January 16, 2022
Hello, Faculty – Below is the signed agreement between the administration and the Faculty Association concerning some important health and safety concerns as we return to F2F on Tuesday. We just received it.I am simply posting the document because time is of the essence. We will communicate more soon. Watch for another one-page Q & A on Tuesday. Best, Anne
January 8, 2022
We want to provide an update on bargaining related to the health, safety, and other working conditions surrounding the return for Spring 2022 with the ongoing Covid pandemic particularly with the Omicron variant. We have had several bargaining sessions with administration held jointly with NTT and GAU.First, we want to acknowledge and celebrate the Chancellor’s directive moving many of the first week of classes online to allow for the testing of all students, faculty and staff to be done in a more orderly fashion. This was a direct outcome of the work of our bargaining team. This isn’t what we demanded nor do we believe our work is done– but bargaining is ultimately about finding common ground.Moving forward, the situation remains fluid. Depending on a variety of factors, there is always a possibility that there may be some extension of online instruction. We have heard from many of you about the challenges this poses for your pedagogy and programs and we have heard you. We have expressed concerns to administration about the way in which the list of face-to-face courses was determined and produced. If there is an extension, we will make sure that there is additional opportunity for those that feel that face-to-face instruction is vital to their pedagogical needs to request such opportunity. We will closely monitor how such determinations are made by admin.We are working on a number of other issues to expand the health and safety protocols to make the return to campus and the classroom as safe as possible. Please know that we are working to represent the constituency and its diverse views in our bargaining. Our hopes remain that admin will work with us to allow for the safest and most pedagogically sound return to instruction, following the guidance of the masters of the pedagogy, the instructors of the courses. We will continue to fight and continue to push. If you have any PPE requirements please request them ASAP of your local administrator. We have been told there are enough surgical-style and cloth masks to fully cover campus. N-95s are also available on a first come first served basis.Please let us know if you have additional comments or questions.
In solidarity,
Jeff Punske, Impact Bargaining Team Leader
November 29, 2021
Dear fellow Salukis: On behalf of Southern Illinois University Carbondale and the SIU Carbondale Faculty Association, we are pleased to announce that we have come to a tentative three-year collective bargaining agreement, which is a result of collaboration and working together in the best interest of the university and our people. The contract covers salaries, operating papers, tenure and promotion, among other issues. Details will be available later. The members of the Faculty Association will review and vote on the contract early in the spring semester.We appreciate everyone’s commitment to shared governance.
Sincerely,Austin Lane
Chancellor, SIU Carbondale
Anne Fletcher,
President, SIU Carbondale Faculty Association
November 19, 2021
In response to the email from Chancellor Lane about student concerns. The FA explicitly refrained from weighing in except to say we had the same concerns about implementation (prerequisites, etc), etc. we have had in the past. We did not poll the bargaining unit because our concerns have gone unheard in the past. We are, OF COURSE, concerned about student well-being. We have contacted University Communications and asked them to correct this misinformation.
November 15, 2021
Hello, Faculty!
As we move toward a hard-earned Thanksgiving Break… wishing you all a restful and pleasant holiday…
News in brief:
· The FA and the administration have completed contract bargaining, and barring unforeseen complications, we will present the new contract to Faculty very soon:
1. A joint press release with the administration stating that we have reached a tentative agreement will be issued
2. We will present changes to the contract to the DRC on December 2 (See below)
3. DRC will distribute to units
4, There will be a full membership vote right at the beginning of the Spring semester (Only FA Members can vote on the contract ratification)
· Operating Papers are crucial to maintaining agency and shared governance within units, particularly with regard to qualifications for Directors. The FA and the administration have a signed Memorandum of Understanding that old Operating Papers are in effect until new ones are approved. That MOU provides for a mechanism to handle conflicting Operating Papers. Reach out to the FA if you need help with Operating Papers.
· The SIUC Faculty Association has proudly and effectively represented tenured and tenure-track faculty at the Carbondale campus of Southern Illinois University for more than 30 years. Faculty Association members are entitled to obtain legal counsel through the Illinois Education Association (IEA)/National Education Association (NEA). We represent Dr. Mingqing Xiao, Ph.D., a mathematics professor at SIUC since 2000.
We urge faculty, students, and the general public to familiarize themselves with the issues at stake when freedom to research is constricted with ethnicity as a main focal point by reading the Stanford Letter, signed by faculty from across the country. We join the Faculty Senate in urging you to sign.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdLeKxr4pIfGb-mfmz4wbGsVqg0wAP2VsJoTRo1AqAqoRe04g/viewform
Some important upcoming dates:
All Bargaining Unit (includes non-dues paying members) Information Session on Zoom, Tuesday November 30 7:00 PM
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3636844593
Meeting ID: 363 684 4593
One tap mobile
+13126266799,,3636844593# US (Chicago)
+16465588656,,3636844593# US (New York)
DRC Meeting 5:00 PM, Thursday, December 2, Parkinson 202– Zoom access will be provided. DRC watch for a link in your email.
All best,
Anne
Anne Fletcher, President SIUCFA
November 12, 2021
Dear Colleagues from SIU and around the country,I’m speaking to the SIU Faculty Senate tomorrow to encourage them to follow the lead of over 800 research faculty Stanford, Princeton, Cal Berkeley and Temple and call on Attorney General Merrick Garland to end the Trump era’s “China Initiative.” Please encourage your Faculty Senate representatives to join these illustrious institutions and approve the proposed letter to AG Garland (for those of you at SIU). In addition, over 1000 faculty from all 50 states have signed on to the Stanford letter individually. Anyone with an edu email address can do so. I’m respectfully requesting that each of you also sign on to the Stanford letter here:https://docs.google.com/…/1FAIpQLSdLeKxr4pIfGb…/viewform That link provides additional background, and makes it incredibly easy to sign on. Thank you in advance for standing up against racial profiling and discrimination. Ed Benyas
September 20, 2021
FA Newsletter 9-19-21
Hello, Faculty!
IMPORTANT: There is some confusion regarding the Chancellor’s statement about 2% raises. The raises he mentioned are for the administration and non-represented, not TT, NTT, or Civil Service employees.
This statement does NOT mean no raises for SIUC Faculty!
It sets a bar of at least 2% from which we will bargain.
At the request of the administration, the FA bargaining paused until after the September 16 Board meeting. We have resumed bargaining in earnest about raises.
In solidarity,
Anne
Statement I read to BoT on Sept 16, 2021
Many of you have met me before. I’m Anne Fletcher, President of the SIUC Faculty Association, and I’m here to talk to you about what it would mean to make Faculty at SIUC a genuine priority at this university.
We are happy to see that the current proposed budget now includes a salary increase plan for SIUC. The rationale for the plan states that “adequate salaries for our faculty and staff are a high priority.” In light of inflation and essentially the pay reduction it has caused, “adequate” isn’t exactly inspiring language at an institution that prides itself on excellence.
This isn’t the place to bargain salary. We return to the Interest Based Bargaining table to begin discussion of finances tomorrow. But here’s what you could do, today, to show that fair salaries for Faculty are a real priority. Faculty are grievously underpaid. Recognize the Faculty who facilitate the university’s teaching and research: we are the university’s essential employees. SIUC Faculty have gone the extra mile to help the university weather a budget crisis and, now, a public health crisis. Every day we enter the classroom, the laboratory, or the studio, we put our disciplinary expertise—and, in the confusion of a pandemic, our health— on the line. We have helped turned around SIUC’s declining enrollment. We have taken on extra work to fill gaps as colleagues have left. We can’t afford to keep losing good Faculty, and we cannot expect good people to keep working for a university that allows their real wages to erode year after year.
Commit to put an end to the real decline in Faculty salaries, this year— and with long-range planning for the years to come. Develop a long-term plan to get SIUC Faculty caught up with inflation, with our peers at other research universities, and even with the other schools in the SIU system (as indicated by the chart provided at the conclusion of today’s Agenda).
We believe SIU can be more than “adequate.” Make Faculty a genuine priority, and you’ll take the single most important step you can toward recruiting, retaining, and motivating the Faculty we need to make SIUC the excellent university it aspires to be.
Thank you.
SIUC Faculty Association 