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An urgent request from our friends at the Center for the Study of Women in Society. Our union leadership is talking about the best way to address these crucial issues. Dear Colleagues: We are writing with an urgent request to university leadership, the United Academics, and the UO Senate, deans, and department heads. COVID-19 has uncovered many aspects of our institutional practice that have historically rendered certain labor invisible and left others more vulnerable. Historically, the ivory tower was designed for monastic, solitary contemplation wherein great thoughts were debated and passed down to a few selected students who were fortunate…

Dear Colleague, The murder of George Floyd and the police brutality against those who protest the systems that caused his death are just the latest episodes in the history of American violence against Black people. It must end. We do not know what an America not based on white supremacy looks like, as it has never previously existed, but we do know that all of our institutions will be impacted. Our demands are the first steps in dismantling white supremacy in our university and our union. All who are committed to ending our systems of oppression must act quickly, before…

Dear Colleague, We are writing to encourage you to participate in an anonymous 15-minute survey to gather opinions about the university’s plans to open for in-person, on-campus instruction in fall term. Currently, no one has a good idea of the range of views that exist on campus, and that puts us all in a weaker position in identifying concerns across different groups of people. Collecting this information will allow us to prepare to address the range of opinions and concerns people have and better advocate for safe fall plans. We hope that you will consider joining us in this important…

Professor Kim Sheehan and Professor Deborah Morrison shared their thoughts regarding the current state of Career faculty at the University of Oregon. The text of the letter can be found below and the original PDF here. UA welcomes faculty input, like Dr. Morrison and Dr. Sheehan have provided here, and there are many ways to be involved as we work with the administration in faculty and student best interests. Bargaining around this issue and other topics will be discussed at the United Academics June 8, 2020 Town Hall. Additional details and an opportunity to submit questions will be forthcoming. June…

When United Academics was first formed eight years ago, both the administration and United Academics agreed that Career faculty were valuable members of the campus community. We agreed that our research mission would be nothing without them, and that their teaching forms the backbone of our educational mission. Both parties easily agreed that Career faculty should be able to earn long-term contracts that provided them certainty and stability. Both agreed that if these excellent faculty were willing to commit themselves to the university, the university should commit to them in return. While Career faculty have gone to extraordinary lengths to…

Unbalanced FTE ExplainedAt UO, we typically talk about a faculty member’s FTE in two different ways – FTE per term and annual FTE. For most faculty, these are the same. A faculty member on an annual 1.0 FTE contract will have a 1.0 FTE in each term. Some faculty, however, have less than 1.0 FTE, and this can lead to them working an “unbalanced” schedule, where their term FTE does not match their annual FTE.The most common unbalanced schedule is a faculty member who teaches only in one term. If that faculty member were to teach three classes in CAS…

We have heard from many faculty over the last few weeks who are incredulous at the announcement that the administration wants to open campus in the fall and have in-person teaching. Many, of course, fear for their safety. Some wonder how they will take care of their children if daycares or schools are still closed. Some think the announcement is obviously a ploy, and no one should believe that we’ll actually be on campus. Others see the necessity of opening because we need the money, but also think it can’t possibly work. No one contacting us, though, seems to believe…

The UO Libraries are one of several areas on campus facing significant loss of Career faculty FTE in the coming year. Of the 42 faculty librarians, 15 have been renewed at only .55 FTE for the coming year, and 5 more face half-time contracts because promotions would put them on a new contract cycle. This FTE reduction would cut the UO librarian workforce by roughly 25%.Many library units are already short-staffed after several years of budget cuts. These additional cuts would inevitably lead to a significant reduction in or loss of many library services and professional expertise, which will have…

Dear Colleague, Yesterday, we issued two “demands to bargain” to the administration. A demand to bargain is a process provided for in Oregon state law when a public employer is planning to implement a material change to working conditions when there is a collective bargaining agreement in place. In that case, the union can “demand” that the employer engage in collective bargaining over the proposed changes and their impacts on working conditions. On the advice of our attorney, we issued these demands because the administration has not responded positively to our requests that union representatives be included in the planning…

Dear Colleague, We are pleased to inform you that the membership has ratified the agreement to end bargaining by a vote of 633 to 14. The leadership of UA appreciates how active and engaged you all have been the last few weeks. We are also very aware that important work remains to be done, first and foremost pushing the administration to renew the 12-month career faculty at their current FTE or restoring their FTE as soon as possible. Our 12-month colleagues have contracts that renew on July 1 and there is no way the university can function without their full…