“Respect and value your faculty. Let us vote.”

Hi, and thanks for hearing me today. My name is Theresa Kulbaga, and I am a Professor of English on the Hamilton campus.I love teaching at Miami Regionals, where nearly a third of our students are first-generation college students, and where 90% of our graduates live in Ohio and contribute to the region. It is amazing to work with these dedicated, diverse, and brilliant students.

And it is amazing to work with my colleagues. In my 15 years as a Miami faculty member, I have worked with colleagues across campuses, ranks, titles, and disciplines to fulfill Miami’s educational mission. We all care deeply about our students and about the future of higher education. We all do substantially the same work: teaching, research, and service.

Today marks 268 days since we submitted cards signed by a supermajority of my colleagues indicating that we want Miami administration to recognize us as a union. The simple fact is that as soon as the State Employment Relations Board confirmed that we have majority support last June, the administration could and should have recognized our union. Instead, they have argued that only tenure-line faculty belong in our unit, causing delays and attempting to divide us.

As a regional faculty member, my teaching and service responsibilities are different than my Oxford colleagues. But we all work together to advance Miami’s educational mission. If tenure-line regional faculty belong in the unit—which the administration does not dispute—then my full-time non-tenure-line colleagues also belong in the unit.

We are all one faculty. We want to be in a single bargaining unit with all of our colleagues. And we want to vote now. Do the right thing. Respect and value your faculty. Let us vote.