Oppose SB 1
On Wednesday, March 19, the House Workforce & Higher Education Committee voted SB 1 out of committee along party lines with amendments adopted putting the bill closer in line with the last version of SB 83. Unfortunately, the amendments introduced by Ranking Minority Member Beryl Brown Piccolantonio (D) that would remove the anti-union and anti-tenure provisions of the bill were tabled. Later that afternoon, the full House of Representatives debated and ultimately passed SB 1 by a vote of 59 to 34. Joining the Democrats in opposition were Republican representatives Cindy Abrams, Scott Oelslager, and Jason Stephens.
Next week SB 1 will return to the Senate for concurrence on the changes made by the House (this is expected to occur on Wednesday, March 26). After this, the bill will be sent to Governor Dewine to either sign or veto.
We encourage you to contact Governor Dewine (https://governor.ohio.gov/contact) / 614-644-4357 and urge him to veto the bill!
When voicing your concerns and arguing against this damaging bill, you may find Deb's op ed in the Akron Beacon Journal and this joint statement from Faculty Associations across Ohio helpful. But remember to use your own wording. Cutting and pasting language from another source will radically reduce the weight that your argument carries.
Kent State United Faculty Association Disaffiliates from AAUP
The Kent State United Faculty Association has decided to end its nearly 50-year formal affiliation with the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). The decision was made by a majority vote of our active members conducted between February 26 and March 12 and is effective April 1, 2025. Discussions about the possibility of disaffiliation from AAUP first began over a decade ago within KSUFA's governing bodies. The heavy lift of educating the active members about the circumstances leading up to the question of disaffiliation began on April 22, 2024. The links below cover the major communications sent to KSUFA members between April 22, 2024 and the start of the disaffiliation vote.
FAQs Concerning Potential Disaffiliation from AAUP
Vol. 0: Our Kent State Faculty Union and AAUP (email sent April 22, 2024)
Vol. 3: The pros and cons of disaffiliating from AAUP (email sent October 11, 2024)
Vol. 4: Next steps, timelines, and processes (email sent October 30, 2024)
Vol. 5: Introducing the Kent State United Faculty Association (email sent December 2, 2024)
AAUP’s Statement on Affiliation (Received February 5, 2025)
OCAAUP’s Statement on Affiliation (Received February 25, 2025)
KSUFA Welcome Message
The Kent State United Faculty Association (KSUFA) serves as the collective bargaining agent for all full-time faculty at Kent State University. First established in 1978, KSUFA is one of the oldest faculty unions in Ohio and pre-dates the law providing collective bargaining rights to full-time faculty at Ohio’s public institutions of higher education.
KSUFA is responsible for negotiating the terms and conditions of employment for all full-time faculty at KSU’s eight campuses. KSUFA has two bargaining units: the FTNTT unit that represents the Full-Time Non-Tenure Track faculty and the TT unit that represents the Tenured and Tenure-Track Faculty. Each bargaining unit independently negotiates its own, unique Collective Bargaining Agreement every three years. Each of these agreements encompasses a wide array of salary and benefit provisions, grievance and appeal procedures, and outlines the fundamental principles for shared governance at Kent State University at the department, school, college, and campus levels.
In addition to serving as your union, KSUFA is committed to promoting positive academic values and shared governance, as well as protecting faculty against attacks on tenure and academic freedom. The Collective Bargaining Agreements of both bargaining units incorporate AAUP's 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure and 1966 Statement on Professional Ethics.
While you are not required to be a member of KSUFA to share in the benefits of collective bargaining, we hope that you will consider that option. Members provide ideas, leadership and financial support to the organization. Membership also entitles you to an active voice in determining the issues and priorities established for negotiations and to voting rights with regard to contract issues. Membership forms may be downloaded directly from the site.
We are pleased to continue our tradition of service to faculty, and we hope to hear from you with your comments, concerns and suggestions for the future of the Association. Feel free to contact us – we look forward to hearing from you soon!
| Deborah C. Smith Chapter President, TT Unit |
Sue Clement President, FT NTT Unit |
