DECEMBER 2024
REQUEST TO TEACH LETTERS
Keep scrolling to read about these important topics:
Request for Reappointment Letter Due
Sunday, December 15
For those who qualify, it is time to submit your Request for Reappointment letter (also known as the Request to Teach letter).
This letter requires the department to provide you with a reappointment letter by May 21, 2025 (or March 21, 2026, for Summer 2026) that lays out your Fall, Winter, and Spring Academic Year 2025-2026 appointments.
You acquire or maintain reappointment rights if you taught at least one course in the same department in any two semesters in 2024-2025 and 2023-2024 or one course in the same department in one semester for each of the prior four academic years.
If you are unsure whether you qualify, send the letter anyway.
If your director or chairperson told you you don’t need to send it, send it anyway.
Send a separate letter to every department, division, or school you taught at in 2024-2025.
If your qualifying semester is in Spring or Summer 2025, send the letter.
Always send a letter!
Send the letter to the person who communicates with you about your courses, or click here for the most current list of administrators. The letter must be sent by December 15th (there is a ten business day grace period).
Click here for a sample letter. Please copy the union office (mail@actuaw.org), the Unit Chair (nyu@actuaw.org), and the Rep Team (rausch@actuaw.org) so that we have a record in case there is any dispute with the administration down the road.
Understanding Courseload Reduction
In each newsletter we answer common questions. In this issue we focus on Courseload Reduction.
As one semester is drawing to a close and another is set to begin, it is important to understand courseload reduction. If the number of courses you are assigned for academic year 2024-25 (September 1 - August 31) is less from what you are due under Article X of the contract, then NYU must provide you with courseload reduction pay.
Your average course load is determined based on the number of courses that you taught in at least two semesters of the two previous consecutive academic years or in one semester each of the previous four consecutive academic years. For example, if you were appointed to four courses in each of the two previous academic years (2022 - 2023 and 2023 - 2024) and have recently learned that one of your courses for the spring was canceled, giving you an appointment to three courses for the academic year 2024 - 2025, then you are entitled to course load reduction pay for one course. This assumes that you are not appointed to the lost course in summer 2025. (Summer appointment letters are due by March 21, 2025).
If you received a reappointment letter for Academic Year 2024 - 2025 for your fall 2024, winter 2025, and spring 2025 courses and have since been informed of a change in the number of courses that you will be appointed to, you may be due courseload reduction pay. This is if any of your originally appointed classes were canceled for a reason other than insufficiency of registration or curriculum change.
NOTE: You will only receive course load reduction pay if all three conditions are met:
Your total course load for academic year 2024-25 is reduced from the course load you have earned Reappointment Rights for;
You have taught in the same department at least 1 semester in the previous 4 academic years or you have taught in the same department at least 2 semesters in the previous 2 academic years.
Additionally, if your course was cancelled, you should have received a notification from your department chair or director. This letter should indicate whether you will receive course load reduction pay.
Be sure to email your department chair or director indicating that you accept the course load reduction pay within 30 days of receiving your appointment letter for Winter 2025, or Spring 2025 semesters.
TO REPEAT: Failure to respond to your department’s email concerning your teaching schedule and/or your courseload reduction payout within the 30 day window will result in a loss of the payment.
Union Wide Special Election
Wed, December 11 (Midnight) - Thurs, December 12 (10:00 pm)
There will be a Special Election on December 11-12, 2024 organized by ACT-UAW Local 7902’s Election Committee.
NYU matches up to 5% of your total elective retirement contribution from September 1, 2024 to August 31, 2025. These funds will be added to your retirement account on or about December 1, 2025.
That means if you teach two 4-credit courses during academic year 2024 - 2025, with 42 contact hours each you would earn $22,281.06. If you contribute at least 5% of that (e.g., $1,114.05) to your retirement account during academic year 2024 - 2025, NYU will contribute 5%, automatically, and match the 5%. So NYU would add a total of $2,228.10 to your retirement account on or about December 1, 2025.
Currently only 30% of adjunct faculty members contribute funds to their STDA accounts. This means that more than two out of three of you who are eligible for retirement matching contributions are leaving money on the table.
Don’t leave money on the table!
Learn more about the retirement benefits available to adjunct faculty by accessing NYU’s Retirement Plans webpage.
Contribute to the Supplemental Tax Deferred Annuity (STDA) Plan on a voluntary basis making contributions of your choice with each paycheck as you learn how to enroll and manage your account.
Be in direct contact with a TIAA Representative to learn more about how you can maximize the retirement benefits we won in our current contract.
Remember – To take full advantage of the new matching retirement benefits, you must contribute at least 5% of your gross compensation for the 2024-25 academic year to your STDA Plan. We recommend that if you have not contributed any money to your STDA Plan this academic year and you teach in the Winter 2025, Spring 2025, or Summer 2025 semester, you should contribute at least 10% so you can average at least 5% for the entire academic year.
NOTE: If you qualify, NYU’s non-elective/matching contributions for academic year 2023 - 2024 were made to your TIAA account on November 29, 2024.
Here is a list of noteworthy dates. Click on the designated links for details. View our ACT UAW calendar here.
Friday, December 13 - 3:00-6:00 pm
ACT UAW Membership Meeting and Reception
In-person (The New School University Center 63 5th Ave Room L105) & Zoom; Register Here
Membership is the highest authority in our union, here at Local 7902 we’re proud to represent a diverse body of higher education workers across multiple campuses with a shared vision of standing together.
It is with that spirit that it is my great pleasure to invite you to our second joint Membership Meeting for the 2024-2025 Academic Year.
We are pleased to announce that we will be able to hold this one in person, and The New School will allow our NYU siblings into the buildings, so please register in advance by December 12th at 6pm to confirm numbers. If you’re a member of the NYU unit it is really important that you register in advance for in person attendance, and bring along your NYU ID.
Tentative Agenda
Gathering & Refreshments - 3:00 pm
Meeting Called to Order - 3:20 pm
Financial Report
President’s Report
Chair Reports
Member Issues / Time for Proposals / Q&A
Also note that we are in the process of amending our bylaws, which you can learn more about at the Membership Meeting! If you would like to participate and submit bylaws amendments, please read more here.
The registration link above is both for in person and Zoom attendees. Zoom attendees will be linked and prompted to register on Zoom as well. Please complete this registration even if you are on the Joint Council, as you will not receive a panelist link for a membership meeting.
Save The Date: Friday, January 24 - 3:00-4:30 pm
Member Town Hall
Informal Discussion about Planning for 2025 and Beyond for the NYU Unit
As we reflect on the election results and the impact it will have on the labor movement, we want to hear from you, the members, about your concerns and your thoughts on how we, as unionized members of the NYU adjunct faculty, can prepare for the challenging road ahead and develop the community we need to remain resilient and build on what we have achieved.
Please join us in an informal discussion about what we can do to build unity and strength amidst the challenges in the upcoming years. This meeting will be hybrid. Food and refreshments will be provided. Location TBA.
In this section we highlight recent adjunct news and achievements. If you have something that you would like to share in next month’s newsletter, please send it to mail@actuaw.org by Friday, January 3rd at 9am.
Judith Sloan was awarded a New York State Council on the Arts Support for Artist grant for her project Imperfect Allies in which was also featured on NPR's national call-in show Notes from America. An excerpt from the work-in-progress will be included in an afternoon of performances/readings produced by EarSay about surviving under authoritarian rule, immigration, code-switching, escaping war on Sunday Dec. 8th. In addition Sloan's libretto for 1001 Voices: An Anthem for a New America will be the closing piece for the winter concert of the Queens Choral Society, on December 15th with over 100 singers on stage, joined by over 200 singers from high school and middle school choirs.
Have you signed your union membership card?
If you haven’t done so, now is the time.
Download the card here, fill out the pdf and add your e-signature in the two designated areas and then email the completed form with your signatures at both the middle and at the bottom of the form to mail@actuaw.org and nyu@actuaw.org.
Note: Your N# can be found on the back of your NYU ID.
If you have any difficulties filling out the pdf, email staff organizer Julia Geiger at jgeiger@actuaw.org.
Union membership is not automatic.
If you are an adjunct or part-time faculty member who works 40+ contact hours per academic year (September 1-August 31), or 75+ contact hours of individual instruction or tutoring during a semester, you are eligible to join the union.
The payment of either union dues or an agency fee is a condition of continued employment at NYU.
