UD, faculty union negotiating new contract

The university faculty, led by the national organization American Association of University Professors, AAUP, is in negotiation with the university regarding academic freedom and faculty salaries for the upcoming fiscal year, beginning in July.


Gerard Turkel, chief negotiator for the AAUP, said the two sides have been making progress.


"We've been having very productive negotiations," Turkel said.

He said one of the most important proposals involves the issue of academic freedom, which he defines as the faculty's ability to teach and speak freely about important issues in the community without consequences from the university.


"Generally, we've been very concerned with issues of academic freedom because of changes in the legal climate," Turkel said.


Although specific details of the negotiations are confidential, he said proposals also include tighter regulation for courses that are not taught by full-time university faculty.


"We've been very focused for a long time on enhancing the educational quality at the university by making sure that the courses are taught overwhelmingly by full-time faculty," Turkel said.


He said the faculty has been focused on reasonable changes that will also benefit the university.


"We have what I would call a very mature bargaining relationship," Turkel said. "We are oriented toward solving problems, toward meeting goals, toward working together and trying to form agreements that meet the needs of the faculty and the needs of the university."


Jennifer Davis, vice president of administration at the university, said the negotiations have been going well.


"We are addressing important issues that both sides have raised in a collegial and professional manner," Davis said.   

The negotiations have also included faculty salary and benefits, Turkey said. In a February 2010 report commissioned by the AAUP, the organization analyzed the university's financial records for the past five years.


"When all is said and done, the university is running a substantial cash surplus every year," the report states.


Turkel said the report, along with information regarding average faculty salaries at competing universities, will be used to formulate salary proposals for the faculty.


"It's very straightforward; it's a report that's based on the public financial documents that are available from the university," Turkel said. "The economist who did the analysis came to the conclusion that the university is in a good, solid financial position."


Turkel declined to comment on a rumor that faculty salaries would be frozen this year.


"There are always rumors, there are always stories going around," he said. "What I suggest to faculty is that if they have any questions about what's going in the negotiations, that they contact our Steering Committee members."


Fred Hofstetter, a member of the Steering Committee, which includes faculty representatives from each college at the university, said he has not heard any rumors about salaries being frozen, but believes it would be detrimental to the university.


"The previous administration…made it a priority to make faculty salaries more competitive, and we have benefitted from those increases," Hofstetter said. "The new administration under President Patrick Harker is even more committed to making UD prominent, entrepreneurial, and competitive, so I would be very surprised if salaries become frozen."


He said salary negotiations are just part of the broader issues the faculty and university must address.


"On all of the issues involved, I believe both sides are negotiating in good faith," Hofstetter said. "UD still has a ways to go, but we definitely have made progress."