Junior Faculty

With unprecedented number of new full-time faculty hires, combined with a longer tenure clock and increasing scholarship and service expectations, new professors and lecturers should not tackle the tenure or CCE process alone. At the same time it is crucial that junior faculty become involved with the PSC at the chapter and central level in order to continue to build a union, contract and university that meet their visions. The junior faculty project provides a space for junior faculty to form relationships with other faculty that reach across departments and colleges. And it is often their first step towards greater involvement with the work of the PSC.

Over the past year and a half junior faculty committees have met at both the central union office and at individual colleges to strategize ways that they can improve their own working lives and that of other junior faculty at CUNY. Goals of the committee include:

• Assuring that every new faculty member not only knows her rights under the union contract but acts proactively to secure them,
• Creating a stronger academic community, and
• Making the university a place that fosters creative and scholarly work while serving the educational needs and desires of a diverse student population.

Since the inception of the project, junior faculty have:

• Reached out to other junior faculty to discuss working conditions,
• Run new faculty orientations at a majority of campuses,
• Participated in the annual Junior Faculty Development Day,
• Hosted over half a dozen bar nights,
• Worked on campaigns within their chapters,
• Taken on leadership roles within the union,
• Fought for better funding and more appropriate class sizes,
• Formed an arts tenure committee and
• Participated in the Committee of 500.

Information gained from hundreds of conversations with junior faculty influenced the work of contract enforcement, formed the basis for contract priorities, and became part of the agenda at labor management meetings at both the chapter and PSC-wide levels.

There are many ways for junior faculty to get involved in the PSC. As it grows the junior faculty project will continue to respond to the issues and goals of CUNY’s junior faculty. This is your union and your university. It is up to you to make it work. As we prepare for contract and budget fights, your participation is essential. Some issues we’d like to work on in the future include better management of and access to research resources, housing funding education, clarity of tenure requirements, and new faculty mentoring.

If you’d like to become more involved, contact Deirdre Brill (dbrill@pscmail.org) or John Gergely (jgergely@pscmail.org) or come to a chapter meeting or PSC event.

Here are some highlights of Spring 2011 Events:

• PSC Junior Faculty Bar Night (January 28, 2011)*
• “Teach CUNY” Workshops on Various Campuses
• Junior Faculty Development Day
• Check your Personnel File Day
• Chapter Contract Meetings

For more information, see:
Union Successes
Glossary of PSC and CUNY terms