Faculty Senate

Shared Governance and Collective Bargaining

Colleagues,

I hope that you have had a pleasant and productive summer. The Faculty Senate Executive Committee met through the summer. A key agenda item at each meeting has been consideration of the certification of a faculty union at OSU. We perceive a continued shared governance in OSU’s future in addition to the collective bargaining process. The Faculty Senate leadership’s duty to serve all OSU faculty, including you, remains solid.

On June 28, 2018 the Employment Relations Board of the State of Oregon certified United Academics of Oregon State University (UAOSU) as the exclusive bargaining representative for faculty included in the bargaining unit, which are all teaching and research faculty with rank, postdoctoral scholars, and academic wage appointments with primarily teaching or research duties. Not included in the UAOSU collective bargaining unit are professional faculty, teaching or research faculty who supervise other teaching or research faculty, and administrative positions at or above the level of unit head.

The Faculty Senate will continue to serve and be accountable to OSU faculty of all ranks and titles, both those within and without the UAOSU collective bargaining unit. We are one university and one faculty. We change as we grow, yet we remain who we are so long as our values and goals can be advanced in common. The Faculty Senate will continue to accomplish shared governance through intentional collaboration with UAOSU, OSU administration, the Board of Trustees, ASOSU, and all faculty.

Oregon State University’s Faculty Senate is the elected representative body that conducts faculty shared governance roles. Faculty participation is the cornerstone of OSU’s shared governance. Participation includes voting in elections, service on committees, participation in Faculty Senate meetings and forums, being aware of issues before the Senate, and voicing your thoughts to Faculty Senate leadership.

Many universities operate with constructive relationships between senate, union, and administration. OSU’s Faculty Senate will continue to have substantive standing in shared governance on issues that matter to faculty including curriculum, research, academic regulations, faculty status, academic freedom, promotion and tenure, faculty recognition, administrative appointments, budgets and fiscal planning, academic advising, institutional diversity, and evaluation of teaching among other key functions of the university. Your participation in the Faculty Senate, even by contributing your ideas, is key to a healthy faculty-led shared governance at OSU.

I am working with the President-Elect Alix Gitelman, the Executive Committee, and Committee Chairs to develop a platform of Faculty Senate values and responsibilities that will stand strong in the collective bargaining environment. Our aim is a clear, collaborative, and enduring shared governance. I believe that what we do together this year will determine the character of shared governanceat OSU for the next fifty years. I welcome your feedback at any time on any topic as we engage on this vital task.

In good spirit,

Jon Dorbolo Faculty Senate President