AAUP-BHSNJ RELEASES NEW AD CALLING FOR PARENTAL LEAVE FOR ALL RUTGERS HEALTH SCIENCE FACULTY

New Brunswick, NJ – The American Association of University Professors Biomedical and Health Sciences of New Jersey (AAUP-BHSNJ), the union representing 1,400 faculty at Rutgers University’s Biomedical and Health Sciences (RBHS), today launched a new ad highlighting the need for AAUP-BHSNJ staff to have a parental leave policy.

“Rutgers health science faculty are the only Rutgers faculty without a parental leave policy,” said AAUP-BHSNJ Executive Director Diomedes Tsitouras. “This is just one in a long list of ways AAUP-BHSNJ staff are treated differently – and worse – than everyone else at Rutgers. We should be treated like all other Rutgers faculty.”

The ad, which can be viewed here, features various AAUP-BHSNJ faculty members talking about the hardships that a lack of parental leave policy creates for them. Yarrow Willman-Cole of NJ Citizen Action and the NJ Time To Care Coalition, is also featured in the ad.

Rutgers administration has agreed to a parental leave policy for their non-RBHS faculty. They will not, however, agree to a similar policy with RBHS scientists, clinicians and physicians. In addition to the video ad, AAUP-BHSNJ is encouraging people to sign a petition in support of having a parental leave policy for staff. That petition can be viewed here.

The ad is part of a broader campaign by AAUP-BHSNJ to remedy pay inequities and reform policies that harm students, staff, and patients alike at Rutgers. Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences, the academic medical arm of Rutgers, plays an important role in New Jersey. Its clinicians take care of some of the sickest and most vulnerable patients in the state. The faculty teach the next generation of professionals, many of whom stay in state after graduation. Its researchers have also brought Rutgers increased distinction since the UMNDJ-Rutgers merger in 2013.

However, this institution is losing its way.

RBHS Chancellor Brian Strom made $1,120,888 last year. If he was the head of a university, he would be in the top 1% of salary for university chief executives. There are also plans to hire more vice chancellors and other administrators. Meanwhile, New Jersey Medical School is 8^th highest among public medical schools for student debt.

Quite simply, Rutgers’s priorities are misplaced. It needs to invest in students and patients, not only in administrators.

About AAUP-BHSNJ

The AAUP-BHSNJ is an independent, non-profit organization that represents 1,500 faculty at Rutgers/Rowan Universities. These faculty teach the next generation of doctors, nurses, scientists, and health professionals. We believe in a vision where our universities are models for faculty engagement and provide a high-quality work environment for everyone.