Welcome to the website for the Rhode Island College Adjunct Faculty Chapter of the American Federation of Teachers. We hope these pages will give you a good sense of who we are and how we support part-time faculty at RIC.
If you just happen to glance at our union local number, AFT 1563, it seems pretty nondescript, but early Adjunct Union members smile whenever they see it. Here's why: as you know the first step in organizing a union is rounding up supporters who will vote to establish the union as their bargaining unit. When, after months of organizing with the vital assistance of staff sent from national AFT headquarters in Washington, time for the vote came around, three or so years ago, the results were astonishing, more lop-sided than even longtime union activists had ever seen. The vote: 156 to 3. So, although we thought it was unlikely, we asked if the number 1563 were available ... and to our delight, it was.
So maybe now you will smile when you see that formerly nondescript number: 1563, for it represents the over-whelming, almost incredible enthusiasm with which our local was voted into existence.
We have been working on behalf of adjunct at RIC since that vote in 2007. Through collective action, we ensure adjunct faculty participation in decision making at RIC and promote the professional and economic satisfaction of the members and the advancement of education.