22 Apr NTT Job Security Town Hall and Fall Teaching Plans
Admin’s Announcement on Fall Planning
You likely received a Campus Announcement today outlining in greater detail the administration’s plans for teaching in the fall. We will carefully examine and respond to these plans shortly, but for now, we will simply say that they were, once again, formulated without consultation with the union, and over a preponderance of concerns expressed by both faculty and administrators. We encourage members to attend the provost’s last office hour tomorrow to give voice to your concerns while hearings over the administration’s failure to bargain continue.
- NTT Job Security Town Hall: All TT and NTT faculty, and students, are encouraged to join us for our NTT Job Security Town Hall next Wednesday, 4/28, from 4:30-6pm. See the flyer below for details, and come ready to discuss action! Zoom link: ly/UIC-NTT
- Provost’s Last Office Hour: Provost Poser’s last office hour of the year is this Friday, 4/23, 10-11am. Join via zoom if you have any concerns you want to address, including refusal to bargain, fall teaching plans, or job security for academic staff.
- Backlog on Overcomp Payments: We’ve received numerous reports that authorization for spring overcomp payments have been left in administrative limbo throughout the semester. Contact us ASAP if you are still waiting on spring overcomp pay.
Dear Members,
Our NTT Job Security Town Hall is just around the corner, and we hope everyone who’s able will join us to discuss moving UIC toward a more equitable and accountable system for retaining these vital faculty members. The Town Hall will be held virtually via zoom (link: bit.ly/UIC-NTT) on Wednesday, 4/28, at 4:30pm, and all members, both tenure track and non tenure track are welcome. Students are also welcome, and we encourage you to share the flyer with your classes. As a reminder, our major demands are:
- Maintain the current number of NTT teaching faculty positions
- Notify all faculty of reappointment by the initial contractual deadline on or before June 1
- Ensure transparency around budget and reappointment decisions
- For this year, suspend the 3-year limit for visiting faculty
These demands have been endorsed unanimously by both our Executive Board and Representative Assembly, and are, we believe, a minimum basis for an fair system of renewals for NTT faculty.
We are also still building a mailing list (sign up here) for those interested in working more directly on these issues, and we are collecting testimonials like the one above. Please contact our organizer on this project, Sophie, at uicufsophie@gmail.com if you’d like to make a video testimonial, and we will work with you to craft one.
Provost’s Last Office Hour
This Friday is Provost Poser’s final office hour of the semester before she leaves her position for a new job as Hofstra University President. Though she is leaving the last week of May, significant policy decisions still appear to be coming out of her office and we especially encourage you to sign on with this graphic as your Zoom background and ask whatever questions you have. A few possibilities: What is happening with the new American Rescue Plan funds, and how will those be used for faculty retention? What is the process for changing the limit on visiting appointments? Why is that not something the Provost has already done?
Backlog on Pay for Overcomps and Other “Extra” Work
UICUF is increasingly concerned about a series of notifications from our members that overcomps, which they were approved for at the unit level, and are almost done teaching, have still not been approved for payroll. While this is clearly not affecting everyone, it does appear to be a widespread enough problem that we want to alert members, and encourage you to contact us if you are having problems getting paid for your overcomps this semester. Contact us at UICUnitedFaculty@gmail.com if you are having this problem or want help looking into it.
ULP Hearings
Hearings at the Illinois Education Labor Relations Board (IELRB) have been ongoing this week and last week over Unfair Labor Practices (ULP) charges we filed last summer. We have made the case that the university failed in its duty to bargain over Covid policy impacts, especially in terms of refusing to put in writing contractually enforceable agreements, even as they implemented policies under discussion at the table. These actions fly in the face of the very definition of bargaining and are, we believe, illegal. We will keep you informed as the case evolves, though it may be weeks or months before a determination is made.
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We hold regular office hours from 12-1pm Wednesday and Thursday each week. Use the following links to add them to your calendar:
Wednesday 12-1pm | Thursday 12-1pm
We issue regular updates via email, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and on our website. We encourage everyone to like and follow us on social media. If you want to contribute your story, pictures, video, or other content related to the activities of the union, email us at UICUnitedFaculty@gmail.com. With your support, we are making UIC an even SAFER place to work and learn!
