Dear Roosevelt Community,

While there are no confirmed cases of Coronavirus at Roosevelt, the safety and wellbeing of our community is our highest priority. We are taking the following steps to give every member of our community the support and resources to continue uninterrupted access to their academic program in whatever manner is necessary.

Steps that we are taking to achieve these objectives are as follows:

Classes

  • Roosevelt University classes are postponed until Monday, March 23. At that time and until further notice, most classes will be offered online.
  • Accommodations will be made for courses/programs that require in-person course work, as those courses/programs are identified.
  • A student who reports that they need to miss classes for reasons related to COVID-19 must be excused and the absence reported to the Vice President for Student Affairs at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. No medical or other documentation regarding the absence is required.

Residence & Dining Halls

Student & Employee Travel

  • No University-sponsored travel by air is permitted. You are responsible for canceling currently scheduled travel and making arrangements for refunds.
  • Students and employees currently in and returning from countries with a Level 3 Health Notice must complete 14 days of self-quarantine before returning to campus.

Athletics

  • Roosevelt University is immediately suspending all athletic activities indefinitely. This suspension also pertains to all programs, including spirit squads, eSports and Performing Arts, that were previously offered at Robert Morris University Illinois.
  • This suspension covers all intercollegiate athletics programs and related athletics activities, including all competitions, all practices, and all team meetings.
  • Teams currently on spring break travel and competing in tournament competitions will return from their trips as scheduled and immediately adhere to the suspension of athletics activities. The Robert Morris men’s volleyball team competing at Trinity Christian College tonight (Thursday, March 12, 2020) will compete in the match and adhere to the suspension of athletics activities following the conclusion of the match.
  • Athletics facilities owned, leased or rented by Roosevelt will be closed to students until further notice.

University Operations

  • Effective immediately, any employee who is in a high risk category is strongly encouraged to work from home or adjust their work schedule to reduce contact with others.
  • Key offices (campus safety, residence life, physical resources, payroll, information technology, and human resources) will remain fully open.
  • Student Offices (all student-facing offices) remain open for visitors with reduced staffing. Each Division head will outline a plan for this with their respective teams. 
  • All other offices are highly encouraged to work from home.
  • An employee who reports that they need to miss work for reasons related to COVID-19 must be excused and the absence reported to Human Resources. No medical or other documentation regarding the absence is required.

Roosevelt’s top priority is the health and safety of our community. We remain committed to communicating the most up to date information as frequently as possible. Please continue to regularly check the COVID-19 response website.

Sincerely,

Ali R. Malekzadeh, Ph.D.
President, Roosevelt University

Lois Becker, 
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

To all adjunct faculty members:

Please do not leave personal items unattended in the adjunct faculty office (AUD 244)! Thefts at the university are occurring more frequently, and there have been thefts from our office. Please do not leave anything valuable in the office, including coats, computers, or textbooks for your current classes. Locker rentals are available from the university.

The union has requested a locked door for the adjunct faculty office from HR and Physical Resources, and we will keep you updated on the status of this request.

Thank you,

RAFO Executive Committee

It's that time again! We are offering Spring Mini-Grants for Professional Development!

If you are attending a workshop, a conference, a seminar to learn new skills, or are presenting at a conference, RAFO has a Professional Development Mini-Grant available to help with expenses.

The application form is available here (click the download button in the upper right hand corner to download and edit the form), and the application deadline is March 16.

Review the application form and fill out the information requested. All proposals will be reviewed by the professional development committee, and you will be notified if it is approved and the amount that will be provided.

If you have any questions about the form or the grant itself, please do not hesitate to Ami Hicks at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Due to preparations of Roosevelt University's merger with Robert Morris University, our adjunct faculty office has changed locations to AUD 244. 

Currently, the RAFO office will also be housed in AUD 244. We have already notified Physical Resources about the signage outside of the office, the physical space, and the doors to the office suite. New doors have been ordered and a key code will be used for the office as soon as they are installed. They are considering options for signage to make it easier for the students to find our new office.  

While the university continues to transition, please have understanding with the changes and the modifications of the physical spaces. If anyone has questions, suggestions, or requests for the adjunct faculty union, contact Jen Wilson, RAFO President, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Joseph Fedorko, RAFO Membership Chair, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

RAFO will continue to update the union membership with changes or announcements from the university as the merger unfolds over the Spring 2020 semester.  

In solidarity,  

RAFO Executive Committee

  1. Submit your Proposal to RAFO's Adjunct to Adjunct Conference!
  2. Burroughs Education Scholarship: $2,500 for college!
  3. Happy Holidays From RAFO!
  4. Happy Thanksgiving from RAFO

Subcategories

Contracts

RAFO Members:

As lead negotiator for the 2020-2024 contract, I am pleased to announce that your negotiating team and Roosevelt University have come to an agreement. RAFO is extremely pleased with the final outcome and we believe you will be, too. The University was adamant on 0% for the first year, but as an offset for that 0%, we negotiated a signing bonus of $150 for each bargaining unit member that taught either in Spring 2020 or will teach in the upcoming Fall 2020 semester. That then takes us into the final three years of the contract where adjuncts will receive a 2% increase for each of those years.

As I hope you can see from the above, RAFO worked hard to ensure that you are rewarded for the professionalism and integrity all have shown during these unusual and trying times. We are attaching a copy of the final contract for you to review and eventually ratify. The areas that appear in green are changes that were made to the verbiage in the contract that will support RAFO during the upcoming 4 years.  Appendix A reflects the 2% increase for each step in the final three years.

A link with the time will be sent next week for all to join this a zoom meeting, where we can answer your questions about the contract.

In closing, we hope you will be as excited as we are regarding the new contract.

In solidarity,

Don Wlodarski and the RAFO team:

Jen Wilson, Joseph Fedorko, Amelia Hicks, Stan Traywick, Mike Pinsoff and Dennis Tucker