Dear TT Faculty members,

I usually try to update you on the status of negotiations after each bargaining session. In this case, the update is that we have no update. The parties last met for a fourth bargaining session on October 8th, 2025. Sessions scheduled for October 22nd and November 5th were cancelled by the administration team. Our next scheduled session will be November 19th.  

To date, the parties have held only four negotiations sessions and the administration has made initial proposals on only five (5) of the nineteen (19) articles of the CBA that they opened for negotiations. It was therefore disappointing that the administration did not have a single proposal ready for the October 22nd session. (KSUFA had signaled that we might not have anything to propose at the October 22nd session given that we have made initial proposals on nine (9) of the twelve (12) articles of the CBA that we opened in whole or in part for negotiations.) The November 5th session had been tentatively scheduled with a note that it might need to be moved to November 12th. So, while it was not surprising that the administration cancelled the November 5th session, it was surprising that they were also not prepared to meet on November 12th.

There are many possible explanations for this lull in bargaining (some of which are more concerning than others). Any explanation KSUFA might offer would be idle speculation. But, regardless of the explanation, it is disappointing that the administration cannot find the time to devote to these important negotiations with their tenured and tenure-track faculty.

I want to emphasize the fact that our CBA will remain in full force and effect until a successor contract is ratified and our current medical benefits will continue through calendar year 2026.  

The main concern with the slow pace of negotiations is that neither the 2019 CBA nor the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that extended the CBA through December 31, 2025 contemplates any cost of living raises for AY 25/26. The MOU does provide for a one-time payment of $1,500 by the end of November. (We understand that this payment will show up in the November 14th paycheck.) However, that payment is equal to less than 1.5% of the median TT faculty salary and is not added to base. Meanwhile, the MOU that extended the CBA of our FTNTT colleagues included both the $1,500 one-time payment (which is the equivalent of over 2% of the median FTNTT salary) and a 2% across-the-board raise for AY 25/26. We understand that the University has also budgeted for a 2% raise for unrepresented (i.e. non-unionized) employees this fiscal year. So, while our negotiations drag on, TT faculty are the only KSU employees who are not currently scheduled to receive (at least) a 2% cost of living raise this AY. The KSUFA team plans to address this inequity by seeking an across-the-board raise for AY 25/26 that both takes into account the actual rate of inflation and is retroactive to the beginning of the AY.  

We are keenly aware that, the longer our negotiations drag on at the bargaining table, the more the lack of an across-the-board raise will affect the kitchen table of TT faculty. While we acknowledge that the University is experiencing very real budgetary pressures that are largely outside of its control, the University cannot exist as a university without TT faculty and it makes no sense that the University would endeavor to balance its budget on the backs of TT faculty.

KSUFA has created a section of our website (https://ksufa.org/index.php/tenure-track-unit/negotiations-2025) dedicated to the TT negotiations. This section contains links to all of the negotiation updates we have sent to our members and links to all proposals on all articles made by either party. From our homepage (https://ksufa.org), you can find the link to the negotiation update both under the TT-Unit drop down menu at the top of the page or just below the Surviving SB 1 section of the homepage.

If you have any questions or concerns about negotiations, please don’t hesitate to contact me (dsmith@ksufa.org).

Sincerely,

Deborah Smith

President, KSUFA

Chief Negotiator, TT-Unit