Get Involved with UA!

There are lots of ways to get involved with UA! Below are just a few ways that you could help UA to protect academic quality at UVM.


  • Join the Student Outreach Group. UVM is fortunate to have a student body that is committed to social justice at home and abroad. Many students are already committed to helping UA protect academic quality -- they realize it affects not only their faculty, but their academic experience! Contact the for more information about the ways UA is working to help student groups across the campus fight for the quality experience they want and deserve.

  • Become a Department Representative. Department Representatives are an important link between the UA Executive Council, Delegates Assembly, and our members. Check our Department Representatives list to see if your department has a representative. If you'd like to become a representative for your department, send an e-mail to the and we'll get you set up.

  • Support COPE (Committee on Political Education). Did you know that Vermont has the highest tuition and fees of any of the New England states, both for 2-year publics and 4-year publics and that Vermont's fiscal support for higher education (state monies alone) is the lowest of any of the New England states? Worse than that, Vermont continues to rank 50th among all states in terms of funding per full-time equivalent student! As a result of poor appropriations and increased reliance on tuition to fund operational costs, average Vermont student debt (class of 2009) is reported by the New England Board of Higher Education to exceed $27,000.

    So what are we doing about it? The United Professions AFT Vermont, the state federation for AFT bargaining units in Vermont, has established a COPE to provide a more effective voice in the Vermont legislature regarding issues affecting higher education in Vermont.  COPE is funded by voluntary contributions to political representatives who support our interests--such as better direct funding for our higher education institutions in Vermont, improved funding for student assistance, and an end to practices that take advantage of higher education. AFT Vermont COPE is also supporting the drive for health care reform in Vermont so that all Vermonters will have access to health care and to reduce pressures to bargain over health care.

    Without a strengthened voice in Montpelier, the interests of students and our faculty members are likely to receive low priority. By working together, more attention will be paid to our agenda. To support the cause, you can make a voluntary donation to COPE. Click here for a contribution form.

    The United Professions AFT Vermont represents some 3,000 members in Vermont, including full-time and part-time faculty at UVM and the Vermont State Colleges, professional and supervisory employees at the State Colleges, Registered Nurses at Fletcher Allen Hospital and Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, and the teachers and staff at Mill River High School.

Last updated September 29, 2011