Adjunct professors at Ithaca College have voted yes to join adjunct faculty at schools across the country in SEIU/Adjunct Action.  The victory shows a growing momentum for college faculty forming unions in New York, following adjunct victories at The College of Saint Rose and Schenectady Community College.

Ithaca adjuncts will join SEIU Local 200United as part of Adjunct Action.  The final vote count was 172 to 53. Tahlia Fischer, a part-time Women's and Gender Studies Lecturer, reflected on the victory: "We, the adjunct faculty at Ithaca college are excited to begin this new chapter with our higher ed. community. We look forward to a new era of interdialogue with administration on behalf of students and the mission of higher education more generally."

Taylor Ford, a 2017 Politics Major who supported the part-time faculty effort to form a union, said of the victory: "I'm extremely proud of the part-time faculty for all of their hard work in organizing a union. This was the right decision for them, and I, along with the other members of Students for Labor Action, look forward to continuing to support our professors as they move toward a contract with the college."

Sarah Grunberg, teaching in the Sociology department said: "This is a huge moment for Ithaca College part-time faculty as well as the Ithaca College campus community. This will not only make the college stronger as a whole but will also continue to set an example nationally that part-time faculty deserve better working conditions and that coming together can and does facilitate positive change. I'm looking forward to continuing these conversations and working with my colleagues, who have become friends throughout this process, on the steps to come."

Throughout New York State and across the country adjunct faculty continue to fight to address the crisis in higher education: a marginalized teaching faculty, quickly rising tuition, and record levels of student debt. Ithaca College adjunct faculty join over 26,000 contingent faculty members in SEIU/Adjunct Action who have won workplace improvements like improved pay, job security, evaluation processes, and access to benefits.

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