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

February 2026 Newsletter

Our newsletter is being sent in advance of our 53rd Annual Conference on March 22-24, 2026 in New York City. If you have not already, we encourage you register and join us at the March conference.

The conference agenda was developed with an understanding of the major challenges we face and our shared need for community.  We have designed the conference to be welcoming and relevant to all who work in higher education and the professions.

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. A complete list of sessions and speakers are set forth below.

In this month's newsletter, we report on and reproduce six agreements reached in higher education about artificial intelligence at the following institutions: Heartland Community College, the University of Michigan, Oregon State University, the City University of New York, and Brown University. All of the agreements call for artificial intelligence issues to be examined in the labor-management committee context.

We also report on recently filed petitions to represent clinical faculty at the University of New Hampshire, research assistants at the SUNY Research Foundation, and undergraduate student employees at Amherst College and a pending unfair labor practice complaint at Lane Community College.

Lastly, the newsletter includes a welcome to UAW Higher Education Department Director Carla Villanueva, who has joined our Board of Advisors, and we provide 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, Urbana-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

The National Center encourages you to take advantage of our modest 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. All fees are payable by credit card.

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.

For the conference schedule, click here.

There are special conference registration rates 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: Alliance for Higher Education with Michael Gavin, President and CEO, Alliance for Higher Education, Paulette Granberry Russell, 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, 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, Higher Education, University of Georgia, Anita Levy, Senior Program Officer, AAUP, Erin Ward, PhD Student, Sociology, CUNY Graduate Center, and Kathryn Ritchie, M.A. Candidate, School of Education, Hunter College. Commentators: Rana Jaleel, Chair, Committee A, AAUP and Associate Professor, University of California-Davis and Nicholas DiGiovanni, Morgan, Brown & Joy, LLP, with moderator Risa L. Lieberwitz, Professor of Labor and Employment Law, Cornell University ILR.

Interactive Workshop: Negotiating over Academic Freedom with Bethany Gizzi, President, Monroe Community College Faculty Association, Joseph McConnell, Morgan, Brown & Joy LLP, Timothy S. Taylor, Arbitrator & Mediator, and Kathy Sheffield, Director of Representation and Bargaining, CFA, 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. Introduction by James Davis, Professional Staff Congress/CUNY President.

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, Chief Counsel for Federal Initiatives, Office of the New York State Attorney, Moderator.

Panel: Litigation Landscape Affecting Higher Education 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, 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, Vice Chancellor, Human Resources, Oakland Community College, Cameron Redden, Chief Administrative Officer, Brunswick University Center, Cuyahoga Community College, Deborah H. Williams, Professor, Johnson County Community College, Former JCCC Faculty Association President and Lead Negotiator, Eric Rader, Higher Ed Policy and Program Council and AI Task Force, AFT, President, Henry Ford Community College AFT, and Martin Balinsky, Professor, Florida-Tallahassee State College, President, UFF-TSC, Moderator.

Panel: Bargaining over AI at 4-year Institutions with Thomas H. Riley, Jr., Executive Director of Labor and Special Counsel, University of Illinois System, Meredith Kahn, LEO-GLAM Campus Chair, University of Michigan, Alex Bernstein, University Executive Director of Instructional Staff Labor Relations, CUNY, Jocelyn Krause, Director, Collective Bargaining, Journalism Department, Writers Guild of America East, Alex Bernstein, University Executive Director of Instructional Staff Labor Relations, CUNY Office of Labor Relations, and Arthur Pearlstein, Arbitrator and Mediator, Moderator.

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, Chris Meade, Senior Director, Employee and Labor Relations, University of Oregon, and Patrick McDermott, Arbitrator and Professor, Management and Legal Studies, 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, Vice President for Collective Bargaining, PSU-AAUP and Professor, 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 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, Labor Relations, Montefiore Medical Center, Amy Lee Pacholk, Critical Care Nurse, SUNY Stony Brook, Executive Board, PEF, and Ann Marie Mauro, 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 Professor, Southwestern College/San Diego Miramar College, Michael Buchler, Professor, Florida State University and Co-Chief Negotiator, United Faculty of Florida–FSU, Geoffery Johnson, Adjunct Professor, San Diego Mesa/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 Ellen Shadur, Arbitrator and Mediator, Shadur ADR, LLC, 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, Guercio and Guercio 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, Associate Professor, SUNY Cortland, Affiliated Researcher, National Center, Carrie Rohman, Professor, Lafayette College, Editor, SUNY, Eve Weinbaum, Professor, UMass Amherst, President, MSP/MTA, Melissa Sortman, Assistant Provost, Faculty and Academic Staff Affairs, Michigan State University, Elza Rechtman, Postdoctoral Researcher, Mount Sinai, Bargaining Committee, SPOC-UAW, 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, Biomedical and Chemical Engineering, Syracuse University, Anna Yoney, Associate Research Scientist, Department of Genetics & Development, Columbia University, and Karen R. Stubaus, Labor Relations Strategist & Special Advisor, University of Michigan, Moderator.

Panel: Union Leaders of Color Transforming Higher Education and Centering Democracy with María del Mar Rosa Rodríguez, Professor, Universidad de Puerto Rico, President, Asociación Puertorriqueña de Profesores Universitarios (APPU), Charles Toombs, Professor, San Diego State University, Immediate Past President, CFA, Michelle Ramos Pellicia, Professor, California State University, San Marcos, VP, CFA, Tracey Salisbury, Associate Professor, California State University, Bakersfield, Associate VP, South, CFA, and Margarita Berta-Avila, Professor, Sacramento State University, President, CFA, Moderator.

Panel: Turnover the Other Cheek: Challenges of Collective Bargaining for Graduate Assistants with Cassandra “Cassie” Urbenz, President, Graduate Assistants United and NEA Graduate Committee, University of Florida, Tessa Barber, President, Graduate Assistants United, NEA Graduate Committee, University of South Florida and VP, United Faculty of Florida, GAU Bargaining Council, Michael Eagen, Vice Provost, Academic Human Resources, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Joshua D. Nadreau, Fisher & Phillips LLP, and Rebecca S. Natow, Associate Professor, Educational Leadership and Policy, Hofstra University, Moderator.

Panel: Creating Shop Culture in Higher Ed Unions with Sunshine Alvarez de Silva, M.A. Student, University of Vermont-Graduate Student Union-UAW 2322, Sara V. Speller, PhD Candidate, Harvard University, Graduate Student Union-UAW 5118, Lily Luo, PhD Candidate, University of Connecticut, Graduate Employees Union-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 Christine Mangino, President, Queensborough Community College, CUNY, Jennifer Shanoski, Faculty, Merritt College, Wendy Brill-Wynkoop, Past President, Faculty Association of the California Community Colleges, Colena Sesanker, Chair, Faculty Advisory Committee, Board of Regents for Higher Education, Connecticut State Community Colleges, 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, School of Information Studies, Queens College, CUNY, Kelly McElroy, Librarian and Associate Professor, Oregon State University, Angelo Moreno, Organizer, AFSCME Council 31, 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, NBA G League Operations, New York Knicks; President, SEED Academy Ghana, Rob Knox, Award-Winning Communications Leader; SI HBCU Legend; NCAA Champion of Diversity Honoree, Rolando Shannon, Doctoral Candidate, and Interim Assistant Athletic Director of Student Development, Tennessee State University, and Ajah Hawley-Alexander, Clinical Lecturer, Iona University, Doctoral Candidate, University of Southern Mississippi, Moderator.

Interactive Workshop: Stop the War on Immigrants: Strategies to Support Undocumented and International Students, Faculty, and Staff with Diego N. Sánchez, Director, Policy and Strategy, Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, Stacy Hickox, Staff Counsel, National Education Association, Andrea Vásquez, Secretary, Professional Staff Congress-CUNY, Cassandra “Cassie” Urbenz, President, Graduate Assistants United and NEA Graduate Committee, University of Florida, and Ashwini Sukthankar, Affiliated Researcher, National Center, Moderator. 

Panel: Staff Bargaining Issues in Higher Education with Roberta Elins, Immediate Past President, United College Employees/AFT Local 3457, FIT-SUNY, Ashley C. Pope, General Counsel, Suffolk County Community College, Christine O’Connell, President, Union of Rutgers Administrators-AFT Local #1766, Dominick Fanelli, Director, 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

Become a 53rd Annual Conference Sponsor or Program Advertiser

2026 Conference Sponsorships

To help support the National Center and its 53rd 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 midday 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 last 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.

National Center Contract Research Site

The National Center maintains a 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 also includes 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 is a list of annual contribution amounts for accessing the research Site, the number of identified users, and the conference status of the contributor.

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.

Negotiated Higher Education Agreements on Artificial Intelligence

As part of the National Center's March 22-24, 2026 conference in New York City, we will have two sessions on artificial intelligence (AI) issues.

AI and Community Colleges

One session will focus on AI and community colleges, providing different perspectives on policies, teaching practices, and its impact at the bargaining table.

Heartland Community College

As part of the National Center's ongoing research, we have identified a May, 2025 AI-related letter of agreement between Heartland Community College and Heartland Faculty Association, IFT/AFT, AFL-CIO Local 6038.

The agreement calls for the creation of a labor-management Committee on Instructional AI. The committee is tasked with, inter alia, reviewing and making recommendations about "any proposed institutional policies, tools, standards, or practices involving AI in teaching, learning, grading, assessment, or academic integrity." It is also tasked with monitoring and reevaluating AI's impact on academic freedom, teaching practices, faculty responsibilities and student equity.

It is common in negotiations for parties to delegate to a labor-management forum certain novel and complicated issues that might otherwise hold up a final agreement or to use the forum to help resolve issues involving non-mandatory subjects of bargaining. Labor-management committee agreements can be advantageous, especially when the parties have the foresight to bring in outside experts to inform the labor-management discussions. However, a labor-management approach can lead to the potential waiver of bargaining rights over implementation of new technologies.

Bargaining Over AI at 4-Year Institutions

A second AI panel at our March conference will explore collective bargaining over AI issues at 4-year institutions.

Our research has identified negotiated AI-related memoranda or contract provisions at five 4-year institutions: Miami University, the University of Michigan, Oregon State University, the City University of New York, and Brown University.

Each agreement is reproduced below. The agreements differ in certain aspects, but all call for the use of labor-management committees to examine issued related to AI.

I. Miami University and the Faculty Alliance of Miami, AAUP-AFT

During the course of negotiations for first contracts between Miami University and the Faculty Alliance of Miami, AAUP-AFT for the faculty and librarian bargaining units. The parties reached a memorandum of understanding on AI. Under the agreement, the parties agree to use labor-management meetings to develop a process examining the impact of AI on bargaining unit faculty and proposed guidelines for the use of AI software. Violations of the agreement can be challenged through the grievance-arbitration procedures.

II. University of Michigan and the Lecturers’ Employee Organization, AFT Local

6244, AFL-CIO, Librarians, Archivists, and Curators Bargaining Unit

The University of Michigan and the Lecturers' Employee Organization, AFT Local 6244, AFL-CIO, entered into a memorandum of understanding concerning AI for the Librarians, Archivists, and Curators Bargaining Unit (LEO-GLAM) as part of the parties' 2025-2029 collective bargaining agreement.

The memorandum recognizes that bargaining unit members have the discretion to use AiI to perform work responsibilities based on their professional judgment. It also prohibits the university from using AI to reproduce a bargaining unit member's voice or likeness. The memorandum provides for labor-management discussions limited to the impact of AI on certain terms and conditions of employment, namely the use of AI to replace or automate the professional judgment, expertise or discretion of bargaining unit members.

III. Oregon State University and United Academics of Oregon State University AAUP/

AFT, AFL-CIO

In negotiations for their 2024-2029 collective bargaining agreement, Oregon State University and United Academics of Oregon State University AAUP/AFT, AFL-CIO, entered in a letter of agreement creating a joint labor-management committed to discussing generative AI as it relates to faculty working conditions and the provisions of the contract. The letter agreement preserves what it describes as "typical rights" under the contract and the right to engage in impact negotiations or, perhaps, even decisional bargaining under the Oregon Public Employee Collective Bargaining Act.

IV. City University of New York and the Professional Staff Congress/CUNY, AFT

Local 2334. AFL-CIO

In a memorandum of agreement between the City University of New York and the Professional Staff Congress/CUNY, AFT Local 2334, AFL-CIO for their 2023-2027 successor agreement, the parties amended Appendix L of the expired contract concerning labor-management committees. The memorandum modified the existing labor-management committee on education technology and directs it to "discuss issues of education and non-educational technology as they relate to the Instructional Staff's terms and conditions of employment." Among the identified topics for discussion are: training about AI technology; instructional design; and the impact of online teaching systems on terms and conditions of employment. The negotiated changes were in response to the increased use of new technologies, including AI, and their potential impact on terms and conditions of employment.

V. Brown University and Brown Postdoc Labor Organization, RIFTHP-AFT

Local 6516

Article 14(C) of the first contract between Brown University and the Brown Postdoc Labor Organization, RIFTHP-AFT Local 6516, provides that the university will notify and discuss with the union in labor-management meetings about AI policies that impact working conditions. It is the first known AI contract provision for a postdoc collective bargaining unit.

University of New Hampshire: AFT-AAUP Files Petition to Represent a New Clinical Faculty Bargaining Unit

University of New Hampshire, NHPELRB Case No. E-0302-1

On January 29, 2026, the UNH Clinical Faculty Unit, Unit B, AFT Local 6770, AAUP, AFT New Hampshire, AFT, AFL-CIO filed a petition with the New Hampshire Public Employee Labor Relations Board seeking to represent a new bargaining unit of clinical faculty employed by the University of New Hampshire.

On February 10, 2026, the parties stipulated to the following bargaining unit:

Included: Clinical Professor, Clinical Associate Professor, and Clinical Assistant Professor.

Excluded: Dean, Associate Dean, Visiting Faculty, Adjuncts and any positions that are part of an already-recognized bargaining unit.

Lane Community College: ULP Filed Over Negative Comments Made About Union's Advocacy for BIPOC Full-Time Faculty

Lane Community College, OERB Case No. UP-012-26

On January 31, 2026, the Lane Community College Education Association filed an unfair labor practice complaint against Lane Community College with the Oregon Employment Relations Board challenging criticism of the union and its president made by Lane Community College Vice President of Human Resources & Labor Relations Shane Turner at a January 7, 2026 public meeting of the community college's Board of Education.

In the complaint, the union alleges that Turner criticized the union and its president Adrienne Mitchell for misrepresenting the facts concerning the college's efforts at retaining BIPOC full-time faculty, denigrating the college with falsehoods, and filing a meritless grievance. According to the complaint, the criticisms constitute interference with protected concerted activities and an effort to dominate the union.

SUNY Research Foundation: CWA Files to Represent New RA Unit

The Research Foundation for the State University of New York

NLRB Case No. 03-RC-381602

On February 23, 2026, the Communication Workers of America (CWA) filed a petition with the NLRB seeking to represent a unit of 537 full-time and regular part-time research assistants employed by the SUNY Research Foundation at the University of Buffalo.

The following is the proposed unit set forth 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 Buffalo.

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

Amherst College: Student Workers Petition for Unionization

Amherst College, NLRB Case No. 01-RC-381144

Following a failed request to obtain voluntary recognition, the Amherst College Community Advisors Union filed a petition on February 13, 2026 with the NLRB seeking to be certified to represent a bargaining unit of 60 undergraduate student employees holding the title of Community Advisor at Amherst College.

The following is the proposed unit described in the petition:

Included: All individuals currently employed as full-time Community Advisors.

Excluded: All other Amherst College employees.

National Center Welcomes Carla Villanueva to Our Board of Advisors

The National Center welcomes Carla Villanueva, the UAW Higher Education Department Director, to our Board of Advisors. Prior to her work in the UAW Higher Education Department, Carla was a union organizer for over ten years across various sectors outside of higher-ed, from healthcare workers to autoworkers. Carla received her doctorate from the University of Notre Dame.

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 be in discussion with PSC President James Davis about her new book Why Fascists Fear Teachers: Public Education and the Future of Democracy. In her book, President Weingarten describes how attacks on public 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.