Meet your SAIC NTT Faculty Bargaining Team
The following non-tenure-track faculty members comprise the AICWU Faculty Bargaining Team. Nominated by their peers, they will work alongside AFSCME Staff Representative and Lead Negotiator Kathy Steichen, to collectively bargain our first union contract.
Read on to learn more about Bargaining Team members, who will represent more than 600 faculty in our bargaining unit, and coordinate with our Solidarity committee to keep all AICWU members informed and educated about negotiations.
ANJULIE RAO, Lecturer
How long have you taught at SAIC, and in which departments? 5 years, AIADO / spine / NAJ
Are there particular skills or experiences you possess that you can bring to collective bargaining? I've had a lot of conversations with SAIC PT faculty through unionizing, and have a grasp of the issues and hopes of many of our marginalized and most vulnerable faculty.
What do you want our union to accomplish? Measurable outcomes are important, but I also feel that our union can cultivate a sense of collaboration—a feeling of being heard and contributive—to this often-isolated group of artists and scholars. I believe AICWU can open new channels for communication; and, encourage mutual support while we individually navigate the challenges of teaching part-time while making work, writing, parenting, and building meaningful lives for ourselves.
ANNIE KIELMAN, Assistant Professor, Adj.
How long have you taught at SAIC, and in which departments? 7 Years. Printmedia, Contemporary Practices, Fibers, CAPX, and cross-listed courses in Performance and Sculpture.
Are there particular skills or experiences you possess that you can bring to collective bargaining? A connection to many departments across SAIC, and I'm patient, but brash.
What do you want our union to accomplish? A continued push for health insurance, stability for lecturers, revision of our promotion process, and making part-time faculty positions more sustainable.
DANNY FLOYD, Lecturer
How long have you taught at SAIC, and in which departments? 9 years; VCS, Sculpture, Academic Spine
Are there particular skills or experiences you possess that you can bring to collective bargaining? As a PT Rep since 2019, I have deep institutional knowledge including the details and history of our current contracts. Being a PT Rep includes hearing from constituents, so my finger is pulse of our concerns. I also have union negotiating experience through a former job as an art handler.
What do you want our union to accomplish? My first priority is higher wages overall; I think this will go a long way to solve many problems we face. My next priority is to look beyond a broken promotions process which is no longer equitable and keeps Lecturers cheap and expendable. Health Insurance continues to be one of the most critical issues at the school, and I would like to see it, at very least, decoupling it from promotions. I want to use data from a forthcoming survey to figure out the best course guarantees, and reflect them in the contract, which will increase job security and stability.
ELENA AILES, Assistant Professor, Adj.
How long have you taught at SAIC, and in which departments? I have taught at SAIC for 7 years, starting in the Fall of 2016. Contemporary Practices, Sculpture and the Academic Spine
Are there particular skills or experiences you possess that you can bring to collective bargaining? I understand the longstanding issues that affect NTT faculty and I am keenly aware that it will take a sustained effort to achieve our collective goals. I am also a clear and effective communicator of ideas, even in moments when communication feels strained.
What do you want our union to accomplish? I look to this process to ensure more stability and better working conditions for non-Tenure track faculty, particularly around issues of pay, promotion processes, contracts, student wellbeing and teacher training, among others. I see the efforts of AICWU as a much-needed corrective to the balance of power and decision making at the school. Working alongside faculty governance, our union has a real opportunity to hold SAIC to its values and its stated mission, beginning with our first bargained contract.
ELIZABETH COTE, Lecturer
How long have you taught at SAIC, and in which departments? 3 years, in sculpture and academic spine
Are there particular skills or experiences you possess that you can bring to collective bargaining? I have been a part of the NTT faculty union effort for the past year as a part of the communications and solidarity committees. I am passionate about social justice and community building.
What do you want our union to accomplish? I want our union to win a contract that helps address the concerns of the non tenure track faculty to create a workplace that is supportive and sustainable no matter one's title.
ERIC LEONARDSON, Associate Professor, Adj.
How long have you taught at SAIC, and in which departments? Sound and CP, since 1997.
Are there particular skills or experiences you possess that you can bring to collective bargaining? I have skills and knowledge in the use of audio and video media, experience in SAIC faculty governance as a Part Time Faculty Representative At-Large, and currently serve as PT Liaison in Sound. I've also been serving in leadership of many nonprofit organizations, since the mid-1980s.
What do you want our union to accomplish? Winning a good contract is critically important. It’s essential for holding the administration to account and ensuring that we make NTT faculty teaching sustainable. I will be eager and proud to demonstrate how our power is unequivocally respected, how our contribution to the culture of learning that we share with our students, makes us better at not just surviving but thriving at SAIC and beyond. The bargaining process may be challenging, but I anticipate it to be revelatory, to expose deeper realities at SAIC and the world.
EVAN FUSCO, Lecturer
How long have you taught at SAIC, and in which departments? 2 years in Contemporary Practices and Printmedia
Are there particular skills or experiences you possess that you can bring to collective bargaining? Having been both a student and faculty member of the school I can bring a range of experiences to bear from both sides of the classroom. I also strongly emphasize practices of accessibility that would be useful in bargaining for better access to health insurance and accommodations for faculty.
What do you want our union to accomplish? What I want to see accomplished is three-fold: a greater base-pay for all members of faculty including lecturers to a level that would allow an adequate quality of life without overloaded schedules; health insurance options for all faculty who need it that doesn’t invalidate greater base pays; and greater support and recognition for the work that teachers do in the school so as to allow for greater curricular development and sharing.
HOPE ESSER, Associate Professor, Adj.
How long have you taught at SAIC, and in which departments? 9 years, CP, Performance
Are there particular skills or experiences you possess that you can bring to collective bargaining? My experience in shared governance in the following elected positions: Liaison for CP and Performance; Lecturer Rep, Senator, and Rep at Large.
What do you want our union to accomplish? MORE MONET! Increase in per course rate, increased job security (renegotiation of PT contracts), more opportunities for promotion and a less arduous process, examine additional opportunities for health insurance, laptop loaner program for faculty, more opportunities for conversions from PT to FT during FT searches, financial support for professional activities (exhibitions, performances, conferences, etc.)
KEEFER DUNN, Assistant Professor, Adj.
How long have you taught at SAIC, and in which departments? I have taught at SAIC since Fall 2017, primarily in the AIADO department.
Are there particular skills or experiences you possess that you can bring to collective bargaining? In addition to years spent doing community organizing work around social justice issues, I served for three years as the National Organizer for the Architecture Lobby, an organization seeking to unionize architectural workers. These experiences have given me the skillset required to help support people coming together in common cause.
What do you want our union to accomplish? This union is about dignity. We want dignity for ourselves in the form of better working conditions and compensation. We also want dignity for our students - after all, our working conditions are our students’ learning conditions. What we can win will be a result of our strength, and our strength will come from our collectivity. Over the next year I want us to accomplish building deeper connections to each other in addition to building the infrastructure for improved coordination and democratic decision making. If we do that we can win a contract that makes SAIC practice the values it preaches.
KRISTI MCGUIRE, Professor, Adj.
How long have you taught at SAIC, and in which departments? I’ve taught more classes in the VCS department than any full-time faculty member, for the past 5 years. I’ve been teaching since 2007, and my courses (studio & academic seminars) are crosslisted by the MFA Division, Academic Spine, Liberal Arts, and Art History. I advise grad students in the MFA Division, Low-Res, VCS, Arts Admin/AH, and NAJ. Faculty Member of the Year in 2019. Two Karen & Jim Frank Awards for Excellence in PT Teaching. Runner-up for the inaugural Excellence in Diversity & Inclusion Faculty Teaching Award. Director of the VCS Graduate Program, 2019-22. PT Liaison, 2017-21, & PT Rep, 2020-22.
Are there particular skills or experiences you possess that you can bring to collective bargaining? I’ve (co)written ~80% of AICWU communications, from our public letter & emails/memes to the Bargaining Survey, including our voluntary recognition letter, which I hand-delivered to Elissa in a lion suit. I teach & research the intersections of bureaucracy, performance, and labor. Deeply committed to the slog/vision.
What do you want our union to accomplish? I stake my career on intersectional principles. I subscribe to the importance of class warfare/consciousness, which means I understand that those who do the most (& most vulnerable) work sustaining this institution are those most marginalized by its policies & de facto ideologies. A profoundly equitable shift in material & working conditions (pay parity, health insurance/wellness stipends, conversions & stabilizations on a mass + sustainable scale, committed multiyear course loads, paid leaves, enriched & paid curricular contributions, ending the managerial class) is the start to reclaiming power from out-of-touch administrators, whose lack of moral imagination + austerity thinking deeply damage SAIC.
MICHAEL DORF, Professor, Adj.
How long have you taught at SAIC, and in which departments? 25 years, 23 as an adjunct, Arts Administration and Policy
Are there particular skills or experiences you possess that you can bring to collective bargaining? I'm a lawyer (although not a labor lawyer). I've been involved in negotiations throughout my career. My work includes campaigns and elections. I've represented union PACs. My wife is a union steward and trustee of Taft-Hartley funds and I appreciate the skills required for successful bargaining.
What do you want our union to accomplish? The ultimate goal is to secure recognition by AIC/SAIC that the non tenured faculty is an equal partner to be treated with dignity and respect. The ways that such dignity and respect are evidenced are through 1) appropriate compensation and benefits; 2) decent working conditions; and 3) job security. I experienced how SAIC punctured the last attempt at union organizing through its multi-year contract proposal, a promise which was broken as soon as circumstances allowed. Now that we have been certified, we can quote The Who and let them know We Won't Get Fooled Again!
LIBIA BIANIBI, Lecturer
How long have you taught at SAIC, and in which departments? Started Spring 2023 in Arts Administration but I’m an alumni of the MAAAP (2016-2018).
Are there particular skills or experiences you possess that you can bring to collective bargaining? My “day” job deals directly with nonprofit finance, employment law, HR, and contract negotiation. I believe having a person with that direct experience will be beneficial to the bargaining team.
What do you want our union to accomplish? Beyond getting a contract that is fair for all, I want our Union to work to protect current BIPOC staff and ensure SAIC is an environment where Black and Indigenous people, specifically, can be safe and thrive. I believe there’s a lot the Union could do to ensure the representation of Black and Indigenous people on the Faculty grows as well as establish pathways for tenure for them.
LUNA JASKOWIAK, Lecturer
How long have you taught at SAIC, and in which departments? Since F 2019 in LAS
Are there particular skills or experiences you possess that you can bring to collective bargaining? I've done bargaining before. I'd be a good token angry person, but I can also keep it quiet.
What do you want our union to accomplish? I want us to improve economic conditions, begin the process of shifting power away from admin to faculty, establish fair and enforceable grievance procedures, and begin to move towards a transparent advancement model which incentivizes promotions over hiring cheap labor. I personally want to shift the culture of admin away from feeling like they can do whatever they want with no consequences.
MIKE FREIHEIT, Lecturer
How long have you taught at SAIC, and in which departments? Since 2018 in Painting and Drawing
Are there particular skills or experiences you possess that you can bring to collective bargaining? I like to think I have a pretty level head in difficult situations and difficult conversations, and I find a lot of joy in supporting my fellow staff and helping to elevate their ideas and voices.
What do you want our union to accomplish? The main thing for me, and for most faculty I have spoken to, is to have access to decent healthcare. That's definitely number one. I think also clearing up the avenues for promotion, as well as just having more institutional support as a teacher is very key. Also we need to be paid waaaaay more.
STEVIE CISNEROS HANLEY, Lecturer
How long have you taught at SAIC, and in which departments? I have taught for 7 seven going on 8 years in CS and going on 4 years in CP.
Are there particular skills or experiences you possess that you can bring to collective bargaining? As a first-generation highschool/ college graduate, queer mixed race person of color, I bring a perspective & dissonance to a homogeny mistaken as harmony, born of a racist and classist violence institutionalized—crucial to bargaining an agreement representative of the full spectrum of our union. Advocating against a myriad of forms of erasure is a survival skill developed across generations I have inherited and will contribute through collaboration with my colleagues.
What do you want our union to accomplish? Healthcare. It is unconscionable, the largest global art school, as prestigious, historic, moneyed, and ridiculously expensive for students, refuses healthcare for essential working full-time faculty–moreover, during a global pandemic. I want our union to achieve recognition for full-time work and all the accompanying benefits. To counter institutional labels/ misnomers, manufactured to gaslight and divide through a hierarchical picking order. This past summer, I successfully bargained with HR for greater transparency in the accommodations process for faculty. Additionally, over the past 7 years, for greater pay and recognition for instructors in CAAP & CS. When teachers thrive, it has profound effects for the continued growth of our school. I believe our union will bring a clear realization to the intuition that our wellbeing is essential and should be treated as such.
ZACHARY HUTCHINSON, Lecturer
How long have you taught at SAIC, and in which departments? I teach in Contemporary Practices and this is my second year teaching. I've been working at SAIC in many different capacities since 2010.
Are there particular skills or experiences you possess that you can bring to collective bargaining? I want to make sure there is good queer representation for the bargaining committee. I am not afraid of burning bridges when it comes to the rights of others.
What do you want our union to accomplish? I want better pay, to end the cap on classes available to teach and to have lecturers not feel disposable when we are the ones teaching the majority of classes. I want multi year contracts, I want transparent promotion processes, I want the school to reevaluate how it is paying its top administration. I want better health care options. I want admin to give funds to the wellness center to expand its capacity to help students. I want to feel safe being a queer minority in a classroom.
