Dive Brief:
- Adjunct professors at Burlington College and Champlain College in Vermont have voted to form unions.
- The votes were 118 to 30 in favor of joining the Service Employees International Union at Champlain College and 23 to 4 at Burlington College.
- The results of an adjunct professor union vote at St. Michael’s College are expected on Dec. 1, Vermont Public Radio reported.
Dive Insight:
The SEIU’s efforts to unionize adjunct professors have been successful so far. In the last 12 months, adjunct faculty members at more than 12 colleges and universities have joined SEIU’s Adjunct Action union, including the College of St. Rose in Albany, NY; Howard University and Georgetown University in Washington, DC; Antioch University in Seattle; and Northeastern University in Boston. According to SEIU, more than 40% of the faculty at private non-profit colleges and universities are part-timers and 72% of faculty members are not tenure tracked.