LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT (printer-friendly version)(printer-friendly version (PDF))

October 7, 2004

Dear Part-Time Faculty Members:

The election to determine whether you and your part-time faculty colleagues will be represented by Local 500 of the Service Employees International Union is upon us. You have heard from academic administrators, among them Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor of Physics Don Lehman, about the University's position on unionization. You may also have heard from the Service Employees' representatives about their perspectives.

Now it is time to vote. If you have already done so, thank you. If you have not, please return your ballot as explained in the National Labor Relations Board instructions you received. The outcome of this election will be decided by a simple majority of those who vote. If 100 people of the eligible pool vote and 51 vote no and 49 vote yes, that ballot will bind all who could have voted whether they voted themselves or not.

In this presidential election year, the right to vote has been widely discussed and I know I need not reiterate its importance here. I will close simply by reminding you that this election will have implications for all GW part-time faculty members and by asking you to ensure that you play a part in determining what those implications will be by returning your ballot by October 19.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Stephen Joel Trachtenberg
President