The IC Contingent Aid Fund
Donation protected
The IC Contingent Aid Fund is organizing to get support directly to Ithaca College contingent faculty who need it. Any IC Contingent Faculty member, past or present, is welcome to apply for funds that will help them with groceries, health care costs, utilities, rent, childcare, moving expenses, or any other necessities.
Many contingent faculty, colleagues that have been serving IC for years or decades, will face non-renewals this fall and beyond. This fund seeks to prevent these faculty members from facing total economic disaster. The ongoing covid-19 crisis, combined with cost-cutting measures by the college, is exacerbating existing inequality, since many contingent faculty members do not have health insurance and are reliant on government programs like welfare and heat assistance to make ends meet. By laying off significant numbers of contingent faculty, and by refusing to provide paid medical leave for contingent faculty who get sick this semester, the college is forcing the financial burden of this crisis into the hands of those least able to handle it.
Our Ithaca College community has an opportunity to come together and ensure that all of us, including the most vulnerable, are safe and supported. We ask those who have financial stability – especially tenured/tenure-track faculty and upper administration – to consider sharing resources in solidarity with those who have become even more vulnerable as a result of our current crisis. Many of us will be out of a job come the fall, and will likely be ineligible for some forms of Unemployment Insurance due to the terms of our gig-economy contracts. Some of us will have to take on the expense of moving--to find work, to live with family or friends, or even out of the country, for those of us who face visa issues without a employment contract. Some of us will face hospital bills and have no way to pay them. By contributing to this fund, you will help keep your colleagues, beloved professors in our community, temporarily afloat in these anxiety-ridden times.
If you’re an IC contingent faculty member who has taught in the last two years (since Fall 2018), fill out this form to apply .
If you’re an IC contingent faculty member, student, alum, parent, continuing faculty member, or community ally, and you would like to volunteer your time to support the contingent faculty, you can find more information here.
Where does the money go?
100% of the funds collected will be distributed directly to contingent faculty members who apply. There will be an initial two-week period in which we gather funds and applications; at the end of that period, we will distribute funds equally to all applicants. If there is need, we will then do another two-week period of gathering funds and applications, until such point as the need is answered.
We can choose to answer this crisis with solidarity, with love, and with mutual respect. This is an opportunity for us to organize together as a campus and shift the locus of power. In that spirit, we also encourage community members to donate to the Ithaca College Emergency Student Relief Fund, the Aid for Ithaca's DACA and Undocumented Students Fund , the Southside Community Center, the Ithaca Virtual Tip Jar in support of service-industry workers, and the Community Foundation of Tompkins County.
Below you can find a rallying cry by a number of renowned scholars in support of contingent faculty impacted by a combination of the Covid-19 crisis and poor administrative policy decisions. This goes hand-in-hand with the recent "Covid-19: Academic Solidarity Statement" that has been circulating globally, garnering over 3,000 signatures, from academics across 18 countries and over 500 institutions.
Many contingent faculty, colleagues that have been serving IC for years or decades, will face non-renewals this fall and beyond. This fund seeks to prevent these faculty members from facing total economic disaster. The ongoing covid-19 crisis, combined with cost-cutting measures by the college, is exacerbating existing inequality, since many contingent faculty members do not have health insurance and are reliant on government programs like welfare and heat assistance to make ends meet. By laying off significant numbers of contingent faculty, and by refusing to provide paid medical leave for contingent faculty who get sick this semester, the college is forcing the financial burden of this crisis into the hands of those least able to handle it.
Our Ithaca College community has an opportunity to come together and ensure that all of us, including the most vulnerable, are safe and supported. We ask those who have financial stability – especially tenured/tenure-track faculty and upper administration – to consider sharing resources in solidarity with those who have become even more vulnerable as a result of our current crisis. Many of us will be out of a job come the fall, and will likely be ineligible for some forms of Unemployment Insurance due to the terms of our gig-economy contracts. Some of us will have to take on the expense of moving--to find work, to live with family or friends, or even out of the country, for those of us who face visa issues without a employment contract. Some of us will face hospital bills and have no way to pay them. By contributing to this fund, you will help keep your colleagues, beloved professors in our community, temporarily afloat in these anxiety-ridden times.
If you’re an IC contingent faculty member who has taught in the last two years (since Fall 2018), fill out this form to apply .
If you’re an IC contingent faculty member, student, alum, parent, continuing faculty member, or community ally, and you would like to volunteer your time to support the contingent faculty, you can find more information here.
Where does the money go?
100% of the funds collected will be distributed directly to contingent faculty members who apply. There will be an initial two-week period in which we gather funds and applications; at the end of that period, we will distribute funds equally to all applicants. If there is need, we will then do another two-week period of gathering funds and applications, until such point as the need is answered.
We can choose to answer this crisis with solidarity, with love, and with mutual respect. This is an opportunity for us to organize together as a campus and shift the locus of power. In that spirit, we also encourage community members to donate to the Ithaca College Emergency Student Relief Fund, the Aid for Ithaca's DACA and Undocumented Students Fund , the Southside Community Center, the Ithaca Virtual Tip Jar in support of service-industry workers, and the Community Foundation of Tompkins County.
Below you can find a rallying cry by a number of renowned scholars in support of contingent faculty impacted by a combination of the Covid-19 crisis and poor administrative policy decisions. This goes hand-in-hand with the recent "Covid-19: Academic Solidarity Statement" that has been circulating globally, garnering over 3,000 signatures, from academics across 18 countries and over 500 institutions.
Fundraising team: The Ithaca College Mutual Aid Team (5)
James Miranda
Organizer
Ithaca, NY
ARZU KARADUMAN
Team member
Mark Baustian
Team member
R Fomalhaut
Team member
Tom Schneller
Team member
