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Wellesley students will only receive a half-unit in courses taught by non-tenure-track faculty members in Wellesley Organized Academic Workers (WOAW) and can register for classes on Saturday, the College announced Thursday morning. 

In an email sent to all students from Provost Courtney Coile and Registrar Carol Shanmugaratnam this morning, all classes taught by Union members are suspended unless in departments where the class is substituted by an instructor or the NTT faculty continues to teach.

For classes with a laboratory component or a high number of minutes like language or studio classes, students will receive full credit for those classes. 

Students will still be considered to satisfy their major, distribution requirements and prerequisites for the classes they have already taken. 

The College will reopen registration for classes on Saturday. Classes will only be at 0.5 units and are mandatory credit/non-credit. Students are expected to attend their new classes starting next Monday, March 31. 

This comes as WOAW began a strike this morning after failing to make significant progress on compensation and workload with the College on their first contract. The News previously reported on the details of disagreements in bargaining. 

This latest policy poses an array of questions for students, especially seniors working to finish their degrees and students whose financial aid or visa status hinges upon their full-time enrollment status. 

The Dean’s Office will host a drop-in Zoom session with the Provost and the Registrar on Friday. The details of the session are not yet available and will be sent out when they are finalized, according to an email sent by the Office of the Class Deans this morning. 

It is not immediately clear how many classes will be opened for registration on Saturday and how many tenure-track faculty will choose to reopen their classes. 

It is also unclear how students and faculty should adapt to enrolling in a class consisting of existing and new students, in terms of class materials, instruction methods and grading with less than one and a half months left in the semester. 

“Students only need to focus on replacing the missing units. Students can select any new course that fits their schedule, including classes in the same block as a class that is no longer meeting during the strike,” said the email. 

The College has yet to provide information for the next steps for students when a tenure-track faculty member may choose not to reopen a class, or the available number of seats do not match the number of students in need of those seats for their enrollment status or academic plans.

The fall 2025 registration that was set to start April 8 will be delayed until further notice. 

In a poll conducted by The Wellesley News on its Instagram page, 44% of those who voted have at least a class taught by NTT faculty and 15% have 3 classes or more.

In a statement to the News, WOAW told the News that they are disappointed in the College’s policy.

“We are disappointed to see that the College has decided to set a precedent in this way— credit for courses has never been revoked from students during an academic strike before, and it is hugely disappointing that Wellesley would use this as a scare tactic to coerce students away from supporting the union. Shifting the blame for this punitive policy to federal requirements on meeting times is disingenuous at best, as the College has the full power to end this strike at any moment, and yet has declined all union offers to bargain at additional times, with no additional sessions scheduled before April 3rd,” said Leah Okumura, Senior Instructor of Science Laboratory of Biological Sciences.

Shortly after this statement was made, the College and the Union will meet for an additional session next Tuesday.

The Wellesley News has reached out to the College, academic departments for comments.

Updated on March 27th to reflect that registration re-opens on Saturday, not Friday.
Updated on March 27, 13:42 pm ET to add WOAW’s statement.