Pictured above: As the administration of then-USF President Judy Genshaft mounted fierce opposition to the union campaign, adjuncts rebuked her at a rally on Nov. 29, 2017, on the Tampa campus.
Nancy McCann | The Crow’s Nest
By Nancy McCann
Adjunct faculty on USF’s three campuses will be voting this week on their first union contract.
The vote by secret ballot is open to adjuncts “regardless of membership status” in the union, according to an Aug. 5 email from SEIU-Florida Public Services Union explaining the voting process.
The ballot will be delivered to adjuncts by email and remain available from 6 p.m. on Aug. 12 through 4 p.m. on Aug. 14.
The number of adjuncts eligible to vote on the contract has not been released. But when adjuncts voted overwhelmingly in 2018 to form a union, the state said there were 893 eligible voters on the three campuses.
According to the USF website, adjunct instructors are included in the category of “temporary jobs” with a “time-limited appointment … typically for the purpose of teaching specific courses.”
Almost half of St. Petersburg’s faculty in 2016 – 128 of the 269 teachers – were adjuncts. They taught 39 percent of all undergraduate credit hours and 68 percent of all undergraduate course selections in 2015, according to numbers collected by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
Votes will be counted in an open Zoom meeting at 4 p.m. on Aug. 14. The link to that meeting is here.
According to the union, the highlights of the proposed contract include:
** Minimum pay for adjuncts of $1,000 per credit hour, or $400 per student if compensation is per pupil.
** Cancellation fee of $300 if courses are reassigned or canceled within 10 days of the class start date.
** Union representation for grievance procedures and any proposed changes in compensation and working conditions, including “negotiations regarding the impact of COVID-19.”
** Pools identifying all adjuncts currently teaching so the university is aware of who can be considered for “new course openings.”
** Requirements for adjuncts to have annual meetings with department heads and performance evaluations, giving them a “greater voice” in their professional development.
Fifty percent plus one must vote yes to ratify the contract, which has been in the making for over three years.
Adjuncts on the three campuses launched a campaign – under the name Faculty Forward – in the spring of 2017 to seek better pay, job security and benefits and more inclusion in campus life.
They encountered fierce opposition from the administration of then-USF President Judy Genshaft.
Despite attempts by university leaders on the Tampa and St. Petersburg campuses to derail their efforts, the adjuncts voted overwhelmingly in 2018 to form a union.
Negotiations on the first contract continued through this summer.
The adjuncts’ vote on their proposed contract comes amid protests from the union that represents about 2,000 graduate assistants at USF, another group that teaches a significant number of classes.
The union, Graduate Assistants United, is seeking higher pay and benefits, including the full costs of health insurance premiums. Its contract expired June 30.
A Zoom meeting to answer questions about the adjuncts’ proposed contract is scheduled at 6 p.m. on Aug. 12. The link to that meeting is here.
The proposed contract can be viewed here.
