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Non-Tenure-Track (NTT) faculty should not have to reapply and compete in national searches just to keep teaching the courses they have led for years.
The proposed “Professor of Teaching” title falls short of its stated goals. As introduced by Provost Weaver, it does not provide a fair or just transition for current faculty.
We are advocating for solutions that protect and respect the NTTF that are already doing this work.
The language of the proposal is insufficient and inequitable for a number of reasons, including:
- The Professor of Teaching title will replace the Instructor title, but there is no plan to transition current Instructors to the new title. Instead, current Instructors will have to reapply for their jobs and compete in a national search.
- The language of the proposal does not provide current LMU faculty who apply for a Professor of Teaching positions with any special consideration for their years of service to the university.
- Faculty who are rehired will be brought in at the lowest rank, regardless of experience or current rank.
- The proposal includes no salary structure; we cannot know whether we would be making more money, less money, or the same amount.
- The proposal states that Professors of Teaching will be required to teach a 3/3 course load with option to take on a 4th course each semester. However, it does not ensure that faculty members who do not want to teach the 4/4 course load can safely refuse to do so without fear of retaliation.
Cruel policy changes like this are exactly why we unionized. Before our administration walked away from the bargaining table, we proposed articles that would grandfather current Instructors into the Professor of Teaching title and lift the unit cap on Lecturers so that they could transition to available full-time work if they desired to do so.
Instead of working with us, this administration is insisting on dictating our working conditions to us without meaningful input. This is why we need the protections and leverage that come with unionization. This is why LMU needs to get back to the bargaining table.