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(09/29/22 10:00am)
When the Middlebury Association of University Professors, which has more than 220 members both faculty and staff, asked for a minimum 10% cost-of-living pay adjustment for all employees, we were being more than reasonable. At the faculty meeting last April, 87% of faculty agreed and supported a Sense of Faculty Motion. To get paid the same as we were in 2019 adjusted for inflation, we would have had to ask for nearly a 16% raise. Any increase less than inflation is actually a pay cut, not a raise. The average increase in faculty compensation was 5.4% in July, according to President Laurie Patton. With this in mind, nearly all employees received a giant pay cut.
(03/18/21 9:58am)
As Jewish faculty on campus, we were saddened to learn that a group dedicated to Palestinian rights, Students for Justice in Palestine, has been accused of being anti-Semitic. To be clear, this group has never singled out anyone for religion or race or nationality. Rather it has focused its efforts on educating the Middlebury community about its view of Israeli policy toward the Palestinian people and the U.S. role in such policy.
It is extremely important as Jewish Americans that we stand firmly against the kind of rhetoric that shuts down any and all debate about Israeli policy in Palestine. It is extremely important that all Americans educate themselves on what is happening in Palestine and the role the U.S. government plays there. We even suggest you look at their website here to learn more.
We must be able to have these conversations without everyone who supports the rights of the Palestinian people being silenced with accusations of anti-Semitism. So many Jewish Americans and Jewish Israelis are critical of the Occupation and are working to see it end. And so many people of all faiths and backgrounds can work together to support the rights of the Palestinian people by participating in organizations such as Students for Justice in Palestine.
Sincerely,
Laurie Essig, Professor of Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies
Jason Mittell, Professor of Film & Media Studies
Michael Olinick, Professor of Mathematics
Ellen Oxfeld, Professor of Anthropology
David Dorman, Professor of Mathematics
Laurie Essig is the director and professor of Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies and the faculty advisor of Students for Justice in Palestine.
Editor’s Note: Jason Mittell is The Campus’s faculty advisor.
(01/15/20 3:00am)
The following letter was sent to Vice President of Human Resources Karen Miller, Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration David Provost, and President Laurie Patton.
Dear Karen and Dave,
We are very glad that the wages for incoming workers at Middlebury have been raised to something much closer to a livable wage. We realize that the college's primary purpose was to be competitive and thus salaries were raised for entry level positions, but we are concerned that this has created wage compression and a sense of serious dissatisfaction among our longest and most dedicated employees.
We believe the issue of wage-compression must be addressed. As you can imagine, for people who have been here for many years, even decades, it seems incomprehensible that their salaries should be the same as or just barely higher than incoming employees.
We hope you will consider issuing an announcement as soon as possible about how long-term employees will see their wages increase in the near future in order to compensate them appropriately.
Thank you for your consideration.
Signed,
Laurie Essig
Gloria Gonzáles Zenteno
Ellery Foutch
Kevin Moss
Ellen Oxfeld
Patricia Saldarriaga
Shawna Shapiro
Michael Sheridan
Yumna Siddiqi
Daniel Silva
Rebecca Tiger
Max Ward
Catharine Wright
(03/21/18 10:42pm)
As faculty members who helped to spread the word about the Mar. 14 school walkout led by students from the Middlebury Union High School, we were gratified to see such a large turnout this morning from the college community, including President Patton. It is heartening that so many Middlebury students, faculty, staff and other community members joined in solidarity with young people at the forefront of social change.
We are distressed, however, with some of the content of an “all staff” email that our staff colleagues received at 2:00 p.m. on Mar. 13, on the eve of the march.
That email stated that “[the institution’s] obligation is to conduct classes and provide services to our students. In order to provide these services we need all of our scheduled classes taught and offices opened and staffed.” If the leaders of the institution expected scheduled classes to be taught during the walkout, why wasn’t this (or a comparable) note sent to all faculty? Are the expectations about “employees’ engagement in protests and civic activity” different for faculty and staff? If so, why?
The “all staff” email went on to say that “[i]f staff choose to take time off for such activities, they should follow the college’s regular time-off policy by requesting time off in advance, and supervisors should review and approve those requests keeping in mind our need to maintain normal operations.” It is not clear to us that all staff would have had the time — from 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday to 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday — to secure such approvals from their supervisors. Moreover, we are concerned about the possibly intimidating effect of this email’s iteration of staff responsibilities, particularly since the email’s ostensible function as a “reminder” about the need to request permission for an absence from work is belied by its timing right before the protest. Furthermore, Middlebury faculty (as far as we know) were certainly not asked to secure permission from their department chairs, program heads and/or the Dean of Faculty to participate in this civic event. Is this a double standard? If so, why is this appropriate?
We do not doubt the sincerity of the email’s final sentiments: “We are supportive of your civic engagement, and encourage you to increase your awareness of the issues of our times.” Indeed, it is precisely because we are certain that the college’s leadership feels this way that we hope, upon the occasion of the next comparable community event, that staff and faculty will be treated in the same manner. Regarding robust civic engagement in the public sphere, the faculty’s status should never be privileged.
Laurie Essig, Gender, Feminist & Sexuality Studies;
Jon Isham, Economics and Environmental Studies;
Michael Sheridan, Sociology/Anthropology;
Marion Wells, English & American Literatures