Outside the classroom, the faculty of the Ateneo face considerable challenges just as any worker. In addition to juggling the brunt of research and pedagogy, as well as their own matters outside the academe, they have to deal with what some may consider insufficient salaries, lacking benefits, and unreasonable work policies.

Despite the University’s longstanding tradition of championing the humble worker, the teaching staff of the Ateneo itself is not free of its share of work-related grievances.

Members of the Loyola Schools faculty formed a new association in the hopes of addressing this. And as the first organization of its kind, it opens the door for opportunities that were not available to its members before.

State of affairs

“The Ateneo is not paying its employees enough. Period,” shares Luis*, a lecturer at the Loyola Schools (LS). For faculty members like him, the matter of wages has always been a perennial problem in the University.

“[The] Ateneo, I think, is one of the lowest paying schools in the capital,” Luis shares, especially among the “top schools” in Metro Manila. While not disclosing exact numbers, he says that for instance, the starting pay for part-time faculty like him—around Php 20,000 a month—is meager compared to similar positions in schools like De La Salle University (DLSU), which offer significantly higher entry-level salaries, ranging from Php 30,000 to 50,000 as per Luis and The LaSallian.

Moreover, according to Luis, LS faculty with only master’s degrees have no opportunities for salary hikes unless they attain doctorates—Php 20,000 is their ceiling. Luis also says master’s degree holders in DLSU can be promoted up to associate professor, a mid-level position, with salaries that can reach Php 100,000 monthly.

In response, Katherine Soriano, Head of the Total Rewards Section of the Office of Human Resource Management and Organizational Development refutes the claim that the Ateneo is one of the lowest paying universities in Metro Manila, saying that “each university has its own compensation system that operationalizes [its compensation] philosophy and is aligned with its strategic objectives].”

“Universities also apply different methods in recognizing the contributions of their employees. In addition, faculty load, together with salary rate per unit load, varies among universities. Likewise, universities may also use different ranking systems. All these factors, and perhaps more, would contribute to differences in salary rates for faculty among universities in Metro Manila,” Soriano says.

Soriano also says that the University Faculty Salary Structure for LS faculty remains undisclosed to the public because “it is considered confidential information.”

In contrast, the salary schedules for faculty of competing universities such as DLSU and the University of the Philippines are accessible online.

However, Soriano clarifies that “the pay structure is made available to the hiring departments through the department chair and the Dean’s Office who are responsible for conducting salary discussions with the faculty.”

She adds that “a faculty member who has an inquiry about the salary structure may approach his/her department chair who can respond to his/her concern.”

With regards to the ceiling, Soriano says that the “University’s salary structure only sets the minimum hiring rate per faculty rank.”

“At the point of hiring, the maximum rate that may be offered to a faculty is determined by way of salary valuation herein the work experience of a faculty is recognized through a defined factor rating. During a faculty’s tenure in the University, adjustments to their pay are implemented via general increases and merit increases,” she says.

Soriano also says that faculty rank “is determined by the Committee on Faculty Rank and Permanent Appointment…based on defined norms for appointment or advancement in work including, but not limited to, educational attainment.”

It is not uncommon to hear one’s professors express dissatisfaction with their earnings; however, comparatively smaller wages and the lack of transparency are not the only grievances of the Ateneo’s teaching force.

In a previous article, faculty-parents of the Ateneo shared their concerns regarding the Ateneo’s dearth of childcare facilities and lacking work benefits for parents. One mother, Frances Doplon of the English Department, voiced her discomfort at having the Ateneo’s makeshift breastfeeding room also serve as the drug testing venue. On the other hand, the insurance policy the Ateneo provides only covers prenatal check-ups, excluding the costs of childbirth and prenatal laboratory exams.

Currently, there is neither a dedicated breastfeeding room in the University nor an available daycare center for children of employees. At the time of writing, however, an employee daycare is being built in the Social Sciences Building.

Breads, roses, and conversations

To aggregate faculty concerns and forward them to the University administration, a number of LS teaching staff have created the Ateneo Loyola Schools Faculty Association (ALSFA) through its founding assemblies on August 18 and September 28.

The purpose of ALSFA, according to its constitution and bylaws, is “to promote and safeguard the professional interests, as well as the general welfare of the faculty of the Loyola Schools.”

ALSFA is composed of an executive board of seven, representing all four of the Loyola Schools. The board members include: Carmel “Melay” Abao, President; Jose Claro “Bong” Monje (SOSE), Vice President; Melissa Lao, (SOSS), Secretary; Fructuoso “Jun” Sabug, Treasurer; Enrique “Niño” Leviste, (SOSS), Auditor; Devi Paez (SOH), Head of Membership Committee; and Ricardo “JR” Ang, (SOSS), Representative of Part-time Faculty.

As of writing, Abao says that approximately 20% of the LS faculty population, both full-time and part-time, belong to ALSFA. The organization plans to include more members once formally established.

ALSFA plans on tackling issues concerning faculty, but according to Abao, the specifics are still being threshed out. The current initiative involves a three-pronged approach, titled “Breads, Roses, Conversations.”

The first part, Bread, aims to “improve terms of work and entitlements as faculty.” The second, Roses, aims to “uphold the dignity and well-being of faculty. The third, Conversations, aims to “participate in every possible or necessary discourse in the Loyola Schools.”

Moreover, Abao says that ALSFA will be organizing and mobilizing members through working committees which include: Faculty welfare, promotion and career development, diversity, and part-time faculty. The issues that ALSFA will be working on centers around those themes.

The effectiveness of ALSFA hinges on the relationship between the association and the Ateneo administration. Abao says that no formal working relationship has been established between the two sides, however, given “the newness of the organization.”

However, the Office of the Vice President of the Loyola Schools (VPLS), alongside other school administrators, have been made aware of the plans to establish a faculty association and have agreed to enter into a memorandum of agreement once ALSFA has been formally established.

According to Abao, “both [the] administration and the initiators of the association have shown mutual respect and the resolve to cooperate and engage.” Moreover, Abao says that the working relationship ALSFA wants to build with the University is one of “critical collaboration.”

VPLS Maria Luz Vilches has expressed keenness in ALSFA’s formation, saying that it is “a good thing [for] the faculty [to] have this own voice and their identified concerns.” Vilches says that her role now in relation to the association is to listen and bring forward ALSFA’s concerns.

One plan not included in the future of the ALSFA is unionization. ALSFA deliberately chose to become an association because they wanted to include part-time employees, and because ALSFA “[does] not want to be hard-line, anti-administration,” according to Abao.

“We believe we can persuade the current administration to provide us with the information that we need to formulate our proposals, and to sit down with us and negotiate on these proposals,” Abao elaborates.

Additionally, Abao says that ALSFA does not believe that the state nor the Department of Labor and Employment needs to enter the picture. Abao believes in the spirit of being a community of the faculty, and that ALSFA is a mechanism of shared governance of the Loyola Schools.

Beyond the school forum

Vilches shares that the plan to establish a faculty association started four to six years ago, “but it was never taken up until now.”

In lieu of this, University administration holds monthly school fora—with faculty, administrators, and even student representatives—as an avenue for faculty members to convey their concerns as well as for the Ateneo to present its programs. Moreover, the administration has already taken strides to address concerns, such as allowing part-time faculty to be given research grants, before the association.

However, ALSFA was born out of a need for further self-organization beyond the regular forum. The crux of the matter is that ALSFA will operate under a memorandum with the University administration, giving faculty members greater bargaining power. In addition, it can consolidate faculty interests more efficiently and provide a direct conduit for concerns.

With such a framework, ALSFA aspires to provide LS faculty with a new, auspicious, and institutionalized avenue to communicate with the University administration. It is up to debate whether such an association would be necessary if the University acted enough on faculty grievances from the start; but in any case, the organization is a vital step in bettering faculty representation.

*Name has been changed to protect the identity of interviewee.