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Wells College adjunct faculty have voted to form a bargaining unit and hope their action helps them negotiate a new contract to improve working conditions.

In a 21 to 6 vote Friday, contingent full- and part-time professors voted to join the 26,000-member Service Employees International Union/Faculty Forward as SEIU Local 200United.

"I can confirm the vote took place this afternoon," said Ann Rollo, director of communications and marketing. "That represents the number of faculty who voted as opposed to the number who are eligible to vote."

According to a statement from August Schneeberg, of Local 200United, Wells adjunct faculty teach on a "limited-term basis without any assurance of reassignment once their short-term contracts expire. Even though they teach the same students as their tenure-track colleagues, contingent faculty are paid less per course and most lack health care or retirement benefits."

"We organized to form a union to strengthen Wells College and make it a better environment for the students, the full time faculty, and the contingent faculty. By organizing we gain a voice which will allow us to participate more fully in providing a higher academic standard and ensure a more stable and consistent faculty," stated Laura Campbell, a music department lecturer.