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Tentative Agreement Details

PSUFA Members,

Administration thought that YOU would back down. They expected you to believe their austerity narrative and cower in fear. They expected you to accept the bare minimum. BUT YOU SAID NO! Because of your resounding demands for a FAIR CONTRACT NOW, your attendance at bargaining sessions, your willingness to participate in collective action, and persistent pressure via articles in local news media and the Solidarity Letter signed by over 19 elected local legislators…

Your PSUFA Bargaining Team is happy to announce that a Tentative Agreement (TA) with the University has been reached in this economic reopener.

But we’re not done yet! The language of the TA is still being finalized, and once this is completed PSUFA Membership will be asked to VOTE to RATIFY the proposed contract. In the coming days we will have more information for our members about how and when to cast your vote on the TA. Be sure to keep in mind:

YOU MUST BE A DUES-PAYING MEMBER TO VOTE ON RATIFICATION OF THIS TA.

In order to become a member—if you are not already—sign up now at https://psufa.org/membership. Unsure about your current membership status? Email PSUFA Membership Chair, Vasiliki Touhouliotis.

The details of the TA as outlined below demonstrate significant movement toward all the higher-level demands outlined at the beginning of the bargaining process. We pushed Administration to commit to equal pay for equal work and to keep up with the cost of living over a period of economic instability and inflation. We also made it clear that there need to be raises that reflect length of service to the University and that PSU needs to put an end to the unpaid work that routinely falls on Adjuncts to perform. Access to benefits Adjuncts can use, in the form of health insurance and retirement benefits, and an increase to onboarding and inclusion of Adjuncts in the affairs of their department were also on the table. Although there is always more room for improvement, this TA represents tangible gains in each of these areas.

Had PSUFA Membership backed down on any of these demands, the University would have “given” us the paltry $3.3 million total they offered initially (which would have been an effective pay cut as shown in the comparison table linked below), but because of the strength of our bargaining unit (again, that’s YOU!) this TA package is calculated at $4.6 million—an increase of almost 40% over their initial offer.

 
 

The TA contains a number of gains over what we are provided in our current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), and adds new language to provide access to benefits we did not have before. These changes include:

Increases to Instructional Appointment Per Credit Minimum Salary Rates

  • Effective Fall Term 2023: $1,271

    • Increase of $35 & 10% COLA

  • Effective Fall Term 2024: $1,339–$1,362

    • Increase of $45 & 1.75%–3.5% COLA, variable based on CPI-U West

Increases to Research Appointments Minimum Salary Rates

  • Research Assistant

    • Effective Fall Term 2023: $30.38 per hour

      • Inclusive of 10% COLA

    • Effective Fall Term 2024: $32.23–$32.79 per hour

      • Inclusive of 1.75%–3.5% COLA, variable based on CPI-U West

  • Research Associate

    • Effective Fall Term 2023: $32.53 per hour

      • Inclusive of 10% COLA

    • Effective Fall Term 2024: $34.42–$35.01 per hour

      • Inclusive of 1.75%–3.5% COLA, variable based on CPI-U West

NEW: Length of Service Payment

  • One-time payment of $850 to Adjuncts who have worked in the PSUFA bargaining unit for a minimum of 6 years

    • A year of work is defined as an Adjunct working in an Adjunct instructional or research role in any term in an academic year (Fall, Winter, Spring). Years of work will be calculated to include the academic year in which the payment is made and any years of work in the PSUFA bargaining unit prior to that academic year, including non-consecutive years of work.

Increase to Compensation for Committee Service, Advising, Mentoring Activities, and Special Projects and Certain Curricular Development Work

  • Effective Fall Term 2023: $29.16 per hour

    • Inclusive of 10% COLA

  • Effective Fall Term 2023: $30.99–$31.53 per hour

    • Inclusive of 1.75%–3.5% COLA, variable based on CPI-U West

  • NEW: Addition of compensation for Course Development

    • Up to $500 for either a new course that the department has not previously offered or an existing course that requires major curricular revisions

      • “Curricular revisions” defined as requiring change to 50% or more of the course content as determined by the Department Chair

    • Paid at the committee service rates above

Increase to Compensation for Independent Study Supervision

  • 1 credit hour: $153

  • 2 credit hours: $230

  • 3 credit hours: $306

  • 4 credit hours: $383

Increase in Compensation for Contract Negotiations

  • The University will compensate up to three (3) bargaining unit members four (4) credits per term for the purpose of preparing for and participating in contract negotiations for the duration of the contract negotiations not to exceed a maximum of four (4) terms.

Increase to Release Time for Other Union Duties

  • Provides an additional one hundred (100) hours, for a total of seven hundred (700) hours

NEW: Retirement Benefits Paid by the University

  • For eligible Adjuncts selecting PERS (Public Employees Retirement System):

    • PSU shall pay the six-percent (6%) employee contribution to any eligible Adjunct faculty employee’s Individual Account Program (IAP)

  • For eligible Adjuncts selecting ORP (Optional Retirement Plan) in Tiers 1, 2, or 3:

    • PSU shall pay the employee contribution satisfying the 414(h) contribution option

Sick Leave

  • No cap on hours accrued

  • Hours accrued at the same rate as full-time faculty

    • 1 hour sick leave for 21.66 hours of work

Increase to the Faculty Education Fund (FEF)

  • PSU contributes additional $20,000 per year (up to $65,000)

  • PSU language change on the per credit amount rate to $31 per credit hour

Increase to the Technology Fund

  • PSU contributes $20,000 per year

  • Individual eligibility increased to $1,500 per person

Increase to the Adjunct Faculty Assistance Fund (AFAF)

  • PSU contributes additional $25,000 per year (up to $325,000)

  • Additional money will be available for any purpose as articulated in that article, including financial hardship and/or caregiving expenses

NEW: Adjunct Inclusion Fund

  • PSU provides $7,500 per year to provide up to ten (10) departments with high academic density money to pay adjuncts to participate in department meetings and/or other departmental work.

For all the finer details on the Tentative Agreement and how this compares with what had previously been offered by the University, check out our PSU Proposals & TA Comparison PDF.

 
 

Again, the PSUFA Bargaining Team wants to extend a round of applause to YOU! Bravo to all who attended bargaining sessions and showed up in solidarity throughout the process. We are also immensely grateful for our supportive community members outside the bargaining unit who have actively and vocally supported our cause, including many State and Local elected officials. Thank you as well to the media outlets who covered our struggle.

In Solidarity,

PSUFA Bargaining Team
Ariana, Lyndsie, Vasiliki, Brittney, Alison, Rob, and David

Demonstration for a FAIR CONTRACT NOW

On Friday, July 28th, PSU adjuncts, students, staff, full-time faculty, and community members demonstrated their support for a FAIR CONTRACT NOW for PSU adjuncts.

See pictures of this powerful demonstration of collective action below, and keep an eye on the PSUFA Blog for information on how to get involved in the future.

Bargaining Recap: June 29 & Bargaining Picnic: July 9!

PSUFA Members,

We are picking up some momentum in bargaining and the persistence of our membership and bargaining team is resulting in more serious proposals from management.

Most of PSU’s and PSUFA’s interests around bargaining topics this season have been outlined. We can expect that proposals will be exchanged from here on out in most of our future sessions. Even though our Thursday, June 29, was short, we covered a variety of topics. Here is a recap:

Topics Addressed:

  • Independent Study

  • Union Duties 

  • Bargaining Release 

  • COLA

  • Minimum Rates 

  • Length of Service Increases. 

We began with PSU presenting on what it believes to be a fair counter proposal to PSUFA’s proposal on Independent Study. PSU suggested an increase to the rate in which independent studies are paid. This marks a shift in PSU’s tone concerning independent study. As you may recall, PSU’s first interest statement outlined that they did not intend to increase any compensation for independent studies. What was heard around the table was that independent studies didn’t make for good economics for Portland State University. We gladly welcome this shift in approach, because we know that independent studies are one way in which PSU offers additional academic support to our student body.

Currently adjuncts are paid a dismal flat rate of $50.00 per credit for an independent study, PSU is proposing that adjuncts be paid $153.00 for a 1-credit independent study. In PSU’s proposal, if you teach more than 1 credit, your compensation for that independent study will incrementally raise at approximately $77.00 dollars per every additional credit taught.

The chart PSU provided with their proposal is below:

 

While a step in the right direction, this proposal leaves our unit with some important questions. 

PSU did note that they were factoring that 1 hr of independent study equates to 6 hrs of work for our faculty. PSUFA believes 6 hours is a gross underestimation of hours needed to serve our students participating in independent studies. Also, what happens when a faculty member takes on more than one student per an independent study? Do the hours accounted for go up? And in turn, shouldn’t our compensation? PSUFA is drafting a counter proposal to address these questions and concerns, so more information on this issue to come.

Moving forward, PSUFA brought to the table a first proposal on Union Duties. PSUFA’s argument centered around parity—we want to be valued and compensated the same as our full-time counterparts. It's a simple logic to follow, and it seems like a great place for the university to stand. In asking for pay parity, PSUFA asked that our union compensation be equal to that of a full-time faculty member.  In PSUFA’s proposal, the University and the Union would agree that a pool of up to $72,000 per fiscal year will be available for the purpose of union duties. We will check back in with the administration's response.

Next up, PSU countered PSUFA’s proposal concerning Bargaining Release. PSU came forward and offered a fair counter proposal on this issue, upping the current bargaining release time for contract negotiations from the current 2 credit hours of compensation to 4 hours. We are thrilled that PSU recognized the need here for more compensation, as bargaining takes months and months of prep and work and most of it as it stands now is severely underpaid.

The issue most pressing and the issue that most of our members are greatly affected by was left until the end of our session. Drumroll please… PSU presented an amended proposal on Cost of Living increases, and adjustments to the minimum pay rate. We also heard from PSU a conceptual framework in which they were considering length of service increases.

PSU’s initial proposal on COLA and minimum rates was unconscionable, and in no way addressed the pressing financial precarity that our workforce experiences. On Thursday, PSU’s tone was remarkably different. Thank you for showing up, the stories you all are sharing are impacting these bargaining sessions. PSU presented a 6% cost of living increase for Year 1, and a 2% pay raise to the minimum salary. Check out the chart below for a breakdown:

 

As it stands now we are witnessing movement from PSU’s team but not nearly enough. Looking at our data, these gains would only amount to a 0.2% increase overall for our members. PSU continues to argue that our work as educators equates to 83% percent of what a full-time faculty member does. Not only is this untrue, it shows a lack of knowledge on the part of the administration in knowing what work is actually being done at the ground level in our classrooms. We are currently being paid at a higher equivalent than what PSU is offering in this proposal. We will continue to inform the administration on what our jobs entail in terms of service to the university and argue for a more just equivalence in terms of minimum rate. In terms of COLA, we will accept no less than 10% raise to adjust for inflation.

During COVID, our bargaining unit opted for a 1% COLA in good faith. It is time for the university to pay it forward and give back to the people who lended an extra hand during difficult times. We don't just deserve this cost of living increase, it is absolutely vital for our workforce to thrive.

On our last note of the day, PSU proposed a conceptual framework for Length of Service increases for our people who have demonstrated a longstanding commitment to the university. PSU proposed 2 one-time payments to an adjunct faculty member who has committed at least 7 years of service to the university. A larger bonus would be implemented for those individuals who have worked over 12 years. The first payment would arrive in the winter term of 2023 and another would arrive the following year for those who qualify. The amounts are still to be determined, as the university did not hint at any particular figures. We are currently working out numbers and spending time looking into how these bonuses are to have the most impact on our people. Something to note: the university intends that these payments would inevitably be replaced by a more comprehensive length of service plan to be discussed at our full economic reopener in 2 years time. We have a lot of thoughts on how this “bridge” should work and we will be expressing those ideas in our upcoming session on July 7th from 12:00PM to 5:00PM. Please join in, it is important for the university to see who they are serving with these increases.

In solidarity,
Your PSUFA bargaining team, 2023

Reminder: Our next bargaining sessions are Friday, July 7; Friday, July 14; Wednesday, July 19 (Zoom only); and Friday, July 28. RSVP here and please come in person if you can! Packing the room is one of the best tools we have to bring us wins and improve faculty working conditions and student learning conditions.

Bargaining Picnic — This Sunday (July 9th)!

Thank you, PSUFA members! Your agitation and engagement in the bargaining process is working and we are seeing small but significant successes at the bargaining table as described above.

Come celebrate our successes at the PSUFA picnic this Sunday, July 9th from 1:00 to 3:00PM in Irving Park (707 NE Fremont; gather in the SE side of the park near the baseball field).

Meet fellow adjuncts and build relationships with your co-workers. Deep and meaningful connections help us create transformative change at the bargaining table and beyond!

Light fare provided. And we’re planning on having a bargaining piñata made by our fierce bargaining team member, Brittney Connelly! Please bring a blanket or chair. Families/partners welcome. Please RSVP here so we have an accurate count for food: https://forms.gle/AkfiSJsh69pxhvv79

 

Rally for Fair Pay, April 6, 2023

Our rally last Thursday was rainy as heck, but we still had a stellar turnout. PSUFA members and allies rallied to raise awareness and show how much solidarity we have among students, educators, and works. Speakers from PSU AAUP, Jobs With Justice, PCCFFAP, GEU, SEIU 89, and elsewhere gave great talks, and it was so good to see so many people come out to support workers in higher ed. Here’s a batch of photos—we’ll share more (and video!) soon!

July Labor & Lit!

Labor & Lit is a new social event being offered by PSUFA where you can meet your PSU colleagues, as well as other higher education and union comrades, and have conversations about a given reading or video/film.

We discuss short articles, book chapters, or podcasts—the perfect book club for the contingent worker!

This month, we’ll be discussing local and regional strategies to make meaningful demands to stop climate change. Here are the materials to check out ahead of time:

We’ll be meeting in person (but outside) at the Red Fox. Labor & Lit will be co-facilitated by Erica Thomas, PSUFA political action chair, and Rory Cowal, PSUFA member and organizer in Divest Oregon.

When: July 13th from 5 to 7 p.m.
Where: Red Fox, 5128 N Albina Ave


Rally With SEIU 503 on November 17

PSUFA invites you to rally with SIEU on November 17th as they fight for respect, living wages, and gender pay equity. We’ll be meeting at noon at the Urban Plaza (the outdoor gathering space and transit hub between PSU’s College of Urban and Public Affairs and the Campus Rec building).

Oregon’s legislature invested every dollar the universities asked for —$900 million in higher education—so now is the time for PSU to do the right thing and invest in the classified staff who support students and keep our campus running.

The statewide bargaining teams will be at PSU to make their economic proposals. Let’s show we are united for good working and learning conditions!

If you can’t make it, we invite you to take a selfie wearing PURPLE that day and post it to social media and let everyone know to RESPECT, PROTECT & PAY our SEIU colleagues who keep our campus running! You can print out the sign below and hold it up! (Download as PDF here.)

 We hope to see you there!

March Membership Drive — Hop Aboard! 

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AAUP and PSUFA are joining forces to host a membership drive to help PSUFA build membership! The drive will take place March 1st through the 5th, and we’d love for you to join!

We’ve put together a phone banking plan to connect with potential members and have a conversation about the importance of becoming members. We know nothing replaces face-to-face conversations but we will continue to have conversations with folks over the phone. PSUFA and AAUP leaders have signed up to lead shifts throughout that week. 

Please consider signing up for a shift or two to help make some of these calls to fellow colleagues. AAUP will be providing raffled prizes such as gift certificates and gift cards to anyone who volunteers! 

All necessary materials will be provided beforehand, including a guide on how to set up a Google voice number so you don’t have to use your personal number and a reminder of the time slots you decide to sign up for. Building strength as a union is so tied to building membership. Your one shift could be the one that puts PSUFA over 50% membership, something vitally important for our union going forward.

Click here to sign up.

Donate or Receive With Portland's Presents From Partners for Union Families

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Every year, Labor’s Community Service Agency and NW Oregon Labor Council organize Presents for Partners, a holiday gift drive for union families facing financial difficulties. (Read about the 2019 event here.) 

This year will be a contactless event that will give impacted union families a ready-to-cook meal from Spin Catering, handcrafted stockings, gifts for the children to give their caregivers, gift cards, and toys.

To refer a family, including your own, to be a beneficiary, please email PSUFA benefits chair Jacob Richman at benefits [at] psufa dot org by December 7, 2020 (the sooner the better). 

If you would like to donate to LCSA’s Presents From Partners, which is also helping to support union families affected by the wildfires, you can donate here: https://www.lcsaportland.org/donate.

Fall Orientation 2020 Recap

On Friday, September 25, 2020, PSUFA held our first virtual orientation in conjunction with PSU. It went really well! We shared a ton of resources for both new and returning adjuncts. Although much of this information is available on our website, we still wanted to share everything discussed for those who couldn’t make it. We have a short recap here. Thanks to everyone who came, and to our PSU guests for sharing resources.

PSUFA Introduction

PSU Is a Union University 

There are multiple unions that make up PSU. One way to think about unions is that they are “tiny democracies.” PSUFA has elected council positions. We advocate for our members. We administer benefits (more on that later).  We negotiate for better pay and benefits. We work to improve your position at PSU (and as adjuncts, our conditions can always be improved). There are roughly 1,300 to 1,400 adjuncts who teach at PSU. We are by far the largest group of people who teach at PSU and are essential to how the university runs and functions. The other two teaching unions are AAUP and GEU. To become a member sign up here: https://awa.knack.aft.org/online-membership#psufa-member/


Union membership meetings

These are like our town halls. They take place every term. This is where you can share your input as a union member. We want to know what you want us to work on, or bargain for, or put our time toward. We make decisions based on what our members want us to do. 

Bargaining

We’re bargaining for fair pay, more security and better working conditions right now. It’s a very long process! You can join us at the bargaining table by being an observer. Click here for more information. 

Annual Reports

Check out all of our annual reports—including the latest from the 2019-20 year—online here. 

PSU Resources

Office of Information Technology (presented by Kirk Kelly, Vice President of Information Technology, kkelly@pdx.edu)

OIT offers full office of tech service through their website. They are open from 8 a.m. until midnight every day. They can help you via telephone, chat, or email. We have many student and union OIT employees! The help desk can also help you work with the technology that is in your home. If you’re struggling with your technology at home, please reach out. 

Some links: 

Computer Labs and Printers (presented by Kirk Kelly)

There are several computer labs open on campus. Check here to see their availability.

You can also print at these labs. You have 500 printing credits per term. That said, each department also has its own resources when it comes to computer access and printing, so check with your departments as well to see what is available.

Library Checkout (presented by Kirk Kelly)

You can check out a lot, including equipment like laptops and wifi hotspots, from the library. These are available for students, but also for adjunct faculty. Please note the audio-visual section. This is just for faculty, including adjunct faculty! 

Disability Resource Center (presented by Ariana Jacob, PSUFA co-chair, psufa.ariana@gmail.com)

Some of your students may have disability accommodations, and the DRC will help make those accommodations. They are also a resource if you need support. Sometimes it can feel difficult, but they are there to help you and your students. 

Testing Center (presented by Ariana Jacob)

If you provide a test but a student can’t make it during your class time, the testing center can proctor a test for your student. 

CARE Team (presented by Ariana Jacob)

If you notice any student is having significant life challenges, e.g. outbreaks in class, or they are not doing well, the CARE team can reach out to the student and see what they need. As professors, we are mandatory reporters, so if a student tells us something—like if there is violence around them—you can recommend they go to CARE team, who doesn’t have to report in same way we do. 

Benefits

PSUFA benefits (presented by Jacob Richman, PSUFA operations chair, psufa.jacob@psufa.org )

There are three PSUFA benefits, all of which are offered once a term. You can read in depth about them at 
https://psufa.org/benefits.

  • The Adjunct Faculty Assistance Fund provides financial support for part-time faculty and researchers at PSU who are experiencing financial hardship.

  • The Faculty Education Fund offsets the cost of tuition for part-time faculty who wish to take career-related PSU courses.

  • The Professional Development Fund provides grants to part-time faculty members to cover the cost of professional development opportunities including travel, conferences, workshops, research, and more.

PSU HR Resources (Presented by Nathan Klinkhammer, PSU HR, askhrc@pdx.edu, nklink2@pdx.edu)

  • Sick Leave: Adjuncts accrue sick leave at 1 hour per 30 hours work. You can see how that accrues online in your Banweb account. Contact HR for more information for when and how you can use it. We also have new emergency paid sick leave. A new page on that! We tried to front and center COVID-19 information. 

  • Retirement: Adjuncts begin to qualify for some retirement benefits after passing a state mandated 600 hours worked in one calendar year. You will be notified and asked to make a choice between a traditional PERS pension plan, or the ORP optional retirement plan, which is done through TIAA and Fidelity. It’s a one-time irrevocable decision. There’s not a wrong choice, but there is probably a choice that works better for you. We encourage you to do research and be active about your decision. 

  • Employee Assistance Program: Free program that can provide personal and financial counselling, discounts on products, and many other useful services. EAP Cascades Center does a great job of accumulating information. There’s a lot here. Worth taking time to look through to see various benefits. Pick “PEB” from dropdown (PSU isn’t on there). Definitely an overlooked benefit!

Helpful Links: 

Student Health and Counseling Center (SHAC)All employees, including adjuncts, can now get COVID testing there by appointment

Office of Academic Innovation

Presented by Janelle Voegele and Raiza Dottin)

OAI is what other universities sometimes call a teaching and learning center. We have digital learning resources, online learning, face-to-face learning, assessment, service learning, multimedia resources, all of that. Your home for teaching at PSU. Our office is in SMU, but we’re fully remote right now. 

Faculty Help Desk

You can get help via phone, chat, email, or live forum. Can help with D2L issues, but also with general teaching issues. We also have virtual teaching consultations. Course and program assessment work. Helping you think about good processes for feedback. 

OAI+ 

This is a new site to help with remote teaching. Guides that are meant to be DIY guides, usable strategies 

Professional growth: 

  • Certification of Innovation in College Teaching. Originally devised for graduate students, but is also great for adjuncts. 

  • Academic Innovation MiniFund Program. 

  • Faculty Academic Writing Program: 

  • Faculty Book Club

Workshops

We have lots of workshops! Check out our calendar to see what’s coming up.

Adjunct Professional Evaluation

After teaching five four-credit classes or 20 credits, adjuncts are eligible for a 2-year contract. OAI can help with this process in terms of course observation, writing a teaching statement, and more.

Membership

Our union is only as strong as our members. Our union is you! And the best way to do that is to actively sign up to be a dues-paying member. Please sign up now: https://awa.knack.aft.org/online-membership#psufa-member/


Q&A

Tell me more about the two-year contract thing. 

After teaching 20 credits or for three year, whichever comes first, you will get an offer to possibly get a two-year contract after a professional evaluation. Jaime Wood at OAI is a great resource. The two-year contract does not guarantee a specific number, but it guarantees the amount of teaching you were doing prior to process. (Although “guarantee” is a strong word.) It’s something that is actually pretty unique for adjuncts, and something PSUFA specifically gained during bargaining. 

Is it possible to purchase healthcare via PSU as an adjunct? 

At the moment, no. We are working on a healthcare task force for a number of years to solve this issue, but there is nothing to share yet. 

We can recommend using the free Oregon healthcare.gov navigator to help find the best deals on private insurance that meets your needs. (For instance there is an educator’s deduction that you can use on your OHP application to help you qualify if you are close to the income cut off.)

Select “Market Place” and add your address for a list of navigators near you.

Once I become a dues-paying member, do I need to annually renew my membership?  No, once you sign up, your membership is ongoing. 

Can you tell me more about retirement? 

PERS works on a calendar year, and in order to qualify for the PERS option (OPSRP), adjunct instructors and professors need to reach 600 hours. This roughly equates to 17 credit hours of teaching. Those teaching hours could be at multiple public institutions: For example, if you teach 12 credits at PSU and 8 credits at PCC in a calendar year, you’d be eligible for PERS. The non-PERS option, ORP, has no hours-based ongoing eligibility requirement.

There are two options for retirement: OPSRP and ORP. OPSRP is the traditional PERS option, which means that you are paid out in a pension fund as well as through your IAP account. ORP is not a pension fund. Instead, it is equal to the value of your employer account upon retirement. In other words, it is a pool of money that you accrue during your working career. Click here to read and learn more. Email Eli Ronick at PSUFA if you have more questions (psufa.eli@gmail.com).

WINTER MEMBERSHIP MEETING

Please join PSUFA for our quarterly membership meeting and happy hour celebration: Friday March 10th from 4-6pm in the community room at the Lucky Lab Pub on Hawthorne. We will have some snacks to share; partners and families are welcome. 

We will gather to discuss how the new US administration may affect education and workers rights and what we can do to support each other around these issues. We will also share information about how the new evaluation process for part-time faculty has been going across different schools at PSU. 

Please RSVP to let us know if you plan on being there.

General Membership Meeting & Happy Hour

Let’s come together for holiday comfort and cheer.  Bring your partners and kids -- we will keep the business short while we enjoy snacks and drinks at the Lucky Lab on SE Hawthorne Blvd.  We will share information about our new contract. 

Please RSVP

When: Wednesday, December 7th 4pm-6pm
Where: Lucky Labrador Brew Pub
             915 SE Hawthorne Blvd
             Portland, OR 97214

 

Professors in Poverty Film Screening & Measure 97

Professors in Poverty
Screening and Discussion

PSUFA is celebrating Portland State of Mind by hosting a screening of the short film Professors in Poverty. The film, produced by Brave New Films in partnership with The New Faculty Majority and SEIU, examines how the increasing reliance on underpaid part-time faculty impacts everyone in the university, but especially those of us working in the classrooms: students and professors. A discussion will follow. We hope you can join us!

Date: Thursday, October 20, 2016
Time: 2:00 - 2:30 P.M.
Place: Littman Gallery, SMSU

From Brave New Films: An average of 51% of faculty are adjunct or teaching on a part-time only basis. 31% of adjuncts live near or below poverty levels and many are forced to work multiple jobs just to make ends meet. Astonishingly, some teachers make as little as $12,000 annually; meanwhile college presidents make an average salary of over $400,000. Not to mention, tuition has risen twice the rate of inflation. The corporate model is destroying the integrity of our academic institutions. This has to change. Help us fight for adjuncts and for their right to decent living wages.

Phone Bank for Measure 97

Date: Wednesday October 19, 2016
Time: 5:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Place: SMSU, Room 1

Join S.E.I.U. to phone bank to for Measure 97.  Food will be provided. 

RSVP: Joe Cartino at cartinoj@seiu503.org

RSVP for 2016 Adjunct Day and Orientation

OUR THIRD ANNUAL ADJUNCT DAY AND ORIENTATION IS COMING UP!

Thursday September 22, 2016
9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.  
PSU Campus

Check-in at ASRC Room 001
Session are held throughout ASRC

Please complete the RSVP form so we will know if you are coming!  Both new and returning PSUFA members will find sessions that fit their interests and needs.  The program will have concurrent sessions in the morning and the same program will repeat in the afternoon, so attendees can participate in the complete program. Open this PDF to view full workshop descriptions.  A light lunch from Tito's Burritos will be served with time to mingle and meet colleagues.  If you are interested in volunteering or have questions about Adjunct Day & Orientation, contact Veronica (psufa.veronica@gmail.com).  We look forward to seeing you September 22!

Sincerely,
2016 Adjunct Day & Orientation Planning Committee
Veronica Hotton, PSUFA Secretary