Cities

College of St Rose Adjuncts Vote Overwhelmingly to Join SEIU/Adjunct Action

Adjunct professors at The College of Saint Rose have voted overwhelmingly to join adjunct faculty at schools across the country in SEIU/Adjunct Action. The victory is a step forward for adjuncts in New York State working to improve the working conditions of the increasing numbers of part-time and contingent faculty in higher education.

Saint Rose adjuncts will join SEIU Local 200United as part of Adjunct Action, a project of the Service Employees International Union that includes over 21,000 adjuncts across the country. The final vote count was 175 yes to 61 no.

Alyssa Colton, an adjunct instructor of English, said: “We would not have been able to do this so quickly and thoroughly without the hard work of the St. Rose adjuncts, full-time faculty, and alumni, students, and community leaders like Mayor Kathy Sheehan, Councilmembers Judd Krasher and Leah Golby, and Assemblywoman Pat Fahy, who have been supporting us the entire time. The students and the surrounding community stand to gain as much as adjuncts from improved conditions for part-timers and we are excited to get to work making these vital improvements.”

Throughout the Capital District and across the country, adjunct faculty continue to fight to address the crisis in higher education: a marginalized teaching faculty, quickly rising tuition, and record levels of student debt.

Bradley Russell, an adjunct instructor of Anthropology and member of the organizing committee, reflected on the victory: “This vote is historic for the College of Saint Rose. It is extremely gratifying to see how many of our fellow adjuncts stood up and made it clear that they want a decisive voice on campus. For the first time, adjunct faculty members will now have a well-earned say in our own futures. I look forward to working with the administration to improve teaching conditions, the student experience and the college as a whole. We trust that this is the beginning of a collective bargaining process that will move us into a positive new day for the college. It is time to come together for real and lasting change. Today Saint Rose took an important step to live up to its well-known commitment to social justice. I could not be more pleased with the results to date and anticipate great things ahead.”

St. Rose faculty are following in the footsteps of adjuncts across the country. The University of the District of Columbia, Antioch University in Seattle, Hamline University, San Francisco Art Institute, and Northeastern University have all recently voted to join SEIU/Adjunct Action. Supporters of the St. Rose vote for unionization see this as vital first step to strengthening voices and improving working conditions for all part-time faculty in the Capital District.

“This vote is a heartening reminder that change is possible when enough people decide the time has come,” said Jazmine Gabriel, an adjunct instructor of philosophy who has taught at the Sage Colleges and Siena College along with St Rose. “Speaking up takes courage, and the adjunct faculty members at St. Rose have demonstrated true courage by participating in this process and committing to envisioning and designing a better future. May this vote serve as an inspiration and example to the many of us who face similar challenges at other colleges in the Capital District. St. Rose now has the opportunity to be a leader in the community by helping to set the standards for fair working conditions through trust and collaboration with the bargaining unit.”

St. Louis Post Dispatch Editorial: Adjuncts unite for better education

Following up on last week’s feature story in the Post-Dispatch, the newspaper’s editorial board took a stand with adjunct faculty in the Labor Day edition. They wrote:

University of the District of Columbia Part-Time Faculty Vote to Join Majority of DC Adjuncts in SEIU

Adjunct faculty at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) have voted to join their colleagues at Georgetown, Howard, George Washington and American universities and form a union in SEIU Local 500. A vast majority voted in favor of forming a union, joining a rapidly growing national union movement to address the crisis in higher education and the troubling trend toward a marginalized teaching faculty.

Seventy-five percent of adjunct faculty in Washington, DC are now united in SEIU Local 500. Professor Juan Laster, a UDC adjunct, said, “We worked very hard for this victory, but this is only the first step. I am looking forward to working with the administration on a first contract that respects our work as educators and faculty and as a key part of the UDC community. I am also proud to be joining Howard University as the second HBCU to have a union for part-time faculty.”

Adjunct faculty at UDC are already working on issues to discuss during first contract negotiations. Workplace conditions in higher education have quickly and dramatically changed for the people responsible for the core mission of instruction in our colleges and universities. Contingent faculty are now a majority of college and university faculty, and through their union contracts, adjunct faculty are already winning better pay, job security and access to professional development.

Throughout the Washington, DC area and across the country adjunct faculty continue to fight to address the crisis in higher education: a marginalized teaching faculty, administrative bloat, quickly rising tuition, and record levels of student debt. Thousands of adjunct and contingent workers have joined SEIU/Adjunct Action in the last year.

Workers at the College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York and the California College of the Arts are set to vote to form their union in early September, following in the footsteps of faculty at a dozen other schools, including the Maryland Institute College of Art, Northeastern University, Hamline University, San Francisco Art Institute, Georgetown, Howard University and Mills College, all of whom have joined SEIU/Adjunct Action since May 2013.

In addition to five schools in Washington, SEIU Local 500 represents adjunct faculty at Montgomery College and the Maryland Institute College of Art.

St. Louis Adjunct Organizing Featured in STL Post Dispatch

Adjunct faculty are ramping up efforts to form unions and solve the crisis in higher education this semester. And on Sunday, was front page news In the St. Louis Post Dispatch.

In the feature story, Andrew Nelson and Gail Brody share their story and why they are forming unions at campuses in the St. Louis area.

Big News: Sen. Dick Durbin Introduces Adjunct Faculty Loan Fairness Act

With advanced degrees, adjunct faculty are well-prepared to teach. But with such degrees often comes significant debt, and few options for keeping the student debt burden manageable. A new bill introduced in the U.S. Senate reflects the momentum adjunct faculty have created in the past year toward making big changes in their workplaces while helping shape the future of higher education.

Yesterday, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced legislation that will help adjunct faculty access the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF). The Adjunct Faculty Loan Fairness Act would make a tremendous impact on the lives of thousands of adjunct and contingent faculty, who now make up a majority of America’s college instructors and more than half of whom work part-time.

“As their budgets have tightened, colleges and universities have become increasingly reliant upon part-time adjunct faculty who face low pay, few if any benefits, and minimal job security,” Durbin said in a statement. “The vast majority of these educators hold advanced degrees, and as a result, bear the heavy burden of student loan debt. It is only right that we expand their access to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, a benefit already available to many of their full-time colleagues.”

“As a part-time, temporary worker with a crushing amount of school debt, I know how important student debt reform is for ensuring education retains the promise of social mobility for both me and my fellow adjuncts and the students we teach,” said Marga Ryersbach, an adjunct who teaches in New York. “I’m pleased that Senator Durbin is working to make sure we have access to a program that helps correct the imbalances wrought by huge amounts of education debt.”

Student debt has become a national issue and it’s one that is critically important for part-time and non-tenure track faculty, as the average debt burden for borrowers with advanced degrees is now $61,000. Furthermore, the average pay per course reported by adjunct faculty is approximately $3,000, which means that an adjunct who teaches eight courses per year will make just $24,000 annually. Adjunct faculty often have trouble making ends meet, let alone, paying down their student debt.

Congress created the PSLF program in 2007 to offer student loan forgiveness to people with careers in the public or nonprofit sectors. But as the program is currently structured, many adjunct faculty are not eligible to participate. The current law states that in order to be eligible for PSLF a person must work an average of 30 hours a week over the course of a year. Since adjunct faculty do not have control over their course load (most times school administrators decide how many classes an instructor can teach), whether they meet the 30 hour requirement is out of their hands. As a result, just one semester or year with a low course load can prevent adjunct faculty from obtaining PSLF credit for their public service for that year.

The Adjunct Faculty Loan Fairness Act will allow adjunct faculty to access PSLF even if they have a low course load that does not meet the 30 hour eligibility requirement. Those who teach at least one course in a given year will qualify for PSLF. However, contingent faculty who have a separate, full-time, private sector job will not have access to this program. This means that the program will only be open to those adjunct faculty who really need the benefits of PSLF—those who make a living from teaching.

“While we are joining together for a voice at Hamline, we are also focused on the big challenges facing higher education,” Hamline University adjunct faculty member David Weiss said. “It’s great to know that adjunct and contingent faculty have allies in Congress like Senator Durbin who are working to ensure that adjunct faculty are included in the PSLF program. While thousands of contingent faculty are joining together, this bill is a huge opportunity to take our movement to the next level and change the lives of adjunct faculty members by improving the PSLF.”

Landslide victory for Antioch University Seattle faculty

In a resounding victory, Antioch University Seattle faculty have voted to form a union, joining a rapidly growing national movement to address the crisis in higher education and the troubling trend toward a marginalized teaching faculty.

All faculty stood together to overwhelmingly support a union by voting 85 to 14 to join SEIU Local 925. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) counted the votes for the all-mail ballot election on Wednesday.

The win is a 86 percent vote in favor of forming a union – a landslide victory for the faculty and the entire Antioch Seattle community.

“Time for celebration!” said core faculty member Alex Suarez. “Congratulations to the faculty and to everyone at Antioch University Seattle. We have taken an important step towards a more balanced dialogue. The faculty voices now have a better chance of being heard and given the respect and authority our experience merits. In a world where balance and dialogue are so necessary, we are better able to foster them. Where else can wisdom come from?”

Read the rest of the story at ACT Washington