Dear President Cheek,

We, the undersigned full-time faculty members of Frederick Community College, refuse to apply for the position of Faculty Lead until a union contract is ratified between United Academics of Maryland FCC and Frederick Community College.

The restructuring of departmental and programmatic leadership has been lacking in transparency, rushed, pursued in direct opposition to faculty and community demands, and will steal both essential labor and compensation from bargaining unit members. We vehemently oppose the unilateral change to wages, hours, and working conditions in this renaming of Chair and Program Manager duties as undefined faculty lead labor. The new faculty lead position is currently not being offered with adequate release credit for the time, effort, and subject matter expertise it will require of faculty. Faculty stand united in our choice to reject this position. We pledge ourselves to this act of solidarity despite fear of personal jeopardy. We refuse to take on additional, underpaid labor dressed as "leadership" until all faculty receive improved wages and clarity in the newly created roles in our respective areas.

As a union, we urge the administration to consider the value that faculty truly bring to this institution and recognize that value at the bargaining table. As educators, we are fully committed to this institution and want to see it succeed - and to have our voices valued in shaping that solution. However, we believe the labor involved in the new lead positions is unclear and insufficiently resourced for the current demands of quality program management. Faculty expertise as subject area experts is integral to maintaining the strong reputation FCC has with local industries and for the transformative relationships FCC has with our students. Our labor is the essential function of this college: education. We currently support both students and administrators who rely on our expertise and understanding to “create the right conditions” for FCC. In order to do our best work, we need clarity in our job expectations and compensation commensurate with our work load and experience. As such, we implore the administration to expeditiously and in good faith bargain a contract that codifies fairness and transparency in workload and compensation.