Departmental Resolutions

Regarding the Potential Strike

Departmental Neutrality Resolutions
Anthropology
Cinema Studies
Center for Neural Science
Comparative Literature
Culture and Communication
Drama (TSOA)
East Asian Studies
English
Gallatin
History
Institute of French Studies
Linguistics
Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies
Performance Studies
Photography and Imaging (TSOA)
Religious Studies
Social and Cultural Analysis
Sociology
Spanish and Portuguese
Teaching and Learning (Ed School)
Tisch School of the Arts (entire school)

Departments in which Directors of Graduate Studies signed neutrality resolutions
Anthropology
English
History
Institute of French Studies
Linguistics
Music
Performance Studies
Philosophy
Religious Studies
Social and Cultural Analysis
Spanish and Portuguese

Departments in which Directors of Undergraduate Studies signed neutrality resolutions
Comparative Literature
East Asian Studies
European Studies
Fine Arts
History
Irish Studies
Journalism
Medieval and Renaissance Studies
Metropolitan Studies ...continued
Religious Studies
Social and Cultural Analysis
Sociology
Spanish and Portuguese

Departmental Resolutions
(“unanimous” or “majority” is specified where departments provided that information)

ANTHROPOLOGY
In the event of a strike by members and supporters of GSOC, the New York University graduate student union, the Department of Anthropology supports the right of graduate students to take strike action if they so choose and respects the right of individual faculty members and undergraduate students to respond to a strike and picket lines in a manner that accords with their consciences and the demands of their specific professional situations. Just as it respects the right of all to meet their classes in the specified times and places if their consciences or situations so dictate, it respects individuals’ decisions not to cross picket lines, and approves consequent special arrangements to meet classes in appropriate off-campus locations and/or through electronic means. The Department strongly opposes any form of intimidation, coercion, or reprisal against part-time and full-time faculty, students, or staff for the course of action they take in response to a strike. The department therefore strongly opposes any form of intimidation, coercion, or reprisal against faculty, students or staff for whatever course of action they may in good faith choose to take in response to a strike. Department administrators, including the chair, DGS and DUGS, will not report to the administration on what our faculty,
students or staff do in the event of a strike, and no student will be rewarded or penalized with regard to grades, credits, academic funding, letters of recommendation, future teaching opportunities or eligibility for academic awards for the course of action they choose in the event of a strike.

CINEMA STUDIES (unanimous)
In the event of a strike by members and supporters of GSOC, the New York University graduate student union, the Department of Cinema Studies supports the right of graduate students to take strike action and respects the right of individual faculty members to respond in a manner that accords with their conscience and the demands of their specific teaching situation. The Department strongly opposes any form of intimidation, coercion, or reprisal against faculty, students, or staff for the course of action they take in response to a strike.

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE (unanimous)
In the event of a strike called by the Graduate Student Union, we, the Faculty of the Department of Comparative Literature agree to
1) teach classes off campus wherever possible,
2) find alternative ways to lecture, etc., wherever classes are too large for such relocation (e.g., by using Blackboard audio-visual facilities),
3) support and protect students, staff and other faculty in their choices of conscience to strike or not to strike, to cross or not to cross picket lines and other lawful actions their conscience may dictate,
4) undertake no harassment, denunciation, intimidation of or interference with students, staff and faculty undertaking such actions of conscience as indicated in 3).

CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION (majority)
The majority of the faculty of the Department of Culture and Communication believes that in order to protect academic freedom and to maintain an open and collegial atmosphere at the university, graduate students should be free to express and follow their beliefs about unionization without any fear of reprisals.
We support students, staff, and faculty in their choices to strike or not to strike, and to cross or not to cross picket lines.
We will respect the efforts of instructors of record to teach their courses off campus.
We encourage all department instructors and administrators to recognize and support our students' right to pursue their program of study in a timely fashion.
We oppose any effort to penalize students with regard to grades, credits, academic funding, future teaching opportunities, or eligibility for academic awards.

DRAMA (TSOA) unanimous
Regardless of our individual opinion about unionization for graduate assistants, the Department of Drama believes that in order to protect academic freedom and to maintain an open, collegial atmosphere at the University, all students, faculty, administrators,and staff should be free to follow their beliefs about unionization without any fear of reprisals.

Participating in union activities -- including striking -- is a good faith decision that each individual makes according to his or her conscience. We therefore call on our colleagues to guarantee that there will be no effort to intimidate students. Specifically we
ask colleagues not to penalize students with regard to grades, credits, academic funding, letters of recommendation, future teaching opportunities, or eligibility for academic awards.

The Department also strongly opposes any form of intimidation, reprisals, or interference with retention, reappointment, promotion, or future teaching opportunities in the case of faculty, administrators, or staff for the course of action that they may take in response to a GSOC strike or other action related to the right of graduate assistants to unionize.

EAST ASIAN STUDIES (unanimous)
1) Support the right of graduate students, and respect the right of individual faculty members to respond in a manner that accords with their conscience.
2) Support faculty's decision to find alternative ways to lecture, etc., wherever classes are too large (e.g., by using Blackboard/audio-visual facilities).
3) Support the right of students, staff, and other faculty of the Department to refuse to cross picket lines, or not, as their conscience may dictate.
4) Undertake no harassment, denunciation, intimidation of or interference with students, staff and faculty undertaking such actions of conscience as indicated above.

Furthermore:
Whereas the graduate assistants' union (GSOC-UAW) has alerted us that it may ask for faculty assistance in moving classes to off-campus locations in the event of a strike:

a) the Department adopts a policy of respecting the right of instructors to relocate classes off-campus in support of the GSOC-UAW request;
b) the Department faculty and staff will not inform on or enforce any sanctions against students or sympathetic faculty or staff.

ENGLISH (unanimous)
The faculty of the English Department believe that graduate students should be free to act on their own convictions about the union issues before them. Whatever our individual views of this important matter, we are intent upon continuing to foster an atmosphere of collegial trust and mutual respect with all our students. In the event of a strike, we therefore agree to do nothing that would impede any student's academic progress, or penalize any graduate student with regard to grades, departmental funding, or academic evaluations and recommendations. Nor will we report to anyone else about students who may or may not be participating in any union action.

GALLATIN (majority)
In the event of a strike by members and supporters of GSOC, the New York University graduate student union, the full-time faculty of the Gallatin School of Individualized Study supports the right of graduate students to take strike action and respects the right of individual faculty members to respond in a manner that accords with their conscience. We support the right of our faculty to move courses off campus, refuse to cross a picket line, and decline to teach in replacement for a striking colleague. The faculty, respecting choices of conscience, strongly opposes any form of intimidation, coercion, or reprisal against faculty, students or staff for whatever course of action they, in good faith, choose to take in response to a strike.

HISTORY (unanimous)
In the event of a strike called by the Graduate Student Union, we, the Faculty of the Department of History unanimously agree on the following points:
1) The History Department respects the right of faculty to relocate classes in full support of the GSOC request.
2) Wherever classes are too large to relocate, or for whatever other reasons cannot be otherwise accommodated, the History Department supports the right of faculty to conduct classes by some other means, including electronically.
3) For the duration of the strike, History Department administrators - Chairs DUGS, DGS - will not report to/surveil for the NYU administration regarding faculty and student activities.
4) The History Department respects the right of both faculty and graduate students to express and follow their beliefs regarding unionization without any fear of reprisals. Participating in union activities - including striking - is a good faith decision that each individual makes according to his or her conscience. Whatever decisions students make, the Faculty of the History Department will not intimidate or penalize them with regard to grades, credits, academic funding, letters of recommendation, future teaching opportunities or eligibility for academic awards.

INSTITUTE OF FRENCH STUDIES (unanimous)
In the event of a strike by members and supporters of GSOC, the Institute of French Studies supports the right of graduate students to participate or not according to their individual consciences and beliefs. We also support the right of individual faculty and students to decide how they will respond to a strike, picket lines, and other job actions that may occur. The IFS strongly opposes any form of pressure, intimidation, coercion, or reprisal against students, staff and faculty, part-time or full-time, tenured or untenured. This opposition holds whether faculty decide to meet their classes as they normally would or whether they elect to teach off campus, electronically, and/or by other means. IFS administrators, academic and non-academic, will not record what faculty, students or staff do in the event of a strike. Students will not be rewarded or penalized with respect to grades, credits, academic funding, letters of recommendation, fellowships, or future teaching opportunities for actions they choose in the context of a strike.

LINGUISTICS (unanimous)
The faculty of the Department of Linguistics believe that graduate students should be free to act on their own convictions about the union issues before them. Whatever our individual views of this important matter, we are intent upon continuing to foster an atmosphere of collegial trust and mutual respect with all our students. In the event
of a strike, we therefore agree to do nothing that would impede any student's academic progress, or penalize any graduate student with regard to grades, departmental funding, or academic evaluations and recommendations. Nor will we report to anyone else about students who may or may not be participating in any union action."

MIDDLE EASTERN AND ISLAMIC STUDIES
The faculty of the Department of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies feels that it must respect the right of all the department's faculty members, students and staff to respond to a strike or other job action by GSOC in a manner that accords with each individual's conscience. The department therefore strongly opposes any form of intimidation, coercion, or reprisal against faculty, students or staff for whatever course of action they may in good faith choose to take in response to a strike. Department administrators, including the chair, DGS and DUGS, will not report to the administration on what our faculty, students or staff do in the event of a strike, and no student will be rewarded or penalized with regard to grades, credits, academic funding, letters of recommendation, future teaching opportunities or eligibility for academic awards for the course of action they choose in the event of a strike.

PERFORMANCE STUDIES
Whereas the graduate assistants' union (GSOC-UAW) has alerted us that it may ask for faculty assistance in moving classes to off-campus locations in the event of a strike, and
Whereas the university administration has indicated that graduate students who strike will face "consequences" that the administration has thus far refused to specify,
Be it hereby resolved that we, members of the faculty of the Department
of Performance Studies, concur that
a) the Department adopts a policy of respecting the right of instructors to relocate classes in support of the GSOC-UAW request;
b) the Department supports the right of instructors to refuse to cross
picket lines;
c) Members of the Department faculty will not serve as informants against striking students nor enforce any sanctions against striking graduate students (or sympathetic faculty); and
d) The Department strongly opposes any form of intimidation, coercion, or reprisal against faculty, students, or staff for the course of action they take in response to a strike.

PHOTOGRAPHY AND IMAGING (TSOA)
1.) Since morality is personal, rather than institutional, each faculty member should decide, according to his/her own compass and convictions, how to fulfill teaching obligations in the face of a possible strike.
2.) Individuals who arrange to hold their respective classes off campus will be considered to have satisfied their responsibilities with respect to furthering the progress of their students' education.
3.) Faculty should assume a neutral position relative to recognizing union representation for graduate students. While maintaining a neutral position, faculty may encourage students to become better informed on the issues in pursuit of a better understanding of what is already a troubling conflict.
4.) Faculty, as a cohort, will support colleagues, respecting choices of conscience, and strongly oppose any form of intimidation, coercion, or reprisal against faculty, students or staff for whatever course of action each may, in good faith, choose to take in response
to a strike.

RELIGIOUS STUDIES (majority)
The faculty of the Religious Studies program feels that it must respect the right of all the program's faculty members, students and staff to respond to a strike or other job action by GSOC in a manner that accords with each individual's conscience. The program therefore
strongly opposes any form of intimidation, coercion, or reprisal against faculty, students or staff for whatever course of action they may in good faith choose to take in response to a strike. Just as it respects the right of all to meet their classes in the specified times and places if their consciences or situations so dictate, it respects individuals' decisions not to cross picket lines, and approves consequent special arrangements to meet classes in
appropriate off-campus locations and/or through electronic means. Program administrators will not report to the administration on what our faculty, students or staff do in the event of a strike, and no student will be rewarded or penalized with regard to grades, credits, academic funding, letters of recommendation, future teaching
opportunities or eligibility for academic awards for the course of action they choose in the event of a strike.

SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ANALYSIS
WHEREAS the graduate teaching assistants union has alerted us that it may ask faculty assistance in moving classes to off-campus locations in the event of a GSOC strike.
BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED THAT we, members of the SCA faculty, concur that
a) the SCA department should adopt a policy of relocating all classes in full support of the GSOC request, wherever possible
b) wherever it proves impossible to relocate, the SCA department supports the right of faculty to respect the picket line by cancelling classes
c) departmental administrators–Chair, DUGS, DGS–should not conduct business on behalf of the NYU administration for the duration of the strike

SOCIOLOGY (unanimous)
Whereas the graduate assistants' union (GSOC-UAW) has alerted us that it may ask for faculty assistance in moving classes to off-campus locations in the event of a strike, and
Whereas the university administration has indicated that graduate students who strike will face "consequences" that the administration has thus far refused to specify,
Be it hereby resolved that we, members of the faculty of the Department of Sociology, concur that
a) the Department adopts a policy of respecting the right of instructors to relocate classes in support of the GSOC-UAW request;
b) the Department supports the right of instructors to refuse to cross picket lines;
c) Department administrators (the Chair, DGS, and DUGS) and staff will not! serve as informants against striking students nor enforce any sanctions against striking graduate students (or sympathetic faculty); and
d) the Sociology faculty strongly oppose any effort by the NYU administration to threaten or impose "consequences" for graduate students without clearly specifying in advance what these consequences will be. The faculty also oppose the imposition of any punishment on any individual who takes part in a strike action.

SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE
The uncertainty and strife generated by the current standoff between the university and GSOC on the question of graduate student unionization is taking a serious toll on the morale of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. The escalation of this conflict (eg, strike or other job action, followed by the implementation of divisive
contingency plans, official or unofficial reprisals, etc), would have devastating and longlasting effects both on the morale and on the smooth operation of the department. At risk is not just a few weeks or a semester, but some fifteen years of steady progress toward becoming one of a handful of top-notch PhD programs in the country.

Graduate students in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese normally teach three stand-alone sections of Spanish language courses during years 2, 3 and 4 of their fellowships. Decisions regarding the amount and frequency of their teaching commitments (9 courses, most meeting 3 or 4 times per week), and the subject of their teaching (predominantly in the language sequence) by no means reflect the
considered professional opinion of the department’s faculty regarding the best interests of these students as students and future colleagues. These teaching assignments are based, rather, on professional and institutional inertia (“because it’s done elsewhere”), and on the enrollment demands generated by the college’s
language requirement and by keen undergraduate interest in Spanish.

For these reasons, and regardless of our individual positions on unionization, we the Faculty members of Spanish and Portuguese, believe that under the current configuration, our graduate students are being treated like employees. Given these conditions, we have understood and many of us have supported their choice to have union representation.

We urge the university either to recognize the status quo in the department by agreeing to negotiate salary and benefits with the union, or to take immediate measures that would allow the department to implement a system in which graduate student teaching would truly be part of a program of professional training.

FRENCH
In the event of a strike called by the Graduate Student Union, we, the Faculty of the Department of French, agree to:

1) Protect students in their choices of conscience to strike or not to strike, to cross or not cross picket lines, to teach on or off campus, or to engage in any other lawful actions their conscience may dictate
2) Undertake no harassment, denunciation, intimidation of or interference with students undertaking such actions of conscience as indicated above.

CLASSICS
"In the event of a strike by members and supporters of the GSOC, the
full-time faculty of the Department of Classics has unanimously agreed
to the following, and has agreed by majority to make this public. We
will respect the right of our graduate students, as well as of
individuals on our faculty, to respond in a manner that corresponds
with their conscience. We will support the right of those teaching in
our department to move courses off campus, to refuse to cross a picket
line, or to decline to teach in replacement of a striking colleague. We
strongly oppose intimidation, coercion, or reprisal against
faculty, students or staff for whatever course of action these
individuals may, in good faith, choose to take in response to a
strike."

CENTER FOR NEURAL SCIENCE
The faculty of the Center for Neural Science will ensure that students in the Center’s doctoral program will not be penalized by the department for participating in any legal activity that they may choose to undertake to express or follow their beliefs about the unionization of graduate students. Specifically, such students will not be penalized with regard to grades, credits, academic funding, letters of recommendation, future teaching opportunities and eligibility for academic awards. We also guarantee that there will be no effort to intimidate students who choose to participate in a strike or other union activity.

Students should be aware that in the event of a strike, the University may elect to take actions that are not under the control of the Center, and that this statement offers no protection against such actions.

TEACHING AND LEARNING (STEINHARDT) (unanimous)
In the event of a strike by members and supporters of GSOC, the New York University graduate student union, the Department of Teaching and Learning supports the right of graduate students to take strike action and respects the right of individual faculty members and undergraduate students to respond in a manner that accords with their consciences and the demands of their specific professional situations. The Department strongly opposes any form of intimidation, coercion, or
reprisal against part-time and full-time faculty, students, or staff for the course of action they take in response to a strike.

TISCH SCHOOL OF THE ARTS
Regardless of our individual opinion about unionization for graduate assistants, the faculty of TSOA believe that in order to protect academic freedom and to maintain an open and collegial atmosphere at the university, graduate students should be free to express and follow their beliefs about unionization without any fear of
reprisals.

Participating in union activities -- including striking -- is a good faith decision that each individual makes according to his or her conscience. We therefore call on the faculty to guarantee that there will be no effort to intimidate students. Specifically, we ask our colleagues not to penalize students with regard to grades, credits, academic funding, letters of recommendation, future teaching opportunities or eligibility for academic awards.