ISU Nontenure-Track Faculty Organize

by Gretchen E. Knapp

Nontenure-track faculty at Illinois State University have formed the ISU Nontenure-track Faculty Association, IEA-NEA , which launched its organizing campaign on April 2. Nontenure-track faculty are fulltime and part-time temporary employees on one-semester or one-year contracts. Over 400, or 40 percent, of ISU’s
faculty are nontenure-track (NTT).

The ISU NTT FA seeks to address the concerns of hundeds of temporary professors teaching in ISU classrooms.

“Our concerns,” say association officials, “are the same as those of many in today’s globalized workplace: lack of job security, fair pay, and standards for NTT employment.”

Over 30 percent of NTTs at ISU have been rehired each semester or academic year for five or more years, say IEA/NEA spokespersons, and “ISU treats the same faculty members hired year after year as temporary employees much like Microsoft’s ‘perma-temps.'”

Despite the advanced training and experience these positions require, Association officials assert, NTT salaries are low. Tenured/tenure-track (TT) faculty members are paid significantly more than nontenure-track faculty. Full-time TT faculty in some departments are paid more than double what their NTT counterparts make, while according to association officials, “full-time NTTs with 20-plus years have retired into poverty because their pensions are so small. No standards exist for establishing
workloads or setting part-time NTT salaries, and there is no grievance procedure or policy for NTTs, as exists for all other employees and students. Many NTTs are not eligible for health insurance and related benefits.”

The ISU NTT Faculty Association chose April 2 for its action because the Illinois Board of Higher Education, a state agency which oversees public colleges and universities, met the same day on ISU’s campus to vote on a controversial study of NTT faculty compensation and working conditions.

For more information, contact the Illinois State University
Nontenure-track Faculty Association-IEA/NEA (ISU NTT FA-IEA/NEA), 2714 McGraw Drive, Suite 2, Bloomington IL 61704-6012. Contact: Gretchen E. Knapp (309) 378-5627 or gknapp@mtco.com. Web site: www.geocities.com/isufaculty.