I am a full-time Research Associate Professor, working at the School of Dental Medicine under one-year contracts since 1998. Even though I’m getting ready to retire from Pitt, I’ve become active in the effort to unionize the faculty. Over the years, it has become clear to me that we do not have a real voice in many basic workplace issues, such as salary equity or appropriate workload expectations, not to mention issues specific to a university like respectful treatment of junior teaching faculty, explicit and consistent tenure-track benchmarks, and the critical importance of academic freedom. Furthermore, there is no effective recourse if we believe we have been treated unfairly.
Although our benefits are strong, I have seen them diminish over the years, without an avenue for effective negotiations on our part. Indeed, the Faculty Senate has not been able to secure the rights of many instructors to maintain valid Faculty IDs during periods when they are not actually teaching, a simple, minor change that would mean a lot to people preparing lectures over breaks. A strong, engaged, unionized faculty can bring fresh ideas and energy to the table, which can help us participate as equal partners with the administration in helping Pitt meet the challenges of the future. This is a legacy I would be proud to leave for the people coming after me.
--Kathy Neiswanger, Dental Medicine
Although our benefits are strong, I have seen them diminish over the years, without an avenue for effective negotiations on our part. Indeed, the Faculty Senate has not been able to secure the rights of many instructors to maintain valid Faculty IDs during periods when they are not actually teaching, a simple, minor change that would mean a lot to people preparing lectures over breaks. A strong, engaged, unionized faculty can bring fresh ideas and energy to the table, which can help us participate as equal partners with the administration in helping Pitt meet the challenges of the future. This is a legacy I would be proud to leave for the people coming after me.
--Kathy Neiswanger, Dental Medicine
