Open Letter From The AAUP-Utica Leadership About Retrenchment at Utica University

Yesterday, the AAUP-Utica Leadership issued an open letter in response to the retrenchment notices sent by Utica University on Tuesday, September 9, 2025.

We urge all students, staff, faculty, alumni, and community members to read it, as it provides important context for how we reached this point.

To echo the last line of our letter, in this difficult time, we stand united with our colleagues, our students, and our community. 

In solidarity,

The AAUP-Utica Governing Board, Negotiation Team, Grievance Officers, Board of Trustees Guests, and Hearing Committee Members


Tentative Agreement Reached!

After many many months of negotiating, and working 218 days without a contract, we finally have a Tentative Agreement! 🎉

The economic proposal includes

❗️Yearly raises and lump sum payments for this year and the next three years.

❗️A new minimum salary framework to help our most underpaid members. 

❗️In Academic Years 2024-2025 and 2025-2026, additional reimbursement pay added to base salary for any member whose salary was reduced in 2020-2021 under the July 2020 MOA

❗️Yearly increases to promotional raises, professional development raises (PDC), overload pay, and faculty research funds (FRC). 

❗️Stronger language to protect jobs in the case of retrenchment. 

❗️Clear language codifying bargaining unit faculty members as 9-month employees, and specifying that faculty duties are only required during the 9-month Academic Year. 

❗️No cuts to healthcare and no cuts to retirement. 

This Tentative Agreement is now being brought to the membership for a ratification vote per the AAUP-Utica Bylaws. Two informational meetings will be held in order to discuss the Tentative Agreement and address any questions or concerns. Details of how to join the informational meetings via Webex will be emailed out to dues-paying/voting members shortly. 

This agreement is the result of the hard work of our negotiating team, governing board, grievances officers, and everyone in the union leadership. It is also a result of the membership uniting as one and standing up to the administration last year. 

Your voices were heard, your buttons, stickers, shirts and posters were seen, your stories were shared, your strength and passion were noticed, and all of these factors together gave us strength at the bargaining table!

Huge thanks also to many members of US-AAUP who helped with strategy, weekly meetings, grants, workshops, and so much more!



Spring/Summer 2023 Grievance Report

Make sure you know your rights under the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and under the NLRA. Check out the Spring/Summer 2023 Grievance Report, which summarizes the grievances we have had to contend with over the past six months. Many of the areas of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) that are mentioned in this report are the result of multiple grievance investigations, and the grievances in this report come from bargaining unit members in all three schools. Please look over this report so that you can stay informed of your rights and protections in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and under the National Labor Relations Act.

Huge thanks 🙏 to Kirstin Walker, and more recently to Chris Riddle (our second grievance officer who officially started July 1, 2023), for their hard work as our AAUP-Utica grievance officers! 




AAUP-Utica President Responds to Utica University’s Announcement to Eliminate 15 Majors

Utica University’s outgoing president, Laura Casamento, and the outgoing Board of Trustees Chair, Bob Brvenik, announced their recommendation today to eliminate 15 majors as well as their recommendation that 8 more majors and 1 program be revised or else perhaps risk being eliminated.

This announcement comes amid a grievance that the AAUP-Utica filed on January 10, 2023 over the University’s failure to follow proper shared governance procedures as specified in the AAUP-Utica’s Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The AAUP-Utica is currently awaiting Provost Pfannestiel’s response to Step 2 of the Grievance Procedure as outlined in the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The AAUP-Utica President, Leonore Fleming, responds to the University’s “Red Wednesday” Announcement in the following video message sent to Utica University bargaining unit members: