Membership Criteria

The bargaining unit shall consist of all SOU faculty who meet all the conditions (1-4) enumerated below.  For the purposes of this description the activities of library personnel and department chairs are considered to be teaching and/or research.

1)  Faculty whose primary teaching and/or research assignment is at Southern Oregon University or who hold appointments with Southern Oregon University.

2)  Appointments are at the rank of professor, associate professor, assistant professor, senior instructor, or instructor.

3)  Employment during the nine-month academic year is at least half-time, i.e. 0.50 full-time equivalent (FTE).

4)  Faculty whose primary duties are University-level teaching and/or research activities.

APSOU dues (or fair share payments) of $32.50 will be deducted from each of eight paychecks (October through May). NOTE: In 2017, APSOU raised its dues from $160/year to $260/year to cover increased legal fees and to replenish a diminishing fund balance. This increase covers each member’s dues to AOF (Association of Oregon Faculties).  

Faculty must explicitly opt in one time to become members of the union, after which time they will remain union members until explicitly opting out or terminating from SOU. If you wish to opt out (by making an appropriate charitable contribution totaling $260 to a non-religious charity) or feel you have been misidentified (see membership criteria below), please notify the APSOU Treasurer. 

If you elect not to pay APSOU dues, you relinquish your right to being a “voting member” of APSOU.  However, all SOU faculty are governed by all decisions made by APSOU, e.g. the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Faculty who are retired no longer pay APSOU dues.  Dues will stop being deducted the month after the official retirement date.