Dear TT Faculty members,

The parties met for a negotiation session on August 12, 2026. This was the first meeting of the parties since our July 15 session. KSUFA presented proposals for Article XXI: Distance education, Article XII: Salary, and Article XIII: Medical Benefits. KSUFA’s salary proposal includes a 2% retroactive cost of living raise for AY 25/26 and a 3% raise for AY 26/27 that would be retroactive to the August 20 start of the academic year contract. We continue to propose 3% cost of living raises for AYs 27/28 and 28/29. As always, the details of KSUFA’s proposals are included on our website (https://ksufa.org).  

In presenting our salary proposal, we stated clearly for the record that Faculty were highly insulted by the administration’s initial salary proposal under which Faculty would have received only a 1% retroactive cost of living raise for AY 25/26 when all other employees received a 2% cost of living raise. We made clear that this administration will now have an exceedingly difficult time convincing the tenured and tenure-track Faculty that they are valued and respected.

That sense of disrespect is only heightened by the administration’s continuing go-slow approach to these negotiations. Despite the nearly month-long gap between sessions, the administration once again had no proposals to present. As of this session, everything except Article XIV: Other Benefits is on the administration’s side of the table. Although the parties are scheduled to meet again on August 19, the parties will have met only six times over the summer months, and there are currently no bargaining sessions scheduled for the Fall semester. (We are working to rectify that situation.)  

The parties officially began these negotiations on June 15, 2025 and Faculty have not received a cost of living raise since August of 2024. Although we hope that the administration will have proposals for us at the August 19 session and will otherwise pick up the pace of these negotiations, nothing in their behavior thus far gives us reason for optimism on that front.

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