Greetings,

The AAUP-AFT has filed a demand for negotiations with the University administration over the SAS Dean's unilateral proposal to increase the workload of tenured faculty members in the upcoming academic year (2009-10). It is hard for us to imagine how the largest unit at Rutgers could increase the teaching load of its tenured faculty without expecting a comparable decrease in research and service contributions. A decrease in research efforts would weaken our ability to secure the federal and private research grants imperative to the University’s mission and our stature as a member of the Association of American Universities. Furthermore, we expect it could have negative effects on enhanced salary increases and promotion consideration for all tenured faculty members. To this end, we have demanded negotiations with the administration over the impact of the Dean's proposal.

Over the course of this Spring semester, an ad-hoc Workload Committee of the AAUP-AFT Executive Council has been looking into best practices on workload for our members. To view the committee report and recommendations, use the following link:

http://rutgersaaup.org/workload/Workload_Report_May2009.pdf 

If you have any questions or comments, please contact us at aaup@rutgersaaup.org or (732) 964-1000.

Sincerely, 

Lisa C. Klein

Professor II, Materials Science and Engineering
President, Rutgers AAUP-AFT