Jim Seymour, PATFA vice president, shares this recent piece from The Atlantic:

Can a budding labor movement improve the lives of non-tenured faculty and, in the process, fix higher education?

Read More:
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/04/the-adjunct-professor-crisis/361336/

Michele Cheung, longtime PATFA member and grievance officer, just returned from the April 11-13 American Federation of Teachers’ higher education conference in Baltimore. Here are her observations:

I attended the AFT's national conference on higher education to learn how our union affiliation can serve adjuncts’ needs here in Maine. Briefly, the wider view of where our activism sits compared to other units in which adjuncts participate across the nation is less than optimal. The academic unions that fare best have the power of acting as one: they embrace full and part-time faculty, academic

PATFA members participating in the Annual Meeting on May 16 approved early steps toward creation of a faculty development fund for PATFA adjuncts.

And outgoing president Michael Burke stressed the need for even greater visibility for PATFA and all adjuncts working in the University of Maine System.

About 20 people attended the Annual Meeting at the University of Maine at Augusta campus. They heard presentations from a representative of the AFL-CIO in Maine as well as state Sen. Emily Cain, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for the 2nd Congressional District seat being vacated by Rep

Every person who teaches part-time in the University of Maine System is on a "service list" that helps keep track of seniority and rank. The System is required to compile the lists once a year, but the 2013 list disappeared from the UMS website a few months ago after it underwent a redesign.

As of March 27, 2014, the 2013 service lists are back, published by university. Check them out at:

http://www.maine.edu/about-the-system/system-office/human-resources/labor-relations/

Dear PATFA members:

Members of the Part-time Faculty Association of Maine ratified the 2013-2015 contract with the University of Maine System by a vote 95-2 last month, and the board of trustees has approved it as well.

We concluded our negotiations with UMS on Friday, March 21.

The agreement is a miserable one, one I can barely find the energy to articulate.

-- A 2% increase in pay in 2013-14 (retroactive to Sept. 1, 2013) and 2014-15.

-- No retirement incentive, despite the hundreds of thousands of dollars set aside for AFUM retirement incentives.

-- No change or improvement on the Academic Year

Dr. Kimberly Simmons, an adjunct at the University of Southern Maine, shared this letter with PATFA after receiving a link to a recent article by Noam Chomsky, "The Death of American Universities."

Dear USM Faculty:

I appreciate the link to this article and the spirit in which it was offered.  As a long time part-time faculty member, I encourage you to consider the significant stress that PAFTA members are under at this time -- and at all times -- and add the struggles of PAFTA to secure a living wage and decent contract to your list of overall grievances. 

Without the support of FT faculty, PAFT

Jim Seymour, PATFA vice president, shares this recent piece from The Atlantic:

Can a budding labor movement improve the lives of non-tenured faculty and, in the process, fix higher education?

Read More:
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/04/the-adjunct-professor-crisis/361336/

Michele Cheung, longtime PATFA member and grievance officer, just returned from the April 11-13 American Federation of Teachers’ higher education conference in Baltimore. Here are her observations:

I attended the AFT's national conference on higher education to learn how our union affiliation can serve adjuncts’ needs here in Maine. Briefly, the wider view of where our activism sits compared to other units in which adjuncts participate across the nation is less than optimal. The academic unions that fare best have the power of acting as one: they embrace full and part-time faculty, academic

PATFA members participating in the Annual Meeting on May 16 approved early steps toward creation of a faculty development fund for PATFA adjuncts.

And outgoing president Michael Burke stressed the need for even greater visibility for PATFA and all adjuncts working in the University of Maine System.

About 20 people attended the Annual Meeting at the University of Maine at Augusta campus. They heard presentations from a representative of the AFL-CIO in Maine as well as state Sen. Emily Cain, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for the 2nd Congressional District seat being vacated by Rep

Every person who teaches part-time in the University of Maine System is on a "service list" that helps keep track of seniority and rank. The System is required to compile the lists once a year, but the 2013 list disappeared from the UMS website a few months ago after it underwent a redesign.

As of March 27, 2014, the 2013 service lists are back, published by university. Check them out at:

http://www.maine.edu/about-the-system/system-office/human-resources/labor-relations/

Dear PATFA members:

Members of the Part-time Faculty Association of Maine ratified the 2013-2015 contract with the University of Maine System by a vote 95-2 last month, and the board of trustees has approved it as well.

We concluded our negotiations with UMS on Friday, March 21.

The agreement is a miserable one, one I can barely find the energy to articulate.

-- A 2% increase in pay in 2013-14 (retroactive to Sept. 1, 2013) and 2014-15.

-- No retirement incentive, despite the hundreds of thousands of dollars set aside for AFUM retirement incentives.

-- No change or improvement on the Academic Year

Dr. Kimberly Simmons, an adjunct at the University of Southern Maine, shared this letter with PATFA after receiving a link to a recent article by Noam Chomsky, "The Death of American Universities."

Dear USM Faculty:

I appreciate the link to this article and the spirit in which it was offered.  As a long time part-time faculty member, I encourage you to consider the significant stress that PAFTA members are under at this time -- and at all times -- and add the struggles of PAFTA to secure a living wage and decent contract to your list of overall grievances. 

Without the support of FT faculty, PAFT