• Art Jahnke

    Senior Contributing Editor

    Art Janke

    Art Jahnke began his career at the Real Paper, a Boston area alternative weekly. He has worked as a writer and editor at Boston Magazine, web editorial director at CXO Media, and executive editor in Marketing & Communications at Boston University, where his work was honored with many awards. Profile

Comments & Discussion

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There are 10 comments on University and Adjunct Faculty Come to Terms

  1. With respect for what part-time and adjunct faculty have accomplished at B.U., Tufts, and Leslie, I want to point out that nearly 40 years ago, the faculty at Curry College negotiated a contract that included part-time faculty. The contract has included them ever since, and has been improving their pay and working conditions accordingly.

  2. Great now BU maybe it’s worth coming to the table and giving BUPD a fair contract? I would like to see BU today write an article about BU’s attempt to take away basic bennefits from BUPD without conceding anything. Not holding my breath though…

    1. This is a timely question. There seems to have been a rush to accommodate the needs of the Adjunct Faculty now that they are unionized. But what about the BUPD whose members are available 24/7/365? The University and its negotiator have not bargained in good faith with the police, in a startling departure from a long history of mutual respect and understanding, whether at the bargaining table or in working toward the shared goal of protecting the University community.

      1. Hi Zachary,

        That may well be true. In such cases, the prior contract usually has a provision that it remains in force during ongoing negotiations. One & two years are unconscionably long times for that, though, delays are mostly due to employers not bargaining in good faith.

    1. It’s good news — why not report it now? Then BU Today can report further good news, namely the ratification vote. Hopefully that article will have more from BU adjuncts, instead of mostly reporting how glad the admin is that its rights (sic) are safeguarded!

  3. As a former BU employee of many years, I can report that while for the most part the university was willing to treat fairly, I saw many exceptions to that for myself and others. Regardless of how one feels about unionization as a vehicle of change, there definitely was a “power imbalance” feeling among nonrepresented persons and I hope that this will be a step in a better direction.

  4. I am certainly glad that the non-tenured faculty will now receive more appropriate recompense and better working conditions. But I am sad that it has taken so long to make improvements that should have been introduced decades ago. All the non-tenured faculty who have taught me have impressed me as being serious and dedicated scholars and teachers. Where was the respect for their work and their contribution to the University? Where was the concern for their development and welfare? Where was the Christian love for one’s neighbor that should have motivated a university with as strong religious affiliations as BU? Certainly better late than never. However, we need to ask, the needs of what other groups working at BU are still being insufficiently acknowledged?

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