Overview
On May 7, the State Employment Relations Board certified a secret ballot process formalizing that UAOU, which is affiliated with the American Association of University Professors/American Federation of Teachers (AAUP/AFT), will represent approximately 800 faculty members at Ohio University in matters related to the terms and conditions of employment. The new union represents full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty, full-time non-tenure track instructional faculty and full-time non-tenure track clinical faculty, excluding faculty in the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, select faculty in the College of Health Sciences and Professions, and part-time faculty, among other identified groups.
Additional information for our University community, including specific details for eligible faculty employees
and non-eligible management and supervisory level faculty employees
is available online. Answers to frequently asked questions
are also available online.
Faculty union contract negotiations underway
August 8:Ohio University and United Academics of Ohio University (UAOU) have begun negotiations toward the development of the first faculty union contract at the institution since its founding. An initial meeting was held on Aug. 8, and additional meetings are planned over the next six weeks.
In keeping with law per Ohio Revised Code 4117.21
, which deems collective bargaining meetings between public employers and employee organizations to be private, the University will maintain confidentiality as it relates to matters discussed in negotiation meetings. As directed by the Board of Trustees, the University will work in good faith to negotiate legally mandated terms and conditions of employment as determined by state law
.
Past timelines:
Anticipated Timeline Toward a Secret Ballot Election
Note:In late February, Ohio University, the United Academics of Ohio University (UAOU) and the State Employment Relations Board (SERB) had each heard from numerous eligible OHIO faculty who had not yet received mail-in ballots.
As a result, OHIO and UAOU have shared concerns with SERB, which is solely responsible for managing and operating the election process, and have advocated for an extension to the voting period.
In order to ensure a fair, neutral process that provides all eligible faculty the opportunity and the time to appropriately share their voice, Ohio University, UAOU and SERB agreed to extend the voting period, and the final day for voters to place a ballot in the mail has been extended to March 11.
The updated March timeline below reflects these changes to the voting period and beyond.
January 2025
Mid-January:Ohio University and the United Academics of Ohio University (the union) will file an agreed-upon consent election agreement with the State Employee Relations Board (SERB) setting forth eligible voters and a unit description for the proposed union.
February 2025
Early February:SERB is anticipated to review the consent agreement for approval at its scheduled meeting and begin the secret ballot election process.
February 18: Secret election ballots will be mailed home to all eligible bargaining unit employees with a projected polling period between February 18 - March 4. We encourage all eligible bargaining unit employees, regardless of their collective bargaining position, to share their voice. It is important for anyone who wants a voice in the decision to cast their ballot; to prevail in a SERB-conducted election, a ballot option (“yes or no”) must receive a majority of the actual ballots cast.
March 2025
March 11: The voting period officially concludes. It is your personal responsibility to share your voice, and we encourage all eligible bargaining unit employees, regardless of their collective bargaining position, to engage and participate.
All of our faculty enjoy freedom of speech and expression, including the ability to voice reasons why you do or do not believe a union would be beneficial or detrimental for our faculty community.
March 24:SERB will privately open and tally all submitted votes in accordance with the SERB regulations Ohio Revised Code. These votes remain fully confidential. Only those who completed and returned their ballot will have their voice included in the election decision.
Additional Collective Bargaining Materials and Documentation
Documents in an accessible format are available upon request.
- Position Statement of Employer Ohio University [PDF]
- Petition for Representation Election by Ohio University [PDF]
- Notice to Faculty from SERB [PDF]
- Direction to Inquiry from SERB [PDF]
- Petition for Representation Election by United Academics of Ohio University [PDF]
- Notice of Election from SERB [PDF]