/NORTHERNIOWAN
UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN IOWA
CEDAR FALLS, IA
@NORTHERNIOWAN
WWW.NORTHERNIOWAN.COM
CEDAR FALLS, IA
THURSDAY, APRIL 5
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2024
VOLUME 114, ISSUE 42
VOLUME 121, ISSUE 3
News briefs
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
UNI Study Abroad Fair The Study Abroad Center is hosting the Study Abroad Fair on Wednesday, September 18th from 11am to 3pm in Maucker Union Ballrooms. Explore Study Abroad programs across 30 different countries! Meet past participants, program leaders, and SAC staff. Attendees can also learn about study abroad opportunities, meet past participants, faculty and staff, learn about financial aid, scholarships, credit transfer, international travel, and study-internship-volunteer abroad!
OPINION
Opinion writer Kellie Stiles debriefs what went wrong during the 2024 Summer Oympics SEE PAGE 5
United Faculty advocates for pay raise BAILEY KLINKHAMMER Executive Editor
CAMPUS LIFE
Staff writer Josue Villatoro disects elements of the upcoming film “The Bikeriders” SEE PAGE 6
SPORTS
Panthers have best season start since 2013 SEE PAGE 11
United Faculty, UNI’s faculty union, recently published a press release providing specific evidence on lack of faculty compensation compared to peer institutions. United Faculty Vice President, Fernando Herrera Calderón provided more insight into how important it is that UNI faculty receive a raise in their upcoming negotiations. “When we negotiated our current contract we asked for a 9% raise. The Board of Regents lawyer provided us with a 3% raise, which is obviously below what we were asking for and we left pretty disappointed,” said Calderón. The 3% raised UNI faculty received was the most they’d seen in years. Calderón also added that as insurance premiums continue to rise, that 3% raise might mean faculty make less overall as they put more money into their insurance plans. As United Faculty looks to January, when they revisit the nego-
tiations table, they wanted to have hard evidence that UNI faculty needed a pay raise to keep up with the cost of living and keep up with peer institution salaries. “When we go into negotiations, to keep up with inf lation and our peer institutions, UNI faculty would need a raise of 10%. Typically, or historically, the Board of Regents tends to give us much less than that,” said Calderón. According to the press release from United Faculty, all UNI professors only make 87% of what their counterparts at peer institutions make. Professors make about 84.5% of what their counterparts at peer institutions make. According to Calderón, the lack of raises for UNI faculty doesn’t just affect faculty personally, but affects the entire UNI community as a whole. “Professors do their best work when they’re paid well. When they’re able to take care of what they need to take care of outside of the classroom, they f lourish on
campus. When you have a lower rate of pay, it makes recruitment that much harder for the entire campus. Then it starts to affect programs and could affect the quality of education for our students,” Calderón elaborated. According to the UNI 2022 climate survey, 63% of UNI’s faculty have considered leaving and 55% of that number considered leaving because of the salary rate. “UNI’s list of peer institutions are colleges across the country who have a similar faculty and student population. I believe it’s a list of 10 institutions, and when it came to pay, in the past, UNI used to top that list. Over the past few years, UNI has dropped on that list time and time again,” Calderón said. Calderón also expressed how important the role the state legislature plays in this situation. “With Chapter 20 being passed a few years back, it turns bargaining or negotiating See UNITED FACULTY, page 2
UNI Gallery of Art announces two upcoming exhibition openings The University of Northern Iowa Gallery of Art and Permanent Art Collection is excited to announce two new art exhibitions opening at the Gallery this month, “Home is the Mouth of a Shark” and “Texts by Design: Works from the UNI Permanent Art Collection and University Special Collections.” UNI Interpreters Theatre to host Death cafe Hosted by: Dr. Melinda Heinz, Assistant Professor, Department of Family, Aging, & Counseling When: Thursday, September 19th, 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM Where: UNI Interpreter’s Theatre, Lang Hall 040, Cedar Falls Who: Free and open to the public. (Attendees must be 18 years or older) This is an opportunity to connect with others, share thoughts, and gain new perspectives on a topic that touches us all.