Unionization In The Classroom: GW's Response To Organizing
Part-Time Faculty
|
Back
to Index
|
LETTER
AND SAMPLE BALLOT TO PART-TIME FACULTY (printer-friendly
version)
September 29, 2004
TO: Part-time Faculty Colleagues
FROM: Donald R. Lehman, Executive Vice President for Academic
Affairs
RE: Upcoming Union Election
The
election to determine whether or not Local 500 of the Service Employees
International Union will represent you in your employment as a part-time
faculty member at GW now and in the future is just around the corner.
The election, to be held entirely by mail ballot, will begin October
4, 2004 and continue through October 19, 2004.
I
am writing for two reasons. One is that I would like to encourage
you to vote. The majority vote among those votes cast prevails,
so you must cast your vote to impact the outcome and the
outcome of the election will impact you, regardless of whether you
vote. The second reason I am writing is to share with you my personal
thoughts regarding the impact that unionization could have on academic
life at GW.
As
I consider the progress we are making toward greater academic excellence
at GW, I marvel at the commitment of the people around me. There
are hundreds of faculty and staff members whose efforts serve to
propel the entire institution toward a higher level of excellence.
I recognize the part-time faculty as one very important segment
of this population. It is for that reason that I think it is important
to preserve the ability that you have to interact directly with
your colleagues as we strive to meet the needs of our students.
Currently,
you are able to work directly with your department chair or program
director to determine the courses you would like to teach, and the
semester(s), days and times you would like to teach them. With a
union involved, my concern is that standardized union rules will
dictate course schedules, workloads, appointment and reappointment
procedures, and hours of work. Moving toward standardization and
away from decision-making based on curricular needs and the individual
needs, professional interests, and capabilities of our part-time
faculty, seems to me a move away from academic excellence.
As
a group, GWs part-time faculty reflects the many professional
and personal circumstances that motivate acceptance of a part-time
teaching position. One similarity I perceive among those of you
I have met and corresponded with is a value placed on teaching as
a particularly challenging and satisfying way to share the interest
and expertise you have in your content area. Among the differences
I see are that some of you have careers outside of GW that are the
basis of the expertise you bring to your teaching role, some of
you teach at GW to fulfill a passion unrelated to your full-time
employment, and some of you are devoted to careers in academe and
comprise an academic life by teaching at GW and perhaps other local
institutions. I find it hard to imagine a union capable of satisfactorily
representing the interests of such a diverse group of individuals.
I
recognize that some of you have professional interests that have
not yet been met by the University. I hope you will consider how
important it is that decisions regarding the professional interests
of all of GWs faculty and staff be made not on merit alone,
but in the context of the Universitys strategic priorities
and available resources. Our aspirations exceed the resources we
have available to meet them in the short term. It is only over time
that we can make progress in the many areas that require attention.
It is only with the perspective of time that we can really appreciate
the progress we have already made. I believe that retaining the
current mode of direct interaction among faculty members and members
of the administration will best serve you and the entire GW community.
Regardless
of your views on whether unionization is in your best interests,
I urge you to vote. As I said at the start, it is crucial that you
return your ballot when you receive it in the mail. The process
is simple. The ballot will arrive with two return envelopes, an
inner and an outer. Just mark your ballot, place it in the inner
envelope, then put that into the postage-paid envelope addressed
to the National Labor Relations Board (the outer envelope). Voting
is strictly confidential -- do not sign the ballot itself. Simply
sign your name on the outer envelope -- it will be discarded by
the NLRB after being logged in. Then, mail it so that it is postmarked
no later than October 19, 2004. For your assistance, I have enclosed
a sample ballot.
Thank
you for taking the time to consider my thoughts.
SAMPLE
BALLOT:
|