An Election Message From PSUFA's Outgoing Chair of Membership

Dear colleagues,

My name is Eli Ronick and I’ve been honored to hold the position of Chair of Membership over the last 2+ years. I’ve enjoyed getting to know a lot of you through membership drives and general membership meetings. I may have even signed you up! As I noted at the Winter GMM, I will be stepping down from the position after the Spring term. I’m writing this letter to you to share a bit about my experience in a leadership role within PSUFA as well as discuss moving forward together and how we can continue to build power.

I first became regularly involved with PSUFA in Fall of 2018. While working for our union, I often walked around buildings I’d never set foot in and talked to adjuncts in departments I hadn’t known existed at PSU. Up to that point, being an adjunct had been a fulfilling but often isolating experience. I loved working with university students but I missed the interaction with co-workers that I’d been a part of in other teaching work. Working with our union allowed me to see the diversity of knowledge and background of each of my adjunct colleagues and to feel, for the first time, a part of a community. It was this experience that led me to run for the executive council.

During my time as Chair of Membership, I’ve been grateful to connect with scores of adjuncts in departments all over campus. The conversations that most stuck with me were those in which adjuncts opened up to me about their financial hardships. Often, I was able to direct them to a variety of monetary and wellness-based support systems that they were pleased to learn were available to them. This meaningful work has often helped sustain me emotionally and spiritually. With the help of member organizers and other PSUFA volunteers, we’ve helped to sign up over 200 new members over the last two years. My department alone, World Languages & Literatures, has increased dues-paying members over 30%. This added revenue has helped directly fund the work of our executive council and the tireless effort of our bargaining team, who have brought you tangible gains like significant salary increases, new and strengthened benefit funds, and guaranteed annual orientation for new hires.

This is the part of the letter where I ask you to consider stepping up and running for office this Spring. Our union runs and functions only because people like you make it so. Don’t worry—we’ll definitely be around to help new council members learn the ropes, but these positions, especially the Chair of Membership, are vital for the continued power and growth of our union. Leaving it vacant would not put us at full strength. The bargaining team can only do so much. We need you to step up and do more. You can apply and read more at psufa.org/elections.

In solidarity,

Eli

The Hits Keep On Coming

 

“What brought us to the Union?” is a question that we often ask ourselves in the Executive Council. As an adjunct, it’s easy to feel alienated and powerless in the place(s) that you work, even though we teach as many student credit hours as tenure track faculty and make up the largest proportion of faculty (47%) on campus. Many of us are Road Scholars, commuting from campus to campus, teaching one class here and one class there and another class way over there. We are the New Majority on most of the campuses that we teach. Yet, we have no representation in the faculty senate therefore no voice in the curriculum that WE teach. We have very little job security and are paid less per credit hour than our non-tenure track colleagues. And, offices—don’t get us started on that...but stay tuned for a spring campaign to address it!

We’re not the only ones on campus who are affected by the corporatization and underfunding of higher education. The Board of Trustees voted unanimously to raise tuition 9% in the fall for in-state students (this on top of a 4% increase from last year), bringing undergraduate tuition and fees to $9,030 a year and in-state graduate costs to $15,816 a year. This increase is hard to swallow, especially when a member of our Board has profited so much off the student loan business. Tuition increases alone won’t fix the deficit, so the university is also looking to make $9 million in cuts, which will likely include “targeted personnel reductions” of $2.85 million.

So, what brings us to the Union? Given our current political climate, locally and nationally, a unified voice for workers is more important than ever. By joining together, we can go on the offense and build broad based campaigns that demand common good solutions to win progressive revenue and advance community fights for debt-free education, pay equity, and 15 NOW!

This is your Union and we need your participation more than ever. There are a lot of ways to get involved. You can be regularly involved by joining a Committee, you can join us in the streets on MAY DAY, you can write a letter to the editor, you can come to the next Executive Council Meeting, or you can start a campaign (and we’ll support you). And you if haven’t filled out your membership form, we encourage you to do it now (remember there are no additional dues). Continue reading for more important news, events, and updates!
 

In Solidarity,

The Executive Council

Apply for Executive Council Positions (paid)

A member of our Executive Council received additional academic work, and we need your participation to keep our union thriving!  Please see our job description (PDF) for Secretary. This position is compensated with a monthly stipend. 

ELIGIBILITY: To be eligible to apply for this position you need to be a PSUFA member (dues-share) in good standing and teaching/researching part-time at PSU during the 2016-2017 academic year.

APPLICATION PROCESS: Submit a brief letter of interest specifically addressing the qualifications listed in the job description, a current resume, and 2-3 references with email and phone contact information. Fair-share members will need to submit a PSUFA membership form (link to membership information).  Please send your application as a single PDF to:
 
Staci Martin, PSUFA President
president@psufa.org 

DEADLINE: Friday, November 4th, 11:59 P.M. Pacific.  Interviews will be conducted the following week and appointment decisions made by the President with the support and advice of the Executive Council (as per the PSUFA Constitution and Bylaws).

The Portland State University Faculty Association (PSUFA) is a democratic union that provides member advocacy; negotiates pay and benefits through collective bargaining; administers benefits for adjunct faculty; and seeks to improve their position at the University.

Apply for Executive Council Positions (paid)

We have had two vacancies on our Executive Council, and we need your participation to rebuild our council before Fall 2016! Please see our job descriptions below for Vice President of Grievances and Vice President of Membership (Organizing). These positions are both compensated with a monthly stipend. 

- Vice President of Grievances Job Description (PDF)
- Vice President of Membership & Organizing Job Description (PDF) 

ELIGIBILITY: To be eligible to apply you need to be a PSUFA member (Due-share) in good standing and teaching/researching as an adjunct at PSU during 2016-2017 academic year.

APPLICATION PROCESS: Submit a letter of interest specifically addressing the qualifications listed in the job description, a current resume, and 2-3 references with email and phone contact information. Fair-share members need to submit a PSUFA membership form (link to membership information). When applying for both positions, submit two separate applications.  Please send each application as a single PDF to:
 
Staci Martin, PSUFA President
president@psufa.org 

DEADLINE: 26 August 2016 11:59 P.M. Pacific; Interviews will be conducted the following week and appointment decisions made by the President with the support and advice of the Executive Council (as per the PSUFA Constitution and Bylaws).