New Union for New Hampshire Lecturers

In February, lecturers at the University of New Hampshire voted overwhelmingly to form a union affiliated with the AAUP. Lecturers at UNH hold full-time positions but are not eligible for tenure. Tenured and probationary faculty on campus are already represented by another AAUP chapter, AAUPUNH, whose president, Deanna Wood, told the student newspaper that “we’ve waited twenty-four years to have a sister union on campus amongst the teaching faculty, and we are just ecstatic. This is good for everybody, it’s good for the lecturers, it’s good for the university, and it’s good for the tenure-track unit.” 

Sarah Hirsch, president of the new UNH Lecturers United-AAUP, said, “We love teaching and want to remain vital to the future of instruction at UNH; collective bargaining is the best way to ensure fair and equitable policies and pay.” 

AAUP president Rudy Fichtenbaum congratulated the chapter, saying that the protections of a union will enhance academic freedom and shared governance at UNH and give lecturers the respect they deserve. 

The new union represents 202 faculty members; the final vote was 141 to 23 in favor of a union