UNIVERSITY POLITICS

Syracuse University, adjunct faculty union agree to 3-year contract

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At a 2015 meeting, a labor research group official said 32 percent of SU faculty were part-time, non-tenure track instructors.

Syracuse University and the union representing about 600 part-time SU faculty approved a three-year contract that guarantees a 2 percent annual wage increase and other benefits for adjunct faculty, the university announced Friday.

SU and the Adjuncts United union agreed to the contract — which will run from 2017 through 2020 — on May 31.

Members of the Adjuncts United union approved an agreement that includes:

  • a 2 percent annual wage increase during the term of the three-year contract
  • opportunities for multiyear appointments of faculty who have taught for 14 consecutive semesters
  • a workspace utilization and optimization plan to help part-time faculty perform teaching-related duties
  • a supplemental teaching load review for assignments lasting longer than 8 weeks
  • an increase in funding for professional training and career development

The contract comes two years after adjunct professors nationwide organized National Adjunct Walkout Day to advocate for better working conditions. Although contractual obligations prohibited SU adjunct faculty from participating in the strike, AU and labor research groups discussed SU adjuncts’ working conditions in a meeting prior to the protest.

About one-third of SU instructors were part-time, nontenure track employees, a labor research group official said at the 2015 meeting.







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