National News

Adjunct Faculty at Washington University in St. Louis Form Union

Adjunct professors at Washington University in St. Louis have voted to join adjunct faculty at schools across the country in SEIU/Adjunct Action. Over 400 faculty members won their union today as ballots were counted at the National Labor Relations Board office in St. Louis. The victory is the first in St. Louis and a step forward to improve the working conditions of the increasing numbers of part-time and contingent faculty in higher education.

Forty-four percent of faculty in St. Louis area private, non-profit colleges and universities work part time and 73 percent of all faculty are not on the tenure track. Adjunct faculty, now the majority of teaching faculty across the country, typically have no job security, no benefits and low pay that forces adjuncts to string together jobs at multiple colleges and universities to make ends meet. At the same time, revenues and tuition have increased steadily over the last two decades while spending on instruction has declined – and it’s adjuncts and their deeply-in-debt students who are suffering as a result.

Michael O’Bryan teaches in the English Department at Washington University. “This is a great day for faculty, students, and the entire community of higher education in St. Louis and throughout the region,” he said. “This victory is an important step toward improving the labor conditions of university faculty and, consequently, the learning experience of the students taught by those faculty. We look forward to enhancing Wash U’s already exemplary record of service to its students and to the St. Louis community.”

St. Louis adjunct faculty are following in the footsteps of adjuncts at nearly 20 universities who have joined Adjunct Action in the past two years, including Dominican University, St. Mary’s College and Otis College of Art and Design in California who voted to join SEIU in the last week. They join faculty at the Howard University and Georgetown University in Washington, DC, Tufts University and Northeastern University in Boston who have all voted for unionization in order to strengthen their voices and improving working conditions for all part-time faculty in America.

Darcie Star teaches dance at Washington University. “By uniting in solidarity to form our union we are part of building a positive future and creating sustainable change for those working in higher education,” she said. “This victory gives a voice to improved conditions for both faculty and students, as well as offering a platform for communication of needs and desires of those who provide service to the future generations.”

California faculty from three campuses vote to join SEIU

Adjunct organizing finished 2014 on a high note in California, as more than 900 adjuncts voted to join SEIU at three campuses right before the new year. On Dec. 29, roughly 400 contingent faculty at St. Mary’s College in Moraga and almost 300 at Dominican University in San Rafael voted with sizable majorities to join Local 1021. The following day, faculty members at Otis College of Art and Design voted for their union, making approximately 250 instructors the newest members of SEIU Local 721. “This is an exciting day for the entire Otis community,” said instructor Andrea Bowers. “By forming a union at Otis, we’ll have the ability to advocate for students and our colleagues. We will all benefit from a supported and empowered faculty at all levels, and Otis will be able to maintain its standards of artistic and educational excellence.”

Read more about the growing movement for education and economic justice in the Los Angeles Times.

Activists Call on States to Take on For-Profit Colleges

“Activists have turned to state governors in a battle over the fate of students at Corinthian Colleges, the massive for-profit college chain that is in the process of being shuttered by the federal government.”

Adjunct Action/SEIU has partnered with Higher Ed Not Debt to bring greater accountability to the for-profit higher education industry, including delivering a petition today to ECMC in Minnesota calling for students to be protected during the sale of Corinthian College, a for-profit that was sanctioned by the Dept. of Education for major violations.

Read more about the renewed focus on state-level change here.

Minnesotans Calling for Justice Re: For-Profit Corinthian

Corinthian Colleges, a for-profit company which operates 107 colleges under Everest, WyoTech, and Heald brands, is closing or selling their schools after the Department of Education found the company ripped off students by manipulating job placement rates.

One of Corinthian’s holdings, Everest College in Minnesota, falsified job placement rates and tricked students into thousands of dollars of debt, while leaving them without a usable degree. Everest was just bought by ECMC Group, an entity that’s never run a school before and currently makes its money ensuring that students can’t declare bankruptcy on their student loans.

In conjunction with Higher Ed Not Debt and SEIU, on Wednesday Minnesotans will be delivering a petition to the ECMC group calling for justice for Minnesota students.

Sign a petition calling for justice for those students and read more here.

Adjunct Faculty Discuss Union, Future on VPR

Adjunct faculty at three colleges in Vermont, Burlington, St. Michael’s, and Champlain, voted in the past month to form a union with Adjunct Action/SEIU. Today, Genevieve Jacobs, an adjunct faculty member at Champlain College and Sean Witters, a lecturer in the English Department at the University of Vermont, spoke to VPR about their experiences.

Click here to listen to the full interview.

St. Michael’s Adjuncts Vote to Form a Union

Adjunct professors at St. Michael’s College in Vermont today voted strongly in favor of forming a union with SEIU/Adjunct Action. By a margin of 64% in favor (46 yes to 26 no), the adjuncts at St. Michael’s join their colleagues at Champlain College and Burlington College, who voted overwhelmingly to form adjunct unions at their respective colleges last week.

The adjuncts at St. Michael’s join their colleagues at Champlain College and Burlington College who last week voted overwhelmingly to form adjunct unions. Taken together, the three votes represent a significant step forward for adjuncts in Vermont who are working to improve the working conditions of the increasing numbers of part-time and contingent faculty in higher education in the state and across the country.

“We join all of our colleagues around country in raising standards, in knowing each other and being able to work towards a better life for all of us,” said Sharyn Layfield, an adjunct faculty member at St. Michael’s College. “I’m 65 and started in teachings in my 20s, and for me this is a culmination of a life’s work. I’ve always been an adjunct. I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be doing this, but it means a future for other people who do what I’ve been doing all this time. It’s important to me to see this go on. It’s a movement forward.”

Throughout the campaign, adjunct faculty at St. Michael’s received an outpouring of support from Vermonters. Senator Bernie Sanders sent a letter of support to the faculty at the college, as did a number of city council members, state legislators, and the AFT/AAUP-led union representing faculty at the University of Vermont. Hundreds of students and community members signed a petition supporting the organizing efforts, which was delivered to school administrators.

“With the victory today, adjuncts at St. Michael’s can be more focused as a group, as we join together and move forward,” said Anne Tewksbury-Frye, an adjunct faculty member at St. Michael’s College and Champlain College. “The union will serve to improve best practices, and help us learn as educators and teachers in a way that will benefit our students directly. And that’s our goal — to improve education for our students at these very fine colleges and universities.”

Vermont Adjunct Faculty Vote to Form a Union

Adjunct professors at Burlington and Champlain colleges have voted overwhelmingly to join adjunct faculty at schools across the country in SEIU/Adjunct Action, with 80% at Champlain College (118 to 30) and 85% at Burlington College (23 to 4) adjunct faculty voting yes to a union. The vote was a significant step forward for adjuncts in Vermont who are working to improve the working conditions of the increasing numbers of part-time and contingent faculty in higher education in the state and across the country.

Over 40 percent of faculty at Vermont’s private, non-profit colleges and universities work part time and 72 percent of all faculty are not on the tenure track. Adjunct faculty, now the majority of teaching faculty across the country, typically have no job security, no benefits and low pay that forces adjuncts to string together jobs at multiple colleges and universities to make ends meet. At the same time, revenues and tuition have increased steadily over the last two decades while spending on instruction has declined – and it’s adjuncts and their deeply-in-debt students who are suffering as a result.

Throughout the campaign, adjunct faculty at both schools received an outpouring of support from Vermonters. Senator Bernie Sanders sent a letter of support, as did a number of city council members, state legislators, and the AFT/AAUP-led union representing faculty at the University of Vermont. Hundreds of students and community members signed a petition supporting the organizing efforts, which was delivered to school administrators.

“Ever since we started the process of forming our union, I’ve been feeling more and more empowered. I’m already noticing that we adjuncts are talking to each other a lot more, and we have a much greater sense of collegiality. I no longer feel marginalized on campus,” said Betsy Allen-Pennebaker, who teaches at Champlain College. “I think that this victory today is a wonderful thing for adjuncts, not only in terms of pay and job security, but also in how we feel about ourselves and our profession. Throughout this election, we’ve been talking about all the positive things that will come out of having a union, and that’s what we’ll continue to focus on as we move forward. I really believe that this union is a win-win for everyone. What’s good for adjuncts will also be good for Champlain College as an institution – and improving adjuncts’ working conditions is going to create an even better classroom experience for our students.”

Vermont adjunct faculty are following in the footsteps of adjuncts at more than a dozen universities who have joined Adjunct Action in the past year, including The College of St. Rose in Albany, New York where adjuncts voted to join SEIU Local 200United this summer. They join faculty at the Howard University and Georgetown University in Washington, DC, Antioch University in Seattle and Northeastern University in Boston who have all voted for unionization in order to strengthen their voices and improving working conditions for all part-time faculty in America.

“I am thrilled by the results of the vote and I am looking forward to what is to come for Burlington College and the wider teaching community in Vermont,” said Jonathan Auyer, who teaches at Burlington College. “The campaign aimed at highlighting the need for sustainable pay, access to benefits and stable working conditions for the adjunct faculty, and this vote is one step on the path to making these things happen. I really am excited to work with the administration, my fellow adjuncts and the full-time faculty in the hopes of continuing to better Burlington College by bettering the teaching conditions, which will undoubtedly result in bettering the learning conditions for our students.”

ACA Webinar and Q&A

Open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) began on November 15th. Below you’ll find a video covering the most important parts of how to get covered with SEIU’s ACA expert Sarah Nolan. We’ll also be hosting a Q&A on our forum, with Nolan answering questions on December 5th from 2 to 3pm EST. Post your questions now in the forum and join us on 12/5 for an informative discussion.

If you’re ready to enroll, visit healthcare.gov to enroll by December 15 for healthcare starting on January 1, 2015.