FAQ

Since February 2024, a group of Wellesley College’s non-tenure track (NTT) faculty has been represented by the United Auto Workers (UAW) under the name Wellesley Organized Academic Workers-UAW (WOAW-UAW). WOAW-UAW is now the exclusive representative for these faculty on all matters of wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment.

Wellesley began negotiating with WOAW-UAW in May 2024, and bargaining sessions continued throughout the summer. Discussions at the bargaining table have been thoughtful and productive, and we are pleased to have reached tentative agreement on several proposals already, including discipline and dismissal, severability, job postings, and the creation of a union-management committee.

Negotiating a first contract can take significant time, so it is difficult to estimate. First-time contracts often take more than a year of negotiations to complete. It is early in the process, but we are making good progress. The College is committed to negotiating in good faith until a contract is reached, regardless of how long that may take.

Mediation sessions have been held regularly throughout the summer. We remain hopeful that we can reach a final contract agreement with the union as the fall semester gets underway.

The WOAW-UAW bargaining unit has approximately 120 NTT faculty members. This includes Mellon postdocs, visiting lecturers, lecturers, senior lecturers, and instructors in science laboratory (ISLs). 

No. The parties agreed upon the composition of the bargaining unit in December 2023. Based on an agreement between the College and the union, a number of NTT faculty are not included in the bargaining unit due to their supervisory responsibilities or administrative appointments, or for other reasons.

Wellesley is committed to bargaining with the union in good faith to reach a fair agreement that reflects the importance of the role the NTT faculty in the bargaining unit play at the College while taking into account the needs of our broader community. We respect the collective bargaining process and are committed to engaging in negotiations in a thoughtful manner.

We recognize that NTT faculty play a vital and distinct role in supporting our academic mission. As part of negotiations, we share the union’s goal of further defining the role of bargaining unit employees (BUEs) at Wellesley to clarify expectations and responsibilities and support their work.

No. Both the College and the union agreed to a closed negotiation process. The College is committed to keeping the Wellesley community informed throughout this process and will be sharing regular updates on our progress. 

The recent discussion at Academic Council around degree requirements was conducted under the expectation of staffing neutrality to make clear that any proposed new requirements that would require additional staffing would need to be paired with other changes that reduced staffing needs. In general, the number of NTT faculty members at the College is expected to fluctuate year-to-year according to the College's current staffing needs.

On Oct. 8, 2024, the union presented a proposal at the bargaining table for BUEs to be eligible to apply to participate in these new initiatives. After discussion, the College and the Union agreed to a memorandum of understanding, which states the following: “Bargaining Unit Employees shall be eligible to apply for full participation in the Albright Faculty Affiliates Program and the Hillary Rodham Clinton Center Faculty Research Initiative. Bargaining Unit Employees shall be included on all College-wide communications about all Wagner Centers Initiatives.This eligibility is only for academic years 2024-2025 and 2025-2026. This shall not be a precedent for other College initiatives in the future.”

Bargaining in good faith refers to the mutual obligation of employers and employee representatives (unions) to meet and negotiate at reasonable times and places, with intent to reach an agreement on terms and conditions of employment. The College stands ready to continue negotiating if and when the union shows willingness to take major steps forward.  Read more.

Wellesley College has been engaged in good faith bargaining with WOAW-UAW since May 2024, with the goal of negotiating a fair and competitive contract that takes into consideration the needs of our entire community.  To continue bargaining in good faith, the College offered to pursue private mediation with a neutral mediator. 

For more information, please refer to the National Labor Relations Board’s guidelines on bargaining in good faith.

A mediator makes no decisions in a negotiation, and does not decide any issues for the parties, issue any reports or recommendations, or take public positions on anything in dispute. The entire process is confidential, and both parties must still agree on every decision that is made.  

Mediation is not arbitration; they are two very distinct processes. Key differences are that a mediator makes no decisions in a negotiation, and does not decide any issues for the parties, issue any reports or recommendations, or take public positions on anything in dispute. The entire process is confidential, and both parties must still agree on every decision that is made.  

The College cannot guarantee this process will result in an agreement, but we feel it is urgent that we try another path. We stand ready to work with the union to find an experienced and available mediator as soon as possible. In light of the ongoing strike and the disruption to our campus community, it is incomprehensible that the union would continue to refuse this tried-and-true approach to resolving differences. 

The College and the union representing non-tenure track faculty have been engaged in mediation regarding negotiations for the union’s first contract since June 2025. The agreed ground rules for meditation include a commitment to maintaining the confidentiality of all information presented and statements made during mediated sessions. Accordingly, the College is not providing updates to the community or commenting on what occurs in mediation. We remain committed to a fair and competitive contract for unionized NTT faculty, and are hopeful that we will reach an agreement soon. 

The new five-course standard for non-tenure track faculty benefits students by:

• Increasing the number of high-demand and required courses we can offer with a faculty of our size.

• Reducing our dependence on new visiting lecturers, who are only here for a short time.

• Allowing our longer-term lecturers and senior lecturers to teach more of our students, who would benefit from their experience and from building meaningful connections with them. 

The new five-course standard for non-tenure track faculty benefits students by:

• Increasing the number of high-demand and required courses we can offer with a faculty of our size.

• Reducing our dependence on new visiting lecturers, who are only here for a short time.

• Allowing our longer-term lecturers and senior lecturers to teach more of our students, who would benefit from their experience and from building meaningful connections with them. 

The College determines salaries based on position and seniority, not race or ethnicity.  For faculty, their role and time in service are the primary factors that determine compensation. The College uses market data to establish salaries, and regularly reviews our salary data to ensure we remain an employer of choice offering salaries that are competitive with our peers.  We look at internal equity when making an offer to an external candidate – and regularly review our salary data to address any potential disparities.

NTT salaries are based on a 9-month teaching position. NTT faculty who teach outside of term time earn additional compensation. If the average NTT starting salary proposed by the College for Lecturers for FY26 is annualized, this would equal $96,000, which exceeds 80% of the area median income for an individual according to Housing and Urban Development.

Overall the College’s current offer would mean higher average salaries for NTT faculty than our peers.

That amount was a one-time surplus. Any increases in salary or benefits for WOAW-UAW members will be ongoing expenses, so the College will need to pay for them out of the operating budget, which will require reductions in other spending areas.

The $15 million surplus was the product of a number of unforeseen events that will not recur in future years. These included receiving a final installment of federal COVID funds; receiving significant gifts that generated income without spending an equivalent amount on programming; and interest earnings on cash allocated for upcoming capital projects.

The Trustees designated the interest earnings ($8.2 million) to be spent on capital projects and designated the balance of the surplus to the endowment to be budget-relieving for the current and all future years.

For more information on the College’s budget, read the Wellesley News reporting.

No. Under the process initiated by the union, the College has carefully reviewed the role and responsibilities of BUEs and proposed reducing those responsibilities that lie outside of their primary role of teaching and advising. The College’s proposal streamlines service expectations so that lecturers and ISLs will continue to do first-year and major/minor advising and departmental service but will have no other contractual service obligations. Professional development will no longer be a separate evaluation criterion for reappointment, and the College and the union agree that there are no research expectations for BUEs. 

With no research expectations or the professional obligations that come with scholarship, and with fewer service responsibilities than tenured faculty, a five-course teaching load per academic year is reasonable for a full-time BUE position.  

The College’s proposal is consistent with the teaching load at the majority of peer institutions, where lecturers teach five to six courses per academic year. 

Reflecting this analysis and clarification, the College has proposed a five-course teaching load for all full-time BUE faculty, which is consistent with the current load for visiting lecturers. ISLs will be responsible for eight labs, instead of seven.

The College’s current salary proposal is comprehensive and competitive to support our valued BUEs. It would:

• Increase salaries for NTT faculty who are bargaining unit members (BUEs) by a total of 16% in the first year, bringing the average salary for BUEs to more than $100,000 in year 1 of the contract, and by more than 26% over three years.

• Establish a five-course teaching load standard for full-time NTT faculty (currently applicable only to visiting lecturers) and offer a $12,000 increase in year 1 of the contract for those who opt to begin teaching five courses in year 2. 

• Increase the starting salary for lecturers to $80,000 in year 2 of the contract, and provide an additional $6,000 promotion opportunity for senior lecturers. 

• Increase average salaries by 7% in year 1 of the contract and 18% over three years (including promotional increases) if lecturers and senior lecturers choose to opt out of the five-course teaching load.

These competitive wages are only one part of total compensation, which includes our current robust benefits package, representing an additional 35% cost on top of a BUE’s salary.

The College offers generous benefits to BUEs, which include eligibility for the faculty housing program at 70% of the market rate. BUEs who take advantage of this benefit are able to stay in faculty housing over the course of their time at Wellesley.

The mortgage program is made available only to tenured faculty in order to remain competitive with our peers to recruit and retain outstanding scholars who will remain with the College over the rest of their careers, and aligns with the long term nature of a 30-year mortgage.

The five-course workload for NTT faculty is consistent with our peer colleges and universities, including Boston College, Mount Holyoke, Smith, Wesleyan, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Colleges with six-course loads include Babson, Barnard, Emerson, MIT, Northeastern, Rhode Island School of Design, and Tufts. The five-course workload is consistent with the more limited teaching and advisory roles of NTT faculty, who also do not have the important research and more significant service responsibilities of tenured and tenure-track faculty. In addition, NTT faculty generally hold nine-month positions, as opposed to the full-year responsibilities of tenure-stream faculty.

A strike is an organized, collective work stoppage by a group of employees, usually with the goal of forcing the employer to accept the employees’ demands or in protest of an alleged unfair labor practice. A union might call a strike to pressure the employer to accept the union’s demands regarding wages, benefits, or other terms and conditions of employment. The striking employees might organize picket lines where they hold signs, march, and chant. 

Strikes can vary in timing and length depending on whether progress is being made toward finalizing the collective bargaining agreement, what the union members authorize, and what the local union leaders elect to do. 

Yes. Each individual bargaining unit member has the right under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to decide whether or not to engage in strike activity, and a member cannot be coerced by the union or by the employer to strike or not to strike. Striking members of the bargaining unit are exercising a right protected under the law, and the same is true for unit members who elect not to strike. 

All bargaining unit members who elect to strike will have their compensation withheld for the period they are on strike.

Because a strike involves withholding labor, employees who participate in protests or demonstrations while continuing to fulfill their work obligations are not formally on strike. 

Nonunionized, nonsupervisory staff have the same strike rights as WOAW-UAW bargaining unit members. They may strike, or not strike, without coercion or retaliation. If they elect to strike, however, their compensation will be withheld for the period they are on strike. In addition, if they engage in unlawful, unprotected strike activity, such as a partial withholding of their labor, they may be subject to disciplinary measures. Additional information from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regarding the right to strike, as well as lawful and unlawful strikes, can be found here.

Other Wellesley staff who are members of unions that have active collective bargaining agreements with no-strike clauses do not have the right to participate in a WOAW-UAW strike by not working. They are expected to be at work and fulfill their job responsibilities. 

Supervisory and managerial employees, which may include tenured and tenure track Wellesley faculty, are not protected employees under the NLRA and do not have a legal right to participate in any WOAW-UAW strike. 

Yes, as long as it is in accordance with the College’s demonstration policy and does not threaten safety or disrupt College operations.

NTT faculty positions are primarily teaching positions. Research is not an expectation or a responsibility of NTT faculty, and they have considerably fewer service responsibilities than tenure-eligible faculty. This is true not only for Wellesley but across higher education.

Tenure track faculty teach four courses, just as NTT faculty on long-term contracts currently do (visiting lecturers teach five courses), but they also have demanding research responsibilities outside the classroom and significant service expectations, and their role includes producing scholarship or research related to their fields of study.

The NTT faculty position is a nine-month position (10 months for instructors in science laboratory).

The average salary for lecturers/senior lecturers and ISLs at Wellesley is currently about $96,000. The College’s most recent proposal would increase the average salary to more than $117,000 within the first two years of the contract. The American Association of University Professors estimates that the average salary of NTT faculty at Wellesley’s peer schools in New England is $82,000.  

Both full-time and part-time NTT faculty receive generous benefits, comparable to those of tenured and tenure track faculty, that represent an additional 35% in compensation. Existing benefits include: 

• Comprehensive health insurance and employer contributions toward premiums of 75% or more. 

• Generous retirement benefits, with employer contributions for eligible employees up to 10.5%. 

• Professional development funds of up to $2,000 per year for conference travel for faculty who are half-time or greater as well as professional development leave opportunities.

• Fully paid medical and parental leave benefits for lecturers, senior lecturers, and principal lecturers in addition to paid family medical leave.

• Tuition remission for children who attend Wellesley.

• Subsidized housing on campus at 70% of market rates.

Well before the unionization and bargaining processes were initiated, the College recognized the need to regularize and enhance certain elements of our compensation and benefit offerings for NTT faculty. To address a salary gap between longer-term and newer NTT faculty, in 2020 the College granted a 9% raise to NTT faculty who had been hired in 2008 or later (in a year when virtually all other salaries at the College were frozen). In 2022, most NTT faculty received raises of 8% to 10%. Taken together, these steps have effectively addressed the disparity between faculty hired before 2008 and after.

Wellesley’s NTT faculty are valued members of our community. The vast majority hold full-time positions with full benefits, including generous health care and retirement. They teach and advise students; receive regular reviews to ensure high-quality teaching; and are able to serve on College-wide committees.  

Wellesley’s NTT faculty also have a level of job security that adjunct faculty at many other institutions do not. They have long-term contracts resulting in long tenure at the College, and the large majority have five-year renewable contracts and promotion opportunities with pay increases. Our visiting lectures (approximately 30% of NTT faculty) receive one-year contracts that are renewable for a total of four years. More than 40% of our NTT faculty have been here more than 10 years, and 20% have been here more than 20 years.

See our fact sheet for additional information.