United Academics AAUP/AFT - About UA

About United Academics

On this page you'll learn What Is United Academics, What Is United Academics Working for at UVM, Who Is Eligible to Join United Academics, How Does United Academics Work and How Can I Get Involved, at United Academics Stands For, and our Organizational Affiliates.

What is United Academics?

United Academics – AFT/AAUP is led by faculty for faculty at the University of Vermont. In April 2001, a majority of the full-time UVM faculty voted to organize into a collective bargaining unit named United Academics, giving us a legal basis for defending faculty rights, strengthening faculty voice in governance and fiscal policy, and negotiating competitive salaries, benefits, and workloads so UVM can attract and retain the very best scholars and teachers for its students and for Vermont. In December, 2003 the part-time faculty at UVM joined their colleagues by electing United Academics by an unusually high percentage. Click here to view our Charter.

United Academics is associated at the state level with United Professions of Vermont and nationally with American Federation of Teachers and the American Association of University Professors. Other universities whose faculty are affiliated with the AFT and the AAUP include the State University of New York, City University of New York, and the University of Alaska. Through our state and national affiliates, we are able to lobby for our issues in the state legislature and join with other faculty unions to make sure that the voices of university scholars and teachers are heard in Congress and that such rights as academic freedom continue to be defended and protected.

What Is United Academics Working for at UVM?

• Maintain quality of education and research through protecting full-time positions, securing working conditions that make excellent teaching and scholarship possible, and pushing for higher salaries and better benefits so that UVM can continue to compete with peer institutions in attracting and retaining excellent faculty. View UVM Salary Data
• Strengthen faculty voice and defend faculty rights through protecting academic programs from administrative restructuring plans that don't consider the goal of academic excellence; regaining control of "strategic change" and program assessment; maintaining the purview of the faculty senate over matters of curriculum and faculty standards; and halting any arbitrary unilateral administration decisions that would increase workloads and class sizes, decrease the number of full-time faculty, and otherwise threaten the quality of education and research at UVM.
• Fortify the university's financial standing through studying and disseminating among faculty the university’s fiscal policies and expenditures and negotiating through collective bargaining to ensure that appropriate monies are being allocated to teaching and research.
• Foster mutually beneficial relationships in Montpelier through lobbying and education to promote a better understanding among state leaders and citizens of UVM’s contributions to Vermont and garner support for increases in state funding.

Who Is Eligible to Join United Academics?

Currently, all faculty members with an FTE of.75 and above, excluding the medical school and department chairs, are in the full-time bargaining unit and are eligible to join United Academics. Part-time lecturers who have taught at least three credits per semester are included in the part-time bargaining unit at the beginning of their third semester and are eligible to join United Academics. All other part-time faculty who are on 9, 10, or 12-month contracts are also included in the part-time unit and are eligible to join United Academics.

United Academics works for all eligible full-time and part-time faculty, and even those who choose not to join our union are covered by and benefit from our collective bargaining agreements with the UVM Board of Trustees. By joining United Academics, however, you have the opportunity to help shape United Academics, working with other UVM faculty to determine our policies and priorities. Click here to learn how easy it is to join United Academics.

A majority of UVM faculty have joined the union. The stronger the membership, the stronger our contracts will be.

How Does United Academics Work and How Can I Get Involved?

There are lots of ways to get involved with UA. Click here to go to our Get Involved! page that lists the ways you can get involved in current and ongoing UA projects.

The members of United Academics have worked since April 2001 to create an organization that invites members’ participation and represents UVM’s schools, colleges, and programs at all levels.

Executive Council. At the center of United Academics is the Executive Council, whose members are elected every two years and who have primary responsibility for such key decisions as appointing a negotiating team to represent UVM faculty in the collective bargaining process.

Contract Administration Committee. When possible, the Contract Administration Committee works with administration counterparts to address problems in contract implementation, to avoid situations that might need to be resolved through the grievance process. Many such situations have to date been satisfactorily resolved. However, when it becomes necessary to file a grievance to ensure that collective bargaining agreements are fairly and accurately implemented, the committee will represent and advise faculty throughout the grievance process.

Delegates Assembly. The major decisions of the executive council are reviewed and ratified by the Delegates Assembly whose members are elected from and represent the academic units (such as arts and sciences, libraries, and nursing) that make up United Academics. The delegates assembly also works with the negotiating team to ensure that faculty interests and concerns from the different academic units are well represented in collective bargaining.

Department Representatives. The Executive Council and Delegates Assembly can serve members’ interests and address members’ concerns only if strong lines of communication are created to all faculty on and off campus. The Department Representatives serve to promote strong and steady communication between faculty and the delegates assembly and executive council.

Members of United Academics in each department (including the libraries and extension) choose one or more department representatives each year. The department representatives make sure that the executive council, delegates assembly, and/or the grievance officer hears about ideas and concerns from their departments. The department representatives also make sure that members of their department gets news of what UA is working on now and also of important chapter meetings. If you want information on how to join United Academics, have issues and ideas for the executive council or negotiating team, or have a question about working conditions or a possible grievance, your department representative is there to assist you.

Standing and Ad-hoc Committees. United Academics has standing and ad-hoc committees, working in such key areas as communications, legislative issues, nontenure-track faculty concerns, public campaigns, health care issues, and civil rights. Click here for a more detailed look at the Committes. All members of United Academics are eligible – and needed! – for committee membership. To get involved, please contact United Academics at 658-3113 or email us at .

To learn more about how United Academics works for UVM faculty, see our constitution and the latest UA news.

Last updated February 23, 2008