The University of Chicago is an academic community of outstanding scholars, teachers, students and staff who lead in the creation and transmission of knowledge. We call on the University to also lead in the inclusive and equitable treatment of all its members, including its non–tenure stream lecturers. As tenured, tenure-stream, and emeritus faculty, it is our obligation to ensure that our non–tenure stream colleagues receive fair compensation and access to the tools necessary to provide students with teaching and mentorship of the highest caliber.
In December 2015, these colleagues voted overwhelmingly to form a union. For two years they have been negotiating their first contract with University administration. After these protracted negotiations, the administration is still proposing terms that would treat our non–tenure stream colleagues disrespectfully and unfairly.
The administration proposes reserving for itself the discretion to increase the teaching load of full-time lecturers up to as many as eight courses a year, a full 33 percent increase for most lecturers. It is hard to see how these many added hours of work will benefit students, when the clear consequence is that non–tenure stream faculty will have less time to prepare for teaching, grading, and meeting with students. They will also have less time for advising, conducting research in their fields, designing courses, running programs, and myriad other contributions that they make to our departments and the University community and its shared life.
When it comes to benefits, the administration’s proposal is to maintain the status quo. Under the current system, part-time lecturers receive no healthcare coverage. Even full-time lecturers receive less than half of the pay we get for parental leave, family leave, and medical leave. The administration does not extend the full college tuition benefit that faculty children receive. The current proposal thus appears to value the families of non-tenure stream faculty at roughly one half the value of our families.
In terms of salary, the administration is proposing raises for lecturers of zero to two percent. These raises are not sufficient even to meet the rising costs of living. The administration proposals for part-time faculty, who are paid per course taught, are especially disappointing. Under their proposals, a part-time faculty member, teaching four courses in a year, will still make less than $24,000 per year by 2021. In a year in which the administration has paid enormous sums to union avoidance law firms to defeat the graduate students’ unionization effort, these stingy proposals are especially unseemly.
We believe that the cumulative result of these proposals will be a less inclusive, less equitable, less vibrant University community. We call on the administration to instead agree to an equitable and inclusive contract that does not raise the course load of lecturers, compensates them fairly for their service, and values their families and health on terms equal to our own.
Signed:
Hussein Ali Agrama, Associate Professor, Anthropology
Muzaffar Alam, George V. Bobrinskoy Professor, South Asian Languages and Civilizations
Guy Alitto, Associate Professor, History
Yali Amit, Professor, Statistics
Dan Arnold, Associate Professor, Divinity School
Karlos Arregi, Associate Professor, Linguistics
Leora Auslander, Arthur and Joann Rasmussen Professor, History
Ralph Austen, Emeritus Professor, History
Orit Bashkin, Professor, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
Alexander Beilinson, David and Mary Winton Green University Professor, Mathematics
Lauren Berlant, George M. Pullman Distinguished Service Professor, English
Persis Berlekamp, Associate Professor, Art History
Robert Bird, Professor, Slavic Languages and Literatures/Cinema and Media Studies
Philip V. Bohlman, Ludwig Rosenberger Distinguished Service Professor in Jewish History, Music
Alida Bouris, Associate Professor, School of Social Service Administration
Matthew Boyle, Professor, Philosophy
Larissa Brewer-García, Assistant Professor, Romance Languages and Literatures
Jason Bridges, Associate Professor, Philosophy
Matthew M. Briones, Associate Professor, History
Adrienne Brown, Associate Professor, English
Daniel Brudney, Professor, Philosophy
Susan Burns, Associate Professor, History
Agnes Callard, Associate Professor, Philosophy
Timothy Campbell, Associate Professor, English
Manuela Carneiro da Cunha, Professor Emerita, Anthropology
E. Summerson Carr, Associate Professor, School of Social Service Administration
Austin Carson, Assistant Professor, Political Science
James Chandler, Barbara E. and Richard J. Franke Professor, English/Cinema and Media Studies
Robert Chaskin, Professor, School of Social Service Administration
Simeon Chavel, Associate Professor, Divinity School
Kyeong-Hee Choi, Associate Professor, East Asian Languages and Civilizations
Cathy J. Cohen, David and Mary Winton Green Professor, Political Science
James Conant, Chester D. Tripp Professor of Humanities, Philosophy
Chiara Cordelli, Assistant Professor, Political Science
Whitney Cox, Associate Professor and Chair, South Asian Languages and Civilizations
Ryan Coyne, Associate Professor, The Divinity School
Kevin Davey, Associate Professor, Philosophy
Shannon Lee Dawdy, Professor, Anthropology
Michael Dawson, John D. MacArthur Professor, Political Science
Daisy Delogu, Professor, Romance Languages and Literatures
Michael Dietler, Professor, Anthropology
Wendy Doniger, Mircea Eliade Distinguished Service Professor, Divinity School and Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations
Fred M. Donner, Peter B. Ritzman Professor, Oriental Institute and Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
Alireza Doostdar, Assistant Professor, Divinity School
Mark E Courtney, Samuel Deutsch Professor, School of Social Service Administration
Sascha Ebeling, Associate Professor, South Asian Languages and Civilizations/Comparative Literature
Ahmed El Shamsy, Associate Professor, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
Maud Ellmann, Randy L. & Melvin R. Berlin Professor, English
Darby English, Carl Darling Buck Professor, Art History
Curtis Evans, Associate Professor, Divinity School
Jacob Eyferth, Associate Professor, East Asian Languages and Civilizations
Frances Ferguson, Ann L. and Lawrence B. Buttenwieser Professor, English
Allyson Nadia Field, Associate Professor, Cinema and Media Studies
Norma Field, Robert S. Ingersoll Distinguished Service Professor Emerita, East Asian Languages and Civilizations
David Finkelstein, Associate Professor, Philosophy
Cornell H. Fleischer, Kanunî Süleyman Professor, History/Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
Anton Ford, Associate Professor, Philosophy
Itamar Francez, Assistant Professor, Linguistics
Susan Gal, Mae & Sidney G. Metzl Distinguished Service Professor, Anthropology/Linguistics
Laura Gandolfi, Assistant Professor, Romance Languages and Literatures
Edgar Garcia, Neubauer Family Assistant Professor, English
Adom Getachew, Neubauer Family Assistant Professor, Political Science
Michael Geyer, Samuel N. Harper Professor Emeritus, History
W. Clark Gilpin, Margaret E. Burton Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus, Divinity School
Jan Goldstein, Norman and Edna Freehling Professor, History
Yanilda González, Assistant Professor, School of Social Service Administration
Adam Green, Associate Professor, History
Robert Gulotty, Assistant Professor, Political Science
Thomas Gunning, Edwin A. and Betty L. Distinguished Service Professor, Cinema and Media Studies
Matthias Haase, Assistant Professor, Philosophy
Elaine Hadley, Professor, English
Sarah Hammerschlag, Associate Professor, Divinity School
Timothy Harrison, Assistant Professor, English
Julia Henly, Associate Professor, School of Social Service Administration
Gary Herrigel, Paul Klapper Professor, Political Science
Faith Hillis, Associate Professor, History
Denis Hirschfeldt, Professor, Mathematics
Kimberly Hoang, Assistant Professor, Sociology
Judy Hoffman, Professor, Cinema and Media Studies
Dezheng Huo, Associate Professor, Public Health Sciences
Aziz Huq, Frank and Bernice J. Greenberg Professor, Law School
Paola Iovene, Associate Professor, East Asian Languages and Civilizations
Travis A. Jackson, Associate Professor, Music
Alison James, Associate Professor, Romance Languages and Literatures
Janet H. Johnson, Morton D. Hull Distinguished Service Professor, Oriental Institute/Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
Hakan Karateke, Professor, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
Demetra Kasimis, Assistant Professor, Political Science
Micere Keels, Associate Professor, Comparative Human Development
Heather Keenleyside, Associate Professor, English
Robert L. Kendrick, Professor, Music, Romance Languages and Literatures
Christopher Kennedy, William H. Colvin Professor, Linguistics
Gordon Kindlmann, Associate Professor, Computer Science
Karin Krause, Assistant Professor, Divinity School
Michael Kremer, Mary R. Morton Professor, Philosophy
Loren Kruger, Professor, English, Comparative Literature, Theater and Performance Studies
Aden Kumler, Associate Professor, Art History
Genevieve Lakier, Assistant Professor of Law, Law School
Susan Lambert, Associate Professor, School of Social Service Administration
Matthew Landauer, Assistant Professor, Political Science
James Lastra, Associate Professor, Cinema and Media Studies
Gabriel Lear, Professor, Philosophy, Committee on Social Thought
Brian Leiter, Karl N. Llewellyn Professor of Jurisprudence, Law School
Laura Letinsky, Professor, Visual Arts
Bruce Lincoln, Caroline E. Haskell Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus, History of Religions
Amy Lippert, Assistant Professor, History
Hoyt Long, Associate Professor, East Asian Languages and Cultures
Agnes Lugo-Ortiz, Associate Professor, Romance Languages and Literatures
Zhe-Xi Luo, Professor, Organismal Biology and Anatomy
Jonathan Lyon, Associate Professor, History
Maria Anna Mariani, Assistant Professor, RLL
Patchen Markell, Associate Professor, Political Science
Miguel Martínez, Assistant Professor, Romance Languages and Literatures
Nicole Marwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Service Administration
Joseph Masco, Professor, Anthropology
Peggy Mason, Professor, Neurobiology
William Mazzarella, Neukom Family Professor, Anthropology
John P. McCormick, Professor, Political Science
Josephine McDonagh, Professor, English
Omar McRoberts, Associate Professor, Sociology
Paul Mendes-Flohr, Professor, Divinity School
Mark Miller, Associate Professor, English
W. J. T. Mitchell, Gaylord Donnelley Distinguished Service Professor, English, Art History
Daniel Morgan, Associate Professor, Cinema and Media Studies
Benjamin Morgan, Associate Professor, English
Jennifer Mosley, Associate Professor, School of Social Service Administration
Anna Mueller, Assistant Professor, Comparative Human Development
Salikoko S. Mufwene, Frank J. McLoraine Distinguished Service Professor, Linguistics
Nancy D. Munn, Professor Emerita, Anthropology
Matam P. Murthy, Professor Emeritus, Mathematics
John H. Muse, Assistant Professor, English
Constantine Nakassis, Assistant Professor, Anthropology
Richard Neer, William B. Ogden Distinguished Service Professor, Art History, Cinema amd Media Studies
Sianne Ngai, Professor, English
Larry F. Norman, Frank L. Sulzberger Professor, Romance Languages and Literatures
Martha C. Nussbaum, Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics, Law School and Philosophy Department, Law and Philosophy
Colm O'Muircheartaigh, Professor, Harris School
Julie Orlemanski, Assistant Professor, English
Emily Lynn Osborn, Associate Professor, History
Willemien Otten, Professor, Divinity School
Stephan Palmié, Professor, Anthropology
Thomas Pashby, Assistant Professor, Philosophy
Robert Pippin, Evelyn Stefansson Nef Distinguished Service Professor, Committee on Social Thought and Philosophy
Jennifer Pitts, Associate Professor, Political Science
Andrei Pop, Associate Professor, Committee on Social Thought
Trevor Price, Professor, Ecology and Evolution
Clifton Ragsdale, Professor, Neurobiology
Eugene Raikhel, Associate Professor, Comparative Human Development
Kaushik Sunder Rajan, Professor, Anthropology
Johanna Ransmeier, Assistant Professor, History
Srikanth Reddy, Associate Professor, English
François Richard, Associate Professor, Anthropology
Justin B. Richland, Associate Professor, Anthropology
D. N. Rodowick, Glen A. Lloyd Distinguished Service Professor, Cinema amd Media Studies, Visual Arts
Na'ama Rokem, Associate Professor, Modern Hebrew Literature and Comparative Literature
Danielle Roper, Provost Career Enhancement Postdoctoral Scholar, Romance Languages and Literatures
Gerald Rosenberg, Associate Professor, Political Science
Callum Ross, Professor, Organismal Biology and Anatomy
Lawrence Rothfield, Associate Professor, English
Marshall Sahlins, Charles F. Grey Distinguished Service Professor of Anthropology, Emeritus, Anthropology
Benjamin A. Saltzman, Assistant Professor, English
Zachary Samalin, Assistant Professor, English
Gina Samuels, Associate Professor, School of Social Service Administration
Mario Santana, Associate Professor, Romance Languages and Literatures
Eric Santner, Philip and Ida Romberg Distinguished Service Professor in Modern Germanic Studies, Germanic Studies
Victoria Saramago, Assistant Professor, Romance Languages and Literatures
Julie Saville, Associate Professor Emerita, History
Jennifer Scappettone, Associate Professor, English, Creative Writing, Romance Languages and Literatures
Kristen Schilt, Associate Professor, Sociology
William Schweiker, Edward L. Ryerson Distinguished Service Professor of Theological Ethics, The Divinity School and College
William H Sewell, Frank P. Hixon Distinguished Professor, Emeritus, Political Science and History
Edward L. Shaughnessy, Creel Distinguished Service Professor of Early China, East Asian Languages and Civilizations
Holly Shissler, Associate Professor, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
David Simon, Assistant Professor, English
William Sites, Associate Professor, School of Social Service Administration
Salomé Aguilera Skvirsky, Assistant Professor, Cinema and Media Studies
Jeffrey Stackert, Associate Professor, Divinity School
Paul Staniland, Associate Professor, Political Science
Amy Dru Stanley, Associate Professor, History and the Law School
Ulrike Stark, Professor, South Asian Languages and Civilizations
Howard Stein, Professor Emeritus, Philosophy
Justin Steinberg, Professor, Romance Languages and Literatures
Josef Stern, William H. Colvin Professor of Philosophy, Emeritus, Philosophy
Forrest Stuart, Assistant Professor, Sociology
William Tait, Professor Emeritus, Philosophy
Katherine Taylor, Associate Professor, Art History
Christopher Taylor, Assistant Professor, English
Sonali Thakkar, Assistant Professor, English
Robert Vargas, Neubauer Family Assistant Professor, Sociology
Anubav Vasudevan, Assistant Professor, Philosophy
Candace Vogler, David B. and Clara E. Stern Professor, Philosophy
Dexter Voisin, Professor, School of Social Service Administration
Martha Ward, Associate Professor, Art History
Kenneth Warren, Fairfax M. Cone Distinguished Service Professor, English
Lisa Wedeen, Mary R. Morton Professor, Political Science
Christian Wedemeyer, Associate Professor, Divinity School
Laura Weinrib, Professor of Law, Law School
Rebecca West, William R. Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Service Professor Emerita, Romance Languages and Literatures, and Cinema and Media Studies
Jennifer Wild, Associate Professor, Cinema and Media Studies
John Wilkinson, Professor, English
Malte Willer, Associate Professor, Philosophy
Tyler Williams, Assistant Professor, South Asian Languages and Civilizations
James Lindley Wilson, Assistant Professor, Political Science
Mareike Winchell, Assistant Professor, Anthropology
Alan Yu, Professor, Linguistics
Tara Zahra, Professor, History
Linda M. G. Zerilli, Charles E. Merriam Distinguished Service Professor, Political Science and Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality
Randolph Stone, Clinical Professor of Law, Law
Marco Z Garrido, Assistant Professor, Sociology
Martha Feldman, Mabel Greene Myers Professor, Music
Robert J. Richards, Morris Fishbein Distinguished Service Professor, History and Philosophy
Miwa Yasui, Assistant Professor, School of Social Service Administration
Waldo E. Johnson, Jr., Associate Professor, School of Social Service Administration
Niall Atkinson, Associate Professor, Art History
Matthew Jesse Jackson, Associate Professor, Art History
Seth Estrin, Assistant Professor, Art History
Sarah Nooter, Associate Professor, Classics
Darryl Li, Assistant Professor, Anthropology
Elizabeth Asmis, Professor, Classics