Reflections on the New Agreement with Our Adjunct & Non-Tenured Track Faculty

March 23, 2022
 
Dear Howard University Community,
 

I am very grateful that Howard University has reached a tentative three-year collective bargaining agreement with Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Local 500, the union representing Howard’s full-time lecturers and adjunct faculty. Consistent with the recent compensation increases provided to tenured and tenure track faculty, this agreement ensures that our union-represented faculty and lecturers will receive the compensation they deserve, and that Howard’s students will continue to benefit from the instruction of these dedicated teachers. It was also important that in providing a measure of continuity for the represented faculty, that we have not compromised the tenure protections earned by our tenured and tenure track faculty.  

 

This is a positive development for all parties and for our University as a whole. In our negotiations with the union, we were committed to striking a delicate balance of providing these valued members of our faculty with the security and compensation that meet their needs as individuals within the structure of the University’s financial capacity. Achieving that balance rarely occurs on the first try and requires back and forth proposals between both parties. But I am grateful that the final agreement we have reached has received widespread support. 

 

I am appreciative of the union representatives, the lecturers and adjunct faculty members, as well as the members of our administration who have worked so diligently to find a path forward. All members of these discussions have negotiated in good faith, and with the best interest of our University and our students as our guiding principle. Progress as an institution does not require individuals to sacrifice their own self-interest; but it does require each of us to act selflessly and demonstrate in deed our desires to elevate the best interest of our entire community. We cannot reach the goals we have set for Howard unless we are all committed to working together to achieve them. 

 

With this agreement, as well as with our plans to revitalize our academic facilities with new real estate capital projects, the next era of Howard University is poised to be one of the strongest, most impactful in our long and revered history. The complement of faculty members, and the envisioned strength of facilities we will have as an institution, position us to continue to attract the strongest students and to empower them with the skills, knowledge and vision to generate a tremendous amount of good for our communities, our society and our world.  

 

The fruition of a plan takes time, as well as energy and resources. But the fruits of our labor and our strategy are truly paying off. Over the next few years, our Howard University facilities infrastructure will be transformed. We have always offered a holistic and top-tier education to our students. But with these investments and with our dedicated and illustrious faculty, we will truly be able to continue to offer students a contemporary, multidisciplinary world-class education.  

 

I hope you share my enthusiasm and excitement for the road ahead for Howard University.  

Thank you.
 

Excellence in Truth and Service, 

Anthony K. Wutoh, Ph.D., R.Ph. 
Provost & Chief Academic Officer