As some, most or all of you know, the OU-AAUP is a bargaining organization that represents over 800 members of the faculty here at OU. Stated under Article II of their bylaws, their purpose is to "promote the interests of higher education and to advance the standards, ideals, and welfare of the profession. The Association serves as the collective bargaining agent for the faculty of the university." Also, as some of you may have seen in your email inboxes, professors may have stated that class functions may be unavailable at the start of the fall semester. If any of those emails seemed odd or out of the ordinary to you, all they mean to say is that they themselves are a part of the bargaining union, and without a new contract, certain teaching functions will be temporarily unavailable. As of August 28th, 2024, the OU-AAUP has not received a new contract yet, but they HAVE received a contract extension of three days through the end of the day on September 3rd. According to their bargaining diary (which you can find a link to down below), the next bargaining meeting was set on the day their contract would expire, but they are working to consider an earlier date to reach an agreement faster. I highly suggest to you, dear reader, to keep up with this bargaining diary and carefully analyze their organization and what they stand for and make an opinion for yourself on the matter. With that out of the way, we will dive a bit deeper into the foundations and material of this organization.
What you may think or realize off the cuff, is why are they doing this in the first place? It's simple, money. Money makes the world go around, and in this organization, they are petitioning that they need more to continue to function as professors and faculty and are bargaining to hopefully achieve this goal. On August 28th when the OU-AAUP held its most recent bargaining session, OU made an offer that included more than a 16% salary increase over 5 years, which also includes an overall 21% increase in compensation over the duration of the 5-year deal. OU believes this is the best deal without incurring systemic deficits moving forward. These bargaining sessions could last until after the beginning of the semester and can definitely push our schedules as students off to a later date. As one of my professors stated in her email to the class, "faculty working conditions are student working conditions." Interpret that how you will, but in a plain translation they are saying if we don't get paid more, they (students) can't effectively learn.
Now, this may seem very exaggerative to you but consider what they are saying. If you were in a professor's shoes, claiming that your students' welfare and learning capabilities are your TOP priority as a professor, would you "jeopardize" their ability to learn until you get a bigger number on your paycheck? Here's another hypothetical: say you are on the side of getting paid a larger salary. Think about what students and parents of said students who may be paying for their college, think about you and your teaching capabilities, if all you care about is more money. If you want more frowns than smiles in your teaching area, then this is right for you. I'm not saying that getting more money for an excellent job is wrong, but take what your students ACTUALLY think into account, rather than posing an idea that all of us are on board with it. While a pay raise may give faculty more freedoms in their own personal lives, they should take into account the students' welfare as well (even though they say they do). I do admit that faculty should be compensated more for their work, but they should come about presenting it in a different light.
Again, take all of this with a grain of salt as I am voicing my opinion on a matter that seems to be an annual ordeal. You, reader, must formulate your own opinions on matters such as this, and be ready to voice your opinions on these things. I encourage you to read further on this subject matter as well. Voicing opinions is important in our everyday lives, and those of you who don't already, I can't stress its importance enough. Just like these faculty on the OU-AAUP, you can make your voice heard. My apologies for the somewhat long read, but I wanted to bring to light this urgent matter. Make sure you follow the two links below this excerpt; one will bring you to the OU-AAUP bargaining diary, which will inform you of their meeting agendas and progress they have made, and the second will bring you to a form to sign up for WXOUs monthly newsletter.
Benefac tibi,
Matt Weed
News Director / WXOU 88.3 FM
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