TL;DR
Our united bargaining team met with management on May 19 from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. We advanced crucial protections for non-tenure track (NTT) faculty by presenting changed language for Article 27 (NTTs), introducing a landmark proposal for Article 28 (Fractional NTTs), and presenting revisions to Article 11A (NTT Reappointments/Promotions) and Article 26B (Termination for Cause). We also received management counterproposals on Article 2 (Academic Freedom) and Article 5 (Dues Deduction).
Highlights of the Session
Presenting Article 27 – Non-Tenure Track Faculty (NTTs)
The Unions presented a reorganized and streamlined Article 27 designed to eliminate precarity, simplify the reappointment process, and fully integrate BHSNJ NTTs into the legacy Rutgers faculty structure.
Unified Faculty Structure: Eliminated the “Teaching Instructor” title to prevent it from being used to keep faculty at lower ranks and lower pay, and called for an automatic conversion to the Assistant rank.
RBHS Integration: Added the RBHS Clinical Scholar title and an RBHS Instructor title with clear guidelines to maintain structural consistency, particularly within the School of Nursing.
Longer, Stable Contracts: Proposed that contract lengths increase progressively as faculty move up the ranks, and a shorter time to “presumptive renewability.”
Grant-Funded Protections: Moved grant-funded language to its own section, expanding “presumptively renewable” (PR) status to grant-funded faculty. Under this proposal, faculty funded 50% or more by external grants who face funding reductions will receive a 12-month notice period (if PR) or a 90-calendar-day notice period (if non-PR), backed by central funding during the notice window.
“PHRI faculty have always been soft money… Despite decades of research funding, PHRI faculty only receive 1–3 year contracts. Presumptively renewing the contracts of well-established faculty would allow us to focus on duties and save time.” — Melissa Rogers, New Jersey Medical Schoolis far more fraught than ever: “I can’t imagine that we can go to our members and tell them that the university can change its stance on academic freedom at any time[…]Also, the BHSNJ merger has been in place for over a decade. We will be happy to come back on that after we receive a written statement.”
Presenting Article 28 – Fractional NTTs (A Vision for Adjunct Inclusion)
In alignment with the national AAUP-AFT strategic goal to combat excessive reliance on contingent labor, the Unions introduced a comprehensive new article aimed at bringing roughly 2,000 lecturers into the university’s core infrastructure.
The Fractional Transition: Beginning Fall 2026, long-serving lecturers and co-adjutant faculty will be converted to fractional NTT or full-time NTT roles based on rank, seniority, and workload.
Rank Conversions: Lecturers with less than four semesters will maintain their titles (until they hit the four-semester mark), but most lecturers will be converted to Assistant Teaching Professors. More senior lecturers (Levels 4 and 5) will be converted to the Associate Teaching Professor rank. Those already carrying full-time loads will be converted to full-time Associate Teaching Professor lines.
Fair Pay Parity: Fractional NTTs will be paid proportionately to their department’s full-time salary scale.
Course Assignment Priority: Unassigned courses will be distributed based on clear workload entitlements, prioritizing qualified senior fractional NTTs to prevent arbitrary course slashing and provide a path to full-time, while at the same time protecting the jobs of lower-ranked lecturers.
“In my Spring 2024 appointment letter, instead of a contract of three classes at 22 students, it was for two classes of 40 students each… So, I was paid less than before our new contract raises. We were told they were raising class sizes to pay for contract salary increases.” — testimony of Cynthia Pancer, School of Education (26 semesters of service)
Hearing Management Counterproposals: Articles 2 & 5
Article 2 (Academic Freedom): Management presented a counterproposal seeking to maintain the status quo on Rutgers Academic Freedom policy 60.5.1 (allowing them to revise it from time to time without negotiating with us) and to continue to exclude BHSNJ faculty from the grievance process in Article 26B. The Union pushed back, asking why certain faculty segments continue to be denied equal academic freedom protections. On the plus side, they agreed to delete the language, which forced a “scope” ruling by the NJ Public Employment Relations Commission whenever an AF issue arises (unlike for any other type of grievance).
Article 5 (Dues Deduction): Management provided a counterproposal, which struck our language that a member wanting to withdraw from the Union must notify us. They also added language placing the onus on us to notify management whenever a unit member returns to work after a hiatus (such as a lecturer who teaches seasonally), before dues collection will resume. The university’s counter will undergo further evaluation in upcoming bargaining team caucuses.
Presenting Articles 11 & 26 – Job Security & Due Process
Article 11 (Grievance Procedure for NTTs): Focused on optimizing the grievance framework for non-reappointments and promotion denials, with explicit discussion regarding the authority of the grievance committee on remands.
Article 26 (Termination for Cause and Non-Renewal): Expanded to provide clear, expedited, and equitable procedural details for both termination for cause and programmatic non-renewals. The Union emphasized the necessity of shared governance, peer review, and treating Rutgers as a single institution in which RBHS and legacy faculty enjoy identical due-process rights.
Mark your calendar!
The next session is scheduled for Wednesday, June 3, from 2 to 5 pm in Newark
Other Upcoming Events
Click here for a full calendar: https://rutgersaaup.org/events/
Our Bargaining Team
| Austin | Rooney | Camden | Philosophy & Religion |
| Beth | Adubato | Newark | School of Criminal Justice |
| Bryan | Sacks | Camden | Philosophy & Religion |
| David | Letwin | College Ave-NB | Rutgers Arts Online |
| Howie | Swerdloff | Cook-NB | Labor Studies & Employee Relations |
| Boris | Paskhover | Newark | Otolaryngology (NJMS) |
| Catherine | Monteleone | RWJMS-NB | Medicine |
| Claire | O’Connell | Busch-Nb | School Of Health Professions |
| Cynthia | Sutton | RSDM-Newark | RSDM Diagnostic |
| Jeff | Levine | College Ave-NB | Family Medicine (RWJ) |
| Josh | Bucher | College Ave-NB | Emergency Medicine (RWJ) |
| Kathleen | Beebe | Newark | Orthopaedics (NJMS) |
| Melissa | Rogers | Newark | Microbiology (NJMS) |
| Pankaj | Agarwalla | Newark | Neurosurgery (NJMS) |
| Rula | Btoush | Newark | School of Nursing |
| Stephan | Schwander | NB Piscataway | SPH |
| Tessa | Bergsbaken | Newark | Immunity & Inflammation (NJMS) |
| LaToya | Gibbons | Camden | Enrollment & Student Success |
| Miguel | Rodriguez | College Ave-NB | School of Arts and Sciences |
| Adrian | Liu | College Ave-NB | Philosophy |
| Alexander | Steiner | RCI | Radiation Oncology |
| Annika | Barber | Busch-NB | Microbiology |
| Becky | Givan | Cook-NB | Labor Studies & Employee Relations |
| Britt | Paris | College Ave-NB | Library & Information Science |
| Bryan | Oller | Newark | Physics |
| Carlos | Decena | Livingston-NB | Latino & Hispanic Caribbean St |
| Chidera | Ntiwunka-Ifeanyi | Busch-NB | Biomedical Engineering |
| Emily | Marker | Camden | History |
| Ian | Oiler | Newark | Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine/Earth and Environmental Sciences |
| Kathy | Lopez | Camden | Public Policy |
| Kyle | Riismandel | Newark | History |
| Lee | Carpenter | Camden | Law School |
| Lily | Todorinova | Douglass-NB | New Brunswick Library |
| Paul | O’Keefe | Livingston-NB | Geography |
| Season | Qiu | Newark | Molecular And Behavioral Neuroscience |
| Tara | Matise | Busch-NB | Genetics |
| Heather | Pierce | College Ave-NB | Political Science |
| Luis | Soto | Livingston-NB | Criminal Justice |