NFA urges resistance to unprecedented political interference |
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Confusion and anxiety dominated the start of the spring 2025 semester following a volley of aggressive and disruptive executive orders targeting higher education from the new presidential administration in Washington, DC. In response, the Nevada Faculty Alliance's national affiliates, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), joined other groups and filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Maryland to block what they describe as unlawful and unconstitutional orders.
For its part, the NFA has condemned the administration's freeze orders on agencies such as the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation that threaten to upend vital research across the nation, including NSHE's universities and the Desert Research Institute. Although the memo implementing the freezes from the US Office of Management and Budget was subsequently rescinded, the administration's press secretary announced that the orders remain, with chaos appearing to be the prime objective.
Simultaneously, the administration rescinded Biden-era orders that protected certain places from immigration enforcement actions, including hospitals and college campuses. The NFA opposes ICE interventions on campus and provides guidance for faculty members concerned with that possibility. The American Federation of Teachers, also provides resources for faculty and their students.
Other actions, such as the on-again-off-again suspension of federal financial assistance programs, attacks on the Department of Education, and cancelation of DEI initiatives represent the most significant attack on higher education and the principles of academic freedom and shared governance in modern history.
The NFA encourage all faculty members to actively resist these unprecedented ideological intrusions. We urge you join us in advocating to Congress and NSHE administrators for protections. Here are some suggestions: - Push Congress to overturn the executive orders by passing laws that will preserve vital programs and protect a student's right to learn without ideological disruptions.
- Press institutions to provide stop-gap funding for programs impacted by freezes and cuts at federal agencies.
- Insist that campus and NSHE leaders avoid anticipatory obedience and refrain from implementing stricter policies than what is mandated.
- Demand unambiguous guidance from campus administrations regarding the rights and responsibilities of faculty and students on immigration actions.
- Share stories of how these actions have directly impacted your program and students in the NFA members' forum (log-in required).
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Collective bargaining bill, AB 191, advances in the state legislature |
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Assembly Bill 191, which would establish collective bargaining rights for NSHE professionals, has been introduced in the Legislature. Sponsored by Assemblymember Natha Anderson, the bill covers the 7,200 rank-and-file faculty members in NSHE, the largest single group of public employees without bargaining rights in state law. |
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NFA prioritizes health benefits among legislative initiatives
In January, a successful campaign of faculty activism led by the NFA played a major role in convincing the Board of the Public Employees Benefit Program to abandon a proposal that would have eliminated HMOs and EPOs as options in the state's health benefits package. Now, the NFA is supporting and actively lobbying for a bill that would bring back benefits for retirees who were hired after 2011.
Assembly Bill 188, introduced by Assemblymember Max Carter, seeks to restore retiree health benefit subsidies for Nevada state employees, including NSHE faculty, hired after 12/31/2011. Originally sold as a cost-saving measure in the aftermath of the Great Recession, no savings have occurred from the elimination of benefits for this group because none of the post-2011 hires have reached the required 15 years of service to qualify for health benefits upon retirement. NFA supports the bill’s goal to ensure a safe and dignified retirement when they do, and to ensure benefits moving forward. Other public sector employees in Nevada have already worked to restore these benefits, or never lost them in the first place, making the state-level workforce out of step with other employees in Nevada. These benefits would help both Medicare and pre-Medicare retirees in the Public Employees Benefits Program. |
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NFA advocates for inclusion of cost-of-living adjustments in biennial budgets
Although cost-of-living adjustments for state employees, including faculty, are notably missing from both Governor Lombardo's budget recommendation and the NSHE budget request, the NFA will vigorously lobby legislators to include adjustments in each year of the coming biennium.
Without any adjustments, faculty take-home pay will decline in FY26 due to the 1.75% increase in the retirement contribution rate that takes effect on July 1st. Combined with an annual inflation rate of about 3%, faculty will experience a noticeable decline in purchasing power. This will mark a return to the steady salary erosion that lasted more than a decade after the Great Recession and set average take-home pay back to pre-recession levels in real dollars, where it remains even after the historic adjustments in FY24 and FY25.
NFA's modest COLA recommendation of 5% in FY26 and 3% in FY27 would prevent further erosion.
READ MORE>> NFA Legislative Priorities 2025
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NSHE seeks to weaken due process in faculty termination appeals |
Despite faculty concerns that proposed changes to the policies that govern faculty discipline and termination for cause would reduce transparency and tilt the process in favor of the administration, NSHE has submitted the proposal for its second reading and possible approval at the March 6-7 Board of Regents meeting.
Based on faculty input gathered last November, the NFA strongly opposes the proposal and has consistently advocated that Regents reject it as currently written. We believe the Board should consider retaining the current policy that requires full review by all members of the Board of Regents, or give faculty members the option to direct their appeals either to the Chancellor or to an Appeals Panel consisting of the Chancellor and members of the Board. We urge all faculty members to contact their Regent and ask them to consider alternatives to the existing proposal to modify Title 2, Chapters 6 and 8 in the Handbook. All avenues of due process must be exhausted in proceedings where an individual's career or an institution's reputation are at stake.
READ MORE>>
Title 2 modifications would undermine due process |
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NSU-NFA formally submits request to Regents for collective bargaining vote |
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After gathering signatures supporting collective bargaining from over 70% of Nevada State University faculty, the NSU chapter of NFA has validated the signatures and asked Acting Chancellor Patty Charlton to include scheduling of a formal ratification vote on the agenda for the Board of Regents meeting on March 6-7 at the NSU campus in Henderson. |
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In anticipation of Board approval, NSU-NFA officers are making plans for in person voting in early April. With a successful vote by faculty members, NFA would become the official bargaining agent for NSU academic faculty effective July 1, 2025. Work on the first collective bargaining agreement would begin during the 2025-26 academic year.
NFA encourages as many faculty members as possible to attend the March 6-7 Board of Regents meeting to support NSU-NFA's efforts to become the fourth collective bargaining unit - and first university unit - in the Nevada System of Higher Education. |
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