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Updates from your faculty union͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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Dear faculty, Our part-time faculty declared a state of impasse Thursday in our contract negotiations. We have been bargaining for nine months. Part-time faculty at UVM are currently working under the terms of a contract that was set to expire in June 2021, and nearly 18 months later, they are still operating in a state of uncertainty based on pre-pandemic working conditions with unprecedented inflation and cost of living increases. Please see our announcement here. Now is the time for solidarity from full-time faculty, students, staff, and the broader community. Below you will find ways to support part-time faculty colleagues, including signing a petition asking the administration to settle a fair contract now. Stay tuned for additional calls to action. Please also mark your calendar for upcoming UA events. Finally - you are likely aware of the federal investigation into antisemitism on the UVM campus, and of this administration's response to the investigation. Please read the statement below issued by UA’s Executive Council last week, and this commentary by our colleague and UA member Felicia Kornbluh. In solidarity,
Ellie and Katlyn
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Ellie Miller, President | Katlyn Morris, Executive Director
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United Academics Condemns Antisemitism in All Its Forms
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Issued by the UA Executive Council, Oct. 6 United Academics is UVM’s faculty union, and as such has a mandate to defend and protect the working environment of faculty. When our contract does not give us the tools via grievances to resist what we are being told is a hostile climate, we also have a responsibility to speak truth to power and stand in solidarity with our colleagues. To this end, United Academics (UA) shares former UA President Felicia Kornbluh’s reaction to UVM President Suresh Garimella’s response to the federal investigation into complaints that UVM did not respond adequately to allegations of antisemitism raised by students. Rather than welcome an investigation that might improve the climate at UVM with the humility necessary to benefit from such an investigation, UVM’s President sought to dismiss it as an unfounded and unnecessary annoyance and to thus gaslight the complainants. We see this as a reprehensible response. What is particularly important to our union at this point of controversy about UVM’s response to allegations of antisemitism brought by members of its student body is for us to not just condemn antisemitism in all its forms, which we resoundingly do, but also to state clearly that we believe our students when they tell us that they are experiencing specific incidents of antisemitism and a generally hostile environment that is related to their status as Jewish people. As the faculty union, however, it is equally important for us to say that the climate for students is not separate from the climate for faculty, which UVM has not adequately investigated. We believe faculty when they also report being subjected to incidents of antisemitism as well as a lack of respect for, and recognition of, their religious obligations and observances. We believe them when they express fearfulness about calling attention to bureaucratic practices that make them feel like outsiders. We believe them when they say they are demoralized and drained as a result of being uniquely called upon to support and witness for Jewish students who seek them out as sources of wisdom, experience, advice, affirmation, and comfort. We believe that UVM can do better, as a university that in many ways led the way in its support of scholarship about the treatment of Jews during the Holocaust through its support of the work of the late Raul Hilberg and the work of others on this campus who have followed in his footsteps. We call upon UVM leadership to develop a plan of action that will ensure that it does just that. Our faculty union offers its membership as partners in such an effort; it is consistent with UA’s history and values, and it is right and just.
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Non-tenure track Faculty Caucus: Saturday, Oct. 22, 9-11:30am. John Dewey Lounge. All NTT faculty who are UA members are invited, including Clinical faculty, Extension faculty, Lecturers and Senior Lecturers, Library faculty, and Research faculty. Fall Members Meeting: Tuesday, Nov. 15, 3:30-5:30pm (likely to be remote- stay tuned) Final scheduled Part-Time faculty contract bargaining session: Oct. 14, 1-4pm. Zoom: register in advance here All UA members are encouraged to join as observers to show the administration our collective strength. Our bargaining team has been negotiating since late January for reasonable raises and benefits for part-time faculty. October Delegates Assembly meeting: Friday October 7, 1:30-3pm. Hybrid, John Dewey Lounge with remote option available. All UA members are welcome to join, and Delegates and Reps are especially encouraged to attend.
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Update: Part-time bargaining
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Our bargaining team has been negotiating since January for reasonable raises and benefits for part-time faculty. Right now, part-time faculty have NO parental leave, NO health care, and NO retirement benefits. United Academics is collecting signatures and statements in support of a fair contract for part-time faculty. At our week-long tabling in Waterman and at last weekend’s Communityfest, many students signed and spoke in support of their Lecturers. Actions:
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UA official emails: UA will periodically email members with updates, contract information, reports and announcements. These come from communication@unitedacademics.org or a committee lead on UA letterhead and are sent to members' UVM addresses. Newsletter: We typically send a digital newsletter to members once a month during the academic year. UVM spam filters are finely tuned, so we advise greenlighting emails from info@unitedacademics.org in your email client. Member Chat: UA houses a closed listserv for our members called UA Member Chat. This is an unofficial communication space available to members to share announcements, questions for other members, and discussions. Participants are encouraged to use a non-UVM email address for the Member Chat. To participate, sign up here. To post, you'll need to use the same email address you used to sign up. Note: If you'd like to receive fewer individual Chat emails, you can select 'Digest' in Google groups. Social media: UA is on Facebook @VermontUnitedAcademics and Twitter @UAunion. Please follow, share, and tag.
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Contract tip of the month
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Article 21- Professional Development Funds As a result of our negotiations, this year’s PDF allocation increased to $1850 per full time faculty member. Part time faculty members also have access to a pool of PDF money ($20,000 total) and should use it! If you or your colleagues encounter any trouble accessing your PDFs, including as a result of UVM’s travel policy, let us know right away. Please contact your UA Delegate or Rep or our Contract Administration Committee with any questions or problems.
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