End-of-semester Newsletter from the President

Dear Colleagues, I am afraid this email may be a little lengthy, as it has been a while, and a million things have changed, and it’s the end of the semester and more things are changing, and I’m not exactly sure how many actual functioning brain cells are left in my head. I do want to say Congratulations on making it through day 389 of March 2020! It has been a long semester, a long year, and I know… Continue reading

Highlights from the Spring Chapter Meeting

Thank you for everyone who attended our Spring Chapter Meeting via Zoom and made their voice heard as members of the union! If you could not attend, you can find the meeting minutes here. Highlights: Legislative Affairs (Chair, Jim Burns) The 2021 Florida Legislative Session is well underway and anti-union bills are moving through committees and to the floor at a fast pace. We need all of the membership active in contacting their state Senators and… Continue reading

UFF-FIU Survey Results

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… Continue reading

MOU Reminders: Pausing your tenure clock & vulnerability attestation

Pre-tenure faculty, we want to remind you that according to our ratified MOU, if you are in need of a pause in your tenure clock as a result of COVID-19, the deadline is October 16th. You will not be denied the pause in your tenure clock as a result of COVID-19. This October 16th deadline is to have the initial conversation with your Chair. A tenure pause is an acknowledgement by the University that COVID-19… Continue reading

MOU on Fall Faculty Work

We are very pleased to share our newly signed Memorandum of Understanding with the FIU administration concerning Fall faculty work. Moving forward, we are going to schedule a ratification vote for shortly after 9-month faculty are back on contracts and will be sending more information about that process in the coming weeks. We will also be scheduling a Q&A meeting about the agreement in the upcoming weeks. Click here to view the MOU in PDF form A… Continue reading

Important Dates for Evaluations & Assignments

From UFF-FIU Grievance Chair Eric Dwyer Assignments and evaluations: Be vigilant, even though it’s summer! While a good number of faculty do not have summer assignments, you still have summer obligations, namely to your annual evaluation and to your next assignment. Evaluation For those of you on 9-month contracts, your evaluation is due no later than June 25. According to the CBA, page 63, you have an opportunity to respond to the evaluation within 30… Continue reading

Spring MOU on Teaching/Research Evals, Tenure & Promotion, and Remote Teaching

As we continue to navigate the impacts of COVID-19 and act to minimize its disruption to our students and our own work, it is important that faculty rights established in the Collective Bargaining Agreement are not overlooked. With this in mind, the UFF-FIU bargaining team and the FIU Administration bargaining team have agreed to a second Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). This MOU restates our previous agreement on instructional assignment, evaluations, and course ownership, and adds language on research evaluations and access to research spaces, as… Continue reading

Remote Work Agreement

On March 25th faculty received an email from Human Resources indicating that faculty must complete the Telework agreement. UFF-FIU believed that agreement did not accurately or reasonably reflect terms and conditions suitable for faculty during this temporary period of remote work, and we immediately began working with the Provost’s Office to create a more suitable policy that meets statutory requirements. Moving forward, we do want you to sign the agreement (you can access it through the… Continue reading

UFF-FIU FIU-BOT Memorandum of Understanding

Dear faculty, During this difficult and extraordinary period, when we are feeling the impacts of COVID-19 and acting to minimize its disruption to our students and our own work, it is important that faculty rights established in the Collective Bargaining Agreement are not overlooked. With this in mind, the UFF-FIU bargaining team and the FIU Administration bargaining team have agreed to the following Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to minimize the effects of decisions made such… Continue reading

Important Temporary Remote Work Message

NOTICE: The following message was crafted in response to the March 12th order from the Governor to move all instruction online. As of March 16th, FIU is further transitioning to remote work including the closing of libraries and other campus services. Please visit the FIU Coronavirus Reponse page for up-to-date information. UFF-FIU will continue to provide faculty with union updates as needed. Dear Faculty, Given the Governor’s decision to immediately transition to remote instruction until… Continue reading