Thursday is the day! We need a strong turnout this Thursday, 12:30-3:30 in Chiles 125, as the UA Bargaining Team presents our economic package to the administration.
Our Article 26: Salary represents a significant increase to faculty pay through across-the-board, merit, and equity raises, as well as promotion increases. The UA Economics Team will present information showing where faculty salaries at the University of Oregon stand in regard to our comparator institutions and our plan to bring faculty salaries up to competitive levels. We will present a few other articles (Article 21: Review Decision Appeals, Article 34: Caregiving), pose questions regarding some of the (somewhat contentious) proposals that the administration brought to the last session, and the administration team will surely have a few more proposals of their own.
Let’s pack the room to show support for your bargaining team and send a signal to the administration that years of lagging salaries just won’t do anymore! Winning significant raises, or anything else at the bargaining table, depends less on making rational arguments and thoughtful proposals than on faculty showing up and showing their support for the proposals on the table.
Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose.
Excuse moi?
Johnson Hall will commit to presenting a fair, reasoned, and prudent response to faculty salary demands by next February 29th, or by February 30th at the very latest.
Please stick to compensation. Just salaries. COLA every two years, merit every 3 years, fix compression. Single-issue and don’t get fussy.
Noted.
UA is still alive? Couldn’t tell if the last 5 years are any indication…
bring your stethoscope to 125 Chiles today at 12:30
Perhaps excessive navel-gazing has contributed to your perception of the University or the world at large?
Insults are always welcome at UOM, but please try and be more specific and creative.
Faculty bargaining team strolls in to applause. Keaton Miller – UAUO’s economic consultant – is wearing a sports-coat to signify the seriousness of the occasion.
Full house. Session starts with softball faculty response to something about tenure grievances and responses to various other articles.
Admin team: Chris Mead, Ron Bramhall, Dan Currier, Karen Ford, Angie Jimenez, Nadia Singh, Bruce McGough, Jennifer Maynard
Keaton Miller is introduced by Head faculty bargainer Nathan Whalen. https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=bzA33fIAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao
Miller points out that UO’s faculty morale is in the toilet, as reported by the administration’s $350K
“IDEAL Climate Survey” Not just talk, faculty have been voting with their feet and leaving as enrollment has been increasing. 25% of last years searches failed, compared to usual 15%.
Why? Our salaries are also in the toilet. In the Big 10, we’re at the bottom.
Keaton, speaking as an economist: Hopes Admins will agree that salaries should be “competitive”. (Forshadowing: Is President Scholz’s salary competitive?)
At a min, to be competitive, UO salaries should, on average, be average. Points out that new President Karl Scholz’s salary is 98% of AAU public average.
UO Faculty, on the other hand, are now down to 86% of AAU average. (from 92%)
To get us to AAU public average, faculty need on average 9.4% per year over 3 years.
We demand 100% of mediocrity!
Keaton: Maybe we’re underpaid because we’re the worst faculty in the AAU? Actually, UO department averages are orthogonal to department quality as measured by various metrics.
Union proposal will devote some money from the 9.4% per year to internal and external equity. Also an increase in the promotion raises from 8% to 10%. 8% was supposed to be a minimum, but admin has treated it as a maximum.
Regarding merit, faculty are pissed at having to divy up pissant 3% merit increases (decreases in real dollars). So we want 6% for merit in year 3.
But Professor Miller, hasn’t Jamie Moffitt told us that the well is dry?
Jamie “Buckets” Moffitt
She just says what President Scholz tells her to say. It’s on Scholz.
It’s not. Total cost of faculty (including law etc.) and OPE is $186M. This proposal would increase that cost to $244M in year 3. Another $57M per year by year 3. Is this big?
Can UO afford to pay competitive salaries? The Admin will respond that we are trying to bankrupt the university. Keaton does not want this, because he likes his job. So what’s the truth?
Keaton looks at UO revenue and expenses, as reported to the US Dept of Education’s IPED system. Faculty salaries mostly come from UO’s “education and general fund”. Since 2017, UO has spent about 30% of E&G on faculty salaries. This has been falling, will be only about 28% in 2023.
[I wonder why Jamie never shows these numbers?]
[Admin team has heads down, looking like guilty kids with hand in cookie jar.]
Keaton: Relative to peers, we spend a smaller percentage of budget on education and research.
Keaton: What about benefits? Used to be large. He looked at other AAU’s, our benefits cost is now just about average.
In conclusion, faculty understand that UO can’t afford excellence in salaries, we just want average.
No questions from embarrassed Admins. Applause for Keaton.
Union calls for caucus. Admins file out. Standing applause for Professor Miller.
Dan Lanning’s salary package is almost 40% of all faculty pay in a year. The best universities pay their football coach 100% of faculty salaries to be competitive.
Faculty comment in Caucus: I’m tired of admins judging us, when they can’t do their job and pay us!
Chants of “What do we want? Average! When do we want it? In 3 years!”
Some salaries of Admin Bargaining Team:
Karen Ford $300,000.00
Bruce McGough$286,123.00
Nadia Singh $190,000.00
Ron Bramhall $161,757.00
Chris Mead $139,050.00