Full Report (PDF)
Executive Summary
Florida International University Chapter of the United Faculty of Florida (UFF-FIU) aims to bring faculty and professional employees of the University into a relationship of mutual assistance and cooperation in order to obtain for them the rights and privileges to which they are entitled. UFF-FIU promotes the democratization of the University so it will better serve the people of the State of Florida. UFF-FIU strives to achieve and safeguard academic freedom and combat bigotry in all of its forms at Florida International University, in the State University System, and in society.
“The right of employees, by and through a labor organization, to bargain collectively shall not be denied or abridged.”
Florida Constitution, Article I, Section 6
UFF-FIU serves as the bargaining agent that negotiates the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA, or “contract”) between faculty and the FIU administration. The CBA governs, among other things, salary raises, tenure & promotion, annual assignments & evaluations, academic freedom, leaves, and other aspects of faculty work.
In order to inform our bargaining processes and address faculty concerns and issues, UFF-FIU conducted a survey of all in-unit faculty (N=1370) during the Fall 2020 semester (December 2nd – December 17th). Faculty were asked to share their views of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), their work experiences, and their professional priorities as they continue at FIU.
Overall, faculty indicated they are satisfied with the advocacy of the union on their behalf, their work/life balance at FIU, both pre-COVID and currently, the support of their supervisors, diversity and equity, and the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). We are concerned that one of the major faculty concerns is the need to teach overloads to address deficits in salary/compensation. Additionally, the survey indicates that UFF-FIU should continue to educate faculty on items within the contract that have been negotiated on their behalf.
We received 579 responses (response rate = 42.3%), which is extremely high for an online survey and one conducted at the end of an extremely challenging semester. Demographic responses indicate that the respondents are representative of the bargaining unit in terms of title, rank, gender identity, racial/ethnic identity, and contract length.
This report contains the overall item-by-item results of the survey. Demographic information about the respondents is included at the end of the report. The survey invitation is provided in Appendix A. Due to potential anonymity issues, this report only provides aggregated results and does not include response to the open-ended item asked at the end of the survey.
We hope you are as encouraged by these results as the UFF-FIU Leadership is. As you will see, our faculty express largely positive views and experiences about the terms and conditions of their work, their supervisors, and the university as a whole.