During the Open Mic period at the February meeting (Feb. 4) of the Faculty Senate, the subject of faculty unions was raised by Ed Harris, a professor of biochemistry, who asked the Executive Committee their thoughts on unionizing.
Pete Eklund, Senate president and a professor of music, said his own research and inquiries with faculty leaders at other universities had shown that while unionizing might lead to higher salaries, it often also resulted in the elimination of faculty positions. And some of those eliminated may be tenured. He said the committee is continuing to study the matter.
Wes Peterson, a professor of agricultural economics, said while forming a union may mean loss of faculty, there could be offsetting benefits. The Academic Rights and Responsibilities Committee, of which Peterson is a member, has asked the university to provide legal counsel for faculty members who are facing termination, he said. The university’s general counsel is adamantly opposed to that. Peterson said if the UNL faculty were unionized, the union could provide them with legal counsel.
Eklund said another benefit of unionizing might be a parental-leave policy. He said the Senate had been trying to persuade the Nebraska University system leaders to provide that, but they’ve been dragging their feet. UNO and UNK, both of which have collective bargaining units, have family-leave benefits for their members.
John Shrader, the president-elect and an associate professor of broadcasting, said he had been in unions, both as a broadcaster and a professor. Sometimes they drove him crazy, he said, but he got more out of being in a union that not being in one.
A senator asked how nontenure-track faculty would fit into a union. Richard Leiter, a professor in the College of Law, said usually tenured and tenure-track faculty are in a different bargaining unit from nontenure-track faculty. Who would and would not be included in a bargaining unit would be a matter of negotiation if the time comes, he said.
In other business, the Faculty Senate
- Heard reports from the Academic Planning Committee and the Teaching Council. Jennifer Clarke, a professor of statistics in food science and technology and chair of the APC, said the committee was awaiting the chancellor’s proposals for how to cut spending. The expected cuts are apart from any those that may be required if the Nebraska Legislature adopts Gov. Jim Pillen’s recommendation to reduce the university’s budget by about $25 million. The chair of the Teaching Council, Cynthia Cress, said the committee has been discussing how to teach successfully while using affordable student resources and supporting efforts to revive the Century Teaching Club for faculty with large classes.
- Approved revising the syllabus for the Faculty Senate Diversity and Inclusion Committee. The revisions eliminate committee members from entities that no longer exist, such as the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and staff members who now have their own Staff Senate with a diversity and inclusion committee.
- Approved changes to the UNL Syllabus Policy. The changes require syllabuses to include a course letter grading scale and an explanation of how different assignments and tests contribute to the course grade.
