Joining RAFO is also easy, a simple matter of filling out a brief form and returning it to our Treasurer, Frank Brooks. The form, however, must be filled out on paper and signed by you to be valid (it cannot be done online).
The sample form below shows the information you must fill out (circled in red) and the optional information (circled in green). Other information asked for on the form (e.g. the “codes” and “dues” in the upper-right-hand box) does not need to be filled in.
We strongly encourage members to choose payroll deduction. If you elect payroll deduction, half the yearly amount ($100) will be deducted in April and the other half (another $100) will be deducted in November. There are no dues in any semester you are not teaching.
To get a copy of the form, contact Frank Brooks via campus mail or email him at treasurer@rafo.org.
Here are the officers of RAFO, including program representatives. The latter are the ground-level activists for RAFO and should be your first point of contact for concerns and suggestions:
| LuAnn Swartzlander | President | prez@rafo.org |
| Joe Fedorko | Vice President - Grievance Chair | vp@rafo.org |
| Frank Brooks | Treasurer | treasurer@rafo.org |
| Beverly Stewart | Secretary | secretary@rafo.org |
| Frank Brooks | Program Rep - Policy Studies | pr-polstudies1@rafo.org |
| Michael Johnson | Program Rep - History, Art History, and Philosophy | pr-libstudies2@rafo.org |
| Jorge Rodriguez-Florido | Program Rep - Science & Math | pr-scimath@rafo.org |
| Mike Levy | Program Rep - University College | pr-etsuc1@rafo.org |
| Jerry Rosen | Program Rep - Hospitality & Tourism Management | pr-etsuc2@rafo.org |
| Susan Sturm | Program Rep - Education | pr-educ1@rafo.org |
| Jim Berger | Program Rep - Business | pr-biz2@rafo.org |
Taking on an independent study or course by arrangement is not cost effective for adjuncts, who earn only 10 percent of the base compensation for each person in the course by arrangement or independent study. This year that amounts to $275.25 a student for essentially the same amount of work as a full class.
Generally, course by arrangement occurs when too few students enroll in an essential class, a decision made by the dean's office. RAFO leadership has been concerned that canceling the class and reclassifying it as a course by arrangement is a way of saving the university money at the expense of adjuncts.
In a meeting with Provost Pamela Trotman Reid and Associate Provost Louise Love last spring, RAFO members, LuAnn Swartziander, Joe Berry, and I, voiced our concern about how course by arrangements were handled. We have had cases in which adjuncts were not properly notified about the class status. In response, Reid said that the Dean's office should send an ad junct a letter outlining the terms of the compensation and the goals of the class, including how many sessions the class would meet.
Although we don't recommend taking on such arrangements, we recognize that many adjuncts' commitment to student needs outweigh their need for compensation. To ensure their protection, the usual procedure, as I understand it, is that the class is cancelled by the dean's office and the adjunct receive a class cancellation fee, and the class is reclassified.
Although the idea for a letter of employment was expressed as being initiated this fall, we urge adjuncts to ask for such a letter from the dean's office and ask for the class cancellation fee. If an adjunct is offered another class besides the one that has been cancelled and reclassified, the adjunct is not entitled to the class cancellation fee.
To help reduce confusion about the number of students in an adjunct's class, Reid also suggested that adjuncts track the class enrollment on the RU Access page.
Reid also added that the university wants to avoid independent studies by listing classes up to three years in advance so that students may plan their schedules for graduation. She said that independent studies traditionally have been arranged for students who need a certain class to graduate.
When a student takes an incomplete and has to repeat the class with another instructor, the original instructor must complete the paperwork. He or she should ask the second instructor for the grade and turn in the change of grade form. Problems with getting the grade from an instructor should be taken up first with the program director and up the chain. Adjuncts should contact their department representative for assistance.
Weingarten Rule: Any bargaining unit member who is called into an investigatory interview with their employer which they reasonably believe may lead to discipline is entitled to union representation.
US Supreme Court, NLRB vs. Weingarten, Inc, 1975
This provision is substantially repeated in the RAFO contract, Art. 4, Sect. H.
This language means that anytime we are summoned to a supervisor's office and they begin asking questions, not just telling you things, you have the right to ask for representation. We all MUST invoke this right. The law does not specifically require the administration to inform us of this right, then, or ever. If we ask for representation, then the interview must terminate until a rep is present. Legally, we cannot be disciplined for invoking this, or any other union right. RAFO will back us if this happens.
Remember, if you have the slightest doubt that the answers to the questions you are being asked might be used for future discipline, stop and ask for a rep. You can say, "If this discussion could in any way lead to my being disciplined or terminated or have any effect on my personal working conditions, I respectfully request that my union representative be present at this meeting . Without union representation, I choose not to participate in this discussion." Then keep silent. (very hard for us teachers, but try.) You can't just walk out if ordered to stay, but you don't have to talk. Afterward, call or email your union representative as soon as possible to report this meeting, and get advice if necessary.
Weingarten Rights do not keep the administration from investigating issues and individuals, but it does insure a modicum of fairness and calmness in the proceedings.
[Thanks to Joe Berry for writing this brief explanation, and for additional suggestions from LuAnn Swartzlander.]
The Illinois Education Association and unions more broadly have their own special jargon and abbreviations. These can be confusing to veterans and newbies alike. Diane Davis, our higher education UniServ Director has helped to compile a table of acronyms and a glossary of union-related terms. Follow the links below to begin the process of diminishing your confusion.
One of the difficulties that has arisen in sending out communications to adjuncts has been knowing who's teaching where and what (and whether) in any particular semester. The University only provides us information on bargaining unit members, but not all adjuncts are in the bargaining unit. Therefore, we have developed a (relatively) easy form for you to fill out to let us know what you're teaching now and have taught in the past. Please take a few minutes to share this information with us. Click on the link below to fill out a survey on teaching.
Is there something missing from this page that you could have sworn was here the last time you looked? Well, the home page is occasionally updated, but old items are retired to the archive. So, if you simply must see it again, click on the appropriate link below.
The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.F.D.R. January 29, 1937