To: Wellesley College Community
From: Courtney Coile, Provost and Lia Gelin Poorvu ’56 Dean of the College, and Carolyn Slaboden, Chief Human Resources Officer
Re: College’s comprehensive three-year contract offer significantly increases NTT faculty salaries
Date: April 23, 2025
In a significant move aimed at ending the nearly monthlong strike, yesterday the College offered WOAW-UAW, the union that represents our non-tenure track (NTT) faculty, a comprehensive three-year contract that would increase salaries for unionized NTT faculty by more than 26% over three years. Under the terms of the offer, total salaries for unionized NTT faculty would increase by 16% in the first year, bringing the average salary to more than $100,000 in year one of the contract. The union has agreed to the College’s request for a bargaining session today to discuss this proposal.
The offer reflects major movement on the part of the College in terms of both compensation and contract duration, acceding to the union’s request for a three-year agreement. The College previously had proposed a four-year contract.
Significant disagreement remains between the parties on the issue of teaching load. The College has proposed a teaching load of five courses per year for full-time NTT faculty in the union. The union, however, wants to continue the status quo for lecturers and senior lecturers, including instructors in science laboratory (ISLs)—a teaching load of four courses per year—while agreeing to maintain the current five-course load for visiting lecturers.
In the spirit of compromise, the College has offered current union members who carry a four-course teaching load the option to continue to do so. Lecturers and senior lecturers who teach five courses would receive significantly higher compensation: $12,000 added to their base salary in year one of the contract. All newly hired, full-time lecturers would teach five courses a year.
Some may wonder why the College is asking for a five-course annual load for all unionized NTT faculty in the first place. Simply put: It will help ensure the long-term excellence of our academic program. Classroom teaching is how NTT faculty provide the most benefit to our students. In addition, having NTT faculty teach five courses rather than four increases the number of high-demand and required courses we can offer with a faculty of our size.
Requiring a five-course load would also allow our longer-term lecturers and senior lecturers to teach more of our students, who would benefit from their experience and from building meaningful connections with them. Over time, the College would hire fewer new visiting lecturers, who serve on shorter-term contracts.
The five-course teaching load reflects the different roles and responsibilities of NTT and tenure track faculty. While our tenure track faculty have a four-course load, as a condition of their employment they are expected to engage in scholarship and research and to take on major service roles, such as chairing their departments and participating in and chairing numerous College-wide governance bodies. NTT faculty have no scholarship or research responsibilities, and during the ongoing negotiations the parties have agreed to limit their service expectations in ways that will create additional time to teach a fifth class. NTT and tenure track faculty have similar advising responsibilities.
A five- or six-course teaching load is the standard for NTT faculty across nearly all of our peer institutions, including Wesleyan, Smith, Mount Holyoke, Barnard, MIT, Tufts, and Boston College.
Despite union arguments to the contrary, a five-course workload will not compromise the quality of teaching. Dozens of bargaining unit members have taught a fifth course in recent years when the need has arisen, as our visiting lecturers do as part of their regular teaching load, and student evaluation (SEQ) data clearly demonstrate that the share of Wellesley students who recommend their instructors is extremely high whether the instructor is teaching two or three courses in that semester. And Wellesley’s tenure track faculty provide students with an excellent education, including offering plenty of office hours and one-on-one mentoring, while carrying out significant research and scholarship and meeting other obligations in addition to teaching four courses per year.
The union has argued that it would take time to figure out how to adjust to a new workload. Our proposal takes that into account: The NTT faculty’s workload in 2025–26 will be the same as this year. While lecturers and senior lecturers who teach five courses will receive an additional $12,000 to salary in year one of the contract, they will not be required to teach the fifth course until the 2026–27 academic year.
We urge the union to engage its full membership in serious discussions about the College’s comprehensive proposal. It is time for us to come together and finalize a fair and competitive contract that benefits our non-tenure track faculty, our students, and the entire College community.
Please visit our dedicated union-related website for more information.