Part-Time Faculty may find the following resources useful. The Wayne State links below include useful links that PTF use often, such as Academica and Canvas, as well as information that PTF should know, such as information about the university’s finances. The labor history links are from a “short course” created by our former Vice President, Tom Anderson, who taught in the history department for over 30 years.
WSU Resources
- Wayne State’s Homepage
- WSU’s new onboarding document for Part-Time Faculty: This document includes much of the information that PTF need to know in order to do their jobs well at WSU.
- Wayne State’s Coronavirus Website: This site includes links to all of the public information about campus conditions, current coronavirus policies, and the campus dashboard.
- University Policies and Procedures: These are the university policies as set by the Board of Governors. In addition to our contract, these policies shape our working environment.
- PTF & IA policies: The policies that are specifically relevant to Part-Time Faculty and Instructional Assistants are linked directly here.
- Academica
- Canvas
- Financial Reports: As a public university, Wayne State is required to make its financial information available to the public. This is a useful resource to understand the fiscal health of the university.
- Institutional Research and Data Analytics: Wayne State merged “The Office of Institutional Research and Analysis (OIRA) […] with the former Business Intelligence and Data Analytics (BIDA) team.” This office’s stated mission is to “unify and advance [Wayne State’s] capability for data-supported decision-making with a strategic focus on data integrity, operational excellence, external reporting and accountability, and campus outreach.” The information published by this office is very useful in bargaining. The university’s enrollment data frequently determines how many courses are offered to PTF, for instance. You can read more about WSU’s enrollment, and various trends in enrollment, at the following links:
Are you receiving compensation for parking on campus?
The PTF parking policy is found in Academic Policies 01-3 §5.3. The policy states:
§5.3 The appointing school/college or equivalent unit shall provide each part-time faculty with a parking card, paid for by the unit, that includes parking for a number of days that approximates the number of days of classroom teaching, examination administration, and any other mandatory duties that correspond to the responsibilities set forth in the letter of appointment. This provision does not apply to part-time faculty members whose sole duties and responsibilities are fulfilled at University extension centers or other off-campus locations.
01-3 Part-Time Faculty (pp. 184-85 of University Policy.pdf).
Payment of parking for part-time faculty is a long-standing university policy that pre-dates the union. For a long time, it was one of the only job benefits that PTF had. Even so, occasionally the union has heard that some part-time faculty are not receiving a parking allowance.
The union has been assured by the administration that 1) there is no plan to end the policy; 2) the Office of the President has both the means and the will to enforce the policy. But remember, this is a university policy and not a right under the UPTF Bargaining Agreement.
Beginning in Fall 2011, parking funds deposited to our One Cards are considered taxable income, according to IRS rules. Employees receiving this income will have the additional tax withheld (federal, state, local, and FICA) based on the value added to the One Card. This additional tax withholding should occur on one paycheck per semester unless the PTF member has multiple appointments, each with separate amounts for parking.
If you are not receiving parking fees on your One Card, you can remind your department chair of the policy, and if need be, a UPTF representative can help you to bring the matter up with your chair.
Please let UPTF know if you are not receiving the parking allowance. Contact the UPTF at (313) 577-0958.
Labor History: a Short Course using Videos, Podcasts and other Media
The 2016 AFT National Convention was a celebration of the union’s centennial, and the union produced several short videos highlighting the AFT’s history. You can watch those videos starting here:
The UAW produced a video about the historic Flint Sit-Down Strike. They explain:
The nation is in economic crisis, unemployment is high, people are losing homes, workers are afraid to unionize and families, swamped in debt, struggle for a better life. Worldwide, masses stand up against corporate greed and demand a better quality of life by sitting down and occupying space in a unified effort to be heard. These people — dubbed radicals or even communists by the opposition — believe this organizing movement has critical importance in their effort to create change.
The year is 1936 — not 2012 — a turbulent time for autoworkers whose determination and courage helped the labor movement gain a better quality of life for workers and, ultimately, create the American middle class.
Known as “White Shirt Day,” Feb. 11 marks the 75th anniversary of the most famous of these sit-down actions, the 1936-1937 General Motors Flint Sit-Down Strike. Men and women throughout the UAW wear white-collar attire traditionally donned by management to remember the sacrifices and victories of workers.
But winning was no small task.
Flint Sit Down Strike (1936-37) – UAW History
In addition to the videos above, you may find the following links to be of interest as well.
History Professor Liz Faue, WSU, discusses the 1945 UAW strike with NPR’s Stateside, an audio-only interview
For Liberty, Justice, and Equality: Unions Making History in America, an exhibition at the University of Maryland
Walter P. Reuther Library at Wayne State University, home of the AFT National Archives