The Executive Council (EC) has made the difficult decision not to renew Executive Director Phil Lesch’s contract, which expires at the end of this calendar year (December 31, 2021). The EC is grateful for Phil’s partnership and leadership for our members over the past 12 years, and we wish him the best moving forward.
While this is a big change for our organization, our Executive Council is optimistic and excited about the future ahead of us. The EC is in the process of selecting and appointing an interim Executive Director (ED).
We encourage you to attend one of our two upcoming regular member meetings for further discussion of the Union’s next steps. We have rescheduled these meetings to Nov. 16th (12pm) and Nov. 17th (4pm) in the interest of making time for you to plan to attend, and for us to prioritize immediate member needs in the short term (e.g., ongoing grievances, interim bargaining, etc).
- November 16, noon-1pm, [Zoom link in your pdx.edu inbox]
- November 17, 4pm-5pm, [Zoom link in your pdx.edu inbox]
As part of our continued work to develop a more member centered and responsive organization, we will be evaluating the staffing structure of our organization in the coming year in partnership with our incoming interim ED. Therefore, we do not anticipate searching for a permanent replacement before Summer 2022. As we do this work, we are continuing our engagements with Yee Won Chong who has guided us through the last year in re-building our foundation and prioritizing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in relation to our work as a member-centered union. We appreciate everyone who took the time to fill out the survey last Winter/Spring. Your input has been extremely valuable in helping the EC to better understand member needs and experiences, and has shown that we must prioritize this work to better support our members.
We will be seeking your continued input throughout the coming months - please keep an eye out for surveys, town halls, etc. Additionally, if you would like to get more involved in AAUP leadership opportunities, we are always excited to engage more of our membership, please contact Courtney Bailey, our VP of Membership and Organizing: cbaileyaaup@gmail.com.
In Solidarity,
PSU AAUP Member Leaders