We’re excited to share that we began discussing economic proposals at Monday’s bargaining session! We kicked things off by proposing a large number of articles. Given the scope of the discussion, you can find a brief summary of each below:
- Professional Development Fund: This article would establish a fund for Faculty to apply and be reimbursed for professional development opportunities. Like unionized Faculty in NYC who have won similar PD funds in their contracts, this would expand resources for professional development and help us continue to excel in our work with students.
- Intellectual Property: This proposal would enshrine the current SVA Intellectual Property Policy and strengthen Faculty intellectual property rights over our work and art.
- Jury Duty: This proposal would ensure Faculty would not have any reduction in pay or benefits due to jury duty service.
- Tuition Benefits: This proposal would enshrine tuition benefits for Faculty who wish to take SVA courses.
- Health Insurance Benefits: One of the highest priorities expressed by colleagues across SVA is increased access to healthcare coverage. Currently, benefits are prohibitively expensive and in some cases, our wages are barely enough to cover the health insurance premiums. Ensuring access to affordable healthcare is critical for helping sustain quality teaching at the school.
- Union Leave & Office: This proposes that faculty can receive compensation for our role in assisting with necessary union operational duties. including helping to enforce our future contract. This article also establishes leave-time for Faculty to participate in union activities or opportunities.
- Family Care: This establishes a Family Care Fund to assist faculty caregivers and parents with costs related to child and dependent care.
- Transit & Museum Benefits: These contractualize existing benefits related to transit and museum access.
- Technology: This article responds to feedback from unit surveys regarding situations in which Faculty require technology or equipment to 1) perform their teaching duties or 2) meet industry software standards, but do not have access to the necessary resources. This ensures that the school, not our pocketbooks, helps provide what we need to teach our students.
- Leaves: This codifies benefits provided by law or school policy, and would enhance the current policy in several places.
- Maintenance of Benefits: This asserts the status of any benefits applicable to current faculty in the unit and ensures the status quo for those unaddressed in our forthcoming contract.
- Pay Day: This adjusts and makes the current asymmetrical payroll schedule more consistent with the academic calendar.
- Workspace and Materials: This article ensures SVA will provide all materials, equipment, facilities, and software required to effectively teach a course at no cost to the Faculty Member.
- Retirement: This establishes meaningful competitive retirement benefits for faculty and brings faculty to standards at peer institutions such as Parsons and NYU, especially keeping in mind that Faculty have lost the retirement benefit matching in the past.
- Sabbaticals: This codifies and improves sabbatical leave policy, one of our most cherished benefits. SVA proudly employs instructors who are experts in creative fields and have illustrious careers. A sabbatical leave gives creatives time to dive into long-term projects and provides the mental space we need to pursue different ideas and sharpen our skills, both of which would enhance our teaching skills and improve SVA’s reputation as a leading art institution.
Compensation
Our overall goal is to establish fair compensation for Faculty that reflects the value of our work and the cost of living in New York. Faculty deserve compensation that allows us to live and thrive in NYC, the arts capital of the world. Fair compensation is a vital contributor to Faculty retention and morale, and will allow us to focus on SVA’s mission of supporting our students. Read more on why a majority of all SVA faculty have called on the administration to address these principles in our first contract.
- Establish minimums to address current rates that lag behind local institutions such as CUNY, NYU, Fordham, and others.
- Guarantee annual increases that keep pace with the high cost of living in NYC.
- Codify longevity increases that honor commitment to the School and mitigate gender and racial inequities in pay over time.
- Establish compensation for additional duties outside the classroom.
Our initial proposal was further guided by the rising yearly cost of living in the New York area, an absence of meaningful annual pay raises in recent years (sometimes as low as 0%), and disproportionately low average hourly rates for faculty compared to other schools. You can read our comprehensive initial compensation proposal here.
Finally, we re-asserted our proposal on Welcome Materials and Orientation, and followed up with the SVA administration on our Grievance and Arbitration proposal. They responded that we were very close to an agreement and could expect a counterproposal in the near future. You can follow along on the progress of all proposals here.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or thoughts, or to get more involved in our fight for a fair contract.
Best,
Billy Altman, Humanities & Sciences
On behalf of SVA/FAC-UAW Bargaining Committee
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