Notre Dame de Namur University Secures Immediate Future with Faculty Contract
Collective Bargaining Agreement guarantees instruction for continuing students and ensures new graduate student pathways.
For Immediate Release (July 9, 2020)
Belmont, Calif. – Notre Dame de Namur University (NDNU) is pleased to announce that it has reached an agreement with our faculty union to extend and modify our Collective Bargaining Agreement through August 14, 2021.
In March 2020, NDNU announced they would not be accepting new students while the university continues to look for pathways to become more financially sustainable. Most institutions experiencing these financial hardships have chosen to close immediately without allowing options for students, faculty, and staff. NDNU has been diligently working on ways to continue in a new format as a learning institution for both the short and longer term.
With student enrollment reduced significantly from fall 2019, the number of faculty needed to teach the remaining students has also been significantly impacted.
The university has been exploring all options to provide students close to graduating a guaranteed pathway to finish their degrees. This agreement with faculty helps secure that option for these students.
The agreement benefits students and faculty by:
- Ensuring that there will be faculty to teach through graduation allowing eligible students to finish their degrees by spring 2021.
- Giving the possibility for NDNU to continue and build higher demand graduate programs beyond spring 2021.
- Minimizing and delaying faculty layoffs by using proportional pay.
- Offering an assurance of severance pay for any full-time faculty who must be laid off and is unable to find a position elsewhere at equivalent salary.
Without a faculty agreement, eligible students would not have been able to continue through spring 2021 to finish their degrees, or allow NDNU to bring in new students for certain graduate programs. This agreement secured these options for students.
During the coming year, we look forward to continuing to work together to provide an excellent education for our students while we continue to search for a future direction for the University.
For more information about the future of NDNU visit: https://www.ndnu.edu/future-of-ndnu/
About Notre Dame de Namur University
Notre Dame de Namur University (NDNU) is a Catholic, not-for-profit, coeducational institution serving students from diverse backgrounds. Established in 1851 by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, NDNU is the third-oldest college in California and the first authorized to grant the baccalaureate degree to women. NDNU maintains a strong commitment to academic excellence, social justice, and community engagement. The university is fully accredited and offers a rich variety of undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, and teacher credential programs. NDNU has a historic campus on the San Francisco Peninsula in Silicon Valley. For more information, visit www.ndnu.edu/about
Contact
Melissa McAlexander, PhD
mmcalexander@ndnu.edu