Contingent and Graduate Employees [CAGE]

C.A.G.E. Media Archive

Faculty Senate Urged to Pass Chapter Four

On February 2, 2004 at 3:30 pm in the Shiloh Room, University of Tennessee Faculty Senate will be voting on amending their Handbook. United Campus Workers-Contingency And Graduate Employees (UCW-CAGE) will be setting up an information picket outside the meeting to support the adoption of Chapter Four and Chapter Five of the Faculty Senate Handbook. UCW-CAGE hopes to raise awareness of the ongoing struggle for equitable pay and a standardized grievance procedure for all campus workers. Chapter Four focuses on Appointment, Evaluation, and Review for Non-tenure-track Faculty, an important first step in protecting the rights and fair treatment of these workers. Chapter Five deals with the appellate process for Contingency Workers.

Beyond advocating a living wage and adequate health care for all UT workers, UCW-CAGE continues to encourage the administration to standardize semester and yearly appointment reports for both Contingency and Graduate Employees, a system currently overseen on a departmental basis. UCW-CAGE also pushes for the administration to provide timely and detailed notices of all contract renewals for both Contingency and Graduate Employees. In the case of contract disputes or termination, all campus workers should be provided with detailed explanations, and an opportunity to appeal. Currently UT fails to maintain these basic professional standards. Brian Gempp of UCW-CAGE feels that ratifying Chapters Four and Five is an important first step, but “would only partially amend the current situation. We [UCW-CAGE] also suggest the administration adopt a similar handbook for Graduate Employees, who, along with adjunct faculty, teach many of the core courses offered by UT, but are not provided with standardized grievance procedure." UCW-CAGE believes the lack of such a procedure is problematic for employed graduate student’s dual role as both teacher and student.

February 2nd’s picket introduces UCW-CAGE’s Campaign for a Graduate Employee and Contingency Handbook, foregrounding the absence of such a procedure within the administration’s current practices. The teaching, research and service of all those involved in education at University of Tennessee should be protected by such a handbook.

For more information, contact:
Evan L. Weissman
865.567.8830
cage@ucw-cwa.org

C.A.G.E. Update for Spring 2004 Semester

Under the guise of UCW, Contingency and Graduate Employees (CAGE) are organizing to improve working conditions on campus and throughout Tennessee. Although contingency and graduate employees teach or assist in nearly half of introductory courses required of undergraduate students, we have neither job security nor adequate means through which we can communicate with the administration.

In 2004, CAGE will lend their support to Chapter Four of the Faculty Handbook which, if approved, will include non-tenure track faculty within its guidelines on appointments, evaluations and reviews. Currently, CAGE is developing a similar handbook. The handbook will ensure that adequate professional working conditions, professional support and opportunities for input on issues of shared governance will be extended to graduate employees as well as Contingency and Full-Time Faculty involved in the education process at the University of Tennessee.

Contingency and Graduate Employees will continue to work, throughout the year, with UCW-CWA on the Fairness Campaign for all UT employees and collaborate towards improving and increasing the presence of United Campus Workers.

Organizing Graduate Students Under UCW-CWA Local 3865
by Brian Gempp, Erin Murphy & Evan L. Weissman

Graduate students are organizing with the United Campus Workers to focus on issues concerning graduate students working on campus. These interests include many of the same concerns as other workers on campus, but take different shape because of the precarious balancing act graduate students are forced to perform - as both student and teacher - made even more difficult in that one role sometimes complicates the execution of the other. Many of these issues affect other part-time faculty as well, thus organizing activities will be inclusive of adjuncts and instructors. Moreover, building UCW membership by adding graduate students will strengthen the UCW and lend support to other workers on campus through the additional efforts graduate students can lend to improve UT.

Graduate students and part-time faculty have neither job security nor adequate means through which they can communicate with administration. Though they may teach close to half of the introductory courses required of UT undergraduates, these employees operate without collective representation. These sectors of the campus also operate with little security as hiring occurs on semester or yearly contracts. Though graduate students and part-time faculty fulfill many of the same roles in teaching introductory classes as full-time faculty, they function without communication with administration.

Graduate Students and part-time faculty share a passion for teaching, research and service to the university, their discipline and most importantly, their students. Part-time faculty and graduate students need adequate professional working conditions, consistent professional support and input on issues of shared-governance. We also need to be provided with semester and yearly appointment reports, as well as timely and detailed notices of contract renewal. In the case of contract disputes or termination, we need to be provided with detailed explanations, and an opportunity to appeal.

Under the guise of UCW, graduate students and part-time faculty are beginning to organize to improve working conditions on campus and throughout Tennessee. All graduate students with campus appointments and part-time faculty are invited to get involved, join C.A.G.E. and help to make this campus an even better place to work.

Please contact one of the following graduate studuent C.A.G.E. members for more information:
Brian Gempp, English: bgempp@utk.edu
Kristin VanHooreweghe, Sociology: kvanh@utk.edu
Evan Weissman, Sociology: evanweissman@yahoo.com