Students, Alumni, and Community in support of the Ferris Faculty Association
- Location: Michigan
Dear President Eisler, 9/15/2018
I would like to begin by thanking you for the wonderful culture you have helped create at Ferris State University. I am merely one of the countless students that has benefitted from the dynamic education I received while pursuing my degree at FSU. Ferris encourages academic excellence, student engagement, lifelong learning, and democratic leadership in the community. It is in the spirit of democratic leadership that I appeal to you now.
I am writing to you in representation of students, alumni, and members of the community. Despite our various backgrounds, the one thing we have in common is our support of the individuals who provide our education. Your faculty are truly exceptional, and FSU’s outstanding reputation is a direct result of their talent and hard work. I have yet to meet teachers more dedicated to the holistic education of their students, or more invested in their students’ success. These amazing individuals set our University apart from others, and they are the reason I encourage potential students to pursue higher education at FSU.
FSU has such incredible faculty thanks to the leadership that seeks out certain virtues in its employees. This same leadership also strives to uphold the institutions core values of collaboration, diversity, ethical community, excellence, learning, and opportunity. It is with a humble and somber heart that I write to you to explain that your recent actions against the Ferris Faculty Association (FFA) have violated each of your core values.
Collaboration. The spirit of collaboration relies on building partnerships. The fact that you have refused to negotiate with the FFA directly undermines this partnership. I encourage you to seek collaboration not with lawyers, but with your employees, your students, your alumni, and your community, many of whom are attempting to build a partnership with you through this letter.
Diversity. FSU aims to provide a campus which is supportive, safe, and welcoming of diversity of ideas, beliefs, and cultures. However, when the FFA’s ideas and beliefs diverged from the administration’s, you purposely delayed negotiations for months until the faculty had no choice but to strike. Then you obtained a court order to force them to return to work without a contract and poured tuition dollars into lawyers in efforts to fight your own people rather than offer fair wages. Students cannot be expected to believe FSU provides a safe, supportive and welcoming environment for diversity when it obdurately demands conformity of its own employees. I want to see my tuition dollars allocated to the individuals who contributed the greatest to my success. Those individuals are my teachers, not your lawyers.
Our educators deserve a work environment of respect and support. By fighting the Ferris Faculty Association instead of reasonably negotiating, the administration has demolished that environment. This might not seem significant at the moment, but I urge you to look past this incident and see how these actions will affect future professors seeking employment at FSU. Worthy applicants will find employment in other institutions where they are valued and respected. As the quality of teachers applying to FSU deteriorates, so does the reputation of the institution which leads to a further reduction in enrollment. It would be a shame to see a highly revered President initiate a legacy that sets the University up for future failure. To quote the business magnate and philanthropist, Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson, “Take care of your employees, and they’ll take care of your business. It’s as simple as that. Healthy, engaged employees are your top competitive advantage.”
Ethical Community. Ferris recognizes the inherent dignity of each member of the University community and treats everyone with respect. You claim your actions are guided by fairness, honesty, and integrity. Refusing to negotiate in a timely manner is not treating your faculty with dignity and respect. It is not with the guidance of integrity that you acted to force individuals to work without a contract. It is absolutely not fair or honest to refuse to pay a wage that keeps up with inflation to the individuals whose hard work generates the revenue the administration benefits from so greatly.
Excellence. Ferris is committed to innovation and creativity and strives to produce the highest quality outcomes in all its endeavors. If you are truly committed to this value, I challenge you to put your renowned creative talents towards finding a solution to this problem that allows the faculty the 2.75% raise they require without increasing their costs or the students’ tuition; this would be the highest quality outcome for your current endeavor.
Learning. Ferris values education that emphasizes active learning, fosters responsibility, and balances theory and practice. You should be actively seeking out the opinions of your community in order to learn how to best serve them. In order to foster responsibility in others you must take responsibility for your actions or lack of actions that have resulted in present circumstances. I request that you to put the theory of these core values into practice by upholding them now and in your future interactions with the FFA.
Opportunity. Ferris provides opportunities for civic engagement, leadership development, advancement, and success. As a founding member of the American Democracy Project, your goal is to produce graduates who understand and are committed to engaging in meaningful actions as citizens in a democracy. This letter is your mission in action. I urge you not to turn a deaf ear on the same voices you have dedicated your career to encouraging to speak.
We, the students, the alumni, and the community, in order to preserve the Union that promotes the general welfare of the teachers we so greatly respect and admire, beseech you to cease your battle against the FFA and return to promoting your core values. Greatness in leadership is not defined by what one forces others to sacrifice, but by what one sacrifices for the benefit of others.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Beth Sweney, FSU Alumnus
Sign PetitionSign PetitionI would like to begin by thanking you for the wonderful culture you have helped create at Ferris State University. I am merely one of the countless students that has benefitted from the dynamic education I received while pursuing my degree at FSU. Ferris encourages academic excellence, student engagement, lifelong learning, and democratic leadership in the community. It is in the spirit of democratic leadership that I appeal to you now.
I am writing to you in representation of students, alumni, and members of the community. Despite our various backgrounds, the one thing we have in common is our support of the individuals who provide our education. Your faculty are truly exceptional, and FSU’s outstanding reputation is a direct result of their talent and hard work. I have yet to meet teachers more dedicated to the holistic education of their students, or more invested in their students’ success. These amazing individuals set our University apart from others, and they are the reason I encourage potential students to pursue higher education at FSU.
FSU has such incredible faculty thanks to the leadership that seeks out certain virtues in its employees. This same leadership also strives to uphold the institutions core values of collaboration, diversity, ethical community, excellence, learning, and opportunity. It is with a humble and somber heart that I write to you to explain that your recent actions against the Ferris Faculty Association (FFA) have violated each of your core values.
Collaboration. The spirit of collaboration relies on building partnerships. The fact that you have refused to negotiate with the FFA directly undermines this partnership. I encourage you to seek collaboration not with lawyers, but with your employees, your students, your alumni, and your community, many of whom are attempting to build a partnership with you through this letter.
Diversity. FSU aims to provide a campus which is supportive, safe, and welcoming of diversity of ideas, beliefs, and cultures. However, when the FFA’s ideas and beliefs diverged from the administration’s, you purposely delayed negotiations for months until the faculty had no choice but to strike. Then you obtained a court order to force them to return to work without a contract and poured tuition dollars into lawyers in efforts to fight your own people rather than offer fair wages. Students cannot be expected to believe FSU provides a safe, supportive and welcoming environment for diversity when it obdurately demands conformity of its own employees. I want to see my tuition dollars allocated to the individuals who contributed the greatest to my success. Those individuals are my teachers, not your lawyers.
Our educators deserve a work environment of respect and support. By fighting the Ferris Faculty Association instead of reasonably negotiating, the administration has demolished that environment. This might not seem significant at the moment, but I urge you to look past this incident and see how these actions will affect future professors seeking employment at FSU. Worthy applicants will find employment in other institutions where they are valued and respected. As the quality of teachers applying to FSU deteriorates, so does the reputation of the institution which leads to a further reduction in enrollment. It would be a shame to see a highly revered President initiate a legacy that sets the University up for future failure. To quote the business magnate and philanthropist, Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson, “Take care of your employees, and they’ll take care of your business. It’s as simple as that. Healthy, engaged employees are your top competitive advantage.”
Ethical Community. Ferris recognizes the inherent dignity of each member of the University community and treats everyone with respect. You claim your actions are guided by fairness, honesty, and integrity. Refusing to negotiate in a timely manner is not treating your faculty with dignity and respect. It is not with the guidance of integrity that you acted to force individuals to work without a contract. It is absolutely not fair or honest to refuse to pay a wage that keeps up with inflation to the individuals whose hard work generates the revenue the administration benefits from so greatly.
Excellence. Ferris is committed to innovation and creativity and strives to produce the highest quality outcomes in all its endeavors. If you are truly committed to this value, I challenge you to put your renowned creative talents towards finding a solution to this problem that allows the faculty the 2.75% raise they require without increasing their costs or the students’ tuition; this would be the highest quality outcome for your current endeavor.
Learning. Ferris values education that emphasizes active learning, fosters responsibility, and balances theory and practice. You should be actively seeking out the opinions of your community in order to learn how to best serve them. In order to foster responsibility in others you must take responsibility for your actions or lack of actions that have resulted in present circumstances. I request that you to put the theory of these core values into practice by upholding them now and in your future interactions with the FFA.
Opportunity. Ferris provides opportunities for civic engagement, leadership development, advancement, and success. As a founding member of the American Democracy Project, your goal is to produce graduates who understand and are committed to engaging in meaningful actions as citizens in a democracy. This letter is your mission in action. I urge you not to turn a deaf ear on the same voices you have dedicated your career to encouraging to speak.
We, the students, the alumni, and the community, in order to preserve the Union that promotes the general welfare of the teachers we so greatly respect and admire, beseech you to cease your battle against the FFA and return to promoting your core values. Greatness in leadership is not defined by what one forces others to sacrifice, but by what one sacrifices for the benefit of others.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Beth Sweney, FSU Alumnus
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