Happy Holidays from the National Center

We encourage institutions, unions, law firms, and individuals to donate to help support the National Center’s research and programming.

December 2025 Newsletter

Our December newsletter includes early registration and additional information about our 53rd Annual Conference on March 22-24, 2026 in New York City.

The keynote speaker will be Wesleyan University President Michael S. Roth. The conference will include over two dozen panels and workshops on important issues in these challenging times.

In this newsletter, we announce four newly confirmed 2026 conference panels, which reflect our principled commitment to broad, relevant, and inclusive programming :

• Massachusetts DRIVE Initiative: State Funding for Higher Education Research;
• Florida-Fighting to Defend Collective Bargaining and Democracy in a Red State;
• Current Labor Issues in Nursing, and
• Staff Bargaining Issues in Higher Education.

The newsletter also includes information about how you can support the National Center's conference and research by becoming a sponsor or a program advertiser. Another way to support the National Center's work is to register for our Contract Research Site, a contribution-based platform, which will allow users to research the terms of hundreds of collective bargaining agreements in higher education.

We announce in the newsletter that Dr. Frazier Benya will be joining the National Center as an Affiliated Researcher. She is the founder and former Director of the National Academies’ Action Collaborative on Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education, and, in 2025, concurrently served as Associate Director of the National Academies’ Committee on Science, Engineering, Medicine, and Public Policy.

We also report on recent representation cases in higher education: the certification of an enlarged unit at Rutgers University; a petition for a large faculty unit at Pennsylvania State University; exceptions filed by Pennsylvania State University challenging the certification of a graduate student union; a petition for a private sector student unit on the CSU Long Beach campus; a petition for a graduate assistant unit at the SUNY Research Foundation; a petition for a unit of academic workers at Western Washington University; and a petition for a professional employee unit at Highline College.



Lastly, the newsletter includes information about books of interest to our labor-management community, links to videos from our 2025 annual conference, job postings from the University of Illinois, Urban-Champaign and the University of Iowa, and links to articles from the current volume of our Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy.

Register Now for the National Center's Annual Conference

in New York City on March 22-24, 2026

Early Bird Special Rates

The National Center encourages you to take advantage of the early bird registration rates for our 53rd annual conference. The conference will take place on March 22-24, 2026 in New York City. The theme of the conference will be Uniting for Workplace and Political Democracy.

Register here or scan the QR code to use the early bird rates for the annual conference. Please also forward this message about the conference to your colleagues, networks, and members.

All fees are payable by credit card. Special conference registration rates are available for adjunct faculty, post-doctoral scholars, graduate and undergraduate students, Hunter College alumni, CUNY faculty, administrators, and staff. For promo codes and how to pay by check contact the National Center: msavares@hunter.cuny.edu

2026 Annual Conference Keynote Speaker:

Wesleyan University President Michael S. Roth

The National Center is pleased to announce that Wesleyan University President, Michael S. Roth will give the keynote address at the National Center's 53rd Annual Conference in New York City on March 22-24, 2026.

President Roth became the 16th president of Wesleyan University in 2007, after having served as Hartley Burr Alexander Professor of Humanities at Scripps College, Associate Director of the Getty Research Institute, and President of the California College of the Arts. He is one of the leading higher education voices defending the value of colleges and universities and their importance to our democracy.

President Roth is known for his work as an administrator, scholar, and public intellectual. He is the author of numerous books—many bearing on liberal education—and regularly publishes essays, book reviews, and commentaries in national media and scholarly journals. In 2025, he was given the PEN/Benenson Courage Award for standing up against governmental assaults on higher education.

Confirmed 2026 Panels and Panelists

Below is a list of currently confirmed panels and workshops for the 2026 conference.

Plenary: Education 4 All with Michael Gavin, President, Delta College, Paulette Granberry Russell, J.D., President, National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, Christopher M. Reber, President, Hudson County Community College, Todd Wolfson, President, AAUP, and Alexandra (Sascha) Matish, Associate Vice Provost for Academic and Faculty Affairs and Senior Director, Academic Human Resources, University of Michigan, Moderator. 


Research Panel: Report on Negotiated Academic Freedom Clauses in Collective Bargaining Agreements with Timothy Reese Cain, Associate Director and Professor of Higher Education, University of Georgia, Anita Levy, Senior Program Officer, AAUP, Erin Ward, PhD Student in Sociology, CUNY Graduate Center, and Kathryn Ritchie, M.A. Candidate, School of Education, Hunter College. Commentators will be Rana Jaleel, Associate Professor, University of California-Davis and Nicholas DiGiovanni, Morgan, Brown & Joy, LLP, with moderator Risa L. Lieberwitz, Professor of Labor and Employment Law, School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University.

Interactive Workshop: Negotiating over Academic Freedom with Bethany Gizzi, President, Monroe Community College Faculty Association, Joseph McConnell, Morgan, Brown & Joy LLP, Timothy S. Taylor, Esq., Arbitrator & Mediator, and Kathy Sheffield, CFA Director of Representation and Bargaining, Moderator.

Book Discussion: Academic Freedom From Professional Norm to First Amendment Right (Harvard University Press, 2024) with David M. Rabban, Chair and Professor, The University of Texas School of Law, and author, Academic Freedom From Professional Norm to First Amendment Right, Nadine Strossen, New York Law School Professor Emerita and Senior Fellow, FIRE (the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression), Commentator, and Frederick P. Schaffer, former General Counsel, CUNY, Commentator and Moderator.

Luncheon Book Presentation: Why Fascists Fear Teachers: Public Education and the Future of Democracy (Random House, 2025) with American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten.

Panel: Massachusetts DRIVE Initiative: State Funding for Higher Education Research with Quentin Palfrey, Massachusetts Director of Federal Funds and Infrastructure, Office of Governor Maura Healey, Max Page, President, Massachusetts Teachers Association, Viviann Anguiano, Managing Director, Higher Education Policy, Center for American Progress, and Frederick G. Floss, Professor, and Co-Director, Center for Economic Education, Buffalo State University, Moderator.

Panel: Discrimination Issues on a Unionized Campus with Katherine H. Hansen, Partner, Gladstein, Reif & Meginniss, Steven J. Porzio, Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Shannon Buffum, Senior Associate General Counsel, Cornell University, Courtney Bither, Servicing Representative, UAW Region 9A, and Ana Avendano, Visiting Assistant Professor of Law, CUNY School of Law, Moderator.

Panel: Litigation Update in Defense of Democracy (CLE) with David D. Cole, Professor in Law and Public Policy, Georgetown Law School and former ACLU National Legal Director, Will Creeley, Legal Director, FIRE (the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression), Alex Abdo, Litigation Director, Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, and Rabia Muqaddam, Special Counsel for Federal Initiatives, Office of the New York State Attorney, Moderator.

Panel: Litigation Update and Administrative Remedies in Defense of Federal Research Funding (CLE) with Amanda Fuchs Miller, President, Seventh Street Strategies, Rachel Homer, Director of Democracy 2025 & Senior Attorney, Democracy Forward, Adelaide Pagano, Assistant Attorney General, Consumer Protection Division, Office of Massachusetts Attorney General, and Jessica Alvarez, Interim General Counsel, Hunter College, CUNY, Moderator.

Panel: Community College Perspectives on AI Policy and Codified Teaching Practice: Faculty and Administrator Views, Liability Implications, and Impacts at the Bargaining Table with Andre’ L. Poplar, J.D., Vice Chancellor for Human Resources, Oakland Community College, Cameron Redden, Ed.D., Chief Administrative Officer of the Brunswick University Center, Cuyahoga Community College, Deborah H. Williams, J.D., Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Johnson County Community College, Former JCCC Faculty Association President and Lead Negotiator, Eric Rader, AFT’s Higher Ed's Policy and Program Council and AI Task Force, President, AFT Local, Henry Ford Community College, and Martin Balinsky, Ph.D., Professor Tallahassee State College, President, United Faculty of Florida-Tallahassee State College, Moderator.

Interactive Workshop: Ensuring Equitable AI Transitions in Higher Education Workplaces and Beyond with Joy Ming, Postdoc, Cornell ILR, Dibyendu Mishra, PhD Student, Cornell Information Science, Ayham Boucher, Head of AI Innovations, Cornell Information Technologies, and Ariel Avgar, Professor, Cornell ILR.

Panel: Just Cause: Practical Issues in Pursuing and Defending Disciplinary Allegations with Dana E. Lossia, Levy Ratner, P.C., Nicholas L. Collins, ArentFox Schiff LLP, and Patrick McDermott, Arbitrator and Professor, Management and Legal Studies and Chair of Management Department, Franklin P. Perdue School of Business, Salisbury University, Moderator.

Panel: Retrenchment and Layoff Procedures: Negotiating and Arbitrating with Peter A. Jones, Bond, Schoeneck & King PLLC, David Kinsella, PSU-AAUP Vice President for Collective Bargaining and Professor of Political Science, Portland State University, Gary Rhoades, Professor and Director, Center for the Study of Higher Education, University of Arizona, and Adrienne Lu, Senior Reporter, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Moderator.

Panel: Florida-Fighting to Defend Collective Bargaining and Democracy in a Red State with Samantha Past, Staff Attorney, American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Florida, Adam Bellotti, Bredhoff & Kaiser P.L.L.C., Allison Clarke, Service Unit Director, United Faculty of Florida, Alex Ledgerwood, Service Unit Director, United Faculty of Florida, and Adela Ghadimi, Executive Director, United Faculty of Florida, Moderator.

Panel: Current Labor Issues in Nursing with Claire Tuck, Director, Legal Department, New York State Nurses Association, Jonathan Wangel, Senior Assistant Vice, President/Deputy Counsel, NYC Health + Hospitals, Sophia Alonso, Assistant Vice President of Labor Relations, Montefiore Medical Center, and Ann Marie Mauro, Joan Hansen Grabe Dean and Professor, Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing, Hunter College, CUNY, Moderator.

Panel: When Democracy and Equity Collide: Responses to Promote Institutional Learning with Elizabethada Wright, Professor, University of Minnesota Duluth, and Contract Administrator, UEA, Josué Arredondo, adjunct English Professor, Southwestern College and San Diego Miramar College, Michael Buchler, Professor of Music Theory, Florida State University and co-chief negotiator, United Faculty of Florida–FSU, Geoffery Johnson, adjunct English and Humanities Professor, San Diego Mesa and Southwestern Colleges and President, AFT National Adjunct Contingent Caucus, John L. Hoffman, President, Bemidji State University, Commentator, and Christina Gallup, Associate Professor, University of Minnesota Duluth, Moderator.

Interactive Workshop: Stress Reduction for Faculty, Administrators, Student Employees, and Staff with facilitators Serena Rice, M.S., Project Manager, UMass Lowell, Courtney Hill, LCSW, CSWM Social Services Specialist, NYSUT, and Lili Palacios-Baldwin, Deputy General Counsel, Tufts University.

Panel: Best Practices in Establishing or Opposing Past Practices in Labor Arbitration with Shinika Hunter, Labor Relations Specialist, NYSUT, Kevin Pollitt, NYSUT Regional Director, John Gross, Ingerman Smith LLP, Christopher Mestecky, Guercio and Guercio LLP, and Katie Rosen, Arbitrator and Mediator, Moderator.

Research Panel: Equity at Work? Gender, Parenthood, and Benefits in Higher Education with Rhiannon M. Maton, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Foundations and Social Advocacy, State University of New York, Cortland, Affiliated Researcher, National Center, Carrie Rohman, Ph.D., Professor of English, Lafayette College, Editor, SUNY Press (2025) “Broken Record: Gendered Abuse in Academia”, Eve Weinbaum, Ph.D., President, Massachusetts Society of Professors and Professor of Sociology & Labor Studies, UMass Amherst, UMass Amherst, Melissa Sortman, Assistant Provost for Faculty and Academic Staff Affairs, Michigan State University, and Shirley Lin, Associate Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School, Moderator. 

Research Panel: Postdocs, Sexual Harassment, and Collective Bargaining--Intersections and Issues with Kait Spear, Program Officer, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Andrea Joseph, Assistant Professor of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering at Syracuse University, Anna Yoney, Ph.D., Associate Research Scientist, Department of Genetics & Development, Columbia University, and Karen R. Stubaus, Vice President of Academic Affairs Emerita at Rutgers University and Affiliated Researcher at the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions, Moderator.

Panel: Union Leaders of Color Transforming Higher Education and Centering Democracy with María del Mar Rosa Rodríguez, Professor Hispanic Studies, Universidad de Puerto Rico Recinto de Cayey, President, Asociación Puertorriqueña de Profesores Universitarios (APPU), Charles Toombs, Professor of Africana Studies, San Diego State University, Immediate Past President, California Faculty Association, Michelle Ramos Pellicia, Professor of World Languages and Hispanic Literature, California State University, San Marcos, Vice President, California Faculty Association, Tracey Salisbury, Associate Professor, Chair, Ethnic Studies, California State University, Bakersfield, Associate Vice President, South, California Faculty Association, and Margarita Berta-Avila, Professor of Education, Sacramento State University, President, California Faculty Association, Moderator.

Panel: Turnover the Other Cheek: Challenges of Collective Bargaining for Graduate Assistant Populations with Cassandra Urbenz, UF GAU President and NEA Graduate Committee, University of Florida, Tessa Barber, USF GAU President, NEA Graduate Committee, University of South Florida and United Faculty of Florida, VP of GAU Bargaining Council, Michael Eagen, Vice Provost for Academic Human Resources, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and Rebecca S. Natow, Associate Professor, Educational Leadership & Policy, Director, EdD Program in Educational Leadership & Policy Studies and MSEd Program in Higher Education Leadership & Policy Studies, Hofstra University, Moderator. (Panel in formation).

Panel: Creating Shop Culture in Higher Ed Unions with Sunshine Alvarez de Silva, UVM-GSU UAW 2322, Sara V. Speller, HGSU-UAW Local 5118, Lily Luo, GEU-UAW 6950, and Matthew M. Bodah, Labor Arbitrator & Mediator and Professor Emeritus, University of Rhode Island, Moderator.

Panel: Creative Responses to Persistent Inequities of Contingent Labor in Community Colleges with Jennifer Shanoski, Faculty, Merritt College, Wendy Brill-Wynkoop, Past President, Faculty Association of the California Community Colleges, Colena Sesanker, Chair, Faculty Advisory Committee to the Board of Regents for Higher Education, Connecticut State Community Colleges, Christine Mangino, President, Queensborough Community College, CUNY, and Robin G. Isserles, Faculty, BMCC, CUNY, Discussant and Moderator.

Book Discussion: Library Workers as Defenders of Democracy: Organize Your Library! Developing the Collective Power of Library Workers (Critical Cultural Information Studies series), ALA Editions, 2025 with Emily Drabinski, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Library and Information Studies, Queens College, CUNY, Kelly McElroy, Librarian and Associate Professor, Oregon State University (OSU), Angelo Moreno, Organizer, AFSCME Council 31, Chicago, Maura Smale, Executive Chief Librarian, CUNY Graduate Center, and Meredith Kahn, Librarian, University of Michigan, Moderator.

Panel: The Crisis of Collegiate Black Male Athlete Identity: Education, Work, and Democracy with Pops Mensah-Bonsu, President of NBA G League Operations, New York Knicks; President of SEED Academy Ghana, Rob Knox, Award-Winning Communications Leader; SI HBCU Legend; NCAA Champion of Diversity Honoree, Rolando Shannon, Doctoral Candidate, Tennessee State University, Interim Assistant Athletic Director of Student Development, and Ajah Hawley-Alexander, Clinical Lecturer, Iona University, Doctoral Candidate, University of Southern Mississippi, Moderator.

Panel: Strategies to Protect International and Immigrant Faculty and Students with César Moreno Pérez, Senior Associate Director, Human Rights & Community Relations Department, AFT, Diego N. Sánchez, Esq. Director of Policy and Strategy, Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, Stacy Hickox, Staff Counsel, National Education Association, and Ashwini Sukthankar, National Center Affiliated Researcher, Moderator.

Panel: Staff Bargaining Issues in Higher Education with Roberta Elins, Immediate Past President, United College Employees/AFT Local 3457, Fashion Institute of Technology, SUNY, Christine O’Connell, President, Union of Rutgers Administrators-American Federation of Teachers (URA-AFT), Local #1766, Ashley C. Pope, General Counsel, Suffolk County Community College, Dominick Fanelli, Director of Labor Relations, Staff Human Resources, University of Michigan, and William Conley, Director of Conciliation, New York State Public Employment Relations Board, Moderator.

Panel: Annual Legal Update (CLE) with Damien DiGiovanni, Morgan, Brown & Joy, LLP, Amy L. Rosenberger, Willig, Williams & Davidson, Aaron Nisenson, Senior Legal Counsel, AAUP, Brian Selchick, Cullen and Dykman LLP, and Ayanna T. Blake, Director Labor Relations, Weill Cornell Medicine, Moderator.  

53rd Annual National Conference Sponsors

National Center Contract Research Site

On October 1, 2025, the National Center launched our Contract Research Site, an annual contribution-based platform. It is a valuable tool for negotiators, union representatives, administrators, law firms, and others involved in or studying higher education collective bargaining.

The Site includes a search engine to research the terms of hundreds of collective bargaining agreements in higher education. It will also provide filters to permit research by institution, institution type, unit type, bargaining agent, sector, and state.

Access to the Site requires a registration and an annual contribution to the National Center in the amounts set forth below. The contribution will permit a set number of identified individual users to use the Site. A contributor will also be entitled to be listed as a sponsor of our annual conference.

Click here to register and contribute for user access to the Contract Research Site.

Below are images from the Contract Research Site:

Below is a list of annual contribution amounts, the number of identified users entitled to access the Site, and the conference status of the contributor.

Annual contributions received by the National Center will help finance the regular updating of the Site with new first and successor contracts as well as contracts for non-academic employees working in higher education

Limited access to the Site by part-time non-track faculty, postdoctoral scholars and doctoral candidates, graduate and undergraduate student researchers without departmental, institutional, or grant research funding will be determined on an individual need basis. Requests for access by those individuals should be sent to msavares@hunter.cuny.edu.

Become a 53rd Annual Conference Sponsor or Program Advertiser

2026 Conference Sponsorships

To help support the National Center and its 53nd annual national conference, we encourage higher education institutions, unions, law firms, organizations, and companies to become a conference sponsor. 

Through a conference sponsorship, you will demonstrate support for the National Center’s mission, programming, and research agenda.

Major Supporting Partner: $15,000

Benefits:

• Complimentary registration for 3 attendees and a 50% reduction for a fourth;
• Your organization’s logo and link to your site on the National Center website;
• Opportunity to make introductory remarks at the plenary or mid-day greetings;
• Your organization’s name referenced in our monthly newsletter;
• Inclusion of a one-page display ad in the conference program;
• Listing as a major supporting sponsor of the annual conference, webinars, and conference receptions.

Supporting Partner: $10,000

Benefits:

• Complimentary registration for 2 attendees and a 50% reduction for a third;
• Your organization’s logo and link to your site on the National Center website;
• Your organization's name referenced in our monthly newsletter;
• Inclusion of a one-page display ad in the conference program;
• Listing as a supporting sponsor of the annual conference, webinars, and conference receptions.

Participating Sponsor: $5,000

Benefits:

• Complimentary registration for one conference attendee;
• Your organization’s logo and link to your site on the National Center website;
• Your organization's name referenced in our monthly newsletter;
• Inclusion of a half-page display ad in the conference program;
• Listing as a participating sponsor of the annual conference, webinars, and conference breaks.

Basic Sponsor: $2,500

Benefits:

• Complimentary registration for one conference attendee;
• Listing as a sponsor on the National Center website;
• Your organization’s name referenced in our monthly newsletter;
• Inclusion of a one-quarter display ad in the conference program;
• Listing as a basic sponsor of the annual conference, webinars, and conference breaks.

Introductory Sponsor: $1,500

Benefits:

• Complimentary registration for one conference attendee;
• Listing as a sponsor on the National Center website;
• Your organization’s name referenced in our monthly newsletter;
• Inclusion of a one-quarter display ad in the conference program;
• Listing as an introductory sponsor of the annual conference, webinars, and conference breaks.

Friend of the National Center: $500

Benefits:

• Complimentary registration for one conference attendee;
• Listing of your name as a friend of the National Center on our website, newsletter, and in the conference program.

2026 Conference Program Advertisements

Another important way to celebrate the National Center’s 53rd conference and demonstrate support for our mission and research is for your institution, union, law firm, organization or company to place an advertisement in our 2026 conference program similar to this year's conference program.

Full-page advertisement:      $ 1,500

Half-page advertisement:      $   750

Quarter-page advertisement: $  275

Please email us with any questions about sponsorships and advertisement purchases at: msavares@hunter.cuny.edu.

Introducing New National Center Affiliated Researcher

 Dr. Frazier F. Benya

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Frazier F. Benya will be joining the National Center as an Affiliated Researcher.

Dr. Benya is the founder and former Director of the National Academies’ Action Collaborative on Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education, and, in 2025, concurrently served as Associate Director of the National Academies’ Committee on Science, Engineering, Medicine, and Public Policy. Frazier launched the Action Collaborative in 2019, bringing together more than 60 higher education and research organizations nationwide to align a group of diverse stakeholders and motivate action toward shared objectives. Over the six years she led it, member institutions developed and shared 300+ new policies and practices through the Collaborative. This included novel approaches for addressing the issue of preventing “pass the harasser,” diffusing power differentials between advisors and trainees, preventing retaliation, and addressing harmful behavior at earlier stages before it becomes pervasive or severe. She also developed a new kind of publication for the National Academies that provided expert summaries of research and practice on a specific topic to help inform decision-making, resulting in eleven of these publications for the Action Collaboration.

From 2016-2019, Dr. Benya was the study director for the National Academies’ landmark consensus study on Sexual Harassment of Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequences in Academic Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The report spurred the creation of the Action Collaborative and led to a cultural shift in academia to focus on addressing the systemic issues that allow sexual harassment to thrive. Beyond influencing colleges and universities, her work on the consensus study and Action Collaborative has garnered widespread media attention, resulted in invited presentations at federal agencies and briefings to the U.S. House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and shaped federal and state legislation and policies at scientific and technical societies. She has received awards for communication, policy change, and impact in higher education, and she was elected an honorary Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences in 2017 for her extraordinary achievements related to the societal impacts of science and engineering.

Dr. Benya's work has spanned topics including research ethics, STEM education and career pathways, sexual harassment, organizational change in higher education, climate change education, the ethics of energy transitions, research security, and national science and technology policy priorities and issues. As an Affiliated Researcher at the National Center, Dr. Benya will focus on two new areas of research: analyzing collective bargaining agreements with regard to how they address academic bullying and how they provide or seek support for caregiving needs.

She holds a Ph.D. in History of Science, Technology, and Medicine and an M.A. in Bioethics from the University of Minnesota, and a B.A. with honors in Science, Technology, and Society from the University of Puget Sound.

Rutgers University: AAUP-AFT Certified to Represent

Physicians and Dentists in an Enlarged Unit

Rutgers, The State University of NJ, NJPERC Docket No. RO-2026-017

On October 31, 2025, the Rutgers Council of AAUP Chapters, AAUP-AFT, AFL-CIO was certified, following a card check, by the New Jersey Public Employment Relations Commission to represent 47 regularly employed attending physician specialists and dentists who were added to a preexisting unit of faculty members, teaching assistants, and graduate assistants employed in non-legacy University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey positions and all clinical, teaching, and/or research faculty and staff librarians in legacy University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey positions.

Pennsylvania State Univ.: SEIU Files to Represent Large Faculty Unit

Pennsylvania State University, PLRB Case No. PERA-R-25-316-E

On December 9, 2025, SEIU Local 668 filed a petition with the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board seeking to represent a bargaining of 5980 faculty at Pennsylvania State University. The proposed unit includes tenured, tenure eligible, and non-tenure track faculty, and librarians.

The following is the proposed unit set forth in the representation petition:

Included: Faculty of all ranks who do research, service, or instruction of credit bearing courses for the Pennsylvania State University at the University Park campus, in University Libraries, or at any of the following Commonwealth Campuses (Abington, Altoona, Beaver, Behrend, Berks, Brandywine, DuBois, Fayette, Great Valley, Greater Allegheny, Harrisburg, Hazleton, Lehigh Valley, Mont Alton, New Kensington, Schuylkill, Scranton, Shenango, Wilkes-Barrre, and York); including but not limited to the following job categories: Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, Research Professor, Associate Research Professor, Assistant Research Professor, Teaching Professor, Associate Teaching Professor, Assistant Teaching Professor, Librarian, Associate Librarian, Assistant Librarian, Instructor, Lecturer, Practitioner-in Residence, Professor of Practice, Clinical Professor, Associate Clinical Professor, Assistant Clinical Professor, Visiting Professor, Associate Visiting Professor, Assistant Visiting Professor, Adjunct, Part-time Lecturer, and Part-time Instructor.

Regular part-time faculty included in the unit (with titles including but not limited to: Adjunct, Part-time Lecturer, and Part-time Instructor) shall be defined as those who have employment in any two (2) of the three (3) most recent Fall, Summer, and Spring Semesters (Fall 2025, Summer 2025, and Spring 2025), or who meet both of the following: (1) employment in any one (1) of the three (3) most recent Fall, Summer, and Spring semesters (Fall 2025, Summer 2025, and Spring 2025); AND employment in any one (1) of the six (6) most recent Fall, Summer, and Spring semesters (Fall 2025, Summer 2025, and Spring 2025, Fall 2024, Summer 2024, Spring 2024). 

Excluded: Chancellors, Vice Chancellors, Provosts, Associate Provosts, Assistant Provosts, Deans, Associate Deans, Assistant Deans, Presidents, Vice Presidents, Campus Academic Officers, Directors of Academic Affairs, Department Heads, Directors of Schools, Directors of Interdisciplinary Institutes, and Head Librarians; faculty at the College of Medicine; faculty at a substantively affiliated with the Applied Research Laboratory; faculty at the Pennsylvania Technical College,; instructor who teach only non-credit bearing classes; faculty who teach primarily in any of the following: Continuing Education, Penn State Extension, Recreation, Penn State Outreach, Athletics, any of the Practical Nursing Programs, Science Outreach, or Academic Success; sports coaches; adult educators; tutors; camp instructors; undergraduate students; graduate student; professional employees whose primary responsibility is not faculty, but is staff, postdoctoral, or executive (administrator); guards, supervisors, managerial and confidential employees as defined in the Act. 

Pennsylvania State University: Exceptions Filed to GSE Unit Certification

Pennsylvania State University, PLRB Case No. PERA-R-24-276-E

On December 11, 2025, Pennsylvania State University filed exceptions to a

November 21, 2025 order issued by the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board (PLRB) certifying the Coalition of Graduate Employees (CGE)-UAW at Penn State as the exclusive representative of a bargaining unit of university graduate student employees.

The certification followed the tallying of the ballots by PLRB on November 13, 2024, which demonstrated that the graduate student employees voted 1882-198 in favor of CGE-UAW at Penn State representation. 

In its exceptions, Pennsylvania State University argues, inter alia, that the PLRB hearing officer erred in finding that graduate research assistants were public employees, which it claims is inconsistent with prior precedent under the Pennsylvania Public Employee Relations Act. Further, it argues that research assistants do not share a community of interest with graduate teaching assistants and administrative support assistants, and that collective bargaining concerning graduate research assistants would impede the university’s academic judgments.

The following is a description of the certified unit that is being challenged by Pennsylvania State University:

Included: All full-time and regular part-time professional employees of the University who are graduate students on graduate assistantship and who perform services as teaching assistants, research assistants, or administrative support assistants.

Excluded: Graduate students on fellowship, traineeship, management level employees, supervisors, first level supervisors, confidential and guards as defined by the Act.

Associated Students, Inc.: Petition Filed for Private Sector Student Employees Working on the CSU Long Beach Campus

Associated Students Inc., NLRB Case No. 21-RC-376447

On December 5, 2025, the California State University Employees Union (CSUEU)/SEIU Local 2579 filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) seeking to represent a unit of 381 student employees employed by Associated Students, Inc. and work on the California State University (CSU) Long Beach campus. The petition was filed following the CSUEU/SEIU Local 2579 withdrawing a similar petition, NLRB Case No. 21-RC-374497, in November.

The following is a description of the unit sought in the current petition:

Included: All full time and regular part-time Student Workers and Student Assistants.

Excluded: All supervisors, managers, and guards as defined by the Act.

SUNY Research Foundation: CWA Files to Represent New GSE Unit

The Research Foundation for the State University of New York,

NLRB Case No. 03-RC-377012

On December 11, 2025, the Communication Workers of America (CWA) filed a petition seeking to represent a unit of 225 full-time and regular part-time research assistants employed by the SUNY Research Foundation at the State University of New York at Albany.

The following is the proposed bargaining unit sought in the CWA petition:

Included: All full-time and regular part-time Research Assistants aka Research Project Assistants (“RPAs”) employed by the Employer at State University of New York at Albany.

Excluded: All other employees, guards, clerical employees, confidential employees and supervisors as defined by the Act.

Western Washington Univ.: UAW Petitions for Academic Workers Unit

Western Washington University, WPERC Case No. 144384-E-25

On December 5, 2025, the Western Academic Workers United-United Autoworkers Local 4929 filed a petition with the Washington Public Employment Relations Commission seeking to represent a bargaining unit of 1,100 employees enrolled in an academic or certificate program at Western Washington University.

The following is a description of the proposed unit:

All employees enrolled in an academic or certificate program on any campus of Western Washington University, including those employees who are employed during an academic break and are enrolled in a academic or certificate program in the quarter or semester immediately before or after the academic break, in the following classifications: (1) Advertising Assistant, (2) Community Service Center Coordinator, (3) Computer Assistant, (4) Crafts Lab Assistant (5) Customer Service Representative, (6) Event Assistant, (7) Media Assistant, (8) Percussion Area Coordinator, (9) Program Support Staff, (10) Program Support/Committee Student Representative, (11) Writer/Editor, (12) Visiting Union Building Manager, and al employees enrolled in an academic or certificate program whose duties and responsibilities are substantially equivalent to those employees in classifications (1) through (12) above, excluding individuals employed as computer assistant in the Student Technology Center, confidential employees, supervisor employees…and employees including in any other bargaining unit.

Highline College: AFT Files to Represent Professional Employee Unit

Highline College, WPERC Case No. 144379-E-25

On December 4, 2025, the American Federation of Teacher filed a petition with the Washington Public Employment Relations Commission seeking to represent a bargaining unit of 124 professional employees at Highline College.

National Center Newsletter Sponsor

Why Fascists Fear Teachers: Public Education and the Future of Democracy by AFT President Randi Weingarten

2026 Annual Conference Luncheon Speaker

AFT President Randi Weingarten will be our luncheon speaker at the annual conference on March 23, 2026 where she will discuss her new book Why Fascists Fear Teachers: Public Education and the Future of Democracy. In her book, she describes how attacks on pubic schools and educators, book banning, and controlling curriculum have been the hallmarks of fascists regimes. It describes what teachers do and why those who are afraid of freedom and opportunity try to stop them The book is available here.

Academic Freedom From Professional Norm to First Amendment Right by David M. Rabban. University of Texas School of Law Professor

2026 Annual Conference Panel Discussion

University of Texas School of Law Professor David M Rabban's recent book Academic Freedom from Professional Norm to First Amendment Right will be the subject of a panel discussion at our 2026 annual conference on March 23, 2026 at the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute.

The book examines judicial precedent analyzing academic freedom and free speech at universities and colleges and presents academic freedom as a distinct subset of rights under the First Amendment

The book is available here.

Upcoming Book by National Center

Affiliated Researcher Rhiannon M. Maton

The Handbook on Teachers' Work: International Perspectives on Research and Practice is an upcoming volume edited by National Center Affiliated Researcher Rhiannon M. Maton and Nina Bascia. It brings together research and evidence-based authoritative writings from across the globe that theorizes and studies teachers’ work.

Drawing on research from twelve countries across 6 continents, the chapters are grouped into themes that represent key issues related to work from global perspectives, including:

The Political and Policy Contexts of Teachers' Work

Teaching as an Occupation

Diverse Teacher Identities and Roles

Teaching as Collective and Relational Work; and

Teaching and Activism

The volume explores the idea of teaching as an occupation with a history and trajectory that are shaped by political economies; historical progressions; organizational structures; social relations among educators, students, and others; teachers’ career and labor patterns; their professional norms; and raced, gendered, classed, and culturally linked expectations of teachers and about public schooling.

Order copies are available here.

Developing the Collective Power of Library Workers

2026 Annual Conference Panel Discussion

on the Unionization of Library Workers

Video Recordings from the 2025 Annual National Conference

The theme of our 2025 annual national conference was Unity in Defense of Higher Education and Collective Bargaining. The full conference program can be downloaded here.

Below are links to recordings of the welcoming remarks and select presentations from the conference. We thank the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute staff and Hunter College student videographers for their assistance.

Welcoming Remarks with William A. Herbert, Executive Director, National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions, Hunter College, CUNY, Manoj Pardasani, Interim Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, Hunter College, CUNY, Malini Cadambi-Daniel, Executive Director, Professional Staff Congress-CUNY, AFT Local 2334, Ahsan Ali, Senior Director of Labor Relations, Tufts University, and Jessica Baker, Hunter College student and National Center Intern.

Keynote Presentation: Unity in Defense of Higher Education and Collective Bargaining with Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of Teachers, Lynn Pasquerella, President, American Association of Colleges and Universities, and Adrienne Lu, Senior Reporter, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Moderator.

Research Panel: Presentation on the 2024 Directory of Faculty Contracts and Bargaining Agents in Higher Education with Jacob Apkarian, Associate Professor, Sociology, York College, CUNY, Joseph van der Naald, PhD Candidate in Sociology, Graduate Center, CUNY, Susan Kelly, President, Microsearch Corporation, Mary Taber, Director of Research, UUP, Commentator, Dana Fleming, Associate General Counsel, Tufts University, Commentator, and Malini Cadambi-Daniel, Executive Director, Professional Staff Congress-CUNY, AFT Local 2334, Moderator.

Panel: Current Immigration Issues in Higher Education with Miriam Feldblum, co-founder and Executive Director, Presidents Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, Cianna Freeman-Tolbert, Whiteman Osterman & Hanna LLP, and Channing Cooper, Deputy Director, AFT Legal Department, Panelist and Moderator.

Research Panel: Work Stoppage Across the Educational Continuum: K-12 to Higher Education with Jacob Apkarian, Associate Professor, Sociology, York College, CUNY and National Center Affiliated Researcher, Melissa Arnold Lyon, Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, University at Albany, SUNY, Daniel Iskhakov, National Center Graduate Research Fellow, and Rhiannon M. Maton, Associate Professor, Foundations and Social Advocacy, SUNY Cortland and National Center Visiting Scholar, Panelist and Moderator.

Panel: Artificial Intelligence: Changing the Bargaining Landscape with Jeffrey M. Hirsch, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Geneva Yeargan Rand Distinguished Professor of Law, University of North Carolina School of Law, Alec Thomson, President, National Council for Higher Education, NEA, Nicholas L. Collins, ArentFox Schiff LLP, and

Arthur Pearlstein, Arbitrator and Mediator, Moderator.

Book Discussion: Organizing Professionals: Academic Employees Negotiating a New Academy with author Gary Rhoades, Professor and Director, Center for the Study of Higher Education, University of Arizona, Richard Gomes, Staff Representative, AFT New Jersey, Jennie Shanker, Staff Representative, AFT New Jersey, Laura Murphy, Dutchess Community College, Dan Echikson, Organizer, ACT-UAW Local 7902, and Ryan Quinn, Reporter, Inside Higher Ed, Moderator.

Panel: Administrator Responses to Campus Protest: Lessons from History with Ellen Schrecker, Professor of History (retired), Yeshiva University, member Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure, AAUP, Paul Ortiz, Professor of Labor History, Cornell ILR, Jelani Favors, Author of Shelter in a Time of Storm: How Black Colleges Fostered Generations of Leadership and Activism, Henry E. Frye Distinguished Professor, Department of History and Political Science and Director, Center of Excellence for Social Justice, North Carolina A&T State University, and Dale Kapla, Senior Associate Provost, Northern Michigan University, Moderator.

Job Posting: Dean of the School of Labor and Employment Relations, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign invites nominations and applications for the position of Dean of the School of Labor and Employment Relations (LER).



The university seeks a Dean with broad intellectual insights, top-tier scholarly credentials, and the leadership and managerial capacity to sustain and build upon the School’s current and longstanding success. The selected candidate will bring successful experience in a university environment with a distinguished record of leadership and intellectual achievement. The position requires a leader with a strategic mindset; superb management and leadership skills; outstanding administrative, budgetary, and fundraising experience; a demonstrated commitment to building welcoming and inclusive academic communities; and an ability to manage the challenges of undergraduate, graduate, and extension education in an interdisciplinary unit. The ideal candidate will have a commitment to labor and employment relations, dedication to interdisciplinary teaching and scholarship, superior communication skills, and the entrepreneurial vision to inspire students, staff, faculty, and alumni. The position requires a commitment to internal and external relationship building and an appreciation for the School’s unique sense of community. The Dean must be able to guide LER’s unique impact in embracing visions of the future of work and contributing materially to stronger, healthier, more prosperous, and democratic workplaces.

The LER Dean is a senior administrator with a tenured faculty appointment, who serves as a member of the Council of Deans and reports to the Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost. The Dean will hold the Milton and Zelda Derber Professorship. Accordingly, candidates must hold a terminal degree and have a distinguished record of teaching and scholarly accomplishment commensurate with an appointment at the rank of full professor. This is a full-time, 12-month appointment with a negotiable start date.

The LER Dean is expected to contribute to a strong culture of cross-campus interdisciplinary research and entrepreneurial activity that are hallmarks of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

About the School of Labor and Employment Relations: The School of Labor and Employment Relations at Illinois is a recognized leader in research and education, conducting world-class research and preparing students for exciting careers in human resources and industrial relations. A stand-alone unit, the School is expanding its undergraduate programming, offering both a Global Labor Studies minor and a certificate in Human Resource Management. This growth reflects the School’s expanding academic offerings and commitment to reaching new student populations, supported by more than 300 graduate students, 2,000 extension students, and 26 faculty members representing a range of disciplinary backgrounds. In 2019, the School completed a major $6 million renovation and expansion of its classrooms and common spaces. For more information, please visit http://ler.illinois.edu/.

Job Posting: Labor Educator at The University of Iowa Labor Center

The University of Iowa Labor Center is hiring a labor educator! Click here for the official job posting.

The Labor Center is looking for a candidate with a J.D. and experience representing workers and unions. The educator in this position will conduct classes on workers’ legal rights, collective bargaining, arbitration, and other policy and leadership topics. Our collaborative team teaches over 100 noncredit schools each year for local, regional, and national unions and worker justice organizations. We hold programs on the U of Iowa campus and in off-campus locations across the region.

The UI Labor Center is a dynamic program that enjoys strong support from unions and community partners across our state and region. It is administratively housed in the University of Iowa College of Law. In addition to our labor education programs, we lead the state’s first Quality Pre-Apprenticeship Program and we serve as a hub for launching innovative collaborations such as an Organizers’ Roundtable, a labor climate alliance, a monthly statewide immigration and labor series, NextGen leadership programming, and workers’ center/community-based worker justice initiatives. We are based in Iowa City, a charming college town with excellent public schools. In a small, rural state, our program plays a critical role in providing educational support for local union officers, stewards, bargaining teams, health and safety committees, and community partners.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to Paul Iversen or Robin Clark Bennett.

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy, Volume 16

Last month, Volume 16 of the National Center's Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy was published. The Journal is an open-access, peer-reviewed, online periodical advancing research and scholarly thought related to collective bargaining and other issues in higher education, and making relevant and pragmatic peer-reviewed research readily accessible.

From the Editors

JCBA's Origins, Evolution, & Future by Gary Rhoades and Karen Stubaus

Articles

Who Benefits from a Faculty Union During a Pandemic? by Mary Ellen Benedict, David McClough, and John Hoag

Faculty Views About Their COVID-19 Layoffs from a Public University in the US Midwest by Susan E. Ramlo

A Beautiful Mind Meets Harsh Reality: Practical Tips for Negotiators When Bargaining Strays from Ideal Conditions by Christopher C. Douglas, Ellen Grachek, Allyson Strickland, and Marie Waung

How Do Collective Agreements Stack Up? Implications For Academic Freedom by Tim Ribaric and Rahul Kumar

The Limits of Law: Lessons for Collective Bargaining by Eric J. Scarffe and Daniel Saunders

Practitioner Perspectives

"No Pay, No RAs": Resident Assistant Unionization Amidst University Backlash by Justin Weller

Navigating Harassment and Discrimination at University of California through UAW 4811's Abusive Conduct Contract Provisions by Sarah Arveson and Emily Weintraut

Graduate Student Labor Unions: Two Experienced Academic Administrators Share Their Views by Karen R. Stubaus

Research Notes

Every Grain of Sand: 2024 Changes to the Scope of Higher Education Unionization by William A. Herbert, Joseph van der Naald, and Jacob Apkarian

Book Review

Towards a Progressive Academy: Review of Organizing Professionals: Academic Employees Negotiating a New Academy by Rebecca Kolins Givan

The Journal co-editors are Gary Rhoades, University of Arizona, Karen Stubaus, National Center Visiting Scholar and former Vice President for Academic Affairs at Rutgers University, and Jacob Apkarian, York College, City University of New York. The Journal is supported in part by a generous contribution from TIAA and is hosted by the institutional repository of Eastern Illinois University, The Keep, a service of EIU's Booth Library.

The Journal is now accepting submissions for Volume 17 to be published in March 2026. Our authors customarily include college and university faculty and administrators, scholars, graduate students, union activists and leaders, and others interested in collective bargaining in higher education. Please see the Aims & Scope page for more information or contact the co-editors with any questions on possible submissions.