Ending the year, and preparing for the next

Dear Colleagues,

As the end of the academic year wraps up, I hope that everyone is able to look forward to the summer ahead—whatever it might hold for you. While some of us will be off-contract, many UA members are still on campus and we want you to know that UA staff and leaders will be active as well.

We will be monitoring the activities of the UO administration over the summer, and are prepared to respond to any layoffs as needed. If you receive a layoff notice, please reach out immediately.

We are also preparing for the upcoming academic year and the activities that will occur with the UO Senate's new Academic Modification Advisory Committee activation (see timeline below), as well as our own upcoming bargaining cycle.

If you are interested in getting involved in your union over the summer, please let us know! Our committee that reviews the UO budget (affectionately known as UCUB) will be meeting several times to issue our own report and recommendations to address the current budget situation in a sustainable, worker-centered manner. Our Politics Committee and Communications & Contract Action Team will also occasionally meet over the summer.

Your engagement is most welcome if you want to plug in with your colleagues at the union hall (or via zoom) over the summer. But, of course, if you are able to spend the summer relaxing or working on those backburner projects, know that we are still here for you. Reach out to me via mills@uauoregon.org, or one of the UA staff through info@uauoregon.org.

In solidarity,
Kate Celis Mills

Academic Modification Advisory Committee (AMAC)

The University Senate passed legislation enshrining a process by which faculty can "provide meaningful advice and input to the President specifically related to significant academic changes." President Scholz has activated the process due to the crisis precipitated by the administration's poor financial and enrollment management.

The University Senate and the administration have agreed to the following schedule for AMAC activities.

First AMAC report on Oct. 27, with President Scholz presenting his plan at the UO Senate on Oct. 28
AMAC final report from public comment due on Nov. 30
AMAC presentation of that report at the Dec. 2 UO Senate meeting.
President Scholz will issue a written response by Dec. 7

A Year in Contract Enforcement

During the 2025-2026 academic year, our Grievances and Contract Administration Committee (GCAC) vigorously enforced the CBA on behalf of our members. Following are a few highlights of GCAC’s work.

Grievance Regarding Proposed Program Eliminations and Reductions

Toward the end of the 2024-2025 academic year, UO President Karl Scholz told faculty that UO was “facing a $25-30 structural deficit in our Education and General (E&G) budget” and that the administration would be making budget cuts as a result. In August 2025, UA received confirmation from Provost Chris Long that the administration intended to invoke Article 25 of the CBA to eliminate or reduce academic programs as part of these cuts. UA promptly filed a grievance pointing out that Article 25 does not permit the administration to eliminate or reduce academic programs based on financial exigencies, “structural deficits,” or institution-wide financial challenges generally, regardless of the phrasing the administration adopts to characterize such challenges. Rather, Article 25 requires individualized assessments of programs and legitimate “financial reasons” to close or shrink them based on issues with the programs themselves, rather than generalized financial pressures faced by the institution. Ultimately, the administration (wisely) abandoned its plan to cut academic programs before UA received a ruling on its grievance.

Unfair Labor Practices Complaint Over Layoffs in CAS

On June 18, 2025, the Office of the Provost issued layoff notices to 11 Career faculty members in the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS). The administration premised these layoffs on Article 16.12.b. of the CBA, which states that a Career faculty member may be laid off if there are “inadequate resources within the unit or department to continue funding” their position. UA sought to challenge the layoffs in a collective arbitration on behalf of all 11 faculty, believing that it was essential to bring a collective arbitration—as opposed to 11 different individual arbitrations—because the university issued all 11 notices as part of a single layoff decision (i.e., a single “round” of layoffs).

Unfortunately, citing spurious “confidentiality” concerns, the administration refused to reveal to UA the identities of all the laid-off faculty, which effectively precluded UA from pursuing collective arbitration. Not only was UA blocked from representing the five faculty members whose identities remained unknown to us, UA also could not effectively represent the six faculty members who contacted the union directly because the administration’s determination that their particular departments were “inadequately resourced” was based on a relative comparison of their departments’ resources to other departments in CAS. Thus, UA needed to know the identities and departments of the other five faculty members to assess and contest the administration’s comparative “inadequate resources” determinations.

The administration’s intransigence prevented UA from pursuing arbitration under the CBA, but UA did not take it lying down. On September 16, 2025, we filed an unfair labor practices (ULP) complaint with the Oregon Employment Relations Board (ERB). In that complaint, UA requests: (a) an order requiring the university to provide UA with the names of laid-off employees when UA requests that information; and (b) rescission of the layoff notices issued to all 11 CAS faculty on June 18, 2025, since the university’s conduct precluded UA from vindicating their contract rights. The hearing on the ULP was held over two days in December, and the parties submitted their final briefs in January. We expect a recommended order from the administration law judge (ALJ) who heard the case soon, likely this summer. If the ALJ’s recommended order favors UA, the university will almost certainly appeal it with ERB. This would draw the process out even longer, but we will be ready to respond in the event of an appeal.

Victory in the Libraries Arbitration

On September 10, 2025, the Office of the Provost issued layoff notices to three Career Librarians. As with the CAS layoffs discussed above, the administration premised these layoffs on Article 16.12.b. of the CBA, which states that a Career faculty member may be laid off if there are “inadequate resources within the unit or department to continue funding” their position (the “unit,” in this case, being the entire administrative unit of the UO Libraries). Two of the librarians elected to challenge their layoffs via arbitration. UA represented them in a hearing held on January 8 and 9, 2026 and was victorious. The arbitrator held that the administration violated the seniority language of the CBA when it selected these two librarians for arbitration, and ordered their layoffs rescinded.

Settlements in Two Additional Cases

In addition to the above cases, UA filed for arbitration for two other faculty members who received layoff notices this academic year. Ultimately, UA and the university reached a settlement in these cases: the first after UA presented its case at arbitration; the second about a month in advance of the scheduled arbitration. Where settlements are concerned, UA generally cannot share many details. However, we can share that the first faculty member’s layoff notice was rescinded pursuant to the settlement, and the second faculty member’s notice period was extended for nine months.

Politics Committee Update

This year, the Politics Committee has been hard at work lobbying in Salem, overseeing UA’s endorsement process, tracking the HECC’s Oregon Postsecondary Education System Study, working to understand and influence UO’s Board of Trustees, speaking out at campus and community events, and organizing to protect our immigrant and international community. A lot of this work comes down to building relationships: with local and state officials, with trustees, with other higher ed unions, and with campus and community leaders. There is lots of work to do, so if you have energy to spare and an interest in political action, please email info@uauoregon.org and ask to be added to the Politics Committee email list. In addition to the primary committee, there is also an Immigration and International Issues subcommittee and a Research subcommittee.

Near the end of spring term, we received a request for public endorsement of the Eugene Clean Energy Fund (eugenecleanenergyfund.org) ballot initiative. Because UA had so far only endorsed candidates for political office, this request prompted a discussion of how to handle more general requests to endorse political campaigns and movements such as this. After consultation with UA stewards and reps, we landed on the following policy:

The Executive Council will consider endorsing political campaigns that have direct bearing on education at any level, K through PhD. Before taking a position on the campaign, however, the EC will put the matter before the UA reps and stewards for their consideration and recommendation.
The Executive Council will also consider campaigns not directly related to education that have been brought to us for our endorsement. In that case, the EC will put the question before the active UA membership for their consideration and recommendation.

With that in mind, we have a question for all of you: should United Academics endorse the Eugene Clean Energy Fund? You can learn more about the Eugene Clean Energy Fund here. You can also see the list of the Eugene Clean Energy Fund’s institutional endorsements here. If you have an opinion on the matter, pro or con, please send it to info@uauoregon.org.

Separately, we continue to follow the Board of Trustees meetings closely, build relationships with trustees, and engage in sustained communication with trustees during their office hours or via email. At the most recent meeting we were pleased to see trustees engage in a healthy discussion about a proposal brought by student activists who have long pushed to electrify the campus's heating system. The students proposed to earmark ~$16M of student building fee funds for future use in financing an electric boiler system to replace the campus’s current methane gas system. Although most (but not all) trustees voted against the students’ proposal, they committed to meeting again this June or July to vote on a revised proposal. If you are also supportive of the boiler proposal, or just generally want to encourage this kind of open discussion, please consider emailing the Board to express your views.

Bargaining Update

It seems like just yesterday that we were marching on Johnson Hall in the run-up to what was nearly the first faculty strike in the history of the University of Oregon, but in reality, we are now in the last year of our current contract. Over the last few months, we have slowly assembled a bargaining team for negotiations that will begin in January or February of 2027.

Nathan Whalen will be returning to the table as Lead Negotiator and has convinced a few members from last round to join him once again, including Heather Wolford (Organizing Director for UA), Josh Razink (Transmission Electron Microscopy Facility Director), Dan Howard (LCB), and Maram Epstein (EALL/CAS). We have also recruited new members who will bring fresh energy and ideas to the team, and we want to thank them in advance for what will undoubtedly be a transformative experience (for better or worse). The newest members of UA's bargaining team are Ben Young (Mathematics/CAS), Lydia Van Dreel (CHC and SOMD), Avinnash Tiwari (ENG/CAS) and Dylan Bragg (COE). They bring a wealth of experience and knowledge and have the requisite patience that bargaining demands. We are excited for them joining the team.

Speaking about the imminent return to bargaining, remember to do your bargaining survey. The survey will remain open until 5pm on Monday, June 15. Please reach out to info@uauoregon.org if you did not receive the email with your link (sent on April 20).

CAT Update

The Communications Action Team will convert back to the Contract Action Team to support bargaining next year. The CAT is integral to communicating information about bargaining and activating members and the general public to fight for higher education in Oregon.

This is real work, but it's fun, and we need your help. Please consider joining CAT for what looks to be a tough bargaining cycle.

We will be meeting occasionally over the summer (check your email!) to develop campaigns to support bargaining and protect the academic mission of the university as years of financial mismanagement come home to roost.

Contact info@uauoregon.org if you want to join the CAT!