What It Means That AAUP-AFT WSU Is the Collective Bargaining Agent

AAUP-AFT WSU is the collective bargaining agent for a single, unified bargaining unit at Wright State University. In practice, that means the chapter is the organization officially recognized to negotiate on behalf of the faculty in that unit — and the unit itself is a merger of two groups that used to be separate: (1) tenure-track and tenured faculty, and (2) non-tenure-eligible ("NTE") faculty. The unit covers faculty on both the Dayton and Celina (Lake) campuses, with some exclusions described below.

What "collective bargaining agent" means

A collective bargaining agent is the designated representative that negotiates the terms and conditions of employment for a defined group of employees — here, a faculty bargaining unit. When a chapter holds that role:

• It speaks for the whole unit at the bargaining table, rather than each faculty member negotiating individually.
• The "unit" is the legally defined group it represents. Who is inside or outside that group matters, because representation follows the unit boundary.
• The chapter's authority comes from being the agent for that single, unified unit — not from representing separate groups one at a time.

The two units that were merged

The current unit was officially formed from two previously separate units:

Because these two are now one unified bargaining unit, the chapter bargains for them together as a single group.

Who is inside the bargaining unit

• Tenure-track and tenured faculty on the Dayton and Celina (Lake) campuses, excluding certain administrative appointments at the rank of chair and higher.
• Non-tenure-eligible faculty on the Dayton and Celina (Lake) campuses, excluding those whose primary appointments are in the Boonshoft School of Medicine.

Who is outside the bargaining unit but can still join

The bargaining unit and the membership are not the same thing. The chapter welcomes all university faculty into membership, including people outside the unit:

• Adjunct faculty
• Faculty with administrative appointments
• Faculty with primary appointments in the Boonshoft School of Medicine or the School of Professional Psychology
• Emeritus faculty
• Academic professionals
• Graduate students

So being outside the bargaining unit does not bar you from joining the chapter — it only means you are not among the faculty the chapter represents at the bargaining table.

Why the distinction matters to you

• If you are in the unit, the chapter is your exclusive negotiating representative for the terms it bargains.
• If you are outside the unit but join, you participate in the chapter without being part of the group it formally represents.
• If you are unsure which side you fall on, the deciding factors in the source description are your faculty category (tenure-track/tenured vs. NTE), your campus (Dayton or Celina/Lake), and whether you hold an excluded administrative appointment or a primary appointment in the Boonshoft School of Medicine.