Dear TT Faculty members,

The parties met for the most recent negotiation session on April 22, 2026. At this session, the administration made initial proposals on Article XIV: Other Benefits and Article XX: Intellectual Property. While we think we may be able to reach agreement on Article XX in the near future, we were disappointed that the administration’s proposal for Article XIV deleted all of the language we had proposed on phased retirement without including any alternative language. The administration had previously expressed interest in the possibility of phased retirement. However, at this point, it is not clear to us whether the administration intends to propose language for phased retirement in a new Article or whether they are indicating that they are no longer interested in negotiating a phased retirement option.  

The parties had also met on April 8, 2026. The April 8 session was the third bargaining session at which the administration team had no proposals to present. At that session, KSUFA made a proposal on Article VI: Governance. We believe that the parties are very close to reaching tentative agreement on this Article. However, this does not mean that the administration has backed away from its attempt to remove the contractual protections for Faculty Senate’s historical role in shared governance to approve or disapprove changes in policies concerning terms and conditions of Faculty employment falling under Senate’s primary responsibility. That language is contained in other Articles of the CBA, including Article IX: Faculty Workload and Article XI: Promotion, Tenure and Reappointment. KSUFA has no intention of bargaining away the contractual protections for Faculty Senate’s primary responsibility of approving or disapproving changes to these and other policies incorporated by reference into the CBA.

We have now been bargaining for almost nine months and have had 14 bargaining sessions. And yet, the administration has not made a single proposal on Article XII: Salary and Article XIII: Medical Benefits. As a result, TT Faculty remain the only University employees who have not received a cost of living increase for this academic year. The next bargaining session is scheduled for May 13, 2026—the final day of the academic year 25/26 employment contract.  

Whether by design or by accident, the administration’s failure to appropriately prioritize these negotiations has ensured that the administration will be making initial proposals for the two main economic articles while Faculty are off contract and away from campus. As a result, we need to make our voices heard in the few weeks that remain before Faculty go off contract. To that end, we will be participating in the MayDay Day of Action organized by the KSU chapter of the Ohio Student Association on Friday, May 1 at 2:00pm. We are also planning another informational picketing event for 3:30-5:00pm on Friday, May 8. Additional information regarding both events will be sent via separate emails.

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