Kelsey O'Connor

koconnor@ithacajournal.com | @ijkoconnor

Contingent full-time faculty at Ithaca College have voted "Yes" to form a union with Service Employees International Union (SEIU)/Faculty Forward.

The contingent full-time faculty, or non-tenure track faculty, have been pushing to unionize in hopes of having more job security and a voice on campus. Though Ithaca College said it was not supporting faculty efforts to unionize in early April, contingent faculty still moved forward and filed for a union election through the National Labor Relations Board.

The next step for contingent full-time faculty is to negotiate a contract with the college's administration.

“Now that we have voted to form a union for full-time contingent faculty, our next goal is to join our part-time colleagues already at the bargaining table and negotiate one contract with our administration," said Rachel Gunderson, instructor in health promotion and physical education, in a news release Tuesday. "We believe that as one group of contingent faculty, we can negotiate for a stronger academic program for both faculty and students.”

Ithaca College said in a statement Tuesday that it remains "committed to working in partnership with all our faculty within a system of shared governance to best serve the educational needs of our students. It also remains the college’s position that our full-time contingent faculty not be included in the same bargaining unit as our part-time and adjunct faculty, as those groups are separate and distinct."

The college said once the NLRB has certified the results of the unionization election, the college will bargain in good faith with faculty and the union.

► More: IC denies contingent faculty's push to unionize

Shoshe Cole, assistant professor of physics and astronomy, said in a news release: “It was exciting to go to the NLRB in Buffalo and watch them announce all of the 'Yes' votes! We look forward to meeting the administration at the bargaining table as legal equals.”

Follow Kelsey O'Connor on Twitter @ijkoconnor.

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