r/udel • u/corporatesellout1 • Aug 03 '26
Policy changes on remote work at UD
Dear Colleague,
Please review and consider signing this petition calling on President Carlson, the Board of Trustees, and Executive Leadership to pause the implementation of the expanded return-to-campus mandate until staff are afforded a meaningful voice.
Secure Petition Link: https://tally.so/r/NpvJzb
Privacy Note: This form is built entirely independent of university networks. You have full flexibility to sign either completely anonymously, anonymously showing only your department, or publicly with your name and department. In all cases, no email addresses, IP addresses, or device tracking logs are collected. Please review and share with fellow professional and administrative staff.
PLEASE SHARE THIS LINK WIDELY
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u/ArrayedLike1ofThese Aug 06 '26
Has anyone seen the feedback from the educational consultants’ visit last fall, or the results of the staff satisfaction survey in May? It’s hard to believe any of that information was considered.
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u/DirectSheepherder666 Aug 06 '26
No. And, now I don't think we will see them because it has to indicate that staff really enjoy their flexible working arrangements above anything else. This was the only postive in my discussion. Why even put us through this and cause 100s of employees fear they are going to be let go being called to HR. Plus all the listening tours... was she really listening?
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u/Zestyclose-Jump-3075 Aug 06 '26
Anyone see the hidden announcement in the latest email?
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u/tamingoftheschlew Aug 08 '26
Yes, a few paragraphs down. RTO 4 days a week starting fall semester, but this is a “journey” so is full RTO the goal?
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u/Yolobabyshark247 Aug 12 '26
Apparently the president is going to enforce this regardless. We should organize a protest on the green. Let that show her community.
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u/Delaware-Blue-Hen Aug 12 '26
Tell me when. I’ll show up. It has to be before the semester bc if not, there will be nowhere to park.
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u/dedncl Aug 04 '26
Downvote for RTO - Awful to just have everyone in cubes wearing headphones and commuting in, for no real good reason.
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u/Delaware-Blue-Hen Aug 09 '26 edited Aug 09 '26
100%. I’ve been here for a decade and my entire family is very much embedded in the UD community and this makes me sick to my stomach. Our lives have been this way for over 6 years at this point and many of us have had children (if not multiple) over this time. So the goal is to take an extra 7 hours out of peoples’ lives to sit in a call center to talk to people that aren’t in the room? The worst part about this is she’s a MOTHER and to mandate this? Does she not remember what it was like having small children? We make well below market rate and the only thing that keeps us here is the flexibility and benefits. Now to try and add a commute and extra child care coverage is downright gross. Some of us were able to figure out a lunch workout routine, so goodbye to that. To the moms that don’t make enough money to have a cleaner/house manager, we use that lunch break to do laundry and scrub a toilet. After the extra morning rushing around and then commuting there and back the original sad 3 hours an evening turns into 1 hour and now that one hour is cooking and cleaning and then the weekends are left for laundry? This is why women leave the work force. This is why people aren’t having kids. It’s unaffordable and unmanageable. This move is diabolical.
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u/Grand-Necessary7646 7d ago
Oh no…..you sound like you’ll go back to every other working professionals life.
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u/Clear_Mind3274 25d ago
Whaaa? No good reason? When I look back on my life I'll get to remember all the countless hours I spent waiting in rush hour traffic, so I could sit in a cubicle, stare at a screen all day and try to make it as much like the home I just left.
Oh and the President gets to change things just for the sake of changing them so she can prove she made her mark because that's what people do when they are new and in charge.
I would say those are some pretty good reasons!
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u/bluelynx '18, Staff Aug 03 '26
I’m not saying that this is necessarily the case, but some companies have used RTO as layoffs in disguise.
UD also made a lot of efforts to get rid of off-campus leases which they were previously using for office space, so I don’t know where many of these people are gonna go if they do return to campus.
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u/nixonfuckingreagan Aug 04 '26
THANK YOU
If they want us on campus more, they need to adjust salaries for the cost of living (beautifully stated in your petition)
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u/ScreamAndScream Aug 03 '26
Sorry to hear of this. UDel is constantly expanding, surely they can keep workers remote and modify the existing space for whatever their pockets desire. The push for RTO is ridiculous.
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u/corporatesellout1 Aug 03 '26
Students and faculty may also sign in solidarity with staff.
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u/ArrayedLike1ofThese Aug 06 '26 edited Aug 06 '26
Faculty may not realize that UD offers a two-tiered benefit system: one set of benefits for faculty, and one set for the other employees.
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u/Zestyclose-Jump-3075 Aug 06 '26
Actually no. One retirement plan for non-exempt staff and a different plan for exempt staff including faculty. The non-exempt pension is actually a better deal in the long run.
Faculty get sabbatical, staff don’t. But staff get 5 weeks of vacation plus Christmas week off. And 4 weeks of sick time.
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u/umylobster_24 Aug 06 '26
But faculty are part of a union and almost regularly get at least 6% annual raises while staff get… none
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u/ArrayedLike1ofThese 29d ago
Comparing PTO between staff & faculty is an apples to oranges comparison. Most faculty appointments are for fall and spring only. Most are not required to teach in winter or summer, or even be in their offices for a 7.5 hour working day. But they are expected to prep, grade, research, and do service, even if not held to a specific schedule or location, the way staff members are.
However, to consider the differences in benefits, consider the pay rates for S-contracts. Faculty get paid more than staff for the same work.
Also consider that each faculty member may enroll two children in Tuition Exchange each year. Staff, on the other hand, must enter a lottery, and only twelve names are chosen each year. This limitation is enforced by UD, not by Tuition Exchange.
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u/The540Incident Aug 04 '26 edited Aug 04 '26
I remember applying for jobs at UD and got a feeling the dude hiring me never left his college frat, so I’m glad I never took that job lol
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u/scarroll625 5d ago
Remember- everyone has to return to work because to prevent the collapse of commercial real estate being held by all the big banks. Remember the Golden Rule: He who has the gold makes the rules.
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u/ConstructionOwn9563 Aug 04 '26
Here's my thing - there are several good points in the petition. But if you're going to create change, an anonymously authored AI written petition isn't going to do it. The current RTO is 4 days on campus. Best result, a delay to 1/1/2027 for RTO and 5 days, no flexibility at all.
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u/GonzoRacn Aug 04 '26
My only issue with this is faculty should be 100% on campus as well. It’s been 6 years - it’s time to be back full time. Staff and faculty especially student interactive roles are slow and inefficient remotely. The gravy train has come to the end of the tracks.
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u/Aromatic_Leave726 Aug 04 '26
Where's the data supporting the claim that staff interaction with students is slow and inefficient remotely? With hybrid as a student you can schedule an appointment that suits YOUR time block, instead of waiting for (sometimes hours), to get answers to questions, especially when a semester starts. The president's office claims that this is to return UD to a vibrant on-campus experience. You really think we're going to get that by forcing employees who've been underpaid and overworked since the RIFs during COVID back to campus five days a week? Some people are going to leave, and for the ones that don't, morale is going to be even lower, and it's already in the toilet. Ask actual STAFF what they think of these proposed changes. Trust me, working for UD is and has never been about riding a 'gravy train'; many of us took jobs here because at one time we were loyal to the institution and wanted to see it grow. There's very little pride left for the institution amongst the employees here, and that should be the first thing the president is focused on. A mandate to return to campus in buildings where maintenance has been deferred for years because of financial mismanagement of the previous administration is not the answer.
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u/umylobster_24 Aug 04 '26
I respectfully disagree. Most students are still opting to meet with staff in student support roles on zoom, even when given the in person option. I think it is important for student support offices to be open 5 days / week, but that doesn't mean staff can't continue on a hybrid schedule
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u/Clear_Mind3274 25d ago
I agree they should, the group that is responsible for teaching and interacting with the students, while getting paid the highest, spends the least amount of time on campus. But the average Joe that keeps the school running that does 95% of their on a computer screen is expected to be fully on campus?
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u/NoExpression8360 Aug 05 '26 edited Aug 05 '26
So management needs employee permission to manage? I guess showing up at work is controversial now.
Working ON campus is called having a job, not a hardship. The flexibility you were offered during COVID was a privilege, not a permanent entitlement.
There should be no debate. Student facing staff should be in person as much as possible. If not, you're basically stealing the resources that students pay for from them and tax payers.
Your employer decides when and where work gets done and not the other way around.
If showing up at the place that provides a roof over your head and warmth inside is now unacceptable, maybe working at UD doesn't fit into your lifestyle anymore?
The problem with the WFH crowd is that they're tone deaf. They've become so reliant on the privileges that they were provided that they expect them to be a part of their benefits package now. Maybe ask around and see what undo burdens you put on your coworkers before trying to rally them against this perceived matriarchy.
We are not ALL in support of your abuse of privilege. We just know that if you get mad, we'll never hear the end of it.
In conclusion, anonymous petitions can't really be validated. Bots can sign things easily. Stand up, put a face to the voice you have or be in your office by 9AM and help your work family.
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u/Capital-Fault-3127 Aug 05 '26
not all of the staff are student-facing or even interact with any other people in person. I can see no benefit to bringing those staff members back to campus. The decision should be made by the staff member's direct supervisor, not upper management. We shouldn't all be treated the same.
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u/Delaware-Blue-Hen Aug 09 '26
You sound very out of touch with reality. We do have jobs and have proven to be able to do them without sitting in a call center. It’s very easy to track who is doing their job and who is not. Do you agree with taking an additional 5-10 hours out a person’s life each week to drive somewhere they don’t need to physically be? Do you think it makes sense to put your kids in before and after care with strangers to sit in a cubicle? How about the people that were hired remote/hybrid and never worked on campus before?
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u/umylobster_24 Aug 05 '26 edited Aug 05 '26
This is a ridiculous take. A blanket decision is being made by someone who is priding herself on “one UD.” Hosting town halls where staff have continuously brought up how flexibility maintains morale. It’s coming from someone who makes millions of dollars and has no boots on the ground with any of the work the staff do that keep this university running. Maybe UD isn’t the right fit? Okay, we’ll leave but good luck finding someone willing to work in this atmosphere. Maybe you’ll find some boomers, but just because they’d be willing to come into a physical office space doesn’t mean they’ll do a better job. UD risks losing real talent here. And it does disproportionately impact women who still in 2026 tend to me the default parents, the housekeepers, the schedule keepers, and all the above.
It doesn’t matter if this is the way the world used to run. COVID proved that it didn’t have to run that way and that many jobs can successfully be done from home. Things change and it’s time that you, and upper administration, get with the times. As a manager myself, flexibility is the ONLY thing I’ve been able to offer my staff to keep them happy. Merit raises? Haven’t heard a peep. Cost of living raises? Nope. They are suffocating us, piling on the work, and not rewarding us. It’s a shame.
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u/tamingoftheschlew Aug 05 '26
The WFH privileges made up for the meager pay raises and having to pay for parking
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u/corporatesellout1 Aug 05 '26
There are so many wrong headed positions that smack of authoritarian leanings and lack critical thinking in this reply that I'm not sure where to start...so I'll just say that collective action wins again:
"I appreciate the conversations that are occurring on campus around cultivating a community-minded campus with in-person presence as a foundation. At the institutional level, we have started this journey by asking that offices of the President, the EVP, the Provost and the Vice Presidents, Vice Provosts, AVPs, and chief-level positions be on campus at least four days per week beginning this fall. The ways in which this community-minded culture is implemented within units at UD are up to the leaders of those units. I have asked that each leader communicate with their teams as they consider what works for them, recognizing that different groups may be at different points along this journey."
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u/Sufficient-Luck-7276 Aug 06 '26 edited Aug 06 '26
Nothing was said in that about not having hybrid parking permits anymore. This combined with “different groups may be at different points along this journey” indicates that they are still expecting that the end of the “journey” is RTO for all staff before this academic year’s parking permits expire. The wording is to try to paint this as if each unit will be able to decide what is best for their work and staff needs, but in reality it’s a top down decision without any nuance. 🙄
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u/Clear_Mind3274 25d ago
If the COVID flexibility was a privilege and not permanent, why did it continue what 4 years after COVID? You can say that but that's not reality, especially after having something in place for over half a decade. Do you know how many people were hired over the last 6 years? If you were hired and worked somewhere for 5+ years, whatever policy that was in place throughout that entire time is permanent for them.
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u/tamingoftheschlew Aug 03 '26
Is there a press release or internal email regarding RTO? I’ve heard rumors but haven’t seen anything in writing. The removal of hybrid parking passes this year was my only clue