campus faculty association

What campus faculty association does

Campus Faculty Association (CFA) is a private, non-profit faculty advocacy and union-organizing organization based at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Founded in approximately 1970 and operating out of the University YMCA at 1001 S Wright Street in Champaign, IL, CFA has been active on the UIUC campus for more than fifty years and is currently campaigning to secure formal collective bargaining recognition for tenure-track faculty under the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act and the Illinois Workers' Rights Amendment. Its sole core product is a union organizing service, comprising card-signing campaigns, member mobilization, Know Your Rights resources, community events, and coalition-building with national and statewide labor bodies.

CFA's target customer is the tenure-track faculty at UIUC with appointments of more than half time. It addresses pain points such as rising administrative control, increasing workloads, declining shared governance, opaque salary processes, and threats to academic freedom and tenure. The organization is democratically governed by its members and led by elected co-presidents, with affiliations to AAUP (through a joint organizing agreement with AFT), IFT, and sister unions GEO and NTFC Local #6546 on the UIUC campus. A prior 2015 organizing campaign partially succeeded by helping establish NTFC Local #6546 for non-tenure-track faculty.

CFA's business model is bifurcated. During the organizing phase, revenue consists of voluntary donations collected via PayPal; dues are explicitly not collected until after recognition, contract negotiation, and member ratification. Once recognized, the model would convert to payroll-deducted subscription dues at 1.0-1.5% of gross salary, comparable to standard U.S. public-sector faculty union practice. The go-to-market is community-led grassroots organizing: peer-to-peer conversations, card-signing drives, social events, and digital communications through the website, email newsletter, and social channels.

Name

campus faculty association

Legal name

Campus Faculty Association

Website

https://cfaillinois.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1970

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Campus Faculty Association is a faculty advocacy and union-organizing organization at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, campaigning to win collective bargaining recognition for tenure-track faculty under Illinois labor law, funded by donations and supported by AAUP/AFT affiliations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Labor Union Services

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113), Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (611310)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDAHAAAI

Public Research Universities with Multi-Campus Systems

Education/Higher Education (Colleges & Universities)/Public Research Universities

Keywords

• Faculty union organizing
• Collective bargaining services
• Labor advocacy organization
• Academic labor rights
• Higher education unionization

Headquarters

HQ city

Champaign

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Member Dues: Once recognition is won and a first contract is ratified, members will pay dues at 1.0-1.5% of gross salary, deducted through employer payroll. Dues are not collected during the campaign.
2. Donations: CFA is transitioning from dues deduction to donations to fund organizing work while working toward unionization. Members and supporters can contribute via PayPal.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Campus Faculty Association (CFA) is a faculty advocacy organization at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign that organizes tenure-track faculty toward achieving a legally recognized union under the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act. It runs card-signing campaigns, collective bargaining preparation, member mobilization, peer-to-peer organizing, and "Know Your Rights" resources, and is affiliated with AAUP through a joint organizing agreement with the AFT.

Product overview

Campus Faculty Association (CFA) is a faculty advocacy organization that provides union organizing campaign services for tenure-track faculty at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. CFA does not offer a technology product; its primary offering is unionization organizing services, including member recruitment, campaign communications, Know Your Rights resources, scholarship programs, and community events. The organization has been active on campus for over fifty years and is affiliated with AAUP through a joint organizing agreement with AFT.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Union Organizing Campaign

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Graduate Employees' Organization (GEO)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 April 2021GEO endorsed CFA's statement calling on UIUC to provide covidSHIELD testing to the local community free of cost. GEO represents graduate employees at UIUC and is a sister labor organization on campus.
• Non-Tenure Track Faculty Coalition (NTFC Local #6546)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 April 2021NTFC endorsed CFA's statement on COVID testing. NTFC represents non-tenure-track faculty at UIUC for collective bargaining purposes. The organizations work together on shared labor concerns.
• AAUP (American Association of University Professors)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAAUP has long defended academic freedom, tenure, due process, and shared governance. AAUP treats collective bargaining as one way faculty defend those values. CFA will be affiliated with AAUP through their joint organizing agreement with the AFT, adding legal bargaining power under the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act.
• AFT (American Federation of Teachers)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCFA will be affiliated with AAUP through their joint organizing agreement with the AFT. AFT provides experienced organizers, legal counsel, and access to resources including an Emergency Immigration Hotline for CFA members.
• Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIFT provides legislative support and legal counsel for CFA, including resources for international faculty regarding immigration protections during union organizing. IFT's legal council has prepared letters outlining protections for international faculty.
• Champaign Urbana Rapid Response CoalitionminorOthersCFA refers members to this coalition for immigration-related concerns, specifically for reporting ICE presence in the community. Contact: 779-235-0262.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• University of Iowa Faculty and Staff Union (COGS/UE): UE-affiliated graduate and academic employee union at a Big Ten peer institution. Comparable faculty labor organizing model at a peer public research university, though in a different state with different labor law.
• Indiana University Bloomington Faculty Council: Faculty governance body at peer Big Ten public university without collective bargaining. Comparable constituency (tenure-track faculty at a large public research university) but operating under a right-to-work state without IELRA-equivalent protections.

Direct peers

• Graduate Employees' Organization (GEO-IFT/AFT): AFT-affiliated graduate employee union at UIUC. Operates on the same campus with parallel organizing structures, mutual endorsement relationships with CFA, and coalition bargaining potential post-CFA recognition.
• UIC United Faculty (UF 6456 IFT/AFT): IFT/AFT-affiliated tenure-track and non-tenure-track faculty union at the University of Illinois Chicago. Same University of Illinois system, same legal framework (IELRA), and most directly comparable in size and structure to a successful CFA.
• Northern Illinois University Chapter — United Faculty Alliance: Faculty union representing NIU tenure-track faculty under IELRA. Comparable Illinois public-university tenure-track bargaining unit — direct functional analog of what CFA seeks to become.
• NTFC Local #6546 (Non-Tenure Track Faculty Coalition): Sister labor organization at UIUC representing non-tenure-track faculty through collective bargaining. Seceded from CFA's earlier organizing efforts and serves as the closest functional peer — same employer, same organizing model, similar constituency.
• Illinois State University Education Association (ISUEA): IFT-affiliated faculty union at Illinois State University representing tenured and tenure-track faculty. Comparable in operating under Illinois public-university labor law and using a similar collective bargaining model to what CFA is pursuing.

Broad incumbents

• American Federation of Teachers (AFT): National labor federation affiliated with CFA via joint organizing agreement. Provides organizers, legal resources, and the institutional infrastructure (alongside AAUP and IFT) that backs CFA's campaign.
• UPI Local 4100 (University Professionals of Illinois): AFT-affiliated statewide union representing faculty and academic staff across multiple Illinois public universities. Comparable in legal framework (IELRA) and represents the kind of multi-campus footprint CFA could pursue if it expands beyond UIUC.
• American Association of University Professors (AAUP): National organization dedicated to academic freedom, shared governance, and tenure — and a direct affiliate of CFA through its joint AFT organizing agreement. Provides the legal and policy backbone for CFA's organizing strategy.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/CampusFacultyAssociation
• Instagraminstagram.com/cfaillinois

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about campus faculty association