Who We Are

Leanne Hafer-Dippong

The pandemic has exposed many of the inequities that are prevalent at MICA. Areas are understaffed creating higher workloads and intense burnout. We have witnessed our most vulnerable workers continuously disenfranchised. Furloughs and layoffs saw an increase of what the institution has exercised for years—asking staff to take on extra duties of those who have left without appropriate compensation. In most instances, that has amounted to working two full-time jobs for the pay of one. That is NOT “additional duties as assigned.” The institution would never ask a faculty member to teach a double load without compensating them for that work. Staff should be treated the same.

Everyone deserves a living wage, a safe place to work, and to be valued and respected for their contributions. I support a union because it is time for action, accountability, and transparency.

John T Woods

I arrived at MICA as a student, hungry to learn and to be part of a like minded community. During my studies I worked in the Maintenance department part-time, learning many new skills and gaining some much needed financial certainty. Now after another three years as a full time staff member, working conditions have become unsustainable. Uncompetitive pay and nebulous paths for advancement have led to high turnover among my colleagues. Constant understaffing has created unrealistic workloads. Multiple furloughs and layoffs have compromised our financial security, and unsafe working conditions have left my coworkers and I at risk. I support a union by us and for us to gain the power to bargain for the work experience we need. Better pay, accountable safety practices, and the financial security of a union contract only help to create the best MICA community possible.

Benjamin McNutt

I am a MICA alumni and staff member. When I reported a dangerous MICA employee on campus I was not given the support and structure I felt I deserved to remain safe and supported while on campus. I strongly believe MICA should take instances of abuse seriously and provide employees with safety and support in situations such as this so that meaningful resolutions for dangerous situations can occur. Having a union at MICA will provide the opportunity to build a framework of reporting that provides real and qualitative support to its own employees.

Deborah Viles

Joining a union would be a very beneficial thing for MICA and its employees.  Since, getting raises is a very rare thing at MICA, a union would help us get the salaries we deserve and work hard for.  It would also allow us access to fair grievance processes, fair layoff practices, and give the individual a stronger voice, not to mention solidarity and equality.

Aster Lobel

I'm a MICA staff member and Alumni. Even before the pandemic, my department was understaffed, and underfunded. During the pandemic we were one of very few departments asked to remain on campus, without hazard pay. My department has recently taken over an entire division of a separate department without added staff or pay. MICA deserves a functional, well paid, and safe staff which will continue to allow the MICA community to thrive..

Gilles Lee Stromberg

The MICA community is one I am tasked to speak about and to celebrate in my work on and off campus. I do so with earnestness, honesty, joy, and confidence. MICA is a rare institution that actively and demonstrably puts its mission and values into practice. A union continues this important work and reflects the MICA values of collaboration, equity, thoughtful disruption, critical appraisal, and modeling a community of care. When our staff are not supported, heard, or recognized at a foundational level - MICA’s educational environment suffers to the detriment of our students and faculty. This cannot continue. I am excited to join with my colleagues and say, “No more!”. So much of the positive social change we see around us was implemented through the collective efforts of workers. I’m excited to publicly and unabashedly stand with my colleagues to elevate, strengthen, and empower our voices; I am also strengthened and emboldened by my elders, mentors, and ancestors who’ve done the same.

Brian Dillon

I like working at MICA but my department has been gutted. We need leadership. You can't take away all our resources and expect the same level of service. We want to do our jobs and we want management to support and believe us when we request tools and equipment. There is nothing worse than losing personal equipment for a job that is supposed to be supporting us to do work for them. Staff need a voice.

Travis Levasseur

I’m an alumni of MICA. The lack of support and respect for those maintaining and improving the institution affected the quality of my education. Staff are the fabric of MICA. I support the union because we need to make major changes that I believe are possible if we are united.

Mary Alessi

I've worked at MICA for over a decade, and have seen morale drop slowly at first, then plummet steadily in recent years. High paying roles are being filled from outside MICA, while experienced staff with specialized skills see no opportunities for advancement, and are forced to look for other work. I believe a union will support pay equity and advancement opportunities that will keep talent at MICA.

Sarah Jung

I'm an alumni of MICA's illustration program and I love being a part of this community. During my time at MICA I've felt unsafe, undervalued, and pressured to do unpaid labor that I've never been compensated for. MICA staff deserve to feel empowered, and safe in their work environment. A union will allow us to claim our rights as workers and feel fully autonomous in the workplace!

Renee Sicchitano

Prior to coming to MICA, I was employed at the University of Maryland, College Park. The staff there had union representation. The union ensured that the staff was treated fairly. In my 6 and a half years at MICA, it has been frustrating to me to see the way the Administration ignores staff and does not treat them as equals. (Example- the lack of a 360 review) We also have no way of working together as a group in order to make our needs known to the Administration. MICA staff needs and deserves a voice. A union can help to provide a strong voice for staff so that we can obtain better working conditions for everyone involved.

Madison Coan

I began at MICA as an alum, shortly out of college. I had envisioned an empowering career where I would connect with and uplift amazing students. However, I quickly found that -despite my connection to incredible students - I was overworked, underpaid, undervalued, exhausted and unlistened to. Through working with the union, I have met many people who have the exact same problem - who have been doing great work for years without any flexibility, without raises or promotions and without the voice to ask for what they need and deserve. A union by us and for us will give us the power to bargain for better working conditions and pay commensurate with the amazing work MICA staff do!

Siân Evans

I love working at MICA, I adore our wonderful community of faculty, staff and students. But, a vast divide exists between the haves and the have nots. Many of our colleagues can barely afford their rent and none of us on staff have clear paths for advancement. And, during the most financially precarious times of our lives in the middle of a pandemic, the administration chose to furlough and layoff staff, my team included. I support a union for us, by us, because it will help us increase salaries, make our workplace safer, and create opportunities for growth. All of this would build team morale and help MICA truly become the community of care we aspire to be.

Kirk Amaral Snow

MICA has always functioned through an informal economy; it thrives off the one-to-one relationships you can easily build within our community. I really valued that when I came to the college. MICA has a family vibe that institutions its size don’t usually have. As I’ve made my way through the college, I started to see the weaknesses in this too–when very little is formalized it is hard to know where you stand. Figuring out how to advance was a maze, and through talking to colleagues I learned of so many other places where colleagues were running up against inequity and inconsistency. I’m supporting a union to bring stability to our community; it’ll create a clear, transparent, and binding outlet for us to talk about our working conditions.

Sid Champagne

I was hired as the Resource Sharing Coordinator at MICA at a substantially lower rate than my predecessor. I was offered no routes for advancements or raises, and my department depends on student labor rather than trained, experienced staff. During the pandemic I was expected to create entirely new programs to deliver to faculty and students, while also experiencing layoffs, furloughs, cuts to my benefits. The MICA community deserves better than this. With a union, staff will have a say in our pay, working conditions, and our security. I'm not satisfied waiting for change while we lose colleagues to better paying, more supportive jobs. I want change now.

Laura Birdsall

Solidarity with my fellow staff workers at MICA trumps any small disagreements or tough situations we've been through together in the past. I believe in the value of higher education, I believe in the amazing talent and curiosity of MICA students, and I believe in our ability to collectively create better working conditions for ourselves and each other. Feeling safe and supported at work, especially as a MICA employee with a disability, is one of the most important tools I have to do my job guiding students through their academic careers. As we have all witnessed limited success with individual self advocacy, I wholeheartedly believe that unionizing is our best path forward to establish working conditions that treat us with dignity and respect.

Emilia Duno

This past year has been hard for all of us and in the midst of pay cuts, furloughs and hiring freezes even further institutional inequities have been exposed. It was only when MICA announced mandatory furlough days for employees with salaries over 50K that I realized that I was being paid nearly $10,000 less than all of my coworkers in my department despite having additional responsibilities. I support a union for MICA’s staff, organized by MICA staff because it will give us the power to demand adequate, equitable pay and the kind of administrative transparency we need to feel that we are cared for by the institution that we care for so much.

Karl Ericksen

MICA has a great and intertwining community that voices support for growth and leadership in regards to students and faculty. However, those voices fall short in regards to staff as actions with little career growth, below average wages, and implementable health & financial security. These points have become gleamingly apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic as many colleagues and I were furloughed and now currently work in-person with hundreds of students daily. This union is supported by me and my colleagues to enact ways to build on our careers, improve safety, and establish more even and fair conversations. Through this, MICA will become a more vigorous university, community, and place of work.

Lauren Watters

Only a short time after I transitioned from student worker to full-time staff at MICA, the requirements of my job quickly picked up and became increasingly undefined. For the past two years, I’ve worked as an indispensable team member tirelessly contributing new efforts to my department and keeping up with the ever changing nature of my work all while being underpaid. Working with the Union, I learned that this is an all too common experience with no opportunities for rightful compensation. Together, a Staff-lead union would give us the ability to negotiate for safe work environments, equitable pay, and the opportunity to build an actual community of care.

Art Soontornsaratool

I've been an employee at MICA for over 11 years and it has always been a fantastic place to work. The MICA community and creative environment are amazing. However, there has always been pay inequity among employees, no process for performance-based salary increases, salaries well under market value, and only half-hearted and opaque efforts by administration to solve these issues. Myself and my colleagues deserve better. I support our union because together we have a greater voice to build a more equitable working environment. 

Vanessa Perrigo

I came to work at MICA over 10 years ago. I was promoted early in my time here and felt that if I continued to serve with ambition and dependability, I would continue to rise through the ranks. It has become clear that there is no path forward for me despite my commitment. At this point, like so many of my colleagues, I feel taken advantage of. There is a lack of equitable, competitive compensation. There is no clear path for advancement. There is no commitment from MICA to its own staff. I'm in support of this union because I want all staff at MICA to have financial stability, support, and the opportunity to grow. 

Brian Hagermann

There’s an undeniable, irreplaceable energy in a campus full of artists that inspires so many of the staff members who work here. I’ve returned to MICA for the third time in as many decades because of this. The unwelcome thread that ties these tenures together is the outdated treatment of staff as second-class citizens. This antiquated status quo of old higher education has no place at such a progressive institution. We deserve the respect, dignity and security in our working life that a union can provide us. Together, we can bargain for a future where our commitment and efforts are valued and we are treated as equal people, not expendable parts in a machine.