Commentary: College’s action against contingent faculty impacts students
By firing these three professors, the administration has communicated once again that it does not have the best interests of students in mind.
By firing these three professors, the administration has communicated once again that it does not have the best interests of students in mind.
The decision to release strike vote numbers is disputed among contingent faculty unions across the country.
Since the end of the 2014–15 academic year, the Ithaca College French program has relied solely on part-time adjuncts and full-time contingent faculty hired on one-year contracts.
IC Students for Labor Action organized a protest at Free Speech Rock outside Campus Center Oct. 19.
“We’ve had dialogue about the issues,” Burroughs said. “They’re either stalling or not doing their work, and we’re not going to tolerate that.”
Following a summer of work by the presidential search committee, meeting and vetting candidates, the search for a new president of Ithaca College has been narrowed to under 30 candidates. The committee’s stated goal is to select a new president of the college by the end of 2016.
After nearly a year of negotiations, the Ithaca College part-time faculty union and the administration are still negotiating the most complex contract elements: benefits, wages and job security. Each side feels differently about the progress that’s being made.
“We expect you to answer some lingering questions about the details of the process more directly.”
Faculty and staff presented a letter to the Board of Trustees at its May 19 reception, asking the board to conduct a performance review of provost Benjamin Rifkin.
In the backyard of 164 Kendall Ave., crowds of Ithaca College students gathered from neighboring houses in May 2008. There was an endless number of kegs and people — a perfect way to celebrate the semester’s close. Kendall Day was born.
“I was in an office with another part-timer at one point, and I had received word that I had a contract for the next semester, and she didn’t, and she was a mother, and she said to me ‘I have no idea what I’m going to do now. I have to start applying for jobs,’” Grunberg said.
“We need to think of the problems in greater depth and perhaps move to take some steps together,” Rodriguez said. “But most of what came out was — in essence — is the need to come together for more conversations like this.”