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| UO Faculty during May 7 rally (From Left): Debra Merskin, Journalism and Communications; Alexandre Albert-Galtier, Romance Languages; and Karen McPherson, Romance Languages. Click here for photos from the rally. |
Community leaders, students and supporters of United Academics, University of Oregon (UO), rallied on May 7 to call for university administrators to act on their claim that faculty are “top priority” for the university. The crowd of some 50 people chanted "Contract This Term!" and cheered as bargaining team members advocated for University representatives to work with Faculty to reach tentative agreement on a first contract by the end of Spring Term.
"Thank you for being here today," Yvonne Braun, Professor of Women and Gender Studies and UA negotiations team member, told the crowd. "It's important that the administration see that ALL faculty, staff and students support these negotiations. And with your support, there's no reason why we can't have a contract by the end of this term."
Throughout contract negotiations, the Administration’s representatives have repeatedly asserted that faculty are a “top priority” at UO. However, despite the fact that UO currently has a surplus of $110-million, average faculty salaries are 7-19% below comparator universities across the nation.
“The University of Oregon is paying subpar salaries to both Non-Tenure Track and Tenure Track faculty. This makes it difficult for us to recruit and retain top quality faculty,” explains negotiating team member Deborah Olson, Instructor of Special Education.
UA’s bargaining team has been negotiating with the UO Administration for a first contract since November 2012. The union represents tenure track faculty, non-tenure track faculty, adjunct faculty, research assistants, and postdoctoral researchers at the University of Oregon.
“The Administration’s proposals do not reflect a commitment to high quality research and instruction at the University of Oregon,” according to Scott Pratt, Professor of Philosophy, member of the UA bargaining team, and former Department Head and Associate Dean for Humanities.
Faculty representatives from the United Academics Organizing Committee have called on the Administration’s negotiating team and the Gottfredson administration to add additional days to the bargaining calendar (currently only 8 hours every other week) in order to wrap up negotiations by the end of the 2012-2013 Academic Year. To date, the administration has declined to do so.