Know Your Contract

14 Jul UICUF Contract Negotiation: Bargaining Update

• UICUF Bargaining team met with UIC admin for 6th session: No articles were TA’d, but important needs were discussed, and both sides agreed to bring in experts to discuss the finer points of ongoing issues.
• Get to know your contract: Article XII of our contract discusses processes related to faculty discipline.
• Honoring Janet Smith’s Legacy: Consider contributing to the Janet Lynn Smith Practitioner in Residence fund today, Thursday, July 14th. 

Contract Bargaining continues

The UICUF bargaining team met via Zoom with the administration bargaining team for a sixth session on Monday. In this session, conversation focused on UICUF’s counter proposal on Article IV. Non-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment, and administration’s counter proposals on three articles, Article X. Academic Freedom; Article XIV. Physical Conditions; Article XVII. Access to Personnel File. At stake in these conversations is the bargaining team’s belief that current university policies need to be made known, transparent, and accountable. In recent history, although university policies and processes exist in cases of harassment, academic freedom, and personal files, they have not always been adhered to; in some cases, policies concerning documentation of complaints and investigations have remained opaque or unknown. Our goals in Articles IV, X, and XVII all focus on making current university policies transparent and accountable. 

The next bargaining session will be held on July 25th at 10am via Zoom. Members are encouraged to come and observe the session, although we ask that only members of the bargaining team talk during the main session with the administration team–members opinions are very important to us, however, during caucus! Please contact the UICUF staff at UICUnitedfaculty@gmail.com to receive the invitation link.

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Get To Know Your Contract

UIC UF Faculty Contract (2018-2022)
Article XII. Hours of Work and Commitment (Non-Tenure and Tenure Contracts) 
A. Bargaining unit members covered herein are expected to maintain work hours and commitment to the University required by the terms of their appointment. Bargaining unit members shall comply  with the University of Illinois Policy on Conflicts of Commitment and Interest and related State  of Illinois laws such as the University Faculty Research and Consulting Act, 110 ILCS § 100 and  the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act, 5 ILCS § 430. 

B. Expectations for all non-tenure system faculty ranks or categories of faculty positions, including expectations for teaching, research, and service, shall be created through transparent shared governance processes in each academic unit and made easily accessible to all faculty. These expectations shall include a teaching statement that sets clear expectations for the teaching  assignments, including course load and class size. Job expectations shall be updated and/or re-ratified by the academic unit at a minimum of every three years.

C. Should a change to job expectations be needed during the course of a bargaining unit member’s  contract, the unit and the non-tenure track system faculty member shall mutually agree upon said  change(s). Such changes will conform with the terms of this Agreement. 

Most important for UICUF faculty members to note is that all programs and departments are required to publish workload descriptions and expectations and make them available to faculty. These expectations should be produced through faculty shared governance and updated, again through shared governance, every three years. This update is intended to recognize how technology and changing institutional priorities are affecting faculty work, as well as to control expectation creep which devalues faculty labor. Our contract does not currently outline what workload policies should include, which is the focus of our proposals for this article for the new contract. The bargaining team believes that workload policies should discuss all three pillars of academic work–teaching, research, and service–although it is clear that faculty positions differ in their priorities. We have also proposed a requirement that if an individual member’s workload deviates from the norm, that deviation should be negotiated between the member and their supervisor–and mutually agreed to. 

As a UIC faculty member, you should currently have access to written workload policies for your position within your academic unit. We encourage all members to locate your program’s policies and stay informed. If your unit does not have a workload policy that is freely accessible, you are encouraged to reach out to your unit’s Representative Assembly member or email UICUnitedfaculty@gmail.com.

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Honoring Janet Smith by Supporting UIC’s Voorhees Center

UIC’s College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs has created this fund to support a rotating “Practitioner in Residence Program” to bring experienced community leaders to CUPPA and maintain the work with Chicago’s underserved communities that Janet spent her career working with and advocating for. 

You can click here to honor Janet’s life and continue her important work making Chicago a more just and equitable city. 

08 Jun Contract Bargaining Continues: Get to Know Your Contract!

• U of I System announces 2022 salary program: Similar to past practice, administration refuses to grant merit-based salary raise pool to UICUF members.
• UICUF Bargaining team met with UIC admin for 4th session: The power of GEO’s strike continues, as admin accepted Article IV revisions that mirror the new GEO contract and rejected our attempts to take their wins farther.
• Get to know your contract: Article XV of our faculty contract discusses processes in matters of faculty Discipline.

University-wide 2022 salary program announced

On May 31 System President Tim Killeen announced a 3.5% merit-based raise pool for the U of I system. In line with past practice, the announcement stated that members of collective bargaining units would not be a part of this pool until contract negotiations were concluded. 

Withholding campus salary raises from the bargaining unit is not a necessary part of the contract negotiation process.  Without a doubt it is a choice made by the administration as a part of their negotiation tactics. We are particularly concerned that this decision, this year, shows a great disrespect for faculty, given our struggles with inflation and, even more, our substantial collective sacrifices during the pandemic. 

That said, we wish to remind members that in the past our contracts have always used the salary program as a baseline for our raise pool–which we will demand be applied retroactively to faculty salaries upon the completion of the new contract

Contract Bargaining Updates

The UICUF bargaining team met with the administration bargaining team for a fourth session on Monday. Last session we submitted five articles for consideration: 

• Article IV. Non-Discrimination
• Article XV. Discipline and Dismissal
• Article XVI. Labor Management Meetings
• Article XVII. Access to Personnel File
• Article XVIII. Grievance and Arbitration 

Our proposals for Article IV. Non-Discrimination mirrors the language of the current GEO contract with a few important changes. Thanks to the incredible work of our GEO colleagues who struck for eight days to win significant protections for survivors, the administration team offered us nearly everything that GEO won in their last contract. However, they rejected our additional proposals, including timely notification of faculty who are the subject of an OAE complaint, a clearer definition of and condemnation of workplace bullying, and removal of the “responsible employee” designation for faculty to support survivors’ right to decide when and how to report misconduct. 

 We also continued to discuss Article XVI (Labor Management Meetings), Article X (Academic Freedom) and Article XI (Governance). A central issue in all of these articles is increasing our ability to collaborate with the administration through greater faculty and union representation in important decision-making committees and direct access to top administrators. While we did not resolve our disagreements on these issues, we had a productive discussion. 

Get To Know Your Contract
UIC UF Faculty Contract (2018-2022)
Article XV. Discipline and Dismissal (NTT Version)

A. The University may discipline, suspend, or dismiss a non-tenure track system bargaining unit member prior to the end of their appointment term for just cause. 

B. The University and Union agree with the principle of positive progressive discipline intended to correct deficiencies when possible, and that a reasonable process under the circumstances is required to impose discipline for just cause. Progressive discipline is based on the idea that as offenses occur appropriate discipline will be administered in a progressive manner.  The parties acknowledge that discipline might not be progressive if the offense is sufficiently serious.  

C. The levels of progressive discipline for bargaining unit members are (1) verbal counseling, (2) letter of warning, (3) suspension, and (4) dismissal.

D. In cases of disciplinary verbal counseling the unit head must inform the non-tenure track system bargaining unit member that they are receiving a verbal counseling and must provide the reasons for the verbal counseling. 

E. A unit head shall convene a pre-disciplinary meeting if discipline other than a verbal counseling is contemplated, and notify the non-tenure track system bargaining unit member in writing of the purpose of the meeting at least two (2) days in advance of the meeting. The non-tenure track system bargaining unit member shall be given the opportunity at or before the meeting to rebut the reasons for the contemplated discipline.

F. Non-tenure track system bargaining unit members have the right to Union representation throughout the disciplinary process, including during any investigatory interview that may reasonably lead to discipline.

G. Except for purposes of determining a pattern of behavior, letters of warning will remain in effect for purposes of progressive discipline for only two full consecutive semesters.

H. Situations in which a faculty member is placed on paid leave pending the conclusion of an investigation shall not be considered discipline.

I. A non-tenure track system bargaining unit member may utilize the Grievance and Arbitration procedure set forth in this Agreement to appeal any discipline, suspension or dismissal issued under this Article.  If the arbitrator fails to sustain the University’s action, they may not award any remedy (e.g., compensation, reinstatement, reappointment) for time beyond the terminal date of the appointment during which the non-tenure track system bargaining unit member was disciplined, suspended or dismissed.  Any award of back pay shall not exceed the amount the faculty member would have earned from the date of suspension or dismissal to the end of the term of appointment. 

This article from the non-tenure track contract establishes a protocol for positive progressive discipline in disputes between faculty and administrators related to perceived deficiencies in faculty workplace performance. Positive progressive discipline is a formative process that is intended to correct deficiencies and give faculty opportunities to develop before discipline resulting in professional harm occurs. Letters D through H articulate what each of the 5 levels of action entails.

When an issue with faculty performance is identified by an administrator, the administrator must first address the issue verbally with the faculty member. This does not mean an informal elevator conversation. Verbal counseling must begin with a statement by the administrator that the conversation is a part of the formal progressive disciplinary process, as well as an explanation of the cause for the counseling and a recommended action for resolution. Upon the receipt of a verbal counsel, faculty should contact union representation–all faculty have the right for union representation at any and all stages of the disciplinary process. If the deficiencies are perceived to continue, the faculty member, a union representative of their choosing, and the supervisor must meet so that the faculty member has an opportunity to rebut or question the perception of deficiency. A written letter of warning enumerating the problems must be provided at least two days before the meeting, giving the faculty member the chance to understand the complaints and gather information. 

If the situation escalates, and a faculty member is placed on suspension, the suspension itself cannot be considered punishment and should be paid pending the outcome of a formal investigation presumably following university policy. It is only after these steps have been observed that dismissal is a potential outcome of faculty disciplinary processes. 

Our proposals for this article in the new contract include further articulation of these steps and protections. We hope to ensure that in cases where non-faculty entities, such as the Office of Access and Equity, are part of the process that the faculty member is included in all communications between that entity and their supervisors and that these entities cannot determine punishment of faculty. Our final and most important proposal for this article is to include this language in the Tenure-Track version of our contract. Right now there is no specific protocol for tenure-track faculty in disciplinary situations. For pre-tenure faculty, the lack of a clear process for normative development and progressive discipline is not only a clear danger, but an oversight in regards to the mentorship and support of junior faculty. The university and its executive officers have the responsibility to mentor and develop faculty in meaningful ways, and we envision this policy as a way to ensure faculty have the opportunities to develop when problems arise. 
 

In Solidarity,
The UIC UF Bargaining team

Xochitl Bada (Associate Professor, Latin American and Latino Studies) | Aaron Krall (Senior Lecturer, English) | Andy Baker (Clinical Assistant Professor, Music) | Anna Kornbluh (Professor, English) | Becky Bonarek (Lecturer, Tutorium in Intensive English) | Charitianne Williams (Senior Lecturer, English) | Gosia Fidelis (Associate Professor, History)  | Ian Collins (Clinical Assistant Professor, Daley Library) | Jim Drown (Senior Lecturer, English) | Jeff Gore (Senior Lecturer, English)  | Jennifer Rupert (Senior Lecturer, English, Gender and Women’s Studies) | Kate Floros (Clinical Assistant Professor, Political Science) | Kate Lowe (Associate Professor, Urban Planning and Policy) | Kevin O’Brien (Clinical Associate Professor, Library of the Health Sciences) | Kevin Whyte (Professor, Math, Statistics, and Computer Science) | Laurie Quinn (Clinical Professor, Biobehavioral Nursing Science) | Paul Preissner (Professor, Architecture)

20 May UICUF Contract Negotiation: Bargaining Update 

• UIC UF Bargaining team met with UIC admin for 3rd session: UICUF presented 5 articles for discussion
• Get to know your contract: Article X of our faculty contract discusses processes in matters of faculty Academic Freedom.

Bargaining Updates
The UIC UF Bargaining Team met with the Administration team yesterday. We presented proposals developing Article IV. Non-Discrimination; Article XV. Discipline and Dismissal; Article XVI. Labor Management Meetings; Article XVII. Access to Personnel File; and Article XVIII. Grievance and Arbitration. Administration is expected to respond to our proposals at our next meeting in approximately 3 weeks.

Contract bargaining is currently taking place on Zoom, but we do hope to meet for in-person sessions soon. Union members are invited to observe sessions and collaborate with the bargaining team during caucuses. You can find out about upcoming sessions and other union events by following the UICUF calendar here or emailing UICUnitedFaculty@gmail.com.

Get To Know Your Contract
UIC UF Faculty Contract (2018-2022)

Article X, Academic Freedom

1. It is the policy of the University to maintain and encourage full freedom within the law of inquiry, discourse, teaching, research, and publication and to protect any member of the (tenure/non-tenure) track system bargaining unit against influences, from within or without the University, which would restrict the member’s exercise of these freedoms in the member’s area of scholarly research and interest. 
2. As a citizen, a faculty member may exercise the same freedoms as other citizens without institutional censorship or discipline. A faculty member should be mindful, however, that accuracy, forthrightness, and dignity befit association with the University and a person of learning, and that the public may judge that person’s profession and the University by the individual’s conduct and utterances.
3. A faculty member who believes that they do not enjoy the academic freedom which is the policy of the University to maintain and encourage shall be entitled to a hearing on written request before the Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure of the campus Senate.  Such hearing shall be conducted in accordance with established rules of procedure.  The Committee shall make findings of facts and recommendations to the President and, at its discretion, may make an appropriate report to the Senate.  The several committees may from time to time establish their own rules of procedure.
4. Any substantive dispute under this Article shall be resolved under Article X, Section 2 (d), of the University of Illinois Statutes
5. Any procedural dispute under this Article under the control of a party to this Agreement shall be resolved under the Grievance and Arbitration procedure in this Agreement, and any such grievance decision thereunder shall be limited to providing a remedy correcting a process error.

Our union contract does not debate what constitutes a violation of academic freedom–that matter is handled by University Policy, U of I System Statutes, and most directly, the UIC Senate. Instead, this article makes clear that faculty do have academic freedom in matters of scholarship and teaching.

In cases where faculty feel their academic freedoms have been violated, members should immediately contact their union representative or email UICUnitedFaculty@gmail.com, for advice and support in submitting a written request to the UIC Senate Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure.

Our proposals for this article intend to make violations in the handling of academic freedom cases–such as discipline occurring prior to a UIC Senate hearing–fully contestable and grievable. While university policies exist, we have observed a wide range of administrative responses that are not consistent with those policies. Currently, bargaining unit members have no recourse when university policies are not followed. Therefore, we are pushing to include the language of those policies, including the UIC Student Academic Grievance Policy in Article X, in order to make the failure to follow policy fully grievable through the Union. So far, the administration’s bargaining team has refused to acknowledge the importance of holding UIC accountable to its own policies in this way.

In Solidarity,

The UIC UF Bargaining team

Xochitl Bada (Associate Professor, Latin American and Latino Studies) | Aaron Krall (Senior Lecturer, English) | Andy Baker (Clinical Assistant Professor, Music) | Anna Kornbluh (Professor, English) | Becky Bonarek (Lecturer, Tutorium in Intensive English) | Charitianne Williams (Senior Lecturer, English) | Gosia Fidelis (Associate Professor, History)  | Ian Collins (Clinical Assistant Professor, Daley Library) | Jim Drown (Senior Lecturer, English) | Jeff Gore (Senior Lecturer, English)  | Jennifer Rupert (Senior Lecturer, English, Gender and Women’s Studies) | Kate Floros (Clinical Assistant Professor, Political Science) | Kate Lowe (Associate Professor, Urban Planning and Policy) | Kevin O’Brien (Clinical Associate Professor, Library of the Health Sciences) | Kevin Whyte (Professor, Math, Statistics, and Computer Science) | Laurie Quinn (Clinical Professor, Biobehavioral Nursing Science) | Paul Preissner (Professor, Architecture)

06 May Bargaining for New Faculty Contract Begins

UICUF Bargaining: Get to Know Your Contract

• Bargaining is in full swing: UICUF and Administration TA 7 articles.
• Get to know your contract: Article I of our faculty contract outlines scope and purpose.
• Only members of UICUF vote to ratify the faculty contract: Join the union to make your voice heard.

Join UIC United Faculty 
We would like to notify all UIC faculty that bargaining for the next faculty contract has begun. Continued updates concerning bargaining will be sent to UIC UF members only–you can join today and take part in this important process. Membership in the faculty union allows you to attend bargaining sessions, share input with the Bargaining Committee, and ultimately vote on whether to accept the contract they bargain. You may sign up here, or contact us at UICUnitedFaculty@gmail.com.

Bargaining for our next faculty contract
The UICUF and UIC administrative bargaining teams met for the second time this week. The beginning of the season is often uncontroversial as both sides work to determine a process for moving forward and describe their goals for the next contract. As outlined in our bargaining platform available on the UICUF website, our proposals emphasize:

•  Support & Security for Faculty
• Accountability & Care in the Workplace,
• Amplifying Faculty Voice in Shared Governance 

One important item accomplished at this past meeting was reaching Tentative Agreements on 7 articles. Tentative Agreements (TA) are a mechanism in the process where both sides agree to accept the article under discussion. Discussion on that article is then assumed to be closed, and generally can’t be reopened. 

Bargaining is currently taking place on Zoom, but we do hope to meet for in-person sessions soon. Union members are invited to observe sessions and collaborate with the bargaining team during caucuses. You can find out about upcoming sessions and other union events by following the UICUF calendar here.  

Get to Know Your Contract
We would like to focus our communications this summer bargaining season on UIC faculty workplace rights as outlined in our contract and discuss changes to the current contract your bargaining team is proposing. To this end, there is nowhere like the beginning for a place to start. Article I, Purpose is one of the articles TA’d this week:

UIC UF Faculty Contract (2018-2022)
Article I. Purpose
The purpose and intent of this Agreement is to provide for an orderly collective bargaining relationship and the promotion of sound and mutually beneficial relations between the Union, on behalf of bargaining unit employees, and the University.  This Agreement is intended to establish and make clear the wages, hours, and terms and conditions of employment of bargaining unit employees and to provide a procedure for the equitable resolution of grievances as required by terms of the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act.

While this text could be considered boilerplate, it is a legitimate articulation of what our union contract is to accomplish. The contract represents an agreement between the membership and the administration, but also a plan for all members of the UIC community to handle workplace scenarios in a fair, transparent, and consistent manner. Contracts are certainly a protection for faculty, but ours also provides protocols and guidance for how workplace disagreements should be handled by supervisors and upper-level administrators.

Our contract connects us with a larger system of justice and protection, explicitly the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act, which recognizes the unique situation of education workers and the impact their working conditions have upon the Illinois public. In Fall 2021, 81% of UIC’s 34,199 students were permanent residents of Illinois–our working conditions are their learning conditions, which makes our contract an important part of maintaining the intellectual, cultural, and economic future of Illinois. 

In Solidarity,

The UIC UF bargaining team

Xochitl Bada (Associate Professor, Latin American and Latino Studies) | Aaron Krall (Senior Lecturer, English) | Andy Baker (Clinical Assistant Professor, Music) | Anna Kornbluh (Professor, English) | Becky Bonarek (Lecturer, Tutorium in Intensive English) | Charitianne Williams (Senior Lecturer, English) | Gosia Fidelis (Associate Professor, History)  | Ian Collins (Clinical Assistant Professor, Daley Library) | Jim Drown (Senior Lecturer, English) | Jeff Gore (Senior Lecturer, English)  | Jennifer Rupert (Senior Lecturer, English, Gender and Women’s Studies) | Kate Floros (Clinical Assistant Professor, Political Science) | Kate Lowe (Associate Professor, Urban Planning and Policy) | Kevin O’Brien (Clinical Associate Professor, Library of the Health Sciences) | Kevin Whyte (Professor, Math, Statistics, and Computer Science) | Laurie Quinn (Clinical Professor, Biobehavioral Nursing Science) | Paul Preissner (Professor, Architecture)