Approved: KU Collective Bargaining Agreement (Effective April 15, 2026)

Colleagues,

On April 20, 2026, the Kansas Board of Regents reviewed and approved KU’s first faculty and academic staff collective bargaining agreement. This historic accomplishment represents enormous dedication and time spent by everyone involved – directly or indirectly – in the negotiation process. It sets the foundation for continued partnership and support for faculty moving forward. The final step is review and approval from the Kansas Department of Administration, which is still pending.

Accessing the collective bargaining agreement

As part of the memorandum of agreement between the University of Kansas and United Academics of Kansas University (UAKU), the complete contract must be posted on the Office of Faculty Affairs website and be print-ready and full-text searchable. Shortly after the contract is signed by the Kansas Department of Administration, it will be posted to the Office of Faculty Affairs’ Collective Bargaining website, and faculty and academic staff will be notified.

Contract implementation support and resources

Over the next year, our university community will apply the terms of the contract to our unit and campus level policies and procedures. In order to ensure we meet the contract deadline, the Office of Faculty Affairs has developed several resources to assist faculty and academic staff, and department and academic unit leaders. The Collective Bargaining page now serves as a central location for these resources, where you will find the finalized contract, once available, and other related documents. You’ll also find a suggested policy alignment timeline, guidance documents and checklists that will help take out the guesswork and ensure greater consistency; and information on faculty policy development grants that can help fund this additional effort.

In the coming weeks, you will receive more information on faculty and academic staff compensation related to the terms of the agreement. If you have any questions about the changes that will take place over the next year, please contact the Office of Faculty Affairs at facultyaffairs@ku.edu. They are ready to help.

I truly appreciate the level of effort undertaken to reach this agreement. Hundreds of people have provided input, and all parties gave hundreds of hours. I know this momentous result is because people are passionate about what they do, and they are passionate about the future of the University of Kansas. Passion is something you can’t write into a contract, but its presence in our work efforts – past, present and future – is what makes KU a great place to work, teach and discover. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Arash

Arash Mafi, Ph.D.
Chief Academic Officer, Provost & Executive Vice Chancellor
Professor, Physics & Astronomy