Dear TT Faculty members,

The parties met for negotiation sessions on June 10 and again on June 17, 2026. At the June 17 session, the administration (finally) made initial proposals on Article XII: Salary and Article XIII: Medical Benefits. Both were extremely disappointing and neither helped explain why it took the administration more than a year of bargaining to make these initial proposals.

For Article XII: Salary, the administration proposes the following standard increments (across the board raises):

• 1% for AY 25/26 (retroactive to August 15, 2025);
• 2% for AY 26/27;
• 1.5% for AY 27/28; and
• 2.5% for AY 28/29.

Although the administration accepted our proposal for increases in the Promotion Increments for promotion to Associate Professor and full Professor, they rejected our proposal for increases to the Salary Minima (i.e. floors) for each rank as well as our proposal to adjust the salary of Faculty on 12-month contracts to reflect 12-months of work. The administration’s proposal did not include any provisions for either Merit Awards or President’s Faculty Excellence Awards. (KSUFA’s proposal had included a 2% pool for Merit Awards.)

Given the inflation rate over the past several years as well as projected future rates of inflation, the administration is proposing real wage decreases for tenured and tenure-track Faculty. The proposed 1% raise for AY 25/26 is particularly insulting given that all other University employees received (at least) a 2% standard increment for AY 25/26. Sadly, this proposal is just the latest evidence that this administration does not value or respect its tenured and tenure-track Faculty.

For Article XIII: Medical Benefits, the administration proposed increases in the deductible and annual co-insurance maximum for the 85/60 PPO plan. They also proposed significant increases to the co-pays for urgent care visits and a new $100 deductible for emergency room visits. As expected, the administration’s proposal included a “Working Spouse Fee” for keeping a spouse/domestic partner who is eligible for medical benefits through a non-KSU employer on the Faculty member’s medical benefits. (This fee has applied to all non-Faculty employees for several years.) Although the administration’s proposal included an option for employee plus spouse/domestic partner coverage, KSUFA was disappointed that it didn’t also include an option for employee plus one dependent child coverage. The administration did propose coverage for employee plus any number of children. It remains to be seen whether that option would result in significant cost savings relative to the current family plan for those who can take advantage of it.

The administration’s proposal for prescription coverage included a provision that would allow the University to implement an “Advanced Control Therapy Strategy” on non-specialty medications and a “GLP-1 management strategy,” neither of which is defined or otherwise described in the proposal. KSUFA is aware of a number of cases in which CVS has overridden an employee’s physician when it comes to prescribing specific GLP-1 and other specialty medications. The administration’s proposal would further exacerbate this existing problem and extend it into non-specialty medications.  

By far the most concerning aspect of the administration’s proposal on Medical Benefits is that the administration is seeking to have KSUFA give up the right to negotiate any plans offered beyond the 85/60 PPO plan. This includes the existing HDHP plan, as well as a new “narrow network” (e.g., an HMO) plan envisioned by the administration. The details of these plans (coverage, deductibles, co-insurance, employee contribution towards the premium, amount contributed by the University to an employee’s HSA on the HDHP plan, etc.) would be entirely left to the unilateral discretion of the administration and could change every year. They indicated that the “narrow network” plan they are considering would not include the Cleveland Clinic, for example. Healthcare benefits are mandatory subjects of collective bargaining and KSUFA has no intention of negotiating away its right to bargain healthcare benefits, thereby giving the administration a blank check.

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.

Although the MOU extending the CBA expired on December 31, 2025, the provisions of the CBA will remain in full force and effect until a successor contract is ratified.

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