During this difficult and extraordinary period, when all of us at UF are preparing for the onset of COVID-19 while striving to minimize its disruption to our students’ education, it’s important that faculty rights not be overlooked or abrogated. With this in mind, the UFF-UF bargaining team has taken steps to begin impact bargaining with the Board of Trustees’ (BOT) bargaining team.

As its name suggests, impact bargaining addresses the effects of decisions made by management, often in extraordinary circumstances such as our current one. The goal is not to reverse those decisions but to account for their consequences. In this way, impact bargaining differs from collective bargaining, which is more comprehensive and far-reaching.

Your bargaining team has proposed to the BOT bargaining team a list of terms that should apply while current situation obtains. Here are some of them:

• That the transfer of instruction to online formats have no negative impacts on supervisory reviews or annual faculty evaluations.
• That student evaluations have no negative impact on annual faculty evaluations.
• That UF make accommodations for faculty whose work hours may be disrupted because their children have been sent home due to school closures.
• That faculty be given up to ten extra days of paid sick leave if they contract COVID-19 or are otherwise required to self-quarantine.
• That a representative of UFF-UF be included in the university’s crisis management team.

We hope the BOT will agree to our proposal, which we think is sensible and humane. Whatever the response, we will pass word on to you as soon as possible.

In the meantime, please refer to UF’s Keep Teaching website for guidance and resources. And please share with us your concerns and ideas.