Headline

Survey Results re: CAS breakup

The most interesting results of our recent survey on the process and prospect of breaking CAS into smaller schools came from the narrative comments. We have scheduled a meeting with President Schill to share both the concerns and hopes of our members regarding this potential, major re-organization of the university. We report on the major themes that arose in the narrative comments and the aggregated unit data of the responders. Concerns Less support for/value of Humanities and undervalued departments 35 Less collaboration/integration 28 More centralized admin/resources, less faculty voice 27 Moves away from traditional university/Liberal Arts structure and mission 16…


Vote No on 105

I am voting NO vote on Measure 105 in support of the health and safety of my community 105 is a divisive anti-immigrant measure that local law enforcement veterans say would keep them from effectively doing their job to ensure public safety. The measure would repeal the bipartisan sanctuary state law that we passed in 1987 forbidding the use of state resources to do the work of federal immigration authorities. In the years leading up to the passage of the 1987 law, racial profiling of Oregon residents was known to be commonplace throughout the state, resulting in a profound lack…


Vote No on Measure 106

If you believe that all Oregonians should have equal access to the full range of reproductive health care, vote No on Measure 106. Measure 106 limits access to safe and affordable abortions. One of the arguments being used to justify this measure is economic, but even though limiting women’s access to affordable abortions will not save the insurance system money, it might easily push some vulnerable families into poverty. The measure is regressive and punitive in that those families with the fewest financial resources will be the most affected. Moreover, by placing limits on publicly-funded insurance, including plans offered by…


A Sour Note

While there is great anticipation for the coming academic year, there is also one sour note. Over the summer, the Office of the Provost ruled that faculty can be transferred within the institution at any time, for any reason. Essentially, you can be sent to work in Eugene, Portland, Charleston, or any other place the administration can call a university location. You can, of course, also be transferred back or somewhere else. The Provost’s Office believes that you have no right or say in where you work. This is especially frustrating because all the faculty spent countless hours over the…


General Membership Meetings

United Academics will be bargaining out next Collective Bargaining Agreement in the 2019 academics year. We will be using the 2018-19 academic year to formulate bargaining planks. General Membership Meetings are a great opportunity to meet with other faculty and talk about what is and is not working at the University of Oregon, and to help inform bargaining conversations. 2018-19 General Membership Meeting Dates Thursday, September 27, 2018, from 5-7 in Gerlinger Lounge Thursday, January 10, 2019 Thursday, April 4, 2019


The Janus decision and United Academics

Earlier this morning, the Supreme Court ruled on the Janus v. AFSCME case, deciding that public employee unions cannot collect “fair share” fees from people who have not joined the union as full members. These fees have, historically, been considered both constitutional and necessary to avoid the problem of “free-riding” by people who receive the benefits of the collective bargaining agreement, but do not voluntarily contribute to the costs of bargaining and maintaining the contract. As of today, public employees who have not signed union cards will still be represented by their union, but will not contribute to keeping their union stable…


English Department Formally Asks Provost’s Office to Improve Working Conditions for Career Faculty

On June 11 the English Department presented Provost Jayanth Banavar and Exec. Vice Provost Scott Pratt a comprehensive proposal for improved salary and working conditions for the career faculty in the Composition Program. This presentation arose after English devoted their entire April department meeting to deliver the same requests to the three Deans of the College of Arts & Sciences (Tykeson Dean of Arts and Sciences Andrew Marcus, Divisional Dean of Humanities Karen Ford, and Dean of Faculty Operations Bruce Blonigen). In both meetings, TTF and Career Faculty spoke together to address longstanding problems concerning salary, course load, contracts, and…


Budget Cuts, Reorganization, and Frustration in COE

The College of Education (COE) has recently been presented with relatively significant budget cut targets by the Provost’s office.  The COE faculty are eager to find ways to maintain the excellence of our programs while also achieving the prescribed fiscal goals.  Unfortunately, we are not being given the information that would make such collaborative problem solving possible.  Frustration levels are high. In response to this situation, UA stewards in COE recently hosted a meeting of college faculty with UA Executive Director David Cecil.  25 faculty attended, and 28 others sent regrets along with lists of their concerns.  The concerns expressed…


Save the Date for Healthcare: January 23rd!

This year, a broad coalition of Oregon Democrats, Republicans, health care advocates and providers, and healthcare companies passed a landmark Medicaid funding package. Unfortunately, some want to turn back this progress and have gathered signatures to repeal this critical funding. Currently, 95% of Oregonians, including all children, have health coverage. Voting Yes on Measure 101 protects healthcare for 350,000 Oregonians who rely on the Oregon Health Plan for their insurance, including 66,000 children. Measure 101 stipulates that hospitals, insurance companies, and other healthcare providers pay a small, temporary assessment which is then matched by the Federal government. This crucial funding…


The Chickens Are Roosting, Do YOU Know Where Your 403(b) Is?

Since the first day faculty began organizing United Academics, one of the requests our postdoctoral faculty had was for the union to fix the “PERS problem.” Postdocs and PIs were paying into PERS accounts, but since most postdocs were not state employees for more than 5 years, few were ever vesting in their accounts. The money paid in was remaining in the PERS system, but never benefitted the faculty for whom it was paid. It was also difficult for PIs to compete for grants because they had to include retirement payments into their cost calculations when applying for grants. Scientists…