Vote on our initial bargaining goals here!

This weekend, faculty from across SVA came together at our Faculty Town Hall to discuss our initial bargaining goals and learn about our next steps to win a strong contract. These goals were developed based on the responses to our bargaining survey as well as hundreds of conversations throughout our campaign. 

Voting for these initial bargaining goals sends a strong signal to the SVA administration and gives us more power to win critical improvements and protections at the bargaining table.

Click Here to Access Your Ratification Ballot

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SVA Faculty United - UAW
Initial Bargaining Goals

In May 2025, SVA’s all-adjunct faculty voted by a resounding 77% to form our union,  SVA-FAC UAW. A majority of faculty have also participated in shaping our bargaining agenda by filling out preliminary surveys.

We are an organization by, for, and of SVA faculty in many different fields, but our dedication to teaching unites us all. We are committed to significantly improving our employment experience at SVA, which in turn will create a better experience for our students and enhance SVA’s reputation as a leading school for the creative arts. Given the unprecedented attacks on higher education, these issues are more critical than ever. 

SVA was founded in part upon the principle of learning from a faculty of working professionals. Our union seeks to uphold that principle by making it far easier for us to connect as a community and model professional self-determination to our students, while ensuring that we don’t have to choose between teaching and keeping up with the careers that make us so valuable to SVA.

We believe that the achievement of these goals will facilitate the recruitment and retention of the most dedicated, diverse group of faculty and therefore enrich our ability to fulfill SVA’s mission. 

• Adopt a first contract in a timely manner and in good faith.

• Establish compensation that reflects the value of our work and the high cost of living by increasing minimum pay, scheduling regular raises, and honoring long-time faculty members’ experience and contributions to SVA.

• Establish compensation for teaching work performed outside of scheduled class time such as course prep, student conferences, and grading.

• Strengthen job security and establish reappointment rights: protect against arbitrary dismissal, unjust discipline, and termination; establish strong and transparent reappointment rights; and issue course cancellation fees and severance.

• Ensure minimum courseloads and predictable schedules from year to year to ensure that faculty are not left guessing about course assignments and can balance teaching with professional practice.

• Ensure faculty rights to intellectual property, academic freedom, and freedom of artistic expression.
  
• Protect and expand benefits like tuition remission, healthcare options, and retirement savings options, including a significant expansion to healthcare access and affordability.

• Restore and secure benefits such as sabbaticals and professional development funding for faculty, enabling greater opportunity to recruit, teach, and develop our pedagogy nationally and internationally.

• Ensure an equitable and inclusive workplace by ensuring strong protections against discrimination and harassment.

• Establish a clear grievance and arbitration process, with access to a neutral third party to ensure enforcement of our contract.

• Ensure equity across compensation, benefits, and workplace accessibility, especially for faculty members of marginalized or underrepresented groups.

• Mandate transparency, collaboration, and accountability from the SVA administration in all matters, including timely notification and documentation of pay and class assignments.

• Increase support for SVA’s vital, near-majority international community by providing faculty with more resources for teaching international students and stronger protections for visa-holding teachers.

• Enhance the faculty’s ability to provide quality teaching by ensuring reasonable maximum class sizes.

• Establish a process for faculty to have a meaningful voice in curriculum ensuring that all department members are informed of and given the opportunity to participate in department- and program-level committees.