming departure of Avinnash, I have been asked by the Executive Council to serve in his stead as Interim President of UAUO until our next regular election of officers in Spring 2023. It is a position I take on with a healthy respect and warranted trepidation. It doesn’t seem possible to match the passion, the heart, or the power of my predecessors. We are a diverse bargaining unit of over 1700 working in a multitude of roles across multiple campuses; I am acutely aware that I don’t have…

Wednesday, May 18 3:00 – 5:00pm Friday, May 20 9:00-noon Wednesday, May 25 noon – 2:00pm Wednesday, June 1 noon – 2:00pm Friday, June 3 9:00-noon

In our last bargaining session on Friday, 5/6, the administration team presented most of their remaining financial proposals. This included counterproposals on Articles 11 (Release Time), 15 (Academic Classification and Rank), 16 (Notices of Appointment), 26 (Salary), and 32 (Leaves), and an unexpected proposal to eliminate Article 31 (Tenure Reduction Program). We have yet to receive a response to our Caregiving Article. Given the importance of these proposals and the necessary discussion at the table, your UA team did not present any proposals this week. Discussion began with the administration’s proposed Article 26 (Salary). Section 1 of the Article, as…

Bargaining Next bargaining session is this Friday, May 6 from 9am-noon via Zoom, followed by a debrief and social hour from 3-5pm at Falling Sky Pub at 1334 Oak Alley. We expect to receive the remainder of the administration’s financial proposals, so please log in to support your team and hear just how much your and your colleagues’ work is valued by UO administration. United Academics Outstanding Contributions Awards Nomination deadlines extend to Friday, May 6 United Academics has established awards for outstanding contributions to the university community. Details of each award can be found on UA’s newsletter. Please consider nominating a…

Last Friday, the UA bargaining and UO administration teams returned to the virtual table. We received the administration’s first financial proposals, but unfortunately ran short on time so didn’t get through everything on the agenda. Your UA team presented counterproposals on Articles 11 (Release Time), 12 (Facilities and Support), 15 (Academic Classification and Rank), 16 (Notices of Appointment), and 29 (Retirement Benefits). We also offered our initial proposal on Article 32 (Leaves). The administration team presented counterproposals on Articles 17 (Assignment of Professional Responsibilities) and 19 (NTTF Review and Promotion). While we didn’t get the chance to discuss them at…

Textbook Reporting We have been hearing some concerns about textbook reporting. Please contact UA at info@uauoregon.org if you have concerns surrounding having your course materials public. Interim President Call The role of interim president of UAUO is open! We invite members to express their interest in that position or other ways of participating more in your union. One or more members of the current Executive Committee will be happy to meet with anyone interested (or even just possibly interested, thinking about becoming interested, and so on) to help you learn more about the position and other ways to be involved. If you…

A message from the Chair of Grievance and Contract Administration I hope that people have been tuning into bargaining sessions over the last few months as there are proposals that will directly affect many aspects of our working conditions. While the negotiations have occupied a significant part of our time and energies, we have also been able to advocate for faculty in a variety of ways not related to our new CBA, and we wanted to take the opportunity to remind you that you can reach out to us with any issue, great or small. In addition to having informal conversations with…

Workspace Temperature Issues We are in the process of negotiating CBA language to address the situation of problematic temperatures (excessive heat or cold) in classrooms, labs, offices, and other workspaces. The administration team has asked us to provide examples of rooms where temperature issues have been reported but not remedied. If you have experienced this situation, please complete this short form. The data collected by early next week will be included in UA’s report to the administration. Contingent Faculty Survey Our affiliate, American Federation of Teachers (AFT), is seeking input from contingent faculty on their current work and personal life experiences….

In our first session of Spring term, your UA team presented counter proposals on Articles 20 (Tenure Review and Promotion) and 21 (Review Decision Appeals). The administration team presented counter proposals on Articles 12 (Facilities and Support), 15 (Academic Classification and Rank), and 16 (Notices of Appointment), and initial proposals on Articles 23 (Arbitration) and 29 (Retirement Benefits). Administration Proposals We kicked off the session with a brief return to Facilities and Support (Art. 12). We are close to agreement on this Article, with the remaining issue being faculty concerns around extreme temperatures in classrooms, labs, offices, and other workspaces….

United Academics has established awards for outstanding contributions to the university community. Please consider nominating a worthy colleague for one or more of them: Administration-Faculty Partnership Award – for UO administrators or department heads who demonstrate courage to stand for academic freedom and embrace the role of faculty in university governance. Outstanding Service and Contribution to United Academics – for United Academics members who have offered service to our union in multiple roles over many years. Strong Voice Award – for active United Academics members who have demonstrated sustained and committed activism on behalf of all faculty across our campus….

University of Oregon Union Town Hall with Sarita Gupta Wednesday, April 6, 6:30-8 p.m. 156 Straub Hall This event will bring together the presidents of each of the University of Oregon’s major unions to discuss the challenges and possibilities facing a largely unionized university workplace, now and in the future, with Wayne Morse Chair Sarita Gupta. Participants will include Avinnash Tiwari, United Academics of the University of Oregon; Stephanie Prentiss, Service Employees International Union 503; and Mel Keller, Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation. This event is part of the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics 2021-23 theme, Making Work Work….

Friday, March 18 marked our final bargaining session of the term. Your UA team presented Articles 19 (NTTF Review and Promotion) and 26 (Salary), as well as a new article focused on the needs of caregivers (Article XX – Caregiving). The administration returned counterproposals on Articles 09 (Union Rights), 20 (Tenure Review and Promotion), and 21 (Appeal from the Denial of Tenure and Promotion). We were able to reach two tentative agreements (TAs) – on Article 33 (Sabbatical), which the administration offered a counter on last session, and on Article 09. This brings us to a total of five TAs…

The UA and administration bargaining teams returned to the virtual table on Friday, Feb. 11 for our second session of the term. Your bargaining team presented counter proposals on Articles 11 (Release Time), 15 (Academic Classification and Rank), 16 (Notices of Appointment), and 33 (Sabbatical). The administration team followed with counters on Articles 9 (Union Rights) and 12 (Facilities and Support). Our proposals The session began with our presentation on Articles 15 (Academic Classification and Rank) and 16 (Notices of Appointment), which touch on many issues discussed by the Career Equity workgroup last Fall. Mike Urbancic (UA VP for Non-Tenure-Track…

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…

Your bargaining team will return to the virtual table this Friday, January 28, from 11:30am to 1:30pm. Please Zoom in to lend your support! You won’t appear on screen in this webinar-style session, but we can see that you are logged in in solidarity (even if you’re using the time to catch up on other work) and your presence sends a strong message to the administration that you are invested in the process and paying attention to the deliberations. This session, we’ll present proposals on Articles 12 (Facilities and Services), 20 (Tenure Review and Promotion), 21 (Appeals from the Denial of Tenure or…

Colleagues, Below, you’ll find the Executive Council’s message to upper administration after reviewing their response.  If you are having difficulty with remote accommodations for your work, if you feel you are working in an unsafe environment, or, if your workload has significantly increased this term, please contact us so we can advocate for you as best as we can. Please remember Bargaining picks up again this coming week. Zoom in from wherever you’re at. The B-Team did their work. Now we do our work and show up.  In Solidarity, The EC of UAUO — Dear President Schill, Provost Phillips, Executive…

Dear Colleagues, Tuesday, January 18, members of UA’s executive council met with Executive Vice Provost Janet Woodruff-Borden and Vice President Mark Schmelz in order to discuss the following list of solutions garnered by our membership to address our working conditions during the ongoing pandemic. During our meeting Avinnash, Bill, Lisa, Lynn, Mike, and Nathan expressed what we’ve been hearing from you all: why we need changes to both our current working conditions and how we can make those changes collaboratively and collectively. As you’ll see from the list below, we are thinking about short-term ways to manage the current moment’s…

Hello UA Members, Thanks to the many of you who attended last night’s general membership meeting. We had an informative and vibrant discussion about the current state of our working and life conditions under current Covid-19 policies. We take the many different points to heart, and recognize the multiple layers of issues many of us face. We have also heeded the many comments that have been emailed to the UA office and EC members. While UA Executive Council members have actively met with and maintained communications with upper administrators since before the Fall quarter, we see that it is time…

Dear Colleagues, Thank you for the many responses to us and me regarding how you see this moment we’re in. I haven’t had the time to respond to all, but I’m grateful to each and every one of you who reached out. Without exception, you all came from a place of wanting to do right by our students while balancing the health and safety of being in-person, our obligations as employees of the university, and what this moment means for our educational mission. So I offer a few key points garnered from those messages, for us all to consider from a…

Colleagues, Here’s what we know: Accommodations for faculty (health status, caregiving needs) remain the same as last term. The Academic Council meets today to potentially update classroom policies; we know that faculty can no longer remove masks under the public speaker exemption. Booster mandate details are forthcoming. There are conversations about our testing capabilities. Members of your Executive Council expressed your concerns about reopening to our bosses and we continue to do so. We are waiting to hear about the recommendations from the Academic Council and other updates from central administration, which should be forthcoming by week’s end if not…

Greetings Bargaining Unit Members, Nearly half of you voted on the Ratification of a three-year salary increase MOU between UA and UO administration. 95% of you voted yes. As noted previously, this MOU only affects a small portion of Article 26 in our Collective Bargaining Agreement. Other items, such as salary floors and promotion raises, have yet to be re-visited and bargained, as does the remainder of the CBA. Even though the vote was overwhelmingly in favor of the salary increases, some feel that this is not enough. Do know, your Executive Council, Bargaining Team, Economics Team, Representatives, and Stewards, all of whom…

Bargaining Update United Academics and the Administration are in the process of finalizing details of a raise package. A Memorandum of Understanding should be ready for review by the membership on Monday, December 6. We anticipate the ratification vote to occur Wednesday, December 8 through Friday, December 10. Stay tuned! Bargaining Schedule The second bargaining session of the term will be held on Friday, Dec. 10 from 9am to noon. Join us! Zoom in for the webinar format session here. COVID Concerns We’ve created a Google Form to help document some of the issues faculty have faced during the transition back to…

United Academics knows that many of you are excited to be back to in-person, and will continue to advocate for members of our community who are concerned about returning to campus. If you have questions or concerns related to COVID-19, please do not hesitate to fill out the anonymous form found in this post or to contact us at covidquestions@uauoregon.org. Loading…

Greetings Colleagues, Today, November 19th, United Academics (UA) and representatives for the University of Oregon administration (UO) came back to the bargaining table. I’ll briefly update you all on what we’ve accomplished today, as well as sketch out the sub-committee meetings I spoke briefly about at our Fall General Membership Meeting. UO presented some changes to three articles. Article 9, Union Rights, establishes UA’s ability to meet with bargaining unit members. No major points of contention here, as we’re trying to hone in on the details that allow us access to our members and clarify how access protocols across areas of…

We’re Bargaining a New CBA! Fall Schedule: United Academics will be hitting the virtual bargaining table for two sessions this term. Our first session will be this week Friday, Nov. 19 from 9:30 to 11:30am. The second session of the term will be held on Friday, Dec. 10 from 9am to noon. Mark your calendars! Zoom in for both webinar format sessions here. UA’s Bargaining Team plans to present a counter on Internal Governance and new proposals on Fringe Benefits, Hiring Information, and Home Campus. Winter Schedule: Beginning January, we will meet twice a month, likely in person (with either very large room…

Hello UA members, I am the incoming United Academics Vice President for Diversity and Equity, and I am very excited to embark on projects and advocacy that can address political climate issues and structural inequities faculty face at the University of Oregon. I have been at the University of Oregon since 2000, and am a faculty member in the Department of Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies (IRES).  I am a trained sociologist, however my work is highly interdisciplinary. My first book examined the convergence of two Clinton era federal policies, welfare and immigration reform, and the immigrant mobilization that ensued…

Dear all, We’ve heard from quite a few of you with questions and concerns about how reopening policies are being applied in your units, especially when it comes to teaching. We’re hoping the following information helps as you navigate through the rest of the term, though, as always, we are more than happy to hear from you individually. We can help you assess your situation and advocate accordingly with our colleagues in HR and OtP. I know there’s a much more pressing and specific variation on these concerns, and that’s the childcare situation on campus literally imploding this week, as…

This message contains important information for those with underlying health conditions, or family members with underlying health conditions; please read through to the end. A working group of UA Executive Council members have been meeting weekly with Executive Vice Provost Janet Woodruff-Borden and Chief Human Resource Officer Mark Schmelz to work through ongoing workplace and safety issues as the majority of faculty, staff, and students return to in-person business. As you may recall, we supported the CSWS petition to allow caregivers of children 12 and under, who cannot yet receive the vaccine, the option to teach remotely. Central administration will not honor this…

As the summer has progressed, it has become obvious that our hopes for an end to the pandemic will need to be delayed for the foreseeable future. While we support many of the steps the administration has taken, we have received communications from many faculty over the past few weeks expressing concern about the plan to have an in-person “return-to-normal” fall reopening at our residential campus, considering that many states, including Oregon, are seeing some of their highest rates of COVID infection during the pandemic. We believe faculty are right to be concerned. Last week, Christina Karns, Lynn Fujiwara, Dave…

No major walkouts or other shenanigans. In other words, we actually got down to business. With a healthy budget to lean on, UAUO (myself and President Chris Sinclair) collaborated with the President’s office to make the final push for the Public University Support Fund (PUSF; $900m) and the Oregon Opportunity Grants (OOG; $200m), among other things (see below), and we got what we asked for. It took several sessions and a lot of conversations, but we finally got through the Part-Time Faculty Health Care bill. Senate Bill 551 guarantees faculty who teach part-time across multiple institutions will now be covered…

Dear Bargaining Unit Members, I am incredibly honored and humbled to be given the opportunity to serve as your President. I promise you I don’t take this lightly and will work my ass off to do what I can do. Besides, I still suffer from the “gotta work twice as hard and expect half as much” motto that I’ve known from too early. We’ve got a bargaining year, re-opening, and the business-as-usual challenges of equitable pay and attacks on academic freedom. Working conditions, especially for those tasked with caring for others, are not as accommodating as they need to be….

United Academics Strong Voice Award Nomination  We, the undersigned, are nominating our colleagues Elizabeth Peterson, Kate Thornhill, and Ann Shaffer for the United Academics Strong Voice Award. While many union members showed extraordinary leadership and advocacy this past year, we believe that our librarian colleagues responded to this crisis with fierce resilience and sustained support throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.  Like many career faculty across campus during the 2020 spring and summer terms, 15 librarians were at risk of being demoted to 0.1 FTE due to the administration’s perceived budget shortfalls. Additionally, five librarians who were up for promotion were put…

Unit-level Policymaking Workshop Join us Tuesday, May 25 for a themed Lunch with your Local: Unit-level Policymaking. We will discuss process and best practices for creating and revising unit-level policies, with plenty of time for Q&A. Zoom in from noon-1pm.   College for All AAUP Oregon will be hosting a meeting on May 20th from 4 pm – 5 pm PT to make concrete plans for legislative outreach, particularly to our Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden. We need as many faculty, staff, students, and community members taking part as possible to make sure our voices are heard loud and…

Dear Colleague, With the recent victory of the pay reduction plan being rescinded, and given that the financial outlook for state appropriations looks good (though still uncertain), the Executive Council of United Academics has agreed with the university to pause bargaining until this summer. At that point we’ll have a better idea of enrollment and know state appropriation numbers. It will also give us an opportunity to partner with the university in securing those financial resources from the state and recruiting a large, diverse student body. We hope this, in turn, will allow the administration more of a sense of…

One might imagine in a beautiful state like ours, with its consistent Democratic majority of legislators committed to the values many of us UA members share, that we might experience some smooth sailing in virtual Salem. Well, at least when it comes to Higher Ed equity and Labor. Unfortunately, as many people of color and other marginalized groups understand, “progressive Oregon” has a long way to go… But the fight continues… HB2873 / SB712 Also known as the “HECC Voting Rights” Bill, Higher Ed folks have been trying to amend the Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC) voting rights makeup by…

Dear Colleagues, We don’t have a proper bargaining update this week, as we have not bargained with the administration for a couple of weeks. We have a session scheduled for Tuesday, April 6 from 2 to 5 pm, and you’re all invited to watch any or all of that session here: Zoom In In the meantime, we wanted to let you know what is happening to our colleagues at the Oregon Institute of Technology in Klamath Falls. Almost two years ago now, the approximately 160 faculty at OIT formed a union and affiliated with the AAUP. For the last 15 months,…

We have elections for all officer and representative positions this year, with nominations due by April 26, 2021. All members in good standing* are eligible to serve as officers or representatives, as well as to nominate other members in good standing. Self-nominations are also permitted. If you’re interested in running, the current board members would be 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: All Executive Council and Representative Assembly positions are open! The Executive Council (EC) is the primary leadership body of United Academics with a focus on…

Over the next months, the UA bargaining team will be bringing you some contextual information about the major issues that we hope to address at the bargaining table. This installment is about issues that disproportionately affect women and caregivers in the workplace. Did you know…? That faculty at UO who are parents are often unable to avail themselves of childcare? Olum Center is so full that often there are long waiting lists. Moss Street prioritizes students. And, there is a dearth of childcare options in the city of Eugene. When parents do get a slot at Olum, they often have to…

On October 10, 2019, President Schill wrote to the campus community to commit himself to four principles: honesty, transparency, respect, and grace. Regarding transparency, he wrote, “Trust can only be built through transparency.” We don’t always find common cause with President Schill, but in this regard we could not have been more in agreement. Transparency was one of the founding principles of United Academics, and we have always tried to be as transparent as possible, including when we speak in your name at the bargaining table.Unfortunately, for the second straight bargaining session, the administration team has insisted that bargaining sessions…

Last week, Gabe Paquette, the new Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, introduced himself to the Senate and answered a few questions from the Senators. Several times over the course of his remarks, Vice Provost Paquette asserted that the Provost’s Office would be using the standards for promotion and tenure contained in the CBA when evaluating P&T files, such as a sustained record of scholarship. He particularly cited the CBA’s alleged requirement that candidates for promotion have a “sustained” record of scholarship. This is incorrect: the CBA provides guidelines for departments and units when they establish review criteria, not requirements for…

On Tuesday, our bargaining team met with the administration’s bargaining team to kick off a new round of bargaining. Although both parties are eager to bargain over the important provisions of the collective bargaining agreement, we must first establish the ground rules for negotiations.  Fortunately, the parties are on the same page on every issue except one. Where we differ is over who will have the ability to watch the bargaining sessions. Read the administration proposal here. Read our proposal here. The administration would like to keep the sessions open only to bargaining unit members. Their reasoning is that bargaining…

Bargaining UpdateWe are set to begin bargaining next Tuesday, February 9, from 3 to 5pm. Unfortunately, we have not yet agreed to ground rules with the administration. The main disagreement we are having with them regards who will be able to observe bargaining. The administration would like to limit the audience to bargaining unit members, administrators, and invited guests.Due to this ongoing disagreement, we do not feel comfortable widely sharing a link to the first session at this time. The bargaining team will be meeting this evening to discuss our best approach to resolve this issue. We hope you will…

***Note – Throughout the message below, we refer to Career faculty as either “instructional Career faculty” or “funding-contingent Career faculty.” We recognize that these terms do not precisely describe all of the Career faculty at UO. We have chosen to refer to faculty this way in the interest of trying to make a complicated subject a little clearer. “Instructional Career faculty” includes Librarians and all Career faculty who are not on funding-contingent contracts.  After months of negotiations, the University and United Academics have reached an agreement on the new system for employing Career faculty at the University of Oregon. Although…

While we remain entirely remote, from this week onward many of us will teach students from homes they share with parents, siblings, and others. This has always been true–many of our students share space with other people and need to attend Zoom classes from spaces that other people have access to–but it will be true for more students over the holiday week.  This is worth noting for a couple of reasons: many students will have increased connectivity and technology issues; some students may be quarantining due to travel; and some students may have roommates or family members in the room…