Negotiations Myths Debunked!

Since early 2025, the Scranton faculty have been negotiating with the administration for a fair contract. Our contract expired on September 1st, and instead of investing in faculty, the administration has put forward proposals that boil down to small raises, big cuts, and harsher rules. Faculty deserve a contract that respects our work and provides fair compensation for the teaching, mentoring, research, and service that make this University strong. Every student’s education depends on a faculty that is supported, not undermined.

Myth: University of Scranton faculty members aren’t doing their jobs anymore and are calling it “Minimal Compliance”!

Reality: The faculty are still hard at work educating our students. However, the administration is still asking us to do uncompensated additional labor while they are lowballing us in their contract proposals. Minimal Compliance is not about lowering standards or “hurting” our students. It’s about revealing how much the institution relies on uncompensated or undervalued faculty labor. We are showing our administration that we deserve fair compensation for the additional work we often do, including during evenings and weekends.

Myth: University of Scranton faculty salaries at least keep up with the cost of living.

Reality: University of Scranton faculty have been losing purchasing power over time due to inflation. For example, a faculty member hired in 2020 has already lost 7.4% in purchasing power. The union’s proposals don’t try to make up for that entire difference, but they would keep up with recent inflation and ensure that our faculty can sustain their work.   

Myth: The faculty are being selfish. They don’t care about how their contract negatively affects other University employees!

Reality: Labor contracts with the faculty also improve conditions for the University staff. When the University administration succeeds in cutting pay and benefits for faculty, they are also empowered to do the same thing to other employees.

Myth: University of Scranton faculty members are paid very generously.
Most of them make six figures!

Reality: Many of our faculty members are paid at or very near the minimum salary. The current median contractual salaries for University of Scranton faculty are:

Faculty Specialist: ~$77,100

Assistant Professor: ~$79,300

Associate Professor: ~$95,400

Full Professor: ~$112,500

While there has been some progress, the administration is still offering raises that fail to keep up with inflation rates. On top of that, they want to cut retirement contributions by 10% over the life of the contract.

Myth: The only thing the faculty care about is more money.

Reality: The University wants to change the balance of power. The faculty and the administration have been successfully sharing decision-making power for decades, but the administration now wants to add a “Management Rights” section to our contract, which would allow them to change all operations, methods of educational delivery, determine the size, scheduling and assignment of employees, and more, without any input from faculty. We believe that our expertise, experience, and institutional knowledge should be valued by administrators, especially since many of them have been at Scranton for less than 5 years. Maintaining transparent and collaborative processes makes sure our university is strong.

Myth: Faculty aren’t supposed to talk to students about contract negotiations.

Reality: There are no rules about what faculty can say to students about contract negotiations. We think students should have a say in how their tuition money is invested in the faculty who teach them. Our working conditions are our students’ learning conditions!