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February 2 Update on Part-Time Faculty Union NegotiationsContributed by David Maley on 02/02/17 From Senior Vice President Nancy Pringle, Provost Linda Petrosino, and Professor Gwen Seaquist, representatives of the Ithaca College bargaining committee. The Ithaca College bargaining team is writing to provide an update on progress as of February 2, 2017, in the negotiations with our part-time faculty union. We have made meaningful progress. During the past 15 months, we have reached tentative agreements on 23 separate articles for a collective bargaining agreement. Most recently, we have now reached tentative agreements on the issues of length of appointments and benefits. Thanks in part to the help of the neutral federal mediator, who has worked with both sides since December, we now have only three provisions remaining under negotiation with the part-time unit: The recognition clause. This is a basic clause that defines which positions are included in the bargaining unit. Pay for union business time. The union is requesting that the college compensate union leaders for time they spend conducting union business. Wages. Today we submitted a new wage increase proposal to the union. The union is currently reviewing that proposal. They have agreed that during our next scheduled session on February 21, they will come prepared with a response to that proposal and resume negotiations with the help of the federal mediator. As we continue negotiating wages, we must bear in mind that our first responsibility is the delivery of the complete educational experience to the students. Inherent in that responsibility to our students is that we must deliver that educational experience in a manner that ensures the economic health and long-term viability of the college. We sincerely believe that the approach that will benefit all constituencies is to remain at the bargaining table, bargain in good faith toward reaching an agreement, and use the skills of the federal mediator to assist both sides in bringing closure to these negotiations. We understand that there is anxiety on campus about a potential strike. We remain committed to the bargaining process, and we are hopeful that a positive outcome will soon be reached. Our students have the right to expect that faculty remain in the classroom and deliver the courses they have paid to receive. As we continue to make progress in bargaining, we hope that our part-time faculty will bear in mind the responsibility they have to our students to deliver the courses they have been contracted to provide. We will continue to keep you updated on our progress. February 2 Update on Part-Time Faculty Union Negotiations Comment from
abarlas on
02/03/17
"As we continue negotiating wages, we must bear in mind that our first responsibility is the delivery of the complete educational experience to the students. Inherent in that responsibility to our students is that we must deliver that educational experience in a manner that ensures the economic health and long-term viability of the college."
Just curious: why do we never hear a similar argument when millions of dollars are shelled out to hire outside companies and consultants or to hire yet another highly paid administrator? Stop hiding behind the students Comment from
tschneller on
02/03/17
Nancy Pringle et al. should stop hiding behind the students in justifying their continued commitment to exploiting their contingent faculty. They pontificate that “our students have the right to expect that faculty remain in the classroom and deliver the courses they have paid to receive.” Our students also have the right to know that the hefty tuition fees of their IC education are lining the pockets of our top administrators while many of the professors that provide the education they came to IC for have trouble paying the rent and have to get by on Medicaid. The administration’s argument that IC contingent professors are paid a fair “market rate” because other regional institutions also exploit their contingent faculty at poverty rates reveals the utter moral bankruptcy of our leadership. It is the same worship of the “market rate” that accounts for the fact that the American middle class has imploded and that workers across the United States have been turned into disposable commodities whose primary function is to enrich those in management positions. The IC administration should know that the Walmart model of higher education does not sit well with many students, staff and faculty on this campus, who see through the official smooth talk and recognize the ugly structure of oppression that it is attempting to justify.
February 2 Update on Part-Time Faculty Union Negotiations Comment from
rwishna on
02/03/17
" Inherent in that responsibility to our students is that we must deliver that educational experience in a manner that ensures the economic health and long-term viability of the college." Why not have the top administrators share their six-figure salaries with the contingent faculty- many of whom are on medicaid and/or have trouble making ends meet. The burden of the economic health of the college should not be put on the contingent faculty. If we had strong leadership.......we could and should have both... a properly compensated faculty AND a strong economic outlook.
our students' expectations Comment from
mdgraham on
02/03/17
Our students have a right to expect their college to actually stand up for the principles that are taught here. Respect, diversity, truth-seeking, and justice, to name a few.
Our students have a right to expect mentorship and guidance from their professors, not suddenly and mysteriously vacant offices as faculty move on or are let go. Our students have a right to expect that their college also supports and mentors its faculty through professional development, health care, and access to services. Our students have a right to expect professors who aren't exhausted and stressed from juggling multiple jobs and trying to get by on poverty wages. Our students have a right to expect careers for themselves in the future where employers no longer exploit the labor of workers. Our students have a right to expect that their hefty tuition fees be used for their education, not for more administrator raises. Our students have a right to expect that their college be run as something more than just another business. It's more than that to them. Our students are engaged, smart, curious people. I know because I work with them every day. They know how to weigh evidence, evaluate rhetoric, and decide between right and wrong. They're not to be used as a shield today when their needs and best interests are ignored every other day. February 2 Update on Part-Time Faculty Union Negotiations Comment from
dkornreich on
02/03/17
I'd like to know why the administration thinks it's reasonable to pay half as
much per course when it's taught by part-time faculty. Part-time faculty are part-TIME, not part-PAY. February 2 Update on Part-Time Faculty Union Negotiations Comment from
cjohengen on
02/04/17
That our administration stoops to this level of
propaganda rather than honestly addressing the issue at hand is really surprising and shameful. For several years as a part-time lecturer at IC, my pay per course was 30% of what I was paid as a part-time instructor at Wells College, just up the road. If they can pay a genuine living wage for part-time work, then why can't Ithaca College? This issue is not going to be solved by sly wordsmithing and retrenchment, and it's going to result in further black eyes for the administration if something substantive isn't accomplished soon. |
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That would be entirely in the spirit of MLK.