[caption id="attachment_2111" align="alignleft" width="300"]The NLRB repeatedly sided with SEIU against Vanderbilt’s legal challenges to the union election.[/caption]

Non-tenure track faculty and graduate students have formed The Alliance of Faculty Forward and Graduate Workers United at Vanderbilt University.

The Alliance will focus on creating a mechanism for its membership to easily share information and knowledge that improves administrative processes related to their employment with an emphasis on fair and transparent policies. The Alliance will also help identify and track the best practices across the country for college instructors who lack the protection of tenure, and seek to implement those changes at Vanderbilt.

The Alliance is being formed in conjunction with the SEIU’s decision to withdraw its representation petition filed in 2017 with the National Labor Relations Board. The creation of the Alliance allows new opportunities to engage with the administration and to widen the network of allies interested in this endeavor without further delays from employer appeals to Labor Board rulings.

Non-tenure track faculty representatives recently met with the College of Arts and Science Dean John Geer and had a productive conversation that they hope will lead to further discussions under Geer’s open door policy.

“We are excited to be building on recent progress,” said sociology lecturer Terrie Spetalnick, who attended the meeting. “I’m thrilled that we are joining with graduate workers to form this Alliance. Concerted action focused on a shared vision and mutual concerns will benefit all of Vanderbilt and help further our vital mission of teaching and mentoring students.”