Why I Signed a Card
The Sinclair chapter of AAUP is conducting a card campaign for the purpose of forming a collective bargaining unit. Here is what your colleagues have to say about why they signed a card. Note: While these faculty freely shared their reasons for signing a card, SCCAAUP wants to reiterate that utmost care is being taken to keep the cards signed by faculty confidential and safe.
"I have signed a card because I care a great deal about Sinclair--its reputation, the quality of education it provides, and the ways it can best serve its students. I feel the most effective means for maintaining our high standards is for faculty to have a greater role in the decision-making process that affect the direction Sinclair is headed as an institution. An AAUP collective bargaining unit will ensure that faculty and administration work together in a collaborative process--with faculty input valued and required as decisions are made." - Tom Wilson, Mathematics
"I signed because I don't believe that Sinclair's governance structure gives faculty a large enough role in decisions on issues that affect the quality of education, such as the full-time-to-part-time faculty ratio, distance learning, and curriculum. AAUP will make faculty stronger and more effective by giving us the power to do more than merely make recommendations that are easily ignored." - Nick Reeder, Electronics Engineering Technology
"I signed the collective bargaining card because I am committed to maintaining high quality educational opportunities for the students at Sinclair Community College and I believe that in order to do that, faculty must be involved in the decision making process -- in a legally binding way. As has been demonstrated in the recent past, without the legally binding contract that accompanies collective bargaining, faculty are not only being blocked from policy making processes, but we are also being blocked from receiving important information about how big and important changes are being made. That has a negative impact on morale and on the quality of education that the students at Sinclair receive." - Adrienne Cassel, English
"I signed a card because I strongly believe that Sinclair should hold quality of education as its highest goal, and that all decisions made for our college should keep that in mind. To that end it is essential that honest and open communication between faculty and administration be ongoing. The faculty's voice and perspective needs to have an appropriately high weight, because they are the ones who have the most direct knowledge of the quality of our education and how it might be improved." - Kay Cornelius, Mathematics
"I signed a card because I care enough about this institution that I want to improve it. Having interacted with faculty from sister institutions operating under an AAUP collective bargaining governance structure, I learned enough to convince me that our great faculty deserve the same honor and ensuing benefits. AAUP collective bargaining will enable us to work more closely with our administration as true partners in our efforts to better serve our students and the community, especially in these tough economic times. This change will make Sinclair better." - Moez Ben-azzouz, Mathematics
"Executive power is best dispersed and must always be watched skeptically. The governed must have real power. This is American political philosophy, embedded deeply in the DNA of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Enlightenment and benevolence in an Executive do not obviate the necessity for the governed to be active and involved and informed." - Jeff Patzer, Criminal Justice
"To me, SCCAAUP represents an opportunity to empower faculty with the perfect mechanism to ensure shared governance and to protect academic freedom. My union affiliation reflects my commitment to maintaining my integrity, dignity, and autonomy as a college educator. There is also a responsibility not only to improve the terms and conditions of employment but also to enhance the quality of life in the academy. As SCCAAUP, we must be agents of change and transform the culture of the college beginning with the relationship between the administration and faculty. However, we are creating a legacy that must include self-reliance and self-determination as well as cooperation and collaboration. For we are contributing to the viability and sustainability of the professoriate. To me, SCCAAUP represents a compact and covenant relationship that we honor through our solidarity and unity. It reflects the culmination of my career in the academy." - Ben McKeever, ACA
