United Academics and the University of Oregon reached a memorandum of understanding, agreeing on a revised collective bargaining agreement and changes that reflect an expectation of continued employment.

“It really does away with contracts, there won’t be written contracts in the same way we’re moving,” said Nick Recktenwald, a member of the UA bargaining team and a senior instructor in the Department of English. “[It] is the expectation of continued employment which essentially is [saying] you’ll have a job here next year.”

According to a statement released by UA on Dec. 8, the memorandum aims to fix two flaws that became visible when the COVID-19 pandemic hit last spring and faculty contracts were renewed. 

Only faculty who were up for a contract renewal faced possible job loss, which “introduced an element of randomness” to the process, according to the statement, and when contracts were renewed, they were not guaranteed to be renewed at the same full-time employment level. 

Mark Schmelz, chief of the UO Human Resources office, said that the university is “very pleased” with the new agreement, as career faculty were disproportionately impacted during contract renewal periods in times of financial stress. 

In an email to the Emerald, Schmelz wrote, “Career faculty are an important part of our teaching mission and campus community. Moving to a system of an expectation of continued employment with defined notice periods and away from a system of contracts with fixed end dates strengthens career faculty employment at the University of Oregon.” 

The new system will go into effect on June 16 and will apply to career faculty members, according to Schmelz. 

Recktenwald said that UO administrators recognizing the issues in the contract made negotiations easier and that he would like to see both sides work together this way more in the future. 

“Let’s solve our problems together instead of adversarially, you know, one side against the other type of thing,” he said. 

And while many loopholes have been closed, according to UA’s statement, the union “cannot guarantee that some crafty administrator will not find a way to bend the precise language in the [collective bargaining agreement] in ways we never intended it to.”

Recktenwald said that is a reflection of how the trust between faculty and upper administration has eroded due to the bending of contract language by the university in the past. Last spring, Recktenwald said the university insisted on renewing career faculty contracts at a half-time employment level instead of full-time, which made them feel like they “were being held hostage as a negotiating tactic.”

“The reason we needed to renegotiate or change the contract system is because the administrators that were responsible for making the contract system happen in the past, were not using it in the spirit of in which it was negotiated,” he said. 

Schmelz said that the new employment model aligns with universities that don’t give contracts to career faculty. Recktenwald said that job protection at UO is better than other colleges in the country. 

“It’s not a contingent or an adjunct position,” said Recktenwald. “I think there’s a lot to like about the new system.”

This memorandum won’t just provide peace of mind for teachers. According to Recktenwald, students will also benefit from the added stability. 

“It’s not great to be in a class if the instructor is worrying about if they’re gonna have a paycheck next year, that’s not a great experience for anybody,” said Recktenwald. “So like, taking that out of the equation as much as possible, I think is beneficial for students. it’s beneficial for faculty.”