Please sign this petition if you are a CU employee, student, alum, community member, or generally concerned with the state of public higher education in Colorado.

We need your support in our campaign to ensure fair working conditions for non-tenure track faculty–e.g., Instructors and Lecturers–throughout the University of Colorado system.

Across the country, and right here at CU, non-tenure track (non-TT) contingent faculty make up the majority of university faculty and represent the future of higher education, and yet we are compensated at a fraction of what our tenured and tenure track (T/TT) colleagues earn. We are also working under short-term contracts with less relative stability and fewer benefits, and with virtually no avenues for professional advancement as educators within the University.

Our working conditions are our students’ learning conditions. We deserve a professional, living wage, stable and respectful working conditions, and opportunities to advance in our fields and at the University. Below we outline the primary areas for change that we seek.

1. EXPLOITATIVE COMPENSATION | We deserve a fair, professional, living wage

The inadequate compensation of non-TT faculty is shocking and untenable. For example:

• Non-TT faculty are not paid enough to afford housing in the communities where they teach. In order to afford to rent a 2-bedroom apartment in Boulder, Denver, or Colorado Springs, the typical Lecturer would need a completely unsustainable teaching load of at least 15 classes per year.

• A typical CU Boulder Instructor would need at least a 30% raise to afford to rent a 2-bedroom apartment, and much more in order to afford to buy a home. Instructors do not qualify for the housing assistance that T/TT faculty enjoy.

• Lecturers' short-term contracts make their course loads unpredictable semester to semester. However, even if they taught 6 courses per year, a CU Boulder Humanities Lecturer would make less than $28,000, which is more than $10,000 below the Boulder living wage.

• Instructors and Lecturers are neither compensated nor recognized for research, writing, and mentorship outside of contract requirements. Non-TT faculty write grants, publish, advise theses, mentor students, present at academic conferences, and do professional development, all of which benefit CU in many ways.

The courses we teach cost the same to our students, the grades we assign carry as much weight, the mentorship we give students is just as meaningful, and the service we provide the University is just as valuable as that provided by T/TT faculty. These professional contributions are worth much more to the University than it is paying us in return.

2. UNSTABLE WORKING CONDITIONS | We deserve job security, stability, and respect

Non-TT faculty provide excellent education for CU students, and do so without many of the amenities, support, and stability offered to our T/TT faculty counterparts.

• Most Lecturer contracts are only for one semester at a time, and are often offered less than one month before the start of classes, leading to rushed course planning.

• Even when Lecturer contracts are renewed, their classes (and thus their pay) can be subject to cancellation at the last minute due to under enrollment.

• Lecturers often do not receive basic benefits such as health insurance, retirement, computers, or private office spaces (juggling office hours in a shared office complicates successful course delivery and the ability to offer flexibility to students).

• Instructors, even though their positions are full-time, must go through an elaborate reappointment review process to renew their contracts every few years.

As experienced professionals we ensure that our CU students receive a quality education, and such a high standard requires stable and equitable working conditions.

3. DEAD-END CAREERS | We deserve a path for advancement within the University

The academic training and pedagogical expertise of non-TT faculty benefit our students, colleagues, and the entire University community, yet we do not have opportunities for paid promotions or the option to apply for administrative positions.

• Lecturer contracts do not recognize service to the University, even though Lecturers often engage in many kinds of service anyway out of dedication to their students.

• Lecturers do not have a path for promotion to full-time Instructor–even after years at CU–nor are they provided the benefits afforded even to Instructor positions.

• Instructors do have limited opportunities for promotion (to Senior Instructor and Teaching Professor); however, these promotions–which entail additional responsibilities and duties, including service to the unit and campus–rarely come with salary increases.

• In addition, Instructors are not offered opportunities for advancement to administrative positions with access to the additional compensation and authority these provide.

Non-TT faculty often teach the foundational introductory classes upon which freshmen build the skills they need to successfully navigate their college experience, and are therefore the primary drivers of student retention. Non-TT faculty train students in their majors and mentor them toward meaningful career paths, yet our own jobs are dead ends.

The guiding principles of all four campuses in the University of Colorado system include a commitment to excellence, integrity, transparency, and accountability, and a promise to honor and respect teaching, learning, and academic culture. None of these outcomes can be fully achieved if a large number of our faculty are underpaid, overworked, and blocked from professional advancement. Equitable compensation, job stability, and respect for the valuable contributions of non-TT faculty are long overdue. Please support our campaign by signing this petition and joining United Campus Workers Colorado!