04 Jun Cautious Optimism as NTT Faculty Report Reappointments
- Update on Reappointments: UICUF is cautiously optimistic that our members’ efforts calling attention to UIC’s reappointment practices have had the desired effect, as the vast majority of faculty reporting say they are being reappointed for the fall term.
- Reappointment Survey: We are continuing to survey NTT faculty to confirm UIC honored the contract requirement to notify faculty of reappointment status on June 1st, and to give faculty an opportunity to report issues: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/9BBD7DJ
- Petition to Include B2F In Our Unit: Faculty may have received notices like this one. UICUF has been working with Bridge-to-Faculty scholars, who wish to be included in our NTT bargaining unit. This notice indicates the Labor Board is now considering the case.
Dear Members,
In case you missed it, we’ve received some press attention over the last few weeks around reappointment issues, including articles in the Chicago Sun Times, and mentions via local radio programs. This coverage comes in response to our ongoing campaign shining a spotlight on opaque reappointment practices for full-time NTT faculty at UIC, in which we’ve demanded more equitable and timely renewal practices.
With the June 1st renewal notice deadline now past, we have been surveying NTT faculty to ensure that they received notices, and to let them report any issues. That survey is currently active and we highly encourage all NTT faculty to take a couple of minutes and complete it. All responses are completely confidential.
Cautiously Optimistic on NTT Reappointments
At this time, we have seen responses from about a quarter of all NTT faculty, and are cautiously optimistic in saying that our members’ work on reappointment issues is having the desired effect. Virtually all NTT faculty responding to our survey received timely notice on their reappointment, and the vast majority were told they will be renewed for the fall term.
We will, of course, continue to work with those who report issues or concerns about the renewal process, and we will publish a more thorough analysis of the survey results after it closes at the end of next week.
Unit Clarification Petition
Some of our members, particularly those in the Non-Tenure Track bargaining unit, may have received notices from the Illinois Education Labor Relations Board in the past week. These notices indicate that we have petitioned on behalf of the UIC Bridge-to-Faculty scholars to have them join our bargaining unit, and that the IELRB is considering that petition. UIC admin has challenged the inclusion of the B2F scholars in our bargaining unit.
We have been working with these B2F scholars for about a year now, after a near-unanimous majority signaled a desire for union membership and representation. Bridge-to-Faculty is a program intended to create a pipeline for diverse scholars to join UIC’s tenure-track ranks. They are currently considered by the university to be non-faculty positions, with the university arguing that they are “trainees,” supposedly not qualified to hold faculty appointments. The individuals in the current cohort, however, all hold terminal degrees, and were hired through the same rigorous, competitive process as other full-time faculty. Moreover, they are doing work at UIC equivalent to the work done by other full-time faculty members–teaching and conducting research–which is a crucial factor in determining whether they should be in our bargaining unit.
We are confident that the petition will be accepted by the IELRB, considering the expressed desire of these individuals to be included in our bargaining unit, and we look forward to welcoming them to our union in the near future!
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