Overview of the Tentative Agreement

Expansion of Staff Fee Privilege

(Article 15)

This new language expands the staff fee privilege by allowing AAUP bargaining unit members to transfer a second tuition discount to a dependent who is enrolled in undergraduate courses at PSU. This expanded benefit was ratified in August and made available for this Fall 2022 term. (We’re including it here again since it is part of this negotiations package.)

Click here to read the contract language.

Clarification of Process for Deferrals of Post-Tenure Review

(Article 16)

This new section clarifies the process for applying for a deferment of the post-tenure review. There is no cap on the number of deferrals one can request, and there are no changes to the reasons for which one can request a deferral. This language makes it clear that deferrals must be approved on a year-by-year basis (i.e., deferrals are not open-ended).

Click here to read the contract language.

Individual Professional Development Funds: Expansion of Approved Use

(Article 19)

Funding levels for IPDAs will remain unchanged for this contract (through November 2024). The tentative agreement adds new language that would explicitly permit the expenditure of IPDAs funds on equipment and activities that were not previously allowed or which were not authorized by supervisors uniformly across campus.

These new items include:

1. Purchase of computers and peripherals (e.g., keyboard, headphones) beyond what the University provides for basic office use,

2. Contracting of professional services (e.g., transcription, surveys, 3-D printing) in support of research projects, and

3. Hiring student employees to provide administrative, technical, or other support for professional development activities.

Click here to read the contract language.

Caregivers Recognition & Support

(Article 29)

The collective bargaining agreement would now include a new article entitled “Caregiver Support.” These funds will be used for two purposes.

1. PSU would subscribe to a caregiving navigator system – an online marketplace for childcare, elder care, and other special needs care. PSU will cover the institutional cost estimated to be roughly $35,000 per year. The service provides a verified source for identifying and recommending services such as childcare centers, babysitters, home health aids, dog sitters and dog walkers, and more. The service would become available beginning in January 2023; and PSU Administration and PSU-AAUP would work together over the next few months to roll out the service.

2. Funding will also be available to support caregivers who incur extra expenses due to (i) travel for conferences or professional development, and (ii) occasional or unexpected work demands. In January 2023, $115,000 would be allocated to this fund. An additional $175,000 will be added to the fund on July 1, 2023. Process details (how to apply, maximum amount per application, etc.) will be worked out by a joint labor-management committee. Once the processes are established, the fund will be administered directly by the PSU-AAUP Chapter.

Click here to read the contract language.

Salary Increases: Equity-based Approach to Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLAs)

(Article 30)

Fiscal Year 2023. COLAs for FY 2023 (the third year of the current 4-year contract), would go into effect on January 1, 2023 for 12-month employees in the AAUP bargaining unit; and, on February 1, 2023, for 9-month employees.

As discussed in bargaining FAQs (9/20/22) and in the recent Q&A sessions with bargaining team members, the AAUP used an equity lens when designing cost-of-living proposals for this bargaining round. In an inflationary period, those with lower incomes are hit much harder given that they spend a far greater share of their household income on core needs such as fuel, food, utilities, housing, and transportation. Almost one-quarter of AAUP bargaining unit members earn less than $60,000 a year; and 58% earn less than $80,000. Inflation has hit these members particularly hard. Cost-of-living increases that emphasize higher percentages on the lower end of the income scale are one of the best ways in the short term to address these inequities.

Under this “graduated COLA” approach, the exact percentage increase to each member’s salary would depend on their total annual salary – expressed as a full-time equivalent (FTE) for those working less than full-time – and range from 8.0% for salaries up to $60,000 per year, to about 2.5% for salaries above $200,000 per year. The median salary - about $77,000 - would increase by 6.7%.

Collectively, for FY 2023, 81% of the membership would receive COLAs of at least 5%, while 46% would receive COLAs of at least 7%.

Salary Segments

COLAs are calculated by applying different percentage increases to different segments of one’s salary. For a quick explanation of graduated COLAS watch this short video: How Graduated COLAs Work

The first $60,000 of your annual salary rate would increase by 8.0%. If you earn more than $60,000, the next segment of your salary, up to $80,000, would increase by 2.0%. And if you earn more than $80,000, the next segment of your salary, up to $110,000, would increase by 0.5%.

What will my cost-of-living increase be in January/February 2023?

Based on your annual salary, you can see your total percentage COLA increase on this chart.

You can also compute your exact COLA, by percentage and in dollars, by using this salary calculator. (Click to download the Excel file -- then you can enter your individual data).

Fiscal Year 2024. For the fourth year of the current contract, the tentative agreement would return to using a flat-rate COLA indexed to the inflation rate. The year-over-year inflation rate would be based on the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers for the West Region (CPI-U West), as of October 2023. There would be a floor and a ceiling: FY 2024 COLAs would be no less than 1.75% and no more than 3.5%. The Oregon Office of Economic Analysis, in its December 2022 Oregon Economic and Revenue Forecast, expects inflation to be 4.7% in 2023 and 2.8% in 2024.

The salary calculator will also show your FY 2024 percentage and dollar increase, and the total increase over the remaining two years of the current contract. You can also read your total dollar increase from this chart, which assumes 3.5% COLA in FY 2024.

Note: For members who receive other salary increases in FY 2023 (e.g., promotion, professional advancement, post-tenure or post-continuous appointment reviews, etc.), FY 2024 COLAs will be somewhat higher than what the above chart shows because COLAs are calculated after those increases have been applied to base salaries. If you want to factor in an expected non-COLA increase, use the salary calculator.

Click here to read the contract language.

New Salary Minimums for Academic Professionals

(Article 30)

The transition of APs to new job families and individual contributor (IC) levels required negotiation of new salary minimums and maximums, and the TA on economics allocates 1.0% of total AP annual salary rates for the purpose of bringing AP salaries up to at least the new minimums. A process has been established for use of the allocated 1.0% pool.

First, any salary below the new minimum for that job family and IC level will be increased to the new minimum. Once all Academic Professionals whose salaries are below the new minimums have been raised, the remainder of the 1.0% pool will then be used for the second step: a “retention increase.” This second step will increase salaries of all current employees to at least $51,900.

These salary increases will become effective on January 1, 2023 and will be applied before the FY 2023 COLA. That is, the COLA will be applied to the newly increased salaries. Once the COLA increases are applied, no AP who is currently employed at PSU will earn less than $56,000 per year.

The table to appear in the revised contract is “aged” forward to January 1, 2023 by applying an increase of 4% to all IC salary bands, thereby increasing the lowest hiring minimum to $50,220.

For APs, the salary calculator incorporates any applicable increases to new salary minimums as of January 1, 2023.

Click here to read the Memorandum of Understanding for implementing new minimum salalries.

Pay Equity for Academic Professionals

(Article 30)

When the current contract was signed in 2021, it included annual allocations of 0.8% of total tenure-track faculty and non-tenure-track faculty salary rates to address salary compression, inversion, and equity (CIE) through FY 2024. At the start of this bargaining round, the two sides agreed not to revisit these allocations for non-tenure track faculty and for tenure-track faculty.

The issue of pay equity was, however, explored for Academic Professionals. The tentative agreement would establish a parallel fund, equal to 0.8% of total annual salary rates, to begin to address internal and external (market) inequities among APs’ salaries.

The model used for distributing faculty CIE increases is unlikely to work for APs because of the dearth of comparable market data, so a different model will be developed through additional negotiations (already underway). The tentative agreement mandates that, whatever model is developed, targeted equity increases must become effective on July 1, 2023 for 12-month employees and on September 16, 2023 for 9-month employees. (These increases do not impact the other increases that the contract already provides for advancement within and between IC levels.)

Click here to read the contract language.