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Section: November 1997
Ferris State's Battle for Faculty Rights
This fall's Ferris State University strike was both the result of and an attempt to resolve some of the really difficult issues confronting faculty on many campuses.
"The Board wanted to seriously damage or destroy the union," said Ferris Faculty Association President Mike Ryan after a tentative agreement was reached.
There is a tradition of strong faculty governance at Ferris State, Ryan explained. The Board of Trustees had been trying to get around the faculty to restructure the university. But the faculty governance procedures are protected by legally-binding language in the union contract.
In one example, the contract required the Board to give the faculty senate 60 days' notice if they wanted to cut a program. When the Board tried to ignore the faculty senate and cut programs, the union took them to court, said Ryan.
The three-year battle for a contract, he noted, preserves the union and dissuades the Board from further attacks on faculty rights. The pact also improves lagging salaries and benefits.
The FFA used a Web site in support of its campaign, receiving hundredsof E-mail messages of support from around the world. Visit the local at www.netonecom.net/~ffa.
