On the morning of Friday the 19th of November, Westconn professors and students took to the picket line to make their voices heard amid ongoing contract negotiations between the AAUP and BOR. Beginning at 10:30 chants and slogans denouncing the Board of Regents’ negotiating position and in favor of increased support for professors and higher education rang out from just outside the Midtown Student Center, aimed at CSCU President Cheng and the other administrators inside. A giant inflatable skunk, named Skunkzilla by the AAUP, joined professors, holding a large sign declaring “Regents Proposals Stink.”

As previously covered by the Echo, the American Association of University Professors is the union which represents faculty, coaches, librarians, and counselors at WCSU and other Connecticut universities and colleges in contract negotiations with the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system office and its governing Board of Regents. Contract negotiations are currently ongoing, and though details remain confidential, it is an open secret that negotiations have hit several bumps over the past months.

The AAUP has been vocal about its position that faculty need greater support to fulfill their roles on campus. In particular, union representatives highlighted the plight of adjunct and part time faculty, noting that with increased cost of living and increased job demands, the compensation afforded to adjunct professors is not a functional living wage. They argue that proposals to replace full time faculty with adjuncts, whether directly or by attrition, is a thinly veiled attempt to centralize resources at the systems office, at the expense of professors, and ultimately students. Approximately 1700 of 3000 AAUP members across Connecticut state universities are adjunct or part time professors, according to the AAUP director of communications, Madeline St. Amour.

According to the AAUP, the actions of the Board of Regents are driven as much by politics as genuine concern for students or even budgets. Westconn economics professor Dr. Lumbantobing outlined to students and the Echo how the creation of the CSCU system office and BOR under former Governor Malloy was first and foremost an act of political micromanagement, and since its inception rather than decrease costs to the state, the existence of the CSCU bureaucracy has only diverted from limited pool of resources away from education to administration. This, coupled with the politically fraught appointments process of BOR membership, the AAUP argues, underlines the need for current professors and administrators with a firm background in education to take the leading role in shared governance across the state universities.

Several dozen students present on midtown campus on Friday apparently agreed with this sentiment, joining the picket line alongside their professors, although none the Echo spoke to wished to be identified. Two students who spoke with the Echo on condition of anonymity went even further than the AAUP representatives, arguing that Friday’s demonstrations represent part of a larger nationwide trend in labor organizing redefining the meaning of work. “We’re here to show our support for unions,” said one student. “We’re seeing it all over this country, at the warehouses and the ports. The great resignation, striketober, whatever you call it.” Said another. “Workers want a better deal, and we’re all for that.” Several students and professors cheered and raised fists at this remark.

The Echo was not invited to the discussion between faculty and President Cheng which took place immediately after the picket demonstration, and for which the demonstration had been moved an hour earlier than originally scheduled. An anonymous faculty member who was present at the discussion characterized it as disappointing, noting that the agenda was largely dominated by President Cheng and other administrators, with professors’ comments largely relegated.

Asked for comment on the demonstration during his Q&A at the University Senate session later the same day, President Cheng said “I won’t comment on specific policies. We had a really spirited, and I think honest, conversation today with the faculty in the meeting.” President Cheng said that he was personally upset to hear faculty don’t feel respected in their jobs, and was committed to identifying and implementing policy solutions. “Relationships and morale are not in a good place right now and we need to work to fix it”. Following these remarks President Cheng was unavailable for further questions.