June 1, 2020 Update:

Thank you so much for your outpouring of support! In only a few days, the Probationary Caucus and International Solidarity Statements received more than 1,390 signatures and we are deeply moved by your comments of solidarity and care. Owing to the extraordinary work of the USFFA (USF Faculty Association) leadership to protect its members and the solidarity of USFFA membership in its commitment to equitable shared sacrifices, the probationary faculty and librarians did not receive termination notices from the University administration on June 1. Their tremendous dedication and your immense support make USF an incredible community to be part of. As we work together to address the unique challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, we ask that the University administration do not take any action that would jeopardize our members’ livelihoods and immigration status. We urge the administration to protect those most vulnerable, prioritize equitable measures, and focus on options other than the layoffs of employees, be they faculty (probationary/term/part-time/tenured), librarians (probationary/permanent) or staff members. All of our USF community members continue to work tirelessly in supporting our students and strengthening USF’s social justice mission. The USFFA, USF PTFA, and OPEIU stand united in upholding the values of USF that call us to protect each other, our students, and the legacy of the university for future generations.

Original Statements Issued and Signed before the Vote

1. We, the probationary faculty and librarians, ask you to join us in condemning the recent proposal by the University Administration to send mass layoff notices to probationary USFFA members. This undermines the very work that we have achieved together to overcome the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

By threatening to lay off probationary faculty/librarians, the university sent a message to all faculty, as well as to librarians and staff: you are expendable. The proposal itself is severely short-sighted and jeopardizes the long-term health and reputation of the university. If enacted, such a move would have far-reaching repercussions for existing term and part-time faculty, whose jobs will be at risk as well. Taking away employment and health care during a public health emergency endangers livelihoods and lives.

Layoff notices will cause international faculty members immediate and irreversible immigration problems. Visa holders face the threat of having to leave the country within 60 days during a global pandemic. The adverse effects on their visa status are compounded by restrictive immigration policies in place before and especially during this crisis. 

As statements from numerous departments and programs made clear, laying off faculty who are innovative and active teachers and scholars would harm the most basic tenets and principles of higher education. We include the initially surveyed impact on the University of terminating the probationary faculty in the addendum.

The University Administration must remove any threat or consideration of issuing non-renewal letters from its discussions with the USFFA’s leadership. This is non-negotiable. We stand against any similar threat to other faculty. USF should be setting an example of a humane and ethical response to the current crisis among its peers nationally and abroad, instead of taking a punitive action that is indifferent to the pain it causes our community. 

We also demand that the University Administration prioritize equitable measures and options other than the layoffs of employees, be they probationary faculty and librarians, term faculty, part-time faculty, or staff members. We object to the 30-day termination clause added to term faculty contracts. We call on USF’s leaders to work with us in an open and transparent fashion to focus on the common good.

We urge the entire USFFA to commit to equitable shared sacrifices during this emergency period. We ask the most financially secure members of our university and of our association to consider progressive cuts and other equitable measures in order to protect its threatened members.

We call upon the University Administration and the whole USFFA to put all of our community members first and protect those most vulnerable, as we all work together to find equitable solutions that address the current crisis with steadfast commitment to our institution’s social justice mission and Jesuit values.

2. We, the international probationary faculty/librarians who are in the United States on H1B work visas, ask you to support us against the peril of sudden termination. As the Probationary Caucus’s statement makes clear, the University Administration’s consideration of non-renewal letters to probationary faculty/librarians threatens to end careers and livelihoods amidst an ongoing public health emergency. For us, a termination letter in this global pandemic is also effectively a deportation notice. 

Layoff notices would cause us immediate and irreversible immigration problems that go beyond the university’s control. If the university lays us off, we will have to leave the country within 60 days, because finding a similar job with H1B visa sponsorship within that grace period is impossible given the nation-wide hiring freeze. The university also cannot convert us into term faculty in the fall without submitting a visa amendment due to the change of title and job duties. The amendment will need to be approved by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which is temporarily closed and already experiencing a significant months-long delay in processing cases. Crucially, this amendment could be rejected given the ever hostile immigration sentiments and policies by the current U.S. administration, which have been exacerbated by the pandemic. The latest executive order in April limiting immigration and the US top officials’ re-evaluation of nonimmigrant programs are threatening indications.

Rescinding a layoff notice is also not possible in our case without the USCIS approving a new work visa. USF is first required by law to inform USCIS of the layoff and withdraw our current immigrant petition. To rehire us, USF must file a new H1B visa petition, which would require multiple steps of approval to reach our current status. At any of these steps, the petition could be rejected due to new restrictions on immigration in the worsening political climate. Earlier drafts of the executive order in April did entail suspending the issuance of new visas. 

Like all of our faculty colleagues, we are dedicated, active, and innovative teacher-scholars who have been contributing tirelessly to our students, our departments, the USF community, and also the Bay Area community at large. As international faculty, we are integral to the university’s core commitment to advancing “diversity of perspectives, experiences and traditions as essential components of a quality education in our global context.” We also serve as indispensable teachers, mentors, and role models for international students and historically underrepresented students in USF’s uniquely diverse student body.  

The university’s termination would have devastating effects on not only our careers and livelihoods but also our life paths and future. Many of us have uprooted our lives and families from around the world to come here. Termination will crush everything we have been working so hard to achieve and making sacrifices for. Worse, it would force some of us to leave and face a starker reality of violence against marginalized communities. The threat of termination alone is already causing us extreme stress and fraught communication with immigration lawyers. We therefore urge the University Administration to remove any consideration of issuing non-renewal letters. We urge USF’s leaders and the whole USFFA to commit to equitable shared sacrifices in alignment with USF’s social justice mission and Jesuit values. 

These statements have been signed by over 1,390 USF Faculty, Librarians, Students, Alums and Community Members.