Preamble -- As delivered at the bargaining table on June 11, 2007

Both the administration and the AAUP recognize that the current qualified title “field service” is not being used in any coherent way and is, in fact, in many academic units being used in ways that are contrary to the plain and common-sense meaning of the term. In addition, the AAUP believes that similar problems are occurring with the qualified titles “research” and “clinical.” Recognition of these issues by UC administration is, we surmise, at least in part the motivation for the administration’s proposal (April 18, 2007) to add two new qualified titles, “Teaching Professor/Educator” and “Professor of the Practice.”

The AAUP agrees with UC administration that new titles should be considered. We also believe that the lack of definitions of titles contributes to confusion and dilution of the meaning of these titles, and to the vastly disparate interpretations across the University of the faculty work that is indicated by the use of such titles.

The Growing Reliance on Non-Tenured Faculty

The issue of titles, however, cannot be severed from the larger issues attendant to the growing presence of contingent (non-tenured) faculty at UC, including part-time adjunct faculty.¹ Data from UC’s Office of Institutional Research shows a dramatic increase in the use of adjunct faculty, by the measure of FTEs, in certain colleges between 1997 and 2006: from 16% to 22% in CCM; from 13% to 34% in Allied Health; from 19% to 38% in Nursing; and from 6% to 33% in CECH. Furthermore, it is disturbing to see that the reliance on adjunct faculty at UC’s branch campuses has remained high over the past 12 years: from 28% to 30% at Raymond Walters, and from 49% to 53% at Clermont.

Using a measure of persons hired as faculty, a review of the AAUP Contingent Faculty Index from 2006 (based on data reported to the U.S. Dept. of Education) shows that 39% of UC’s faculty are part-time adjuncts. Among full-time faculty across the university, the number of those off the tenure track has increased to 21%. This number does not take into account the dramatically large increase in non-tenured faculty in the College of Medicine (data from the COM not being collected by the DOE).

True Costs of Non-Tenured Faculty Positions

The lack of opportunity for full-time faculty to work toward tenure and the persistent use of high numbers of part-time, adjunct faculty in certain academic units are both detrimental to the prestige and reputation of the university. These trends also impede department productivity, healthy shared governance, and high-quality education and research at UC.  A comprehensive approach to these issues is, we believe, in the best interest of both UC as an institution and the faculty as a whole.

There are the real costs to widespread reliance on contingent faculty:

The dramatic increase in the number and proportion of contingent faculty in the last ten years has created systemic problems for higher education. Student learning is diminished by reduced contact with tenured faculty members, whose expertise in their field and effectiveness as teachers have been validated by peer review and to whom the institution has made a long-term commitment. Faculty governance is weakened by constant turnover and, on many campuses, by the exclusion of contingent faculty from governance activities. Inequities and physical distance among potential colleagues undermine the collegial atmosphere of academic institutions and hamper the effectiveness of academic decision making. The integrity of faculty work is threatened as parts of the whole are divided and assigned piecemeal to instructors, lecturers, graduate students, specialists, researchers, and even administrators. Academic freedom is weakened when a majority of the faculty cannot rely on the protections of tenure. The following paragraphs examine each of these problems as an educational cost that institutions incur when they choose not to invest adequately in their instructional missions. (From “Contingent Appointments and the Academic Profession,” November 2003, available at http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/pubsres/ policydocs/conting-stmt.htm.)

Faculty Opinion on the Impact of Non-Tenured Positions

Qualified title faculty are unique among academic personnel in that they must continually, throughout their careers, “reapply” for their positions. All of these factors have a negative impact and often translate into low morale, lowered productivity, and a high rate of turnover. These are measurable costs which lead to real economic losses for the university in both the short and long terms.

In the AAUP’s recent survey of the bargaining unit, 671 faculty members (of whom about half were AAUP members and half were non-members) responded to these questions regarding the impact of short-term, unstable appointment terms for full-time, qualified title faculty:

(1) Do you think that appointment terms longer than 1-3 years would reduce the workload involved in preparation of and review of reappointment dossiers for individual faculty and for RPT committees?

“Would reduce the workload a lot” or “Would reduce the workload somewhat” = 73%

(2) How important do you think having appointment terms longer than 1-3 years would be in improving morale and productivity among non-tenured faculty in your department?

“Very important” or “Somewhat important” = 65%

These results are especially noteworthy given that many tenured faculty may as yet be unaware of the extent of the presence of contingent faculty colleagues throughout the university system. 

AAUP Counter-Proposals on
Contingent Faculty Issues and
in response to the University’s proposal
for three new qualified titles

(AAUP proposals as presented at
the bargaining table on July 31, 2007)

Proposal 1. Establish new titles (Article 1.1)

1.1 The University recognizes the AAUP as the sole collective bargaining agent for the purpose of bargaining with the University with respect to wages, hours, and other conditions of employment for employees in the following classifications:

1.1.1    All Faculty Members Faculty and Librarians who holding the unqualified titles of Instructor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Professor,  Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, and Instructor, Beginning Librarian, Assistant Librarian, Associate Librarian, Associate Senior Librarian and Senior Librarian;

1.1.2     All full-time Faculty Members Faculty in the College of Medicine, not classified as geographic, who receive their salary through the University;

1.1.3    All persons Faculty appointed full-time on an academic year or annual basis who hold qualified Faculty titles including those in field service, clinical, or research series the titles of Instructor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, or Professor qualified by one of the following: Clinical, Field Service, Practice, Research, or Teaching;

1.1.4    All persons Faculty appointed on an academic year or annual basis who hold with adjunct Adjunct or other part-time titles whose position is 65% or more of a full-time Faculty position;

Proposal 2. Define faculty titles (ALL NEW CONTRACT LANGUAGE)

DEFINITIONS

ADJUNCT FACULTY shall mean a person holding a non-tenure-track appointment who teaches or engages in scholarly activity and/or provides service as per the established criteria of his/her academic unit on a part-time basis. All work related to teaching, research, and service must be included in the calculation of the percentage of full-time employment.

AFFILIATED FACULTY shall mean a person fulfilling faculty responsibilities who is employed at an institution with whom the University has an affiliation agreement and who receives at least part of his/her compensation from the affiliated institution.

CLINICAL FACULTY shall mean a Faculty Member holding full-time non-tenure track appointment whose work involves patient care services. Clinical appointments should afford the Faculty Member some opportunity to engage in contribution to the instructional mission of the unit, scholarly activity and service consistent with the academic unit's established workload criteria and consistent with the need for a Faculty Member to be professionally well-rounded.

FIELD SERVICE FACULTY shall mean a Faculty Member holding a full-time non-tenure-track appointment whose work involves interactions with the larger public or community outside the University. Field Service appointments should afford the Faculty Member some opportunity to engage in contribution to the instructional mission of the unit, scholarly activity and service consistent with the academic unit's established workload criteria and consistent with the need for a Faculty Member to be professionally well-rounded.

PRACTICE FACULTY shall mean a Faculty Member holding a full-time non-tenure-track appointment whose work involves the application of specific professional knowledge, practical skills and experience to the instructional mission of the unit. Practice appointments should afford the Faculty Member some opportunity to engage in scholarly activity and service consistent with the academic unit's established workload criteria and consistent with the need for a Faculty Member to be professionally well-rounded.

RESEARCH FACULTY shall mean a Faculty Member holding a full-time non-tenure-track appointment whose work is to increase the quality and productivity of the research programs of the University by collaboration with the research efforts of other faculty and/or carry out independent research. Research appointments should afford the Faculty Member some opportunity to engage in contribution to the instructional mission of the unit and service consistent with the academic unit's established workload criteria and consistent with the need for a Faculty Member to be professionally well-rounded.

TEACHING FACULTY shall mean a Faculty Member holding a full-time non-tenure-track appointment whose work involves instruction of graduate and/or undergraduate students and/or instructional program coordination. Teaching appointments should afford the Faculty Member some opportunity to engage in scholarly activity and service consistent with the academic unit's established workload criteria and consistent with the need for a Faculty Member to be professionally well-rounded.

VISITING FACULTY shall mean a person who is fulfilling faculty responsibilities on a temporary basis and is employed: (1) to fulfill the duties of a Bargaining Unit member on academic or other leave; or (2) in order to work with University of Cincinnati faculty on specific academic projects. The maximum number of years a person may hold a Visiting Professor position, without being moved into the Bargaining Unit, is two (2) years.

VOLUNTEER FACULTY shall mean a person fulfilling faculty responsibilities who provides service to the University without compensation.

Proposal 3. Define a process for title changes for Faculty Members with qualified titles (NEW MEMORANDUM)

It is the intent of this Agreement to accord all Faculty Members a title that reflects the nature of their responsibilities to the University. It is the intent of this Agreement that any Faculty Member whose current title does not reflect the nature of their responsibilities will have a new title that does reflect those responsibilities by no later than June 1, 2008.

All academic unit heads are therefore required to review the nature of the responsibilities of all Faculty Members with qualified titles in the unit, in order to assess the appropriateness of those titles. Should a review of the nature of a Faculty Member’s responsibilities show that one of the qualified titles established by this contract better describes that Faculty Member’s responsibilities, a request for a change in title is to be filed by the unit head. The request must briefly outline the Faculty Member’s responsibilities and give a short rationale for the need to change to a new title.

All requests for a change in title must be submitted to the appropriate Dean’s office not later than January 1, 2008.  All such requests must be reviewed and forwarded with the Dean’s recommendations on each request to the appropriate Provost’s office not later than March 1, 2008.  The Provost must notify each Faculty Member and respective academic unit of the approval or rejection of the request for new title not later than June 1, 2008. At all levels of this process, efforts will be made to process requests in as prompt a manner as is possible.

When, pursuant to the provisions of this Memorandum, a Faculty Member’s title changes, the Faculty Member’s academic rank will remain the same.

Copies of all letters in this process, including the initiating letter and the Provost’s final decision, must be forwarded to the Faculty Member and to the AAUP office.

The Faculty Member’s new title becomes effective immediately upon approval by the Provost.

Proposal 4. Define processes for moving from non-tenured to tenured status (Article 6.1)

6.1.5

Should the Administration determine that a non-tenure track faculty position should be converted to a tenure-track position, and the faculty in the academic unit agrees, the Administration shall change the status of the non-tenure track Faculty Member who is currently employed in that position to tenure-track.

6.1.6

Should a tenure-track position be created or become vacant, if the tenure-track position is subject to a full search, any non-tenure track Faculty Member currently employed at the University who is interested and who is qualified for the position will, except for special circumstances, be granted an interview.

Proposal 5. Provide appointment terms of increased length for non-tenured, full-time faculty who achieve successful reappointments

6.4  Qualified Faculty Titles

6.4.1 Qualified Faculty titles are titles in the All non-tenure track Faculty appointments shall be identified by one of the following qualifiers:  Adjunct, Clinical, Field Service, Practice, Research, and Clinical series,  Teaching. Faculty Members with qualified titles do not have the right to request a review for tenure.

6.4.2  Persons appointed by the University in connection with special grants or for other projects limited in time may only receive qualified titles.

6.4.3 The Dean or administrator shall notify each person appointed to a qualified title that the appointee does not have the right to be reviewed for tenure, of the terms of the appointment, and of any conditions for reappointment or promotion. This Article does not restrict the right of the Board to grant tenure to any person whose value to the University merits that action.

6.4.4 Full-time Faculty Members with a qualified title may be appointed and reappointed for terms of one (1), two (2), or three (3) years, up to a maximum of six (6) years.  After six (6) years employment by the University as a full-time Faculty Member with a qualified title, all subsequent reappointments must be for a minimum of six (6) years.

Proposal 6. Establish a joint committee to collect data on contingent faculty utilization and programmatic needs (NEW MEMORANDUM)

The parties to this Agreement understand that there are numerous issues surrounding the use of contingent faculty at the University. In order to assess the situation and to make recommendations aimed at improving the quality of education at this University, the parties agree to establish a Joint Committee on Contingent Faculty and Programmatic Needs.

This committee shall consist of three persons appointed by the AAUP and three persons appointed by the Administration. All committee members shall be appointed no later than December 1, 2007.

The University shall direct the Office of Institutional Research and all deans and academic unit heads to cooperate with data collection and other work to be performed by this committee.

This committee will: (1) collect data on the percentage of credit hours taught by contingent faculty (both full- and part-time) at the academic unit and college levels, and all other relevant data, (2) assess the programmatic needs and missions at the academic unit, division, and college levels in relation to the utilization of contingent faculty, (3) provide a report on the results of their research, which may (at the discretion of the committee) include recommendations for action, no later than December 15, 2008, to the AAUP and to the University President.

Within 90 days of the receipt of the Joint Committee’s report, negotiations will be re-opened solely over the question of setting targets for reduction in the number of credit hours taught by contingent faculty for each college in the University. 

_____________________

¹ The AAUP defines the term contingent faculty as including “both part- and full-time faculty who are appointed off the tenure track. . . . For example, teachers hired to teach one or two courses for a semester, experts or practitioners who are brought in to share their field experience, and whole departments of full-time non-tenure-track English composition instructors are all ‘contingent faculty.’ The term includes adjuncts, who are generally compensated on a per-course or hourly basis, as well as full-time non-tenure-track faculty who receive a salary.  . . . To the extent that a [graduate employee is] undertaking independent teaching activities that are similar in nature to those of regular faculty, the term ‘contingent faculty’ should apply.”

From the AAUP statement, “Contingent Appointments and the Academic Profession” (November 2003) at http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/pubsres/policydocs/conting-stmt.htm.