Welcome to the new school year, and to our inaugural newsletter!
This summer, we reconstituted the Organizing Committee of our union, which works in support of centralizing info and communications, supporting departmental organizers, and liaising between the Bargaining Committee and our members. Relatedly, we elected a Bargaining Committee of nine members. These trusty representatives will negotiate with the SVA administration to ensure we have a good first contract.
To this end, our bargaining survey is the best way for union members to help the Bargaining Committee represent our interests. We ask you to help this out for two reasons. First, the more people respond, the better the BC can represent our collective priorities. Second, the more people who complete the survey, the stronger showing we can make in the bargaining process and ultimately win a better contract. Please kindly fill out the survey if you have not.
The Bargaining Committee has reached out to the SVA administration about the pay freeze and cancellation of 401(k) matching. The administration has stonewalled. This is a tacit admission that the administration is unwilling to consider the many faculty who are now facing an even more precarious finnancial position. Please sign this open letter from faculty to demand that the SVA administration dialogue with the Bargaining Committee and restore these critical benefits.
As many of us already know, 30 SVA staff and numerous faculty members have been laid o or had classes canceled at the last minute. The reasoning from the SVA administration has been opaque at best. This is why we formed a union: to have a voice in decisions like these, rather than ensuring them from below. Further down, you can find testimonials from a few people affected by the cuts.
The Department of Homeland Security has announced a proposed change to F and J visa rules to limit visa lengths, require a complex process to extend them, prevent international graduate students from changing programs for any reason, and shorten grace periods. F and J visas are the two most common international visas, and they are integral to our students’ lives. We categorically oppose such changes. Here is an explainer outlining the reasons why. We encourage you to stand with our international students by submitting a comment against the changes here. Please feel free to forward these links to your students, as well, who are welcome to leave a comment.
Last, we held a town hall meeting at 12pm on Saturday, September 27th, where faculty gathered to discuss our initial bargaining goals, get answers to questions, and hear more next steps for us to win. a strong first contract. Remember, our union strength is you. Your voice, your insight, your wisdom. Make your voice heard.
I started working for SVA around 2012 as a visiting crit in MFA Art Practice, and later became a faculty member and Thesis advisor for 13 years. In this time, I managed to get many of my students to write outstanding thesis and win our internal “Thesis Award”. Unfortunately, I also directly experienced how faculty at SVA had no power compared to the administration, who exercised complete control over our work.
This past summer, I was told to be on a zoom, with no information about what content would be discussed. I assumed that I was being called in to chat about “new” structural changes of the program. Instead, I was told my teaching was great, but I was let go because WE [the School] needed to save money.
None of us thesis advisors saw a pay raise in 13 years, but there was money for two new administration positions during this time. I am glad that I was able to be a small part in creating a Union before I was red, and hope for all of the workers at SVA to be treated better than my own experience.
– Steffan Saffer / SVA Faculty 2012-2025
In solidarity,
The SVA-FAC Organizing Committee
