Ratification Vote Coming Up

This spring, courses suddenly went online mid-semester and many other professional arrangements were disrupted. Some of this disruption will continue into and perhaps through fall. For this reason, the United Faculty of Florida has bargained a Memorandum of Understanding with the USF Administration.

In this negotiation, the United Faculty of Florida represents all 1,600+ faculty and professionals in the UFF USF Bargaining Unit, and the USF Administration represents the USF Board of Trustees.

This "MOU", once ratified, requires, among other things:

• that each college shall decide whether to permit faculty to exclude their Spring 2020 student evaluations from their annual 2020 teaching evaluation or to include while taking care to consider the circumstances, and
• that the effect of the pandemic on scholarship, research, and / or creative works will be weighed in all evaluations during the pandemic, and
• a teacher whose age or health puts them at high risk (or who lives with someone whose age or health puts them at high risk) shall have priority for teaching courses online, and
• once applicable government-mandated restrictions expire, bargaining unit employees will have access to their offices and ("if applicable") laboratories and other facilities, consistent with campus safety policy, and
• pre-tenure bargaining unit employees with start-up funds may apply for an extra year to make use of those funds, and bargaining unit employees on sabbatical or professional leave may petition for a rememdy, and
• bargaining unit employees may use appropriate leave for looking after children while their schools were closed, and
• tenure-track faculty may have an extra year (but they have to request it).

The next step is to ratify the MOU. Both the employees of the UFF USF Bargaining Unit and the USF Board of Trustees must ratify this MOU in order for it to come into effect. Employees will ratify the MOU by voting on it by mail ballot. All UFF USF employees, both UFF members and non-members alike, are eligible to vote and should vote on this MOU. UFF will have ballot packets - in 10 x 12 envelopes - sent to the home addresses of UFF USF employees. We have sent them to a printer, and will announce when they are in the mail. UFF believes that this MOU is in the best interest of the UFF USF employees and the university, and strongly encourages a vote in favor of ratification. If you have any questions, please send us an email or contact your favorite officer or representative in UFF USF.