Reading Day Work-In

Specialized faculty have been working hard all semester, and it’s time for that last push! Join us on Reading Day next Thursday, December 7, 9am-2pm in the Illini Union Courtyard Cafe. You can bring your grading, invite students for office hours, or whatever your Reading Day routine looks like. We’ll have coffee and refreshments waiting for you. Consider wearing your new NTFC scarf- that way we can easily find each other!

Bargaining Opening Day

We’re excited to invite you (all NTFC members) to Bargaining Opening Day! Come to Levis Faculty Center, room 208, 1-4pm on Thursday, December 14. Our bargaining team will present our proposal to University administration. If you can take the time to attend, it will make a big difference as a statement of support and solidarity. 

Our Proposal

Thanks to everyone who contributed by telling us what issues matter to you, via our surveys and in-person meetings and events! This proposal has come into being as a result of NTFC members and their ideas. To learn more about our proposal, come to Reading Day. You may also reach out and email us with any questions! There is also detailed information available on our social media (Here are links to our Instagram and Facebook).

Want to be in the know?

Would you like to hear more about our operations? Join us on Discord: https://discord.gg/EpJNQXhX

Wings are on us! Come to Quality on Friday, Nov 3, 5-8pm for food, drinks, and camaraderie! There will be a vegetarian option. All specialized faculty are invited (members and nonmembers). Come and get to know your colleagues!

NTFC Local #6546, the union representing full-time non-tenure track (NTT) faculty at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, stands in full solidarity with Columbia Faculty Union (CFAC), the union representing NTT faculty at Columbia College Chicago, as they fight to hold the line against austerity cuts about to be imposed by the Columbia College administration.

As has recently been reported, Columbia College leadership is proposing cutting class offerings made available to NTT faculty, increasing class sizes, and denying health benefits to these faculty, in efforts to ameliorate a budget deficit. What had originally been presented as “strategic” budgeting is now being described using terms like “crisis” in efforts to avoid negotiating with CFAC and to shift the burdens of this budgeting onto NTT faculty, who may be asked to “manage” large classes rather than teach within their expertise.

NTFC knows well the dangers of budgets that diminish quality instruction by increasing class sizes, overworking NTTs, and not allowing faculty to shape the education they know best. Both faculty and students suffer under such systems, as faculty working conditions are student learning conditions.

NTFC urges the administration of Columbia College to take seriously the concerns of its core NTT faculty and engage with CFAC in good faith, even in the trying budget situation the College finds itself in.

Want to be in the know?

Would you like to hear more about our operations? Join us on Discord: https://discord.gg/EpJNQXhX

All Members’ Meeting!

Next week, stop by the Chemistry Library (Noyes room 124A) for our All Members’ Meeting! We’ll be there during two time slots on Wednesday, October 11: 12-2pm and 4-6pm. With our new contract negotiations coming up, this is a great time to get the latest information about our proposal. You can meet the bargaining team and give us your input!

Recap from Pride

Our volunteers at Pride got to talk with a lot of folks and raise awareness about our union and the upcoming contract negotiations! Access to gender affirming care is a key part of our proposal. We got to engage with the community and have some fruitful conversations.

Our Proposal

We’re excited to share more information about our proposal for the upcoming contract negotiations, and hear what members think! Here are a few items from our proposal:

• Course reductions for family occasions (childbirth, adoption, death in the family)
• Removing barriers to gender affirming care
• Free and convenient parking on campus

We hope to see you at the All Members’ Meeting, to hear more!

In Solidarity

NTFC Communications Committee

ntfc6546@gmail.com

Follow us on social media!

@ntfc6546

NTFC Local 6546