by Miami AAUP
April 13, 2020
Here is the text of a petition we posted yesterday (now closed for signatures as we have shared it with the administration). Thanks to the over 800 who signed in support.
This week, the majority of contingent faculty at Miami University—visiting assistant professors, instructors, and adjuncts—were told that their contracts will not be renewed in fall. This harsh decision will deprive our colleagues of income and health insurance during a pandemic and a recession. Alternatives are available, and we urge the administration to work with faculty to develop them.
Dear President Crawford, Provost Osborne, Divisional Deans, and Miami University Board of Trustees:
The undersigned members of the Miami University community urge you to take into consideration our collective ideas and solidarity across faculty categories as resources for confronting the crisis presented by the COVID-19 virus. Progressive, proactive leadership from upper administration could unleash the power of mutual aid and individual goodwill. We appreciate the measures taken to protect some vulnerable Miami populations (extending the tenure clock for probationary faculty, promoting the student emergency fund, extending the Credit/No Credit deadline to students), but we are concerned about the apparent disregard for the lives of VAPs and other contingent faculty, most of whom received notice this week that their contracts would not be renewed at the end of the semester.