Overview
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 205 filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Feb. 16, 2017, seeking an election to represent a fragmented group of non-tenure track faculty in four Vanderbilt schools.On June 22, 2017, the SEIU ended its efforts in the Blair School of Music, the Divinity School and Peabody College following an election held June 6, 2017. The union filed a petition with the NLRB to withdraw its petition in the College of Arts and Science Nov. 26, 2018. The NLRB regional director approved the SEIU’s request to withdraw on Dec. 7, 2018. The June 6, 2017, election and the university’s subsequent challenges to it are now closed.
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Click here for the latest update on the union election results.
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 205 filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Feb. 16, 2017, seeking an election to represent a fragmented group of non-tenure track faculty. The SEIU seeks to represent all non-tenure track faculty at the College of Arts and Science, the Blair School, the Divinity School, and Peabody College who currently teach at least one class and who hold no administrative roles. Ballots in the election were counted June 6. Based on the high number of challenged votes, the results are not final at this time.
We encourage you to reach out to your respective department chairs, deans and/or Provost Wente or Vice Provost Geer to discuss the process and the uncertainties surrounding its implications. There is no private university with a shared governance model like ours where both part-time and full-time non-tenure track faculty have been put in the same bargaining unit and a collective bargaining agreement has been reached. The future implications of this vote on our faculty are unclear.
Our goal has always been to approach this election in a way that reflects our values. At Vanderbilt, we’re committed to upholding fundamental values such as transparency, open communication, shared governance and collaboration. As a central part of those values, we urged eligible faculty to participate. There were many obstacles to that participation, such as a mail ballot and voting after the semester had ended. But despite those hurdles, the turnout appears substantial. We are very pleased by the engagement.
This website will continue to be updated throughout this process.