(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Frustrated faculty members at Northern Illinois University (NIU) packed a Board of Trustees meeting Thursday and demanded that the university take the contract negotiation process seriously.
“While teaching is a labor of love, it is indeed labor and it needs to be recognized and rewarded as such,” said Dr. Kerry Ferris, an Associate Professor of Sociology at NIU.
Ferris said the moment a new assistant professor arrives on NIU’s campus might be the last time their salary is competitive, and she added that the longer a faculty member remains at the university, the less competitive their salaries are.
“We’ve maintained our commitment to NIU, in the wake of tragedy, through years without raises, and through a multi-year pandemic,” she said. “We’ve maintained our commitment as student needs, including their mental health needs, have increased — as staff positions and other support positions have gone unfilled and as inflation has soared.”
A long-term commitment to NIU is, from a financial perspective, “a losing proposition,” Ferris said as she demanded a contract that “recognizes and rewards” NIU faculty’s commitment.
Faculty members in the room applauded, but, if you were following the meeting remotely, you couldn’t hear the applause.
The sound was muted.
The two sides will be back at the bargaining table next week.
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