THE
alestle
ASL students advocate Get ready to turn Tennis clinches for minor program with your swag on with OVC regular season provost, dean of CAS Soulja Boy and Lil Xan championship title PAGE 3
PAGE 9
PAGE 12
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Thursday, April 16, 2026 Vol. 79 No. 7
THE student voice since 1960
STRETCHED EVEN THINNER SIUE faces unfair labor practice charges for realignment GAVIN QUINLAN reporter SIUE representatives will attend a hearing with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board on April 29 and 30 regarding two charges of unfair labor practices filed against the university. Both charges were filed on Feb. 6 by AFSCME Council 31, the labor union representing clerical, ITS, building service workers and other professional positions at SIUE. The charges respectively allege that SIUE had violated the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act by unilaterally changing the work duties of office support personnel without communicating the changes to the union first and retaliating against a union member for telling union representatives about the actions alleged in the first charge.
Count one: ‘No realignment without representation’
On Jan. 8, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Kevin Leonard sent an email to each of the office support
personnel in the college, scheduling individual appointments to discuss an adjustment of their duties based on new office support vacancies caused by retirements and resignations. Later that day, affected office support personnel replied to Leonard, writing that they would be more comfortable meeting as a group. AFSCME Staff Representative Ed LaPorte and Local 2887 President Benedict Kaminski were notified of these meetings by Department of Theater and Dance Office Manager and former Local 2887 President Julie LaTempt-Brazier at this time. In a Jan. 9 email obtained in a Freedom of Information Act request, LaPorte demanded that Leonard meet with union representatives instead of meeting with each employee individually. Leonard did not respond, instead forwarding the email to Acting Director of Human Resources Deb Talbot and Senior System Counsel Phyleccia Cole. On Jan. 15, Leonard sent emails to each of the 12 office support personnel in the college, realigning their work duties. Office support personnel who were temporarily given the respon-
sibilities of vacant positions in other departments had that work permanently added to their responsibilities. “It’s not just happening [in CAS], but in the School of Engineering and in [Academic Advising] … There’s work to be done, and instead of one person being hired to do that work, they’re taking pieces of that job and moving it to different people to overwhelm them. They’re giving more work to people who are already overworked,” Kaminski said. In a series of emails also obtained in a FOIA request, several office support personnel responded to Leonard, saying that their collective bargaining agreement had been violated as a result of SIUE not communicating these changes of duty with AFSCME ahead of time. “The union does not contend that the university doesn’t have the right to make these decisions,” LaPorte said. “The university does not have the right to make these changes and then ignore the union and the union’s membership when they demand to have input as to how it’s going to impact their work.” In a Jan. 16 email to a CAS
Minor refuses to respond to annual Faculty Senate evaluation DYLAN HEMBROUGH editor-in-chief For decades, SIUE’s Faculty Senate has completed an annual survey of the chancellor, but Chancellor James T. Minor has refused the validity of the survey.
‘Morale is low’
The 2025 survey report and introductory letter were obtained by The Alestle via a Freedom of Information Act request and are available as a 57-page PDF. Survey respondents were asked to rate their agreement with Minor’s actions and leadership in a number of different areas. A score of 1 meant the respondent “strongly disagrees” with the chancellor’s leadership, while a score of 5 meant the respondent “strongly agrees.” Minor’s average score was 2.35. His highest ratings were in the areas of supporting anti-racism, diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives (3.33), supporting enrollment (3.28), supporting retention goals (3.10) and successfully raising funds (2.84). Among Minor’s lowest ratings were concerns with his willingness to seek faculty input and feedback about past successes and failures (1.61) and the decision-making process (1.61), as well as seeking faculty input to understand student performance (1.73). Chair of the Faculty Senate Gover-
nance Council Tim Kalinowski included these scores in the Faculty Senate’s report to Minor, was sent to him on January 16, 2026, inviting him to provide a comment on the results. “Based upon the survey comments, the faculty recognize efforts addressing enrollment declines, budget constraints, support for equity and inclusion and attempts to improve communication,” Kalinowski wrote. “However, morale is low, faculty feel inadequately compensated and supported and they desire more transparency, updates and communication that flows both directions.”
Not enough background information
While Minor did not provide a comment on these surveys, SIU System President Dan Mahony wrote in an email to The Alestle that Minor does participate in the annual review conducted by Mahony and approved by the SIU Board of Trustees. see SURVEY on page 4
office support specialist received in a FOIA request, Leonard wrote that the collective bargaining agreement between the union and the university allowed for such a realignment of duties. “‘The university has and retains all rights to manage its business in accordance with its statutory responsibilities, obligations and judgment,’” Leonard wrote, quoting the collective bargaining agreement. “Specifically, management has the right to determine ‘fiscal, operating and regulatory policies, budget, services to be rendered and duties to be performed.’”
LaPorte wrote in a Jan. 16 email to Leonard that the management clause Leonard had cited did not mean the union didn’t have the right to bargain over changes to working hours or conditions. The email additionally see LABOR on page 2
Minor talks union relations with Student Senate in closed meeting DYLAN HEMBROUGH editor-in-chief The topic of discussion at the March 30 Student Senate pre-meeting, a closed meeting that Chancellor James T. Minor attended, was SIUE administration’s ongoing struggle with the AFSCME Local 2887 union. There are no known minutes from the meeting, but Minor wrote Student Body President Jenna Nestor a letter shortly after the meeting as a follow-up to their discussion. This letter was obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request. The entirety of the letter is available to read on The Alestle’s website. The Senate passed Resolution 2026-2009 at their March 16 meeting endorsing AFSCME Local 2887, the resolution having been co-sponsored by every senator. Minor wrote that he agrees with the sentiment of appreciating campus employees, but had questions on the Senate’s plans with the resolution. “As it is written, I support the resolution’s language expressing appreciation and value
for those who contribute to our campus community,” Minor wrote. “My questions centered on how the resolution is currently being used and whether the outcome is aligned with the intent of Student Government.” “Flyers associated with AFSCME began circulating that referenced the resolution in the context of ongoing contract negotiations and administrative actions. These materials … include a broad call that could be interpreted as opposing employee discipline,” Minor wrote. “A blanket public call to stop disciplining employees is not practical or appropriate.” The flyer in question thanks students for their support of the union and contains three demands for Minor: “Stop threatening to discipline workers, respect the work of office support staff [and] fill office support vacancies.” The threat to discipline workers refers to the union’s recent filing of unfair labor practice charges against SIUE, when Department of Theater and Dance Office Manager Julie LaTempt-Brazier was threatened with disciplinary action for refusing to do additional work the union says was in violation of fair labor standards. see LETTER on page 3