UNH Faculty FAQ and Support
On February 2nd, we filed for an election to certify our union, UNH-GEU-UAW, with nearly 70% of graduate student workers support.
With a union, we will be able to bargain over our working conditions such as our pay, our healthcare, our workload, job security and protections from harassment and discrimination. We follow a national trend of student workers organizing around the country at: public institutions like University of Massachusetts, University of California, University of Washington, University of Connecticut, most recently at the University of Maine, and many more; and private institutions like Harvard, Columbia, Brown, New York University, Tufts, Brandeis, American University, Georgetown, WPI, and others.
Since we filed our petition for our union election, faculty all over campus are showing their support for the UNH graduate student workers’ and showing us their support for our union. The graduate student workers appreciate all the resounding support from all of the UNH community members.
Inevitably, some questions may arise during our election raised by a variety of sources. We have put together a list of common questions that are often raised in union elections. If you do not see a question below that you would like answered, please email us at <our email>@gmail.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do the increased costs of unionization mean for research budgets? Will we have fewer GRAs or TAs?
Research budgets of federal funding agencies account for annual raises and the university, which is why the budgets cover previous raises when they have been given. The only difference with a union contract is that administrators, faculty and students have a clear picture of what to expect for multiple years, rather than one year at a time (often at the last minute). There is no evidence that unionization has hurt enrollment in peer institutions. For example, for the University of California system, where a union has existed since 1998, enrollment has actually increased from 36,740 to 56,275 graduate students.
How will the union affect my research lab? Will it cause disruptions?
Our goal is to avoid disruptions and come to an agreement on a fair union contract. Additionally, disruptions are extremely rare and are used as a last resort. Our hope is to negotiate an agreement without the need to discuss disruptions.
Why are existing methods of representation, like the Graduate Student Government, not sufficient? What can a union do that these channels can’t?
Existing methods of representation, such as the Graduate Student Government can and do advocate for students, but the administration is under no obligation to respond to their requests, and they have no legal authority to negotiate better working conditions. Only a union can secure legally binding contract provisions around issues like health insurance and sexual assault policy and subsequently hold the administration accountable to clear standards. Additionally, the GSG is responsible for a much larger population (they include non-workers among them) and a much broader spectrum (they can advocate around campus life and academic concerns). Both have important roles to play in the future of our university.
How can such a varied bargaining unit adequately represent my department’s students? Our department is different and their concerns will get drowned out.
A union contract is a deeply flexible agreement. Graduate workers can negotiate improvements like pay minimums and or advance notice of work expectations while explicitly respecting and preserving the particular needs of different departments and programs. A contract also lets graduate workers negotiate over university-wide concerns, like health insurance, compensation, protections and parental leave.
The university already faces budget shortfalls which means new spending is already cut. Won’t unionization make the situation worse?
Overhead costs or Indirect Costs are calculated as a fraction of direct research costs, and those fractions are negotiated on a regular basis with granting agencies. Additionally, the administration determines the costs of portions of the grants (rent of space, equipment usage, administrative percentages, etc), and are in control of those costs. They could easily reduce those to make up for increases paid to graduate workers. Because graduate workers would have a union and sit across the table with admins who make those decisions, the administrators would be able to make adjustments to ensure they cover the cost (as has happened at 65+ other universities across the country). If they could not, the union and administrators are not likely to come to an agreement on a union contract that would cause collapse of the system.
Why the UAW? UAW is a political organization with its own agenda. Why does it make sense to involve them in important decisions on our campus?
The UAW is the largest union of student workers in the USA. From lawyers at the ACLU to museum workers at MoMA, professional and service workers have been UAW members for decades. Since the 1990s, at peer institutions like NYU, Columbia, and the University of California, graduate student workers have joined the UAW by the tens of thousands. Unions are democratic institutions, and so graduate students’ interests and visions have shaped the UAW’s priorities at both the local and national levels.
CLICK TO SEE THE MORE THAN A HUNDRED FACULTY SIGNED ON A SUPPORT STATEMENT FOR OUR UNION!
We, the undersigned members of the UNH faculty, support the efforts of UNH Graduate Employees United (UNH-GEU-UAW) to unionize graduate student workers as a local of the UAW.
- Cliff Brown, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology
- Catherine Moran, Principal Lecturer, Department of Sociology
- Peter Welch, Affiliate Lecturer, Department of Women’s and Gender Studies
- Jessica Bolker, Professor, Department of Biological Sciences
- Paula M. Salvio, Professor, Department of Education
- Judy Sharkey, Professor, Department of Education, Core Faculty, Women’s and Gender
Studies - Omer Daglar Tanrikulu, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology
- Megan Bresnahan, Associate Professor, UNH Library
- Amy Michael, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology
- Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, Associate Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy; Core Faculty, Department of Women’s and Gender Studies
- Vidya Sundar, Associate Professor, Department of Occupational Therapy
- Kathryn Greenslade, Assistant Professor, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders
- Laura Dietz, Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science
- Rachel Steindel Burdin, Associate Professor, Department of English and Department of Women’s and Gender Studies
- Tyler Jamison, Associate Professor, Department of Human Development and Family Studies
- Carolyn Gamtso, Associate Professor, Director of the UNH Manchester Library, College of Professional Studies (CPS), Department of Communication Arts & Sciences
- Marissa Mosley, Assistant Professor, Department of Human Development and Family Studies
- Easton White, Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences
- Amy Keesee, Association Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy; Space Science Center
- Karen T. Van Gundy, Professor, Department of Sociology
- Christoforos Mouikis, Research Associate Professor, Space Science Center
- Shawna Hollen, Associate Professor, Physics and Astronomy
- Jennifer Griffith, Associate Professor, Department of Management
- Kathrine Aydelott, Associate Professor, UNH Library
- Timm Triplett, Associate Professor, Philosophy Department
- Ruth Sample, Associate Professor, Philosophy Department
- Tracy Mandel, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering
- Donna Schefer, Principal Lecturer, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders
- Thomas Foxall, Professor, Department of Biological Sciences
- Julia E. Rodriguez, Professor of History
- Amy Boylan, Associate Professor of Italian Studies, CHI
- Per Berglund, Professor, Chair of Department of Physics & Astronomy
- James Ryan, Professor Emeritus, Physics and Astronomy
- Rob Haskins, Professor of Music
- Andrew D. Coppens, Associate Professor, Education Department
- Maurik Holtrop, Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy
- Rachel Trubowitz, Professor, Department of English
- Jolie Wormwood, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology
- Jennifer Borda, Professor of Communication
- Daniel Seichepine, Associate Professor, Department of Life Sciences, UNH, Manchester
- Siobhan Senier, Professor, Women’s and Gender Studies
- David Mattingly, Associate Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy
- Sergios (Sergey) Charntikov, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology
- Susan Walsh, Associate Professor Emerita, English Studies, UNH, Manchester (CPS)
- Lawrence C. Reardon, Professor, Department of Political Science
- John Sparrow, Associate Professor, Department of Life Sciences, UNH Manchester
- Francois Foucart, Associate Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy
- Wm Wren Stine, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology
- Douglas M Lanier, Professor, Department of English
- Dawn Meredith, Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy
- Elena Long, Associate Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy
- Courtney Paulson, Assistant Professor, Department of Decision Sciences
- Fabian Kislat, Assistant Professor, Physics and Astronomy
- Ann Zimo, Assistant Professor of Humanities, CHI
- Sharyn Potter, Professor, Department of Women’s and Gender Studies
- Michael Leese, Associate Professor, Department of History
- Robert Eckstin, Principal Lecturer, Department of Psychology
- Jason Sokol, Professor of History
- Olof Echt, Emeritus Professor, Dept of Physics and Astronomy
- Mihaela Sabin, Professor of Computer Science, Applied Engineering and Sciences Department, CPS Manchester
- Jessica Ernakovich, Associate Professor, Natural Resources and the Environment
- Kyle MacLea, Associate Professor, Life Sciences Department, CPS Manchester
- Paul McNamara. Professor, Philosophy
- Clark Knowles, Principal Lecturer, English Department
- Deni Hatch, Lecturer, Management Department
- Melissa Manseau, Senior Lecturer, Theatre and Dance
- Jennifer Purrenhage, Senior Lecturer, Natural Resources and the Environment
- Bill Troy, Senior Lecturer, Business and Public Policy
- Amy Trueworthy, Lecturer of Spanish, Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
- Casey Golomski, Associate Professor and Interim Chair, Department of Anthropology
- Tama Andrews, Principal Lecturer, Department of Political Science
- Michael Soha, Senior Lecturer, Department of Communication
- Alexis Broderick, Assistant Professor, Department of History
- Jacqueline Lombard, Lecturer of Art History, Department of Art and Art History
- Janet Anderson, Senior Lecturer, Biological Sciences
- Sarah Elliott, Lecturer of Studio Art, Department of Art and Art History
- Eleta Exline, Associate Professor, UNH LIbrary
- Sara Withers, Principal Lecturer, Department of Anthropology
- Lori Hopkins, Associate Professor, Languages, Literatures, and CUltures; Core Faculty,
Women’s and Gender Studies - Anna Wainwright, Assistant Professor, Italian Studies; Core Faculty, Women’s and Gender Studies
- Nicole Gercke, Senior Lecturer, Italian Studies
- Holly Cashman, Professor, Languages, Literatures & Cultures; core faculty in Women’s & Gender Studies
- Maria Basterra, Professor, Department of Mathematics and Statistics. Core faculty ,
Women’s and Gender Studies - Ashley Schubert, Lecturer, Department of Anthropology
- Nora A. Draper, Associate Professor, Department of Communication
- SvetLana Peshkova, Associate Professor, Anthropology; core faculty in Women’s & Gender Studies
- Casey L. Roark, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology
- Rebecca Glauber, Associate Professor, Sociology
- Elizabeth Harvey, Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences
- Brigitte Bailey, Professor, English
- Nathan Furey, Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences
- Robin Hackett, Professor, English; core faculty, Women’s and Gender Studies
- Jill Trumbell, Assistant Professor, Human Development and Family Studies Department
- Cristy Beemer, Associate Professor, English
- Ann Joslin Williams, Associate Professor, English
- Alecia Marie Magnifico, Associate Professor, English
- Lisa MacFarlane, Professor, English
- Martin McKinsey, Associate Professor, English
- Larry Beemer, Senior Lecturer, English
- Monica Chiu, Professor of English
- John McClain, Senior Lecturer, Department of Mathematics and Statistics
- Emily L. Poworoznek, Associate Professor Emerita, UNH Library
- Lauren Sager, Lecturer, Department of Mathematics and Statistics
- Christine O’Keefe, Principal Lecturer, English Department
- Michelle Fournet, Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences
- Anna O’Brien, Assistant Professor, Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Biomedical Sciences
- Molly Campbell, Principal Lecturer, English Department
- Laure Barillas, Assistant Professor, Philosophy & LLC
- Paul McNamara, Professor, Philosophy
- Gibran Mancus, Assistant Professor, Nursing
- Karen Niland, Principal Lecturer, Nursing
- A. Michael Gildersleeve, Principal Lecturer, Computer Science
- Margarita Muñoz Piña, Lecturer, Spanish- LLC Department
- Alex Holznienkemper, Senior Lecturer, German – Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
- Scott Weintraub, Professor of Spanish and Senior Faculty Fellow, College of Liberal Arts
- Ekaterina Burvikova, Senior Lecturer, Russian (Languages, Literatures, and Cultures)
- Michael Cardinali, Senior Lecturer, Art and Art History
- W. Kelley Thomas, Professor, Dept. of Molecular, Cellular, and Biomedical Sciences
- Patricia J. Craig, Associate Professor, Dept of Recreation Management and Policy, CHHS
- Barbara Prudhomme White, Professor, CHHS (OT)
- Nathaly Santiesteban, Assistant Professor, Dept of Physics and Astronomy, CEPS
- Md Shaad Mahmud, Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, CEPS
- Paula Mouser, Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, CEPS
- Kenneth Johnson, Professor, Sociology, COLA
- C.C. Hendricks, Assistant Professor, CAS, UNH Manchester
- Jeremiah W. Johnson, Associate Professor, AES, UNH Manchester
- Mary Stampone, Associate Professor, Geography, COLA
- Melinda Negron-Gonzales, Associate Prof and Chair, CPS-Manchester/Carsey
- Louise Buckley, Associate Professor, UNH Library
- Kai Uchida, Assistant Professor, UNH Library