Faculty Petition for Representation

Update: Ohio University and United Academics of Ohio University (UAOU) have begun negotiations toward the development of the first faculty union contract at the institution since its founding. An initial meeting was held on Aug. 8, and additional meetings are planned over the next six weeks.

On May 7, 2025, the State Employment Relations Board certified a secret ballot process formalizing that UAOU, which is affiliated with the American Association of University Professors/American Federation of Teachers (AAUP/AFT), will represent approximately 800 faculty members at Ohio University in matters related to the terms and conditions of employment. 

The new union represents full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty, full-time non-tenure track instructional faculty and full-time non-tenure track clinical faculty, excluding faculty in the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, select faculty in the College of Health Sciences and Professions, and part-time faculty, among other identified groups.