CFU Bargaining Survey

Contract Faculty United-UAW has been recognized! As we prepare for collective bargaining with the NYU administration, we need your input on this survey so that once a bargaining committee is elected, they have a basic understanding of our shared priorities as NYU contract faculty.

This survey is an early step in gathering information about current working conditions and goals, across all departments and positions.

After this, the bargaining committee will request detailed employment information from the NYU administration (they are required to share this with us).

Before contract negotiations begin, union members will come together to vote on bargaining goals, to ensure that the bargaining committee has a mandate to negotiate a strong contract representing contract faculty across NYU.

Please participate in this crucial step by identifying priorities relating to working conditions shared by most contract faculty.
1.Name (First, Middle, Last / Nickname)(Required.)
2.Non-NYU email address
3.Mobile Phone
4.School
5.Program or Department
6.Office Location (Building and Room #)
7.Job Title (primary appointment)
8.Do you have any other service or administration roles in your department/college beyond the typical service expectations?
9.Start date at NYU? (MM / YYYY)
10.Length of appointment in years, per your last offer letter?
11.How many months per year in your primary appointment?
12.Are you on a visa?
13.(optional) If applicable, please specify what type of visa you are on:
14.How many dependent(s) do you have? Please specify age and other relevant considerations:
15.Do you have student loans?
16.How close are you to retirement age?
17.How long is your commute (approximate total time in minutes each day, to and from campus)?
__________________________

SURVEY INSTRUCTIONS

Review the sections below, and assign each item a priority from 1 to 5, with 1 being the lowest priority, and 5 being the highest priority. Please note that you do not need to rank items against each other.

Please share any additional context or relevant information about your specific circumstances or experience at NYU in the comment boxes provided in each section. Someone from the Organizing Committee will follow up with you.
18.JOB SECURITY
1 (lowest)
2
3
4
5 (highest)
Protect against unjust termination and unnecessary layoffs.
Increase appointment length.
Create and guarantee a presumption of reappointment.
Guarantee fair, transparent, and consistent processes for reappointment and promotion.
Guarantee fair, transparent, and consistent reappointment and promotion committee structures.
Guarantee our academic freedom in the classroom, in our scholarship and artistic practices, and as community members.
Strengthen rights and protections with regard to bias complaints and disciplinary actions.
Strengthen rights and protections with regard to faculty grievances and appeals — termination, shorter contracts, etc.
19.JOB EXPECTATIONS AND WORKLOAD
1 (lowest)
2
3
4
5 (highest)
Require timely notification of job-related information, including clear job descriptions with appointment length, duties, administrative or service expectations, evaluation criteria, pay, benefits, workload and workplace rights.
Require timely notification of information related to administrative and service roles, including clear descriptions of work expectations and compensation.
Guarantee breaks (e.g. between semesters, course sessions), particularly for faculty on 12-month appointments.
Establish the right to refuse course overages and create protections against teaching overwork.
Establish the right to refuse service assignments and create protections against service/admin overwork.
Guarantee that contract faculty will not be asked to perform administrative roles in their first year on the job unless explicitly specified in the job posting.
Develop more equitable equivalencies between advising and teaching.
Create course enrollment caps and/or other structures to limit workload within courses.
Provide orientation and health and safety information for new hires.
Define clear limits on maximum hours for individual courses and clearer definitions of courses within contracts.
20.WORK ENVIRONMENT AND WORKPLACE RIGHTS
1 (lowest)
2
3
4
5 (highest)
Ensure adequate office space and equipment, including computers, software, cloud storage, and additional devices such as tablets, smartphones, instruments, cameras, etc.
Ensure access to necessary materials and support for remote work and/or ability to refuse remote work for curriculum that requires in-person, hands-on, or equipment specific instruction.
Ensure the right to address unsafe or unhealthy work environments.
Establish clear intellectual property rights over scholarly, artistic, and professional output, as well as syllabi and course materials.
Guarantee work visa sponsorship, improve visa schedules, and strengthen protections and support for international faculty.
Restore eligibility for green card sponsorship, and establish a clear path to permanent residency for international faculty.
Guarantee workplace accommodations and protections for disability, illness, and emergencies.
Establish a procedure to enforce the contract that includes the ability to take grievances to a neutral arbitrator.
Strengthen protections against all forms of discrimination, harassment, and abuse.
Establish the right to refuse teaching assignments outside normal working hours (i.e. in early mornings, evenings, and weekends) or limit the overall number of hours for project based teaching.
Reduce restrictions on non-NYU employment.
21.PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND SHARED GOVERNANCE
1 (lowest)
2
3
4
5 (highest)
Guarantee opportunities for sabbatical and/or professional leave.
Ensure and protect representation and voting participation in the shared governance of our programs and departments, including hiring, reappointment, and promotion.
Ensure and protect representation and voting participation in our school councils and assemblies.
Ensure and protect representation and voting participation in our C-FSC and university-wide committees.
Guarantee contract faculty input into course assignments, scheduling, and modality (including any changes to modality).
Establish structures to support career growth, including access to mentorship and resources for teaching and professional development.
Preserve and increase funding for conferences, research, and other forms of professional development.
22.PAY
1 (lowest)
2
3
4
5 (highest)
Increase base salary.
Create salary increases around length of service to address salary compression.
Establish guaranteed salary increases at reappointment and promotion.
Establish guaranteed cost of living adjustments.
Establish equity increases to address pay disparities along race/gender lines.
Establish parity with tenured faculty base salaries.
Increase course overage pay.
Improve compensation for independent studies and advising work.
Improve compensation for service and administrative appointments.
Establish fair, equitable and timely compensation for service or research activities that directly benefit our schools, programs, and departments.
Establish flexible compensation (course release or pay) for additional service or teaching duties.
23.HEALTH BENEFITS
1 (lowest)
2
3
4
5 (highest)
Expand network coverage.
Lower out-of-pocket costs (e.g. premiums, co-pays, coinsurance).
Offer sick leave.
Improve vision benefits.
Improve dental benefits.
Improve mental health coverage.
Increase employer contribution to HSA.
Guarantee continued health coverage for retirees and dependents, including supplemental medical coverage.
Expand and improve coverage for retirees residing outside the U.S.
24.OTHER BENEFITS
1 (lowest)
2
3
4
5 (highest)
Restore and expand access to the tuition remission benefit for contract faculty.
Increase access to subsidized faculty housing.
Guarantee advance funding for immigration-related expenses (e.g. visa renewal).
Guarantee advance funding for expenses related to research and/or professional development.
Provide student loan repayment assistance.
Increase public transit, Citibike and/or parking subsidies.
Expand free or subsidized access to community benefits like gyms, museums and local institutions.
Ensure access to and improve the existing mortgage assistance benefit.
Improve and expand retirement benefits.
Preserve and increase access to life insurance.
Preserve and expand access to leave for medical or other reasons.
Increase access to disability insurance.
Increase access to long-term care insurance.
Provide free tax and investment assistance.
Provide free or subsidized AAUP membership.
Create phased retirement options.
25.A FAMILY-FRIENDLY UNIVERSITY
1 (lowest)
2
3
4
5 (highest)
Protect and improve tuition remission and portable tuition benefits for dependents.
Protect and improve paid parental leave.
Increase affordable access to childcare, including subsidies.
Improve affordability of insurance coverage for dependent children.
Increase affordable access to elder care, including subsidies.
Increase access to family and elder care leave.
Increase access to support and assistance re: NYC DOE school choice and placement.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS AND FOLLOW-UP
26.What other priorities have not been mentioned in the survey? Please use the space below for additional comments:
27.I want to get more involved with Contract Faculty United-UAW. Let me know about upcoming meetings.
28.I can forward this survey to my contract faculty colleagues and encourage them to fill it out.