Dear Faculty,
The union has received a series of questions regarding summer rates, so I wanted to clarify the matter here.
The second summer course has been a point of contention for administration for the past few years. They and many of the deans claimed that a 12.5% rate made a second summer course for in-unit faculty either increasingly difficult to sustain or never sustainable in the first place, depending upon which college you are located within.
UFF started bargaining a lower price for a second summer course with the caveat that our bargaining contract language guarantees bargaining unit faculty receive the first offer for a second summer course, something absent from prior contract language. The new language states: “If all bargaining unit employees qualified to teach a class have already been offered two classes to teach or an equivalent assignment, the University may offer the supplemental summer appointment to anyone who is qualified (e.g., adjuncts).” If you read the old contract, it only states “one” class.
We initially suggested the second summer course occur at a 10% rate or that we place a cap on the amount faculty could earn for two summer courses. The administration instead suggested that bargaining unit faculty be offered a higher percentage of the adjunct rates for a second course. After much negotiation, faculty rates were determined roughly at 175% of the adjunct rate, give or take depending upon the college.
These rates, however, are only minimums. As it states in the contract: “Second assigned course: At the minimum rate set in Appendix H, but not to exceed the rate paid for the first course. 12.5%.” Any dean can up these rates for their college as long as they don’t exceed 12.5% for a second summer course.
UFF understands that faculty in some colleges were teaching two courses for 12.5% each for the last two years. The dean’s in those colleges can continue to offer the same rates under the new contract if deemed feasible. Faculty should continue to advocate for higher pay within their colleges, and UFF will continue to try to improve the rates for second summer courses in the future for all faculty. This portion of the collective bargaining agreement will be automatically reopened for Summer 2015.
The thinking in accepting the deal was: we can either hold out on a 12.5% second course rate that was benefiting an ever-decreasing number of faculty or we could accept a lower rate for a second summer course that was guaranteed to be offered to all bargaining unit faculty first and at a minimum rate that would not immediately simply replicate adjunct pay.
Hence Appendix H and the changes in language for Article 8.
Best,
Chris
UFF-FAU President