The email, sent to Wellesley College faculty and staff by Provost Courtney Coile, Piper Orton, Vice President for Finance and Administration and Treasurer, and Carolyn Slaboden, Chief Human Resources Officer, stated that the “pause will apply to tenure track, non-tenure track, administrative (both exempt and non-exempt), and union staff positions,” but not for students who are hired by the College.

Despite the pause, the College acknowledged that they may need to hire faculty and staff in “critical” positions that participate in “essential College operations.” Those positions will be filled at the discretion of the Provost Budget Committee, with final confirmation from senior leadership.

The new policy will be reviewed in late fall by the College.

This announcement comes as other peer institutions have enacted similar hiring pauses in regards to growing economic uncertainty in higher education, including a comprehensive freeze at Harvard University on March 10 and a partial freeze at Middlebury College on April 2.

The News previously reported that the College faces a projected $8 million deficit for the 2026 fiscal year. The College also faces uncertainty around federal funding losses and a proposed endowment tax in Congress.

The email also emphasized that the pause may not be the only action taken in response to financial constraints. It stated that the College was “exploring other actions…including reviewing discretionary and non-salary spending across academic and administrative departments.”

Contact the editor responsible for this story: Sazma Sarwar.

Since the WOAW union went on strike March 27, the College and WOAW have met for three bargaining sessions. There was some movement towards more tentative agreements between WOAW and the College on the following articles: Prohibition for Discrimination and Harassment, Recognition, Union Rights and Access and Dining. The News previously reported that disagreement still remains on larger issues such as Compensation, Workload and Reappointment.

On Wednesday, April 9, Provost Courtney Coile and Carolyn Slaboden, Chief Human Resources Officer sent out a college FYI to the Wellesley community, which stated, “We believe holding bargaining sessions during which the College offers proposals that the UAW refuses to consider is fruitless and will not advance our shared goal of finalizing a contract.”

Initially, a bargaining session was scheduled for the afternoon the next day. However, the College canceled this bargaining session. 

A spokesperson for the College told the News:

“Based on lack of progress across a range of issues at recent bargaining sessions, the College asked the union for a clear demonstration of willingness to make meaningful progress in negotiations or to agree to pursue mediation. The union has not demonstrated such willingness and so today’s scheduled bargaining session did not take place.”

The union described being “disappointed” by this cancellation in an email and website update. 

“We were prepared for a productive session on Thursday, ready to ask the College questions to better understand their positions and to clarify ours,” read the statement.

The statement also addressed the College’s continued calls for a private mediator.

“Our members do not have confidence that mediation will prove productive considering the College’s bargaining history,” stated WOAW in their update, “Mediators do not settle disputes; both sides need to explain their positions and be open to compromise.”

Future bargaining sessions remain unscheduled as the College and WOAW remain at odds over whether to engage in private mediation or continue bargaining.

“We look forward to meeting again when the union shows a renewed willingness to engage in good faith bargaining,” a spokesperson for the College told the News.

WOAW has also asked the College to schedule additional bargaining sessions every day this week except for Thursday. However, it seems unlikely that bargaining will occur if this stalemate continues.

In the meantime, WOAW members told the News in an email statement that they hope the College returns to bargaining but “are prepared to take legal action if they refuse to do so.” The union has already filed two Unfair Labor Practices (ULPs) with the National Labor Relations Board against the College for “coercive rules and threats to Union members” and for a “unilateral change to a mandatory subject of bargaining and [the College] refused to bargain with the Union upon request.”

Community events

On Wednesday, April 9, Provost Coile attended a tea at Tower Court. Students asked her questions about a variety of campus issues, such as her role as Provost, the College’s responses to threats to higher education, but focused primarily on the College’s response to the strike.

Coile noted that while she does not attend bargaining, she is actively involved in College responses after each session. She also emphasized that both she and other members of campus administration, including Megan Nunez, Dean of Faculty Affairs, who does attend bargaining on behalf of the College, know non-tenure track faculty personally and professionally.

“All of us are friends with people in the bargaining unit, [we] know what their contributions are,” said Coile.

Coile defended the College’s plan that will reduce striking NTT classes to 0.5 units at the end of the semester, which has forced many students to enroll in new classes to maintain eligibility for graduation, athletics, financial aid and visa status. Coile said that this plan and new registration were meant to ensure that every student met all credit guidelines. When asked further about the plan, Coile noted that this was a second plan after they failed to find enough professors to cover striking classes.

“I have yet to hear somebody suggest something else that we could have done,” said Coile.

On Friday, April 11, WOAW and Wellesley’s Union and Labor Advocacy Taskforce (UniLAd) held a community cookout at a union member’s house. The event had catering and was attended by both students and union faculty. 

Phoebe Rebhorn contributed to reporting.

Contact the editors responsible for this story: Sazma Sarwar, Galeta Sandercock, and Valida Pau.

Updated on April 15 at 8:49pm to reflect more recent statements from WOAW.

WOAW and the College reached tentative agreements for Union Rights and Access and Recognition for union members. However, the session did not address major proposals, such as compensation, workload and appointments and reappointment. The Union did not consider there to be enough progress made to end the strike.

Movements made

The College came with 16 proposals and a package of various benefits, including child care and paid medical leave.

The College offered a $5,000 child care benefit for BUEs with dependents six years and younger.

WOAW members said this proposal came unexpectedly and were hopeful the College could extend this policy to tenured faculty and staff.
The College also offered two semesters of paid medical leave that BUEs may take over the course of their careers. 

While the Union recognized the progress, they hoped to see a longer, more generous timeline for illness.

In another movement, the College guarantees that any case of alleged discrimination, harassment, or bullying can proceed to grievance and arbitration, reversing a firm stance they took in the past that would only allow the Union to proceed to grievance after arbitration and the College’s final actions.

  They did not provide definitive answers on the Union’s proposal to include a statement of non-discrimination on the basis of immigration status, in the case of a federal law change in the future.

The Immigration and Nationality Act already prohibits employers from discriminating against individuals based on their citizenship status, immigration status, or national origin in hiring, firing, recruitment, or referral for a fee. 

Disagreement remains

The College wrote in a campus-wide email that it presented the Union with “significant moves.”

Anne Brubaker, Senior Lecturer in the Writing Program, acknowledged the College’s efforts in benefits but said they failed to present a comprehensive package that included all their articles and top-priority issues. 

Despite going on strike, the Union members are frustrated by the lack of urgency and slow progress of bargaining from the College side. 

The Union offered to extend the Tuesday bargaining session and meet on Wednesday, but the College insisted on meeting on Thursday on their previously agreed-upon schedule.    

“It just seems they’re almost acting unbothered…There’s no sense of urgency from the College’s bargaining team,” said Jacquelin Woodford, Lecturer in Chemistry.

The College strongly disagrees with that assertion, said the College in a statement to the News. They continued to propose third-party mediation, through a neutral private mediator, as federal mediators are no longer a viable option.

“The union continues to strike and shows no urgency around the College’s request to pursue private mediation – a tried and true method of resolving labor disputes,” said the College.

Brubaker rejected the College’s characterization of the strike as premature.

“We feel like in some ways, yes, we were striking because of the sticking points, but we were also striking to get them back to the bargaining table,” said Brubaker.

Brubaker also rejected the idea that bargaining has reached a point where mediation is necessary.

“And I know that they have suggested that we were at an impasse, and we needed mediation. But an impasse isn’t the same as not showing up and countering our proposals in a meaningful way,” said Brubaker.

“We call on the union to end the strike, focus on the critical work at the negotiating table, and allow students to return to their usual classes,” Coile and Slaboden wrote in the email.

In an email statement to the News, Brubaker wrote, “The College announcement from Provost Coile mentions ‘retirement benefits’ but this was not in the proposal package.”

In the meantime, WOAW’s bargaining update stated that on the evening of Apr. 1, the bargaining team sent another comprehensive package to the College ahead of bargaining on Apr. 3. This is the second comprehensive package, which includes information about all articles, that the Union has sent to the College.

The College and WOAW-UAW will return to bargaining Thursday, Apr. 3.

“The plan must be implemented now so that students will have enough contact hours to support the 0.5 credit by the end of the semester,” wrote Coile. 

In a statement to the News, the College said, “Since the length of the faculty strike at Wellesley is currently unknown, the College has developed a plan that will be effective no matter what the duration of the strike may be. If we were to wait to see how long the strike ends up lasting before taking action, we would have missed the window to put in place a plan that will be needed if there is a long strike.”

The College also said, “If the strike ends quickly enough, it will not be necessary for students to remain enrolled in these new classes, as students will be able to return to their original classes and earn full credit.”

The Wellesley News has asked the College to clarify what “quickly enough” means.

The News previously reported that the College is suspending courses taught by striking union members not covered by a substitute instructor. The initial announcement, which came Thursday morning, informed students that, unless they were enrolled in WOAW-taught courses with a “high number of minutes,” they would only be awarded 0.5 units upon receiving a satisfactory grade. 

Feasibility of College’s plan

To address how the plan may affect students on visas and financial aid, the College will reopen registration on Saturday, Mar. 29. 

“Tenure-stream faculty … have been asked to open up their classes to allow some number of students to join the class in progress…Students who join the class now will be signing up for a 0.5 unit, mandatory credit/no-credit version of the course,” read the Provost’s first email sent Thursday morning. 

To understand if there would be enough seats in tenure-stream faculty courses to support the number of students who courseload now drop below full-time status, The Wellesley News conducted a preliminary analysis based on data from the course browser

As of Mar. 27, Workday and the Course Browser show 425 classes with open seats, totalling 2,672 open seats. 

These figures exclude PE classes, First-Year-Writing classes and QR 140. 55 of these classes are labs, and 304 classes have registration restrictions, such as prerequisites, instructor’s permission or class-specific restrictions. 165 of these classes are taught by Non-Tenure-Track (NTT) faculty.

It is not immediately clear to the News how many NTT members in the Union choose to teach their classes. 

Students will be able to register for classes taught by tenure-stream faculty. This leaves 245 classes with open seats, totalling 1,674 open seats. This number excludes laboratories, but includes classes with registration restrictions.

As many NTT faculty are assumed to teach introductory courses, students who are most likely to be impacted by the strike will be primarily underclassmen who may lack the prerequisites to easily bypass registration restrictions. This leaves 86 classes with open seats, totalling 725 open seats. 

As of midnight on March 28, it is unclear to the News how many courses will be available for registration. Although tenure-stream faculty were asked by the Provost Office to allow affected students to join their courses, professors could decide for themselves whether they would open their classes. 

The Registrar’s Office will confirm on Friday at noon which courses will be subject to credit changes, and the Course Browser will display which classes will accept new students.

Performance

Students will take these newly-added courses as mandatory credit/non-credit, raising questions about how the new plan would affect academic performance for existing and new students.

An email template circulated among students by the Union and Labor Advocacy Taskforce (UniLAd) raises concerns about how the new plan could influence learning for both students already enrolled in tenure-stream courses and students who plan to enroll in said courses.

“Reopening courses will devalue the students already in class, who have put in half a semester of work. It devalues the students who would have to scramble to add classes, forcing them to catch up with a tremendous amount of coursework,” said the document.

“Instructors are expected to be mindful that students will not have seen content from earlier in the semester, but are not expected to re-teach this material. Having classes be graded CR/NCR will help with any learning gaps students may have,” read the Provost’s first email.

Contact hours and credit hours

The main reasoning the College has provided for the credit change and course registration is the requirement for Wellesley to comply with federally-mandated contact hours.

“It is important to understand that federal regulations govern both the number of contact hours required to earn college credit and the number of credits a student must be enrolled in to maintain full-time status for financial aid and visa eligibility purposes,” the Provost wrote in the latest email sent Thursday evening.

According to the Code of Federal Regulations, a credit hour is “one hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum of two hours of out-of-class student work each week for approximately fifteen weeks for one semester…or the equivalent amount of work over a different period of time.”

The New England Commission of Higher Education, which awards Wellesley’s accreditation, uses this same definition.

A typical Wellesley course meets for 75 minutes twice a week, so has 2.5 contact hours per week. Wellesley’s registrar states that “One (1) unit of Wellesley College work typically equals 4 semester-hours or 6 quarter-hours.”

Even though there is a minimum requirement for credit hours, the Department of Education wrote in a Q&A page that “there is no ‘seat time’ requirement implicit in the definition of a credit hour.” 

It further clarifies that “the credit-hour definition does not dictate particular amounts of classroom time versus out-of-class student work.” Some striking faculty have encouraged students to continue to submit assignments and work as outlined in their course syllabi.

In a similar union dispute at Columbia University in November 2021, all of Columbia’s undergraduate schools adopted a pass/fail policy for the semester after graduate student workers of the Student Workers of Columbia-United Auto Workers went on strike.

In Columbia’s case, since many classes did not meet the state-mandated 126 hours of teaching and learning per semester, Columbia adopted a “credit-pending policy” where students were required to make up classwork and instructional time through makeup essays during winter break and summer courses.

In a statement to the News, the College said that the Columbia strike, and other strikes mentioned in a recent Wellesley News opinion piece, “occurred under very different circumstances than the strike at Wellesley,” with differences in time of the semester, duration, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Wellesley News cannot locate or identify the specific policy or definitions that Wellesley College currently follows and interprets for its plan regarding contact hours and credit hours and their connections for compliance matters.  

The News has reached out to the College for comments on their interpretation of contact hours and credit hours. 

Community Responds

The student executive board of Slater International Center expressed frustration with the announced plan, in an email sent Thursday night, specifically citing concerns about the disproportionate effects on international students. 

“By implementing this sudden policy without proper consultation or consideration, the administration has recklessly put us at risk…We, as international students, are already at heightened risk, and now we are under the threat of not being eligible to maintain our visas and qualify for financial aid,” the students stated in the email.

Contact the editors responsible for this story: Valida Pau, Galeta Sandercock

Updated at 4:26pm on March 28th to reflect College comments.

Wellesley Organized Academic Workers (WOAW-UAW), the non-tenure track faculty union, will begin a strike this Thursday, the College announced today in an email sent to all students, faculty, and staff.

The Wellesley News reported yesterday that WOAW would likely begin a strike after both parties failed to agree on key issues, including compensation and workload in the Tuesday bargaining session. 

The College said the Union rejected the College’s offer to move to mediation facilitated by federal mediators under the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS). 

FMCS is an independent federal agency that provides mediation and other conflict resolution services to help resolve labor-management disputes.

However, President Trump announced a presidential action on March 14, directing FCMS and other targeted federal agencies to eliminate “non-statutory components” and to “reduce the performance of their statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law.”

The agency reiterated their efforts to remain operational and continue to provide their statutorily mandated services, in a press release on March 19.

“To be clear, FMCS is still operational and performing our statutory functions of collective bargaining mediation work in the private and federal Sectors, USPS dispute cases, labor-management committee work, and providing arbitration panels,” the agency said.

Members of WOAW plan to picket at the Route 135 entrance to campus, but the entrance and College Road will remain open, according to the College. 

The Union currently has plans for strikes on April 5-6 on a shift sign-up form on their website. That weekend, the College will host the Hillary Rodham Center Summit which includes speakers like former state of secretary Hillary Rodham ’69 and Arkansas State Senator Breanne Davis (R).

In an emailed statement to the News, WOAW believed the College’s mediation request was “disingenuous” and “would not have averted a strike,” on top of the fact the College announcement came after it was made aware that the FMCS is no longer able to provide such services.

“The college requested that future sessions be mediation, but still did not offer any dates before April 3. In our bargaining session yesterday, we offered to bargain with the college today to avert a strike and they declined.

“We believe mediation at this time is premature, and we have said many times we are willing to negotiate on many areas in our proposal,” said Jacquelin Woodford, lecturer in Chemistry.

The College told the News that they were unaware of the suspension of federal mediation services when the community email was sent, and their labor lawyer reached out to the mediator yesterday, before the administrative leave announcement had been made.

“The College stands by its offer to move to mediation with WOAW. Private mediation is still an option with a neutral mediator. The College is eager to take that step and calls on WOAW-UAW to join us,” said the College.

Talks falling apart

This announcement follows the 24th bargaining session between the Union and the College held earlier this afternoon. The session included WOAW’s presentation of a comprehensive package of all current proposals and discussions with the College on these high-priority issues. 

WOAW proposed to meet for an additional bargaining session tomorrow to avert a strike, but the College declined to meet before Thursday. While a strike has not been officially announced, WOAW members expressed in statements to the News that one is likely to follow. 

The College’s latest proposal for starting salary stands at $68,000 for Visiting Lecturers and $72K for lecturers, while WOAW’s latest proposal stands at $88,000 for Visiting and “Tier 1” lecturers. 

 The College’s offer also includes an “additional $10,000 increase over two years” for the new five-course workload standard, an across-the-board wage increase of 2.75% and an additional 1.5% increase for each year at the College for newly hired employees.

In an email statement to The News, the College described this offer as “a bold new package proposal” that included “unprecedented increases in compensation for union agreement on a five course annual teaching load for all unit members.”

 The College also stated that it made “serious movement” toward the Union’s proposal on discrimination and harassment, such as by adding stand-alone protections from bullying for the first time. 

According to an email statement from Erin Battat, Senior Lecturer in the Writing Program and a member of the bargaining committee, the College proposed a five-course workload with a $10,000 increase to the base salary during today’s bargaining session. This is equivalent to what non-tenure track professors currently receive when electing to teach a fifth course.

“The College’s proposal makes working overtime the new, required norm,” Battat wrote. “We had hoped that Wellesley was serious about their claims to care about averting a strike, but their actions at the bargaining prove otherwise.”

A spokesperson for the College told The News that a campus-wide announcement will also be sent out on Wednesday morning regarding the state of bargaining and the possible strike. Members of the bargaining units may choose whether to strike. 

“We would rather be teaching, but the College’s conduct has left us with no choice. We are prepared to join the picket lines on Thursday morning,” said Battat.

During the strike, Union members will receive $500 a week in strike assistance from the UAW if they picket for at least 20 hours.

During today’s bargaining session, the Union took a two-hour break and compiled a 95-page comprehensive package, which the College described as reiterating positions from months ago. 

 The College said it was “very disappointed” at the Union’s “outright” rejection of the offers without presenting alternatives “that could narrow, rather than expand, our differences.” 

Timeline of strike announcements

The News previously reported that the WOAW union’s strike authorization vote passed by 93% on February 24. However, in subsequent bargaining sessions, WOAW and Wellesley were not able to reach agreements on compensation, workload, and discrimination and harassment procedures. On March 10, WOAW held a rally to advocate for progress in the negotiations. 

Last Tuesday, March 18, WOAW announced March 27 as the strike date.

  The College responded to the strike announcement in a campus-wide email sent on March 24 by Provost Courtney Coile and Carolyn Slaboden, Chief Human Resources Officer. The email stated that the College did not feel that parties were at an “impasse” and “sincerely [hoped] that WOAW-UAW does not decide to strike,” as well as that bargaining sessions have been scheduled for the next several weeks. More information on negotiation status is available on the College’s dedicated website. 

According to the WOAW Instagram, WOAW has offered to participate in additional bargaining sessions every day since March 18, but the College declined. 

What students should know

Wellesley College’s unionization FAQ page states that affected class department chairs will notify students directly. In some departments, these notifications have already been sent out to students. 

According to a post on WOAW’s Instagram on March 24, “Over 70% of tenure-track faculty have pledged not to teach struck classes taught by WOAW members.”

In departments including Biology, Chemistry, Women’s and Gender Studies and Anthropology, classes taught by non-tenure track faculty who choose to strike will not be filled by tenure-track faculty. The Economics department has informed students that classes with striking faculty will be filled by tenure-track faculty. 

On the FAQ page for students, WOAW has asked students to demonstrate solidarity with the union by refraining from attending courses taught by those on strike, showing support at picket locations and emailing campus administration in support of the union.

Financial future

The College currently projects over $8 million in budget deficit for the fiscal year 2026, in a statement sent to faculty and staff by Provost Courtney Coile and Piper Orton, Vice President for Finance and Administration and Treasurer, seen by The News.  

In a separate statement reviewed by The News, this included a projected 30% increase in total compensation over the four-year contract for WOAW.

While the College often comes to a balanced budget, this year’s $8 million would require “significant action,” according to Coile. The email also stated that the College is considering a hiring freeze and a food and travel cut for faculty and staff. 

This comes amid uncertainties around “ongoing conversations about the possible cost to the College to the WOAW-UAW contract” and federal policy changes targeting higher education institutions. 

Wellesley, among other higher education institutions, is facing increasing pressure from the Trump administration, including a potential endowment tax hike and threats of cutting federal funding and grants. 

“With the Union having apparently decided to strike on Thursday and disrupt campus life for our students, the College will now consider what is the best pathway to reach an agreement,” the College wrote.

Still, union members remain confident in their bargaining demands.

“We are fighting the good fights. We are willing to fight for the contract we deserve,” said Jacqueline Woodford, lecturer in chemistry.

Contact the editors responsible for this story: Sazma Sarwar and India Lacey

Updated on March 26th to reflect corrections to department announcements.

When added with the indirect costs of attendance, including books, personal expenses, travel, and the waivable student health insurance policy, the total cost of Wellesley is estimated to be up to $100,541.

The email, sent by Piper Orton, Vice President for Finance and Administration and Treasurer, and T. Peaches Valdes, Dean of Admission and Financial Aid, stated that the increase in fees “reflects the increasing costs of providing a Wellesley education.”

According to the email, this new change will not affect students currently receiving financial aid as, “unless family circumstances have changed … financial aid packages will increase commensurate with the increase in the comprehensive fee.”

The 2024-25 academic year was the first time Wellesley and nearby Boston University’s total costs exceeded $90,000. Wellesley’s comprehensive fee for the 2024-25 academic year, which does not factor indirect cost, was $88,200.

The 2025-26 comprehensive fee is the highest it has ever been, according to publicly available data from the Office of Institutional Research.

This fee is also consistent with both peer institutions and other area schools’ direct costs. Other liberal arts colleges’ 2025-26 direct costs (not including health insurance) exceed $90,000, including Amherst College, which is estimated to be $93,090, and Smith College, which is estimated to cost $90,500. Boston University has a fee of $91,342.

Other schools in the area have broadened their financial aid. Harvard announced an increase to their financial aid program, providing free tuition to families making $200,000 or less and a free comprehensive fee to families making $100,000 or less, starting in the next academic year. MIT announced the same policy for 2025-26 in November. Neither school has yet released their estimated direct costs for 2025-26 for those not receiving financial aid.

This announcement comes as Wellesley, and higher education institutions across the country, face precarious financial situations. The News previously reported that Wellesley faces increased scrutiny after being placed on a Department of Education list of schools currently under investigation for Title IX violations related to antisemitism. Additionally, a proposed increased endowment tax could negatively impact Wellesley’s financial aid.

Community members wore red in solidarity with WOAW, circulating signs, chant scripts and a student pledge. Attendees remained on the sidewalk for the duration of the rally to avoid gathering on the private property of the College. Speakers included union members, students, tenured faculty and Independent Maintenance and Service Employees Unions of America (IMSEUA) members.

Attendees walked from the Central Street vehicle entrance to the College pedestrian entrance at the corner of Central Street and Weston Road. People chanted “Hey hey, ho ho!/Wellesley greed has got to go,” “When I say Union, You Say Power” and “Wellesley, step off it!/Put people over profit.” Cars driving by honked in solidarity with the rally participants.

WOAW faculty expressed excitement over the student and union member turnout at the event. 

“I always knew our students were smart enough to not buy the College’s narrative that you know what they’re proposing is totally fine for students, but to actually see it in action was really moving,” said Professor Deb Bauer.

WOAW faculty were also grateful for the amount of union members who came to the rally.

“I was really heartened to see how many unit members showed up … To see the community coming together in a moment like this to really show the College the solidarity of the unit, it was really impressive to me,” said Professor Paul Martorelli.

Professors are hopeful that this rally will encourage progress in the bargaining with the College.

“I hope they realize that the things that we have been proposing are not unreasonable and that the changes that the College is proposing would hurt the entire community,” said Professor Christa Skow.

Current State of Bargaining

This demonstration occurred following the Strike Authorization Vote, which 93% of voting members approved earlier this month. Bargaining issues that led to the vote include compensation and workplace protections.

The WOAW Instagram page stated that the College emailed several departments offering $250 per class to tenure-track faculty who remain working in the case of a strike. In a statement to The News, a spokesperson for the College said, “If there is a work stoppage, the College’s top priority will be the academic experience of our students.”

According to the College’s available union website, Wellesley is developing contingency plans to mitigate possible strike-related disruptions to academics, campus safety and other programs. The College told The News that they will share details of the plans “if and when they are needed.”

In addition to the rally, the WOAW union urged community members to email the College administration and the Board of Trustees in solidarity.

Students Pledge to Strike

In response to the ongoing back and forth between WOAW and the College surrounding the Strike Authorization Vote, students have started an independent student pledge through social media platforms and student body emails from the student Community Organizing and Inclusion Liaison. 

Students who sign the pledge agree to abstain from classes taught by non-tenure track faculty for the duration of the strike, even if, according to the pledge, “the College brings in scab labor to cover the course.” 

Alex Teasley ’27, one of the organizers of the pledge, described its purpose as a “deterrent” to a strike.

“The hope is that the school will see this and … just meet WOAW at the negotiating table,” said Teasley, “If that does happen, then I’m hopeful that WOAW will still know in the future that they have 400 students who are ready to strike with them.” 

By Saturday March 15, the pledge received 506 responses. 

Contact the editors responsible for this story: Sazma Sarwar and Valida Pau

The Japanese program’s request to expand its faculty with a part-time lecturer was entirely rejected. The Chinese program’s previously hired part-time lecturer was removed, and the Korean program’s full-time visiting lecturer was reduced to a part-time visiting lecturer, resulting in the nonrenewal of Professor Eun Ha Hwang’s contract.

Professor Mingwei Song, the chair of EALC, said that while the rejection to expand the Japanese program was expected, the change to the Korean program was surprising.

“Indeed, we were suffering the loss of the FTE [full-time equivalent faculty] across the programs, and for the Korean program, … Professor Hwang has been with us for four years, and she has been a truly remarkable teacher and devoted member of the department,” said Song.

Professor Sun Hee Lee, director of the Korean program, noted her surprise at the College’s decision to remove Hwang’s visiting lecturer position. Visiting lecturer positions are typically reviewed after the faculty member’s fourth year, where they are either promoted to non-visiting or let go. 

The College had warned the Korean program about possible cuts, but professors remained hopeful.

“I naively thought we are the exceptional case, because losing this person – our whole curriculum gets into danger. I didn’t see this kind of cut from this side, because Korean is quite popular these days; since 2021 our enrollment has almost doubled,” said Lee.

According to the College, the FTE staffing approvals did not change much from previous years.

“The Provost’s Office regularly receives more staffing requests than the budget can support; not all requests can be approved,” said a spokesperson for the College.

The move has been very unpopular with the student body. The News previously reported that over 850 students signed a petition in protest of Prof. Hwang’s contract nonrenewal. As of Feb. 18, that number is over 950.

“I think immediately students were like, ‘We’re not gonna let this just happen … we’re going to stand up for this professor who we really care about and [who] had a really positive impact on our experience at Wellesley,” said Sophie Larson ’27, a Korean major.

In the early 2000s, student activism helped to bring Korean language classes to Wellesley, according to Lee.

Organizers of the petition wrote to the administration but have been unsuccessful in reversing the staffing change. The Dean’s Office assured the petition organizers that the staffing change should not adversely affect student access to the Korean program.

“ … There are no plans to close or downsize the Korean program … For the 2025-2026 academic year, we anticipate that the program will offer eleven courses. This is highly consistent with the Korean curriculum over the past five years, and we are confident this will meet student demand for both the introductory language courses and a set of upper-level electives,” Megan Nunez, Dean of Faculty Affairs, wrote in an email response to the petition.

However, faculty remain concerned that this staffing cut will affect available courses. According to Lee, the Korean program had planned to offer 13 courses for the next academic year, 11 of which would be language courses. The change would require her to fill in for Korean 101 instead of offering another upper-level course. 

“We have to cut one third-year class out of two, [have] no fourth-year language class, no content course for the first semester and maybe [offer] one content [course for the spring,]” said Lee, “I don’t know how I could manage for the future of the Korean major and minor.”

Still, the EALC department remains in negotiation with College administration.

“We have been making efforts to have a constructive dialogue with the college leadership and trying to at least save as much as possible some FTE for the Korean program,” said Song.

Despite these efforts, students remain concerned about the future of the Korean program.

“Already, I’d consider [the program] understaffed,” said Larson, “[For] her contract to be terminated, just takes away resources that were already being stretched thin.”

Joanne Kim contributed to reporting.

Contact the editors responsible for this article: Jessica Chen, Galeta Sandercock, Sazma Sarwar, and Valida Pau

Eligible voters in this election include instructors, lecturers and Mellon postdoctoral fellows who are currently employed by Wellesley College. If the vote passes with a two-thirds majority, the union’s bargaining committee is authorized to call for a strike if necessary.  

According to WOAW, a “yes” vote in the Strike Authorization Vote is an opportunity to “declare forcefully that unless [the College] make[s] significant progress towards a fair contract, they can expect a strike to follow.”

The call for the Strike Authorization Vote from WOAW is coming after claims that the College has stalled on major core-bargaining issues. 

“After 19 bargaining sessions and over 65 hours of face-to-face negotiations, we have not made sufficient progress on our key priorities, including compensation, workload, job security, titles, and prohibitions against discrimination and harassment,” wrote Erin Battat, a senior lecturer in the Writing Program, in an email statement to The News.

WOAW and the College have reached 15 tentative agreements out of 50 proposals, including health and safety, intellectual property, and workplace and materials.

However, the College described the vote as “premature.” In an email sent to faculty and staff on Feb. 14 from Provost Courtney Coile and Chief Human Resources Officer Carolyn Slaboden, they wrote, “It is hard to understand why the union would take this step toward bringing disruption to our students when negotiations are ongoing and in no way at an impasse.”

The main bargaining issues that the College and the Union went back and forth between in their communications are compensation, workload and protections. 

Compensation 

The College argued that their initial salary proposal is “comprehensive and highly competitive,” stating that it would bring “the average salary for all bargaining unit employees (BUEs) to $92,259, well above the average salary in the current market … ”

WOAW claims, however, that a few high earners skew the average under the College’s proposal, and still, 25% of bargaining unit employees (BUEs) make under $68,890.

WOAW unionized to address this particular issue of salary stagnation, pointing out that “the wage gap of $31,000 persists between BUEs who were hired before and after 2008.” 

The union pointed out that K-12 teachers in the region have higher starting salaries and much higher salary growth, to reinforce the efficacy of unionization.

The College describes the union’s proposed compensation plan as “unrealistic.”

On their webpage on Non-Tenure Track Unionization at Wellesley, the College states that “the cost of wages and benefits would more than double, from $12 million to at least $24 million, not including proposals for $5 million in additional benefits.”

At the same time, the College emphasized that they will continue to pursue a contract that is fair and responsible with “respect to the long-term financial health of the College, mindful of both the College’s structural deficit and new financial threats in the current environment.”

Battat highlighted the importance of the union’s organizing efforts at a historically women’s college.

“The people who have most to gain from our efforts are primarily young women stuck in a sexist and hierarchical system — one that devalues teaching as historically ‘women’s work.’ We are fighting to give our members, in the words of President Johnson,  ‘the economy she deserves,’” she wrote.

Workload

The current proposal from the College would require non-tenure track faculty “to teach five courses to retain [their] current salaries,” which, faculty argues, would raise workloads by 25%.

The College argues that the five-course workload distinguishes the role of BUEs from that of tenure track faculty. BUEs primarily teach, while tenure-track faculty are responsible for teaching, research, scholarship and extensive College and professional service obligations. According to the College, the “proposal is consistent with the teaching load at the majority of peer institutions, where lecturers teach five to six courses per academic year.” 

WOAW-UAW rebutted this justification from the College as an attempt “to ‘adjunctify’ non-tenure track faculty at Wellesley by insisting on increasing our teaching load while stripping aspects of our jobs that enrich student experience and are essential to the functioning of the College.”

Protections

Coile refuted the union’s claim that the College is refusing standard union protection for harassment and discrimination. She continued, “To be clear, the College’s proposal prohibits such discrimination and allows for the union to take such cases to arbitration after an internal review.”

The union maintained that it is a standard union protection to be able to enforce the contract by filing a grievance and that should hold for claims of discrimination and harassment.

The College stated that if the Strike Authorization Vote is passed and if the union bargaining team decides to call a strike, the College will remain committed to prioritizing students’ academic experience. 

“While we are hopeful this will not be the case, the College is actively preparing for a variety of contingencies to minimize disruptions and ensure the continuity of our academic program for our students.”

The Wellesley News reached out to the College with a request for comment. The College stated that they have no further comment at this time beyond the email they sent to faculty members.

“We have stayed in these unfair positions because we love working with our colleagues and we love our students. But enough is enough. Ultimately, our struggle to win fair compensation and working conditions will benefit everyone,” wrote Battat. 

The vote for the strike authorization is ongoing and will end at 11:59 P.M. on Feb. 20. Results will be announced the next day on Friday, Feb. 21.

Contact the editors responsible for this story: Galeta Sandercock and Valida Pau

Updated on February 20, 2025.