LETTER AND SAMPLE BALLOT TO PART-TIME FACULTY (printer-friendly version)(printer-friendly version (PDF))

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, GW’s 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 GW’s faculty and staff be made not on merit alone, but in the context of the University’s 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: