UFF-FAU represents tenured faculty.

Tenure is among the most important rights held by FAU faculty, and it exists only because it is written into the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Nothing in state law grants tenure, and indeed legislators have expressed an interest in eliminating tenure in the universities and state colleges, just as they have eliminated it in the K-12 schools. Your Collective Bargaining Agreement is your best protection as a tenured faculty member, but the tenure provisions in the CBA are only as strong as the union that negotiates them on your behalf.

However, negotiating tenure rights is only half the story. They also have to be enforced. In 2009-2010, FAU administrators announced the layoff of six tenured faculty members in the College of Engineering. At the same time, twenty-one tenured faculty at Florida State University were slated for termination. After spending well over $100,000 on staff and legal expenses, UFF prevailed and five of the six FAU faculty and all twenty-one FSU faculty were reinstated (the sixth FAU faculty member voluntarily retired).

One of UFF-FAU’s long-term goals is to preserve tenure as an institution at FAU. This means both preventing a slippage of jobs from tenure-track to non-tenure-track classifications and protecting the integrity of tenure rights. UFF-FAU is committed to standing up for tenure. Tenure is essential for academic freedom, it is a key feature of a quality university, and it helps to create a climate of open expression and scientific inquiry that benefits all faculty members as well as students and society.