Media Release from the AAUP-WSU
On Friday night, the Board imposed a contract on Wright State faculty that will seriously damage the quality of education we provide our students, as well as the academic reputation of the University. AAUP-WSU (the American Association of University Professors, WSU chapter) will file a strike notice with Ohio SERB on Monday morning.
Despite the significant financial concessions and consistent offers to continue negotiating by AAUP-WSU, the Schrader administration and Wright State Board of Trustees have chosen to impose a “last best offer” on the teaching faculty represented by AAUP-WSU. President Marty Kich said, “They have refused to negotiate at all since our members overwhelmingly rejected the Fact-Finder’s report in early November. Despite their repeated promises to negotiate, and our repeated offers to do so, the Board has elected to impose a contract that damages our students and makes academics a low priority.”
The Board clearly intends to have fewer faculty teaching more and larger classes, and the imposed contract would enable them to effect such changes. The faculty feel compelled to stand up for the quality of the education we provide our students – individualized attention and a rich variety of academic offerings – and the value of the degrees our alumni have earned.
While faculty were working under the old contract, Wright State avoided fiscal watch and generated a $10 million surplus last year. But the Schrader administration and the Board continue to use the Board-created financial crisis as an excuse to undermine fundamental principles of higher education adhered to at virtually all American universities.
The imposed contract also eliminates our right to negotiate over healthcare. It would immediately result in Wright State faculty having the worst healthcare plans among Ohio’s state universities and provide the administration with unlimited authority to further slash coverage at their whim. Many other articles in their imposed contract diminish the faculty voice in university decisions.
Dr. Kich said, “Our faculty have been attempting to resolve this contract without a strike for twenty-four months, but our attempts have been repeatedly rebuffed. This reckless Board needs more faculty input and oversight, not less.”
