BU Full-time Faculty Support Letter for Adjunct Union

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BU Full-time Faculty Support Letter for Adjunct Union

Boston University President Robert Brown and Provost Jean Morrison

Adjunct faculty at Boston University are seeking to form a union with SEIU/Adjunct Action. Stand with them in calling for better wages and benefits, job security and improved working conditions, and for the BU administration to adopt a neutral stance as adjunct faculty build their union and move toward a free-and-fair union election.

Our part-time, contingent colleagues are joining in a regional and national movement uniting thousands of adjunct faculty at Northeastern, Tufts, Lesley, American, George Washington, Georgetown, Hamline, Mills, the San Francisco Art Institute, the Maryland Institute College of Art, Whittier, and beyond. In standing together, they have advocated for improved working conditions for themselves, and a more stable, supportive learning environment for their students.

Sign the petition below and support the right of contingent faculty at Boston University to form a union.**

Petition by

David Lyons, Professor of Law and of Philosophy

Boston, Massachusetts

To: Boston University President Robert Brown and Provost Jean Morrison
From: [Your Name]

Dear President Brown and Provost Morrison,

As we all know, Boston University, like its peer institutions, relies increasingly on part-time, “contingent” faculty to teach its courses. While the costs of living and of higher education continue to rise, many of those highly qualified and committed educators strive desperately to secure livable incomes and teaching conditions that meet the reasonable expectations and needs of our students.

We the undersigned Boston University faculty welcome the recognition that has recently been given by the BU administration to the pressing needs of our part-time faculty – needs, as Provost Morrison has noted, which include “compensation, benefits, job security, professional development, recognition and respect.” We are concerned here primarily with those contingent faculty, or adjuncts, whose incomes depend largely on short-term teaching contracts and who lack not only adequate compensation and teaching conditions that are commensurate with their responsibilities but also a significant voice in these matters.

Adjuncts in the Boston area and elsewhere have been forming unions with SEIU/Adjunct Action in order to acquire such a voice so as to improve their own working conditions and to serve the interests of their students. A campaign is currently under way to enable adjuncts at Boston University to decide whether to join that movement. We believe their having such a voice will serve BU’s educational mission as well as the interests of fairness.

Most importantly, we believe that Boston University’s interests will best be served if its administration takes a fully neutral stance towards adjuncts’ unionization. Such a stance will prevent bad feeling in the long term while respecting the democratic rights of its faculty.

Sincerely (in order by school, department and last name),
Charles Lindholm, Professor, Anthropology (CAS)
Robert Weller, Professor, Anthropology (CAS)
John Celenza, Associate Professor, Biology (CAS)
Arjomand Minou, Assistant Professor, English (CAS)
Iain Bernhoft, Instructor, English/Writing (CAS)
Leslie Epstein, Professor, English/Creative Writing (CAS)
Xuefei Jin, Professor, English/Creative Writing (CAS)
Mikio Aoi, Postdoctoral Associate, Mathematics and Statistics (CAS)
Jason Osborne, Full-time Lecturer, Mathematics and Statistics (CAS)
David Rohrlich, Professor, Mathematics and Statistics (CAS)
Steven Rosenberg, Professor, Mathematics and Statistics (CAS)
Aaron Garrett, Associate Professor, Philosophy (CAS)
Russell Powell, Assistant Professor, Philosophy (CAS)
Susanne Sreedhar, Associate Professor, Philosophy (CAS)
Valerie Williams, Ph.D. candidate, Philosophy (CAS)
David Mayers, Professor, Political Science (CAS)
Deborah Belle, Professor, Psychological and Brain Sciences (CAS)
Catherine Caldwell-Harris, Associate Professor, Psychological and Brain Sciences (CAS)
Deeana Klepper, Associate Professor, Religion (CAS)
James Iffland, Professor of Spanish, Romance Studies (CAS)
Carol Neidle, Professor, Romance Studies (CAS)
Alan Smith, Professor, Romance Studies (CAS)
Emily Barman, Associate Professor, Sociology (CAS)
Cara Bowman, Ph.D. candidate, Sociology (CAS)
Pamela Devan, Ph.D. candidate, Sociology (CAS)
Liah Greenfeld, Professor, Sociology, Political Science, Anthropology (CAS)
Peter Yeager, Associate Professor, Sociology (CAS)
Julian Go, Professor, Sociology (CAS)
Alya Guseva, Associate Professor, Sociology (CAS)
Alaz Kilicaslan, Ph.D. candidate, Sociology (CAS)
Ashley Mears, Assistant Professor, Sociology (CAS)
John Stone, Professor, Sociology (CAS)
Meghan Tinsley, Ph.D. candidate, Sociology (CAS)
Jeff Coulter, Professor, Sociology and Philosophy (CAS)
Sue Griffin, Senior Lecturer, Spanish (CAS)
Carrie Preston, Director, Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies; Associate Professor, English (CAS)
Kevin Barents, Lecturer, Writing Program (CAS)
Deborah Breen, Senior Lecturer, Writing Program (CAS)
Caitlin Dalton, Graduate Writing Fellow, Writing Program (CAS)
Martin Fido, Senior Lecturer, Writing Program (CAS)
Maria Gapotchenko, Senior Lecturer, Writing Program (CAS)
William Giraldi, Senior Lecturer, Writing Program (CAS)
Sarah Hanselman, Lecturer, Writing Program (CAS)
Diane Josefowicz, Lecturer, Writing Program (CAS)
Somy Kim, Lecturer, Writing Program (CAS)
Rebecca Kinraide, Senior Lecturer, Writing Program (CAS)
Sarah Madsen Hardy, Senior Lecturer, Writing Program (CAS)
William Marx, Senior Lecturer, Writing Program (CAS)
Christina Michaud, Senior Lecturer and ESL Coordinator, Writing Program (CAS)
Marisa Milanese, Senior Lecturer, Writing Program (CAS)
Anna Panszczyk, Lecturer, Writing Program (CAS)
Travis Parno, Lecturer, Writing Program (CAS)
Jason Prentice, Lecturer, Writing Program (CAS)
Kimberly Shuckra-Gomez, Senior Lecturer, Writing Program (CAS)
Melanie Smith, Lecturer, Writing Program (CAS)
Chris Walsh, Associate Director, Writing Program (CAS)
James Weiss, Adjunct Instructor, Writing Program (CAS)
Maria Zlateva, Associate Director , Writing Program (CAS)
Thomas Underwood, Master Lecturer, Writing Program (CAS)
Ingrid Anderson, Instructor, Writing Program/Judaic Studies (CAS)
Michelle Alexander, Lecturer, Song Literature (CFA-Music)
Andre de Quadros, Professor, Music Education (CFA-Music)
Christopher Fahy, Lecturer, Humanities (CGS)
Adam Sweeting, Chair, Humanities (CGS)
Kari Lavalli, Senior Lecturer, Natural Science and Mathematics (CGS)
Matthew Parfitt, Associate Professor, Rhetoric (CGS)
June Grasso, Associate Professor, Social Sciences (CGS)
Jay Corrin, Professor, Social Sciences (CGS)
Richard Samuel Deese, Lecturer, Social Sciences (CGS)
Susan Lee, Master Lecturer, Social Sciences (CGS)
Scott Marr, Lecturer, Social Sciences (CGS)
Ray Carney, Professor , Film and Television (COM)
John Hall, Master Lecturer, Writing Program (COM)
Allyn Hubbard, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering (ENG)
Judith Dimaond, Clinical Associate Professor, Civil Clinical Program (LAW)
Susan Akram, Clinical Professor, Clinical Programs (LAW)
Daniela Caruso, Professor of Law (LAW)
Kristin Collins, Professor of Law (LAW)
Michael C. Harper, Professor of Law (LAW)
Pnina Lahav, Professor of Law (LAW)
Gerald Leonard, Professor (LAW)
David Lyons, Professor of Law and Philosophy (LAW)
Stephen Marks, Professor of Law (LAW)
David Rossman, Professor of Law; Director, Criminal Law Clinical Programs (LAW)
Kenneth Simons, Professor of Law (LAW)
Larry Yackle, Professor (LAW)
Philip Tate, Senior Lecturer, Curriculum and Teaching (SED)
Lauren K. Terry, Lecturer, Organization and Behavior (SMG)
Lenore Myka, Writing Instructor, Writing Center (SMG)
Les Boden, Professor, Environmental Health (SPH)
Jacob Bor, Assistant Professor, Global Health (SPH)
Cindy Christiansen, Associate Professor, Health Policy and Management (SPH)
Nafisa Halim, Research Assistant Professor, Global Health (SPH)
Wendy Heiger-Bernays, Associate Professor, Environmental Health (SPH)
David Ozonoff, Professor, Environmental Health (SPH)
Janice Weinberg, Professor, Biostatistics (SPH)
Roberta White, Professor, Environmental Health (SPH)
Maryann Amodeo, Professor (SSW)
Phillipe Copeland, Clinical Assistant Professor (SSW)
Melvin Delgado, Professor (SSW)
Ellen DeVoe, Associate Professor (SSW)
Scott Geron, Associate Professor, Social Welfare Policy (SSW)
Luz M. Lopez, Clinical Associate Professor (SSW)
Dawn Martinez, Lecturer, Clinical Practice (SSW)
Lisa Moore, Clinical Assistant Professor (SSW)
Jordana Muroff, Associate Professor (SSW)
Ruth Paris, Associate Professor (SSW)
Judith Perlstein, Clinical Assistant Professor (SSW)
Lee Staples, Clinical Professor Emeritus, Macro Practice (SSW)
John Berthrong, Associate Professor, Comparative Theology (STH)
Jennifer Knust, Associate Professor, New Testament (STH)
Pamela Lightsey, Associate Dean (STH)
Xochitl Alvizo, Ph.D. candidate, Practical Theology (STH)
Courtney Goto, Assistant Professor, Religious Education (STH)
Shelly Rambo, Associate Professor, Theology (STH)
Peter Paris, Visiting Walter G. Muelder Professor of Social Ethics (STH)
Claire Wolfteich, Associate Professor, Practical Theology and Spiritual Studies (STH)
Doreen Miller, Senior Lecturer, CELOP

**This is a public petition that will be published in the Daily Free Press and distributed throughout the BU campus. For more information about Boston University adjunct faculty's campaign to form a union, visit http://www.buadjuncts.org.