Nontenure union, MSU agree on contract

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Non-tenure-track faculty at MSU can expect greater job security beginning in the fall after the Union of Nontenure-Track Faculty, or UNTF, reached a contract agreement with the university Thursday.

The approval comes about a month after members of the union rallied outside the Administration Building during an MSU Board of Trustees meeting for what its officials then called a “fair and timely” contract.

The contract states non-tenure-track employees who have taught 10 semesters within six years – not including summer semesters – will be eligible for at least a three-year contract. Non-tenure-track faculty who have taught either spring or fall semesters for the past two academic years will have those semesters counted toward the overall 10, officials said.

UNTF President Penny Gardner said the agreement is good for the union because non-tenure-track faculty generally have little job security.

“(Except for this year), every single teaching job I’ve gotten, I’ve been asked to teach in August to start the fall semester,” Gardner said. “It allows me an ability to be creative and think in a long-term process what I will want to do in the course, what I can change and make better.”

Andy Corner, chair of the bargaining committee for UNTF, said job security granted by the new contract allowed him to focus on class and enabled him to have financial security.

“We’re never sure if we’re going to have classes next semester, which means I have to have another (source) of income if I don’t have a class,” Corner said.

“If I have some sense of the university’s plans for me, I’m able to better focus on the duties of my teaching.”
The contract also includes provisions such as health care, retirement, life insurance and sick leave.

A merit pay pool has been established for nontenure faculty, and those receiving minimal salary at each of MSU’s four categories of professors — instructor, associate professor, assistant professor and professor — will receive a 10 percent salary increase when they sign their next contract.

The contract still must be approved by the MSU Board of Trustees. Trustee Donald Nugent said he expects the contract to be approved prior to the Board’s June 16 retreat in Detroit.

“It’s never good to have a long-term delay in getting contracts taken care of,” Nugent said.
“The sooner the better for both parties. I’m very pleased this has been resolved.”

Terry Curry, associate provost and associate vice president for academic human resources, said the university will work the contract into its system.

“We appreciate the union’s ability to see the difficult financial situation that the state budget has had on the university’s financial condition,” Curry said.

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