Union Involvement...advisable?

October 28, 2010 5:46 PM

As a brand new faculty member, should I be careful about too much involvement in the faculty association during difficult negotiations over our contract? I don't feel particularly worried about this, but I recognize that the tenure process ultimately is given the okay by the president and the board. I'm hanging signs on my office door and attending meetings...the typical stuff so far. What do you think?
posted by klausman to Education (6 answers total)

I'm 4th year TT faculty; I don't have experience specific to the union issue, but generally for new faculty members it seems safer to look around at what others are doing, and not go beyond that extent of action. Speaking up is fine, but you don't want to be the lone voice that stands out. If you have specific concerns, you should be able to approach tenured faculty members within your department to ask about their expectations of your actions. It's in their best interest to help you along on the tenure-track process, and they should look out for you in matters such as this.
posted by bizzyb at 6:41 PM on October 28, 2010

You are in a faculty union? Well, this is a definite consult with your committee. However, there is nothing to stop you from joining faculty committees such as, curriculum, charitable donations or whatever. You need to show that you are participating in faculty life and that involvement does not necessarily mean being the union firebrand or being part of the negotiation team.

At my institution, it is looked on favorably when tenure track faculty get involved in union committees even the non-controversial ones. Consult with your committee, it is this type of question that they can handle.
posted by jadepearl at 8:07 PM on October 28, 2010

Actually, on my campus, it's the perception of not supporting the faculty union that would be more a cause of concern. I mean, presidents, VPs, even board members tend to come and go fairly rapidly, but most of your faculty colleagues are going to be there with you for the long haul. If you come off as "administration-friendly," that can be hard to live down. Not that anyone would be "out to get you, " but there are people in my department who still won't even say hello in the hallway to folks who crossed our picket line 16 years ago. Makes for a frosty atmosphere at times.

In our faculty union, the senior faculty try to encourage newbie involvement while also trying to shield and insulate junior faculty who do actively participate -- let them work more behind the scenes, make sure their departmental colleagues/mentors are alert for any subtle or not-so-subtle intimidation from dept. heads or deans, that kind of stuff.

Administration behavior varies from campus to campus, but especially with a union to at least attempt to hold tyranny in check, administrators tend to go for the insidious rather than high-profile methods of turning the screws. If you have a splendid tenure application and are endorsed heartily right up until you hit the upper administration and then get the hook, well, it'd be pretty clearly retaliatory, grievable, actionable, etc.

My school has an administration that openly loathes faculty in general and visibly union-loyal ones (like me!) especially, and I really can't imagine them going after individuals in any overt way like trying to deny tenure or derail a promotion or something that called attention to itself so loudly all across campus and beyond. Maybe a sabbatical request would get a meh ranking or something. Maybe you'd get a somewhat crappier teaching schedule than usual. Your dean might not go to bat as strongly for your grant application as somebody else's.

The thing is, administrators could decide to do something noxious to you regardless for no reason except it being Wednesday, and should that happen, who will have your back? The union. The way I see it, the more I take part in my union's activities, the stronger I make it, and the stronger the union is, the more we're all protected from shenanigans.
posted by FelliniBlank at 8:56 PM on October 28, 2010 [2 favorites]

Focus your time on writing publishable papers until you get tenure, THEN get involved in university politics.
posted by Jacqueline at 9:10 PM on October 28, 2010

It really depends on the campus culture, but I would say to keep your head down. Don't aggresively proselytize for the union, don't get deeply involved in the collective bargaining. For one thing, you don't want to get on the administration's bad side early in your career ---it's probably less likely at a place with a faculty union, but it absolutely can happen (it happened to a couple of friends of mine that they got on the bad side of a couple of key administrators and had adverse retention decisions in pre-tenure reviews, despite positive departmental recommendations).

Furthermore, in your first couple of years in a new job you should be focussing on research and teaching, not service, which is what involvement in faculty senate activities counts as.
posted by leahwrenn at 9:39 PM on October 28, 2010

Best answer: To add a more succinct and answery answer, I think what you're doing now is fine. Attending meetings isn't agitation; it keeps you informed on the bargaining process and issues. Putting signs on your door (unless you have an administration that actively monitors such innocuous things) is a quiet gesture that shows where you stand without making a fuss. There's no reason to get involved beyond that if you don't want to -- and veteran faculty understand your precarious position. If you want to be more involved, then your dept/college union reps can tell you a) whether that's wise and b) quiet ways to contribute.
posted by FelliniBlank at 7:37 AM on October 29, 2010