Wright State's Board of Trustees just express its intent to impose a last best offer to the WSU chapter of American Association of University Professors (AAUP). In a meeting on Friday, Jan. 4, the board voted unanimously to implement the terms and conditions of the offer.
"For the board of trustees, this process has focused squarely on two goals; first, getting the university on path to long term financial sustainability and second, on maintaining for our students one of the most affordable rates of tuition in the state of Ohio. To do so means changes in university operations," said Board Chairman Doug Fecher.
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The offer from the board meeting would result in maintained faculty salaries as they are now. It would also place faculty union members in a more uniform health care plan with all members of the university. There would be no changes to the current rules set for retrenchment or layoffs; there will be no pay raises and furloughs.
AAUP-WSU President Martin Kich previously told the Guardian that they intended to go on strike if the Board imposed its last best offer. If the union chooses to initiate the strike process, they must give the university and Ohio State Employee Relations Board ten days' notice. Negotiations between the faculty union and administration may resume at any point during that ten-day period, Kich said.
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The bargaining process has taken place for nearly two years, during which many of the articles have been agreed upon between administration and AAUP-WSU. The trustee's terms and conditions accept all of the articles that were tentatively agreed upon, according to a press release.
For more information on the terms and conditions visit the Board of Trustees website.
