The contract between the UC faculty and administration expires on August 31, and The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) represents faculty in the collective bargaining process. Faculty from Clermont College, University College, and RWC attended a forum at RWC on April 18, to discuss contract issues. Sixty faculty members participated in this discussion moderated by Bargaining Council Representative, Professor Pat Tate.
AAUP President Joe Fisher, Vice-President Lynn Davis, Secretary Lynn Ritchey, and Chief Negotiator John Cuppoletti were invited by RWC Professor Andrea Kornbluh and the RWC Bargaining Council Representatives, Professors Linda Bricker, Rachael Allstatter, and Pat Tate, to hear the concerns of the faculty members at U.C.’s two-year colleges.
And recently, Kent State’s AAUP collective bargaining chapter gained pay adjustments for their regional campus faculty.
RWC Professors John Douglass and Ann Chisko served with faculty from Clermont College and University College on a cross-college equity committee. Their work on comparative pay was presented at the April 18 meeting. Colleagues in the audience added perspectives about their low pay compared to similarly credentialed Cincinnati school teachers and to faculty at other two-year colleges in the nation. The Chronicle of Higher Education web site lists Clermont’s and RWC’s average assistant professor pay as the lowest among Ohio’s 23 two-year colleges.
Data from Academe, a national AAUP magazine, was also cited. Clermont’s average faculty salary ranks second from the bottom, placing it in the lowest quintile among two-year colleges in Ohio. RWC’s salaries rank ninth from the bottom.
In informal discussions following the meeting, faculty compared parking costs at RWC and Clermont and noted that, unlike UC faculty, school teachers are not charged to park on their campuses. Faculty also lamented that Ohio ranks 40th among states in the amount of tax dollars that go to fund its public colleges. Comments about UC administration prioritization among new buildings, new initiatives, such as the visual identification system (logo), and faculty salaries were added.