Following a series of Community Conversations in the 2025-2026 academic year that have sparked several protests by the Non-Tenure Track Faculty (NTTF) Union and students, LMU Provost Kat Weaver invited faculty and staff to the latest conversation on Feb. 24 to share further university updates.
Weaver parashooted the conversation by introducing recent news that LMU has been recognized as a Black Serving Institution (BSI) by the state of California, making LMU the only private institution in California with this designation. Weaver claims that the reason for this accolade is due to student success that is reflected in retention and graduation rates.“We don’t have any differences in outcomes in our students between race, ethnicity, gender, first-gen status, or Pell status,” she stated.
Weaver continued to note progress toward the institution’s recognition as a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and an Asian American, Native American, Pacific Islander-Serving Institution (AANAPISI) by the state of California. The Provost linked the push for state-level recognition to a shifting federal legal position after the Supreme Court’s 2023 affirmative action decision. As a result, federal-level benefits tied to Minority-Serving Institution categories have become harder to defend and sustain.
With California’s recognition of LMU’s HSI status, Weaver says that her “hope is that California also follows that with funding and support for students who need these grants.”
In response to its federal recognition as an HSI, LMU established the HSI Task Force, currently led by Maria Cano, to identify ways to better serve the Hispanic community at LMU. This task force proposed funding that was originally specifically focused on research pertaining to the Latine community. Weaver proceeded to announce that those grants are now extended and available to faculty studying Black/African American, Asian and Pacific Islander, International, LGBTQ, and accessibility populations.
“You don’t have to be of that designation to apply for these grants, but it opens up more opportunities for us to be welcoming and supportive of faculty who are doing research across the spectrum,” said Weaver.
An audience member questioned the limitations of these grants, asking whether staff and admin would be able to apply for them, to which Weaver responded that they are explicitly for faculty. She followed that she is open to expanding opportunities: “I would be happy to look into and support staff who want to do research on our campus,” said Weaver. “Absolutely.”
Provost Weaver also announced that LMU will “engage in a glide path towards doubling our promotion increases” over three years. Tenure-line promotion bumps would rise from $5,000 to $10,000 (assistant to associate) and $10,000 to $20,000 (associate to full), and the NTTF promotion bumps would also be doubled.
In the Q&A segment of the conversation, Weaver addressed concerns, clarifying that the change “is not retroactive.” She framed the promotion increases as a way to maintain LMU’s market positioning, claiming thatthe university is “committed to making sure that we are paying at the 75th percentile,” and that the additional promotion funds “will help us sustain this into the future.”
Weaver also pointed to a proposed restructuring of the non-tenure-track teaching track, with teaching-load options including “a 3–3 or 4–3…or 4–4 (classes per term),” and described the heaviest load as “an opportunity to increase the salary…16, 17,000,” alongside “course releases…like a mini sabbatical.”
“What you’re proposing is not more pay for what we’re doing,” said Laura Hauffman of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures. “You’re proposing taking on…33% more work for more pay. It’s not actually a raise for what we’re doing.”
The dispute over whether LMU’s compensation changes represent a real raise or more work for higher pay stemmed from a broader theme of the afternoon: a widening trust gap between NTTF and the LMU administration.
The Q&A soon shifted focus to labor organizing. Prior Community Conversations of the academic year have drawn heightened attention amid NTTF protests and petitions, especially after LMU’s Board of Trustees voted last year to invoke a religious exemption and stop recognizing the union. During the session, Rhetorical Arts instructor and member of the NTTF’s bargaining team, Bryan Wisch, presented a new petition and asked Weaver to deliver it to the board; Weaver said it would be transmitted, but emphasized that “there is no [bargaining] table to go back to.”
After the Q&A, administrators shifted to the event’s planned “deep dive” on LMU’s Mission Priority Examine, a Jesuit-led self-study meant to shape the university’s next strategic plan. John Sebastian, Vice President for Mission and Ministry, and Professor Elizabeth Drummond announced that the campus will hold listening sessions in March and April, then identify two or three mission priorities, with an external review team expected to visit in September.
Although faculty and staff are encouraged to attend the upcoming listening sessions, many viewed the invitation as seemingly empty, given the administration’s unwillingness to revisit the bargaining dispute—an issue that had repeatedly resurfaced in recent discussions.
“You’re talking about having all these listening sessions, but the overwhelming view of the community is that… university leadership does not listen,” said Wisch. “They do whatever they want and try to justify it afterwards.”
