About Us

United Academics of Ohio University is a grass-roots, faculty-led effort to secure collective bargaining rights.  We stand together to create the conditions where Ohio University can realize its vision of a “transformative learning community where students realize their promise” and “faculty advance knowledge.”

Mission Statement

We are United Academics of Ohio University (UAOU). As faculty, we uphold the central educational mission of a public research university, which includes fostering student success, creating knowledge, and serving an informed and free-thinking democratic society. To achieve our mission, we stand together, united across ranks and campuses, to organize a faculty union and through this alliance:

to secure a just, safe, equitable, and collegial environment for teaching, learning, research, creative activity, and service;

to negotiate the working conditions and compensation structure that will enable the recruitment and retention of a dedicated and diverse faculty;

to ensure the sustained and substantial commitment of university resources to OU’s core mission of teaching and research, specifically to academic programs which cultivate students’ intellectual and personal development, lift up the voices of our diverse communities in Southeast Ohio, and generate internationally recognized research and scholarship;

to realize, in partnership with Faculty Senate, the true potential of shared governance, administrative transparency, and due process;

to defend academic freedom, the key to an open and unfettered society.

UAOU (formerly OU AAUP and the Ohio University Faculty Alliance) is affiliated with the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), Ohio Conference AAUP (OC AAUP), and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT).


Bargaining Platform

Ensuring that faculty have a meaningful voice in university governance:

  • Strengthening faculty participation in shaping academic priorities to support student learning and success.

  • Practicing real shared governance that actively includes faculty in decision-making.

  • Enhancing protections for academic freedom and the integrity of our teaching and research.

Winning competitive and equitable compensation for all faculty:

  • Gaining fair, equitable, and competitive pay for all faculty.

  • Securing salary increases that keep pace with the rising cost of living and peer institutions.

  • Strengthening the university’s ability to grow, recruit, and retain outstanding faculty.

Assuring greater job security for instructional faculty:

  • Recognizing the vital contributions of instructional faculty to student success.

  • Creating multi-year contracts and pathways to continuing appointments for instructional faculty.

  • Ending reliance on short-term, precarious contracts that undermine academic continuity and fair and competitive retainment of faculty.

Building a thriving academic community for students, faculty, and staff:

  • Prioritizing resources and institutional support that allow faculty, students, and staff to thrive.

  • Supporting an environment where faculty can focus on teaching, research, and service.

  • Maintaining safe, functional, and well-equipped facilities that support academic excellence.

Our Commitment

Through collective bargaining, we will secure a contract that strengthens Ohio University by:

  • Valuing faculty expertise and labor.

  • Creating the best possible learning environment for our students.

  • Protecting fair, safe, and sustainable working conditions.