The new contract included a 2.75 percent increase in the merit pay pool beginning in October and a two percent increase over the next three years. The Union of Nontenure-Track Faculty also earned a seat on the Health Benefits Committee with the Board of Trustees.
The contract also makes it a requirement for the university to notify the nontenture-track instructional faculty members three weeks after the semester ends whether they will be teaching again next semester. Before this contract, many faculty members wouldn’t know if they would be teaching a session until about 30 days before the semester began.
“I think it was a pretty positive result,” Jason Price, assistant professor of sound design and one of the negotiating union members, said. “I feel great about it and think it benefits everyone. ... It wasn’t like a golden spike in the railroad, everyone coming together moment — it just got accepted.”
Of the union’s 500 members, seven bargained with various deans and university officials during the meeting. However, the entire bargaining process began early November 2013, when the preparations for negotiations began. From there, preliminary meetings were held, followed by negotiating meetings from February until May.
The final agreement, decided on by a unanimous vote, was reached in mid-June. The contract will be formally signed by the university and union members in the coming weeks.
Kenzie Carpenter, a theatre junior, worked with Price during this season of the Summer Circle Theatre. She said she thinks it’s terrible for faculty instructors to be left in the dark about whether they’ll have a job or not.
“It’s not a good idea for them to not know whether they’ll have a job, because then they don’t know what they’re doing,” Carpenter said. “They’re stressed out about the upcoming semester when they could be thinking about more important things and long-term semester plans.”
Penny Gardner, president of the Union of Nontenure-Track Faculty and an assistant professor teaching writing, said she still doesn’t know whether she will be teaching in the fall.
“This did improve our situation,” Gardner said. “We’re very, very happy with the results. Certainly it’s not ideal, but it’s better than the last contract.”
Associate Vice President for Academic Human Resources Terry Curry, one of MSU’s representatives in the negotiations, could not be reached for comment.
