Zack Quaintance
Daily Egyptian
There may be a new union at SIUC this fall.
Non-tenure track faculty recently set a pair of dates to vote on
whether or not they want union representation. On Sept. 12 and 13 in
the Student Center's Mackinaw Room, term faculty will be able to choose
if they want to unionize.
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville's non-tenure track faculty voted in favor of a union at this time last year.
Keith Wilson, a lecturer in aviation, is helping to organize the push
for a union at SIUC. After calling and meeting with more colleagues
than he can remember, Wilson said he is confident there will be a
majority of votes in favor of the union.
Marvin Zeman is the president of the Faculty Association, a union that
represents more than 670 tenured and tenure track faculty, and a
professor in the math department. Zeman said the organization supports
the effort for a term faculty union.
"Our support of them is whole hearted," Zeman said. "We consider them
to be equal partners and we are in full support of their efforts."
A union is necessary because non-tenure track faculty must work to
improve job security, Wilson said. It is important for term faculty to
feel secure at work because they teach more classes than their tenure
track colleagues, Wilson added.
Zeman agreed with Wilson, saying non-tenure track faculty members teach
courses more often because they have less research and service
obligations. Not having term faculty would mean SIUC could not offer as
many core curriculum classes, Zeman said.
"These people allow the University to offer more classes and give the
students more opportunities to graduate," Zeman said. "Students in
particular owe a lot to these people."
There is still a lot of work to do before this fall's vote, Wilson
said, because it is very important to make sure term faculty knows what
is at stake.
"When it comes right down to it we want to have an informed vote - even if it's voting no," Wilson said.
Reporter Zack Quaintance can be reached at
zack_quaintance@dailyegyptian.com
