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

January 2026 Newsletter

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

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.

The newsletter 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 report in this month's newsletter on the launch of a new national coalition, the Alliance for Higher Education, to defend and protect higher education and our democracy. We also report on recently filed petitions to represent faculty at the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences and to represent academic advisors at the Illinois State University, a state court decision affirming an arbitrator's ruling that a disabled professor must be accommodated by permitting her to continue to teach fully remotely, an administrative agency dismissal of an unfair labor practice charge involving teaching assistants at Temple University, and the outcomes in representation elections at the SUNY Research Foundation, Associated Students Inc. on the Long Beach campus of California State University, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.



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, 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

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.

For the conference schedule, click here.

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: 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, 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, 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: 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/Chair, 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 Samantha Past, Staff Attorney, ACLU 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, 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 Serena Rice, Project Manager, UMass Lowell, Courtney Hill, 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, 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, Vice President, Academic Affairs Emerita, Rutgers University and Affiliated Researcher, National Center, 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 Assistant 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.

Panel: Strategies to Protect International and Immigrant Faculty and Students with César Moreno Pérez, Sr. Associate Director, Human Rights & Community Relations Department, AFT, Diego N. Sánchez, Director, 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, 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 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.

National Center Contract Research Site

The National Center has launched 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 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 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.

The Alliance for Higher Education

On January 27, 2026, the Alliance for Higher Education was launched. The Alliance is a new national coalition, headed by Mike Gavin, of leading voices in higher education and democracy. Its purpose is to oppose authoritarianism, renew and advance higher education’s role in achieving the American dream, and assert higher education’s place in society as a pillar of democracy.

The Alliance's creation has been underway for several years. It believes in certain central rights and principles: to teach, to research, to learn, to self-govern, and ensure fair opportunity. It opposes bad public policy and discourse that denigrates those rights and principles.

The National Center is very pleased that the Alliance for Higher Education will be participating in the plenary session at our 53rd annual conference plenary session on March 22 at the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College.

University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences: AFT

Petitions for Faculty Unit

University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences, NLRB Case No: 21-RC-378699

On January 9, 2026, a petition was filed by California Federation of Teachers, AFT, to represent a unit of 54 full-time core faculty working for the University of St. Augustine for Health Services in San Marcos, California.

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

Included: All full-time core faculty at the San Marcos Campus of the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences.

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

Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education: Court Confirms Arbitration Award on Disabled Faculty's Grievance to Teach Remotely

Pennsylvania Western University of Pennsylvania, State System of Higher Education and Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculty,

Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, Case No. No. 1424 C.D. 2024

On January 9, 2026, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania issued a decision affirming an arbitration award and opinion that sustained a contract grievance filed by the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculty (APSCUF) challenging the denial of a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), 42 U.S.C. §§12101-12213 to a disabled professor at Pennsylvania Western University by permitting her to continue teaching fully online. The university’s denial was based on its view that in-person instruction was an essential function of the professor’s job duties and would constitute an undue hardship.

In his award and opinion, the arbitrator rejected the university’s argument that in-person instruction was an essential function of a professor’s job. In support of that conclusion, the arbitrator noted the university’s position was unsupported by the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, the job description, and the course catalogue. He rejected the claim that the contract provision making online teaching voluntary meant that in-person instruction was a professor’s essential function: “The plain truth is that a teacher’s primary job is to teach, by whatever means that can be accomplished, whether in-person or via virtual instruction.” Lastly, the arbitrator rejected the university’s argument that assigning the professor to a full-time online course schedule would create an undue hardship.

As a remedy, the arbitrator ordered the university to accommodate the professor’s disability and immediately return her to 100% online teaching.

On appeal, the court rejected the university’s arguments for vacating the arbitration opinion and award. It found that disabled faculty members had a right under the collective bargaining agreement to be reasonably accommodated, as provided under the ADA. It also found no basis for rejecting the arbitrator's finding that the university’s denial of the professor’s accommodation was inconsistent with ADA requirements or for vacating the specific accommodation remedy imposed by the arbitrator.

SUNY Research Foundation: Research Assistants

Vote for CWA Representation

Research Foundation for the State University of New York,

NLRB Case No: 03-RC-377012

On January 20, 2026, the National Labor Relations Board tallied the ballots in an election on a petition by the Communication Workers of America (CWA) seeking to represent a bargaining unit of 215 research assistants employed by the SUNY Research Foundation in Albany, New York. The tally demonstrated that the research assistants voted 63-1 in favor of CWA representation.

The following is a description of the new bargaining unit at the SUNY Research Foundation:

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

Excluded: Guards, clerical employees, confidential employees, and supervisors as defined by the Act, and all other employees.

Temple University: ULP Alleging Union Animus Toward

Graduate Assistants Dismissed

Temple University, PLRB Case No. PERA-C-24-119-E

On January 20, 2026, the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board (PLRB) issued a decision and order sustaining exceptions filed by Temple University and dismissing an unfair labor practice charge filed by Temple University Graduate Students’ Association, AFT, Local 6290. The charge alleged that Temple University had violated the Pennsylvania Public Employee Relations Act when it failed to provide full productions of the thesis plays by two graduate teaching assistants in the University’s Master of Fine Arts (MFA) program who had participated in a 2023 graduate assistant strike. 

PLRB reversed its hearing examiner’s proposed determination that the university's decision to change the two graduate assistants’ thesis plays from full productions to workshop productions was unlawfully motivated by their participation in the strike and the that the university’s action would tend to discourage a reasonable employee from engaging in protected concerted activity.

In reversing the hearing examiner, PLRB concluded that under the totality of the circumstances there was insufficient evidence to establish that the university was motivated by retaliatory intent. The agency credited the Theater Department Chair, who testified that his original plan was for student playwrights and student directors to work cooperatively on full play productions. However, that became impossible because of documented tensions that developed between the two student groups stemming from the 2023 strike. In addition, PLRB found that a full production of a thesis play was not a requirement for an MFA degree nor was it a condition of employment. 

Illinois State Univ.: AFT Files Petition to Represent Academic Advisors

Illinois State University, IELRB Case No. 2026-RC-0004-C

On December 19, 2025, the Illinois Federation of Teachers, AFT, filed a petition with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board seeking to represent a unit of 100 part-time and full-time Academic Advisors and Program Student Advisors at Illinois State University.

The following is the proposed new bargaining unit at Illinois State University:

Included: All part-time and full-time Academic Advisors and Program Student Advisors employed at Illinois State University in University College Career Services, Office of International Engagement, Dept. of Athletics, Visor Academic Center, Honors Program, College of Arts and Science, College of Business, College of Nursing, College of Education, College of Applied Sciences and Technology, Admissions Counselor, Financial Aid Counselors, the Director of Bachelor of Social Work Services and Director Masters of Social Work Services.

Excluded: All faculty, retirees, and students; all managerial, supervisor and confidential employees as defined in the Act.

California State University, Long Beach Campus: Student Employees of a Private Employer Vote for Representation

Associated Students Inc., California State University Long Beach,

NLRB Case No: 21-RC-376447

On July 20, 2026, the NLRB tallied the ballots in an election concerning a petition by California State University Employees Union, SEIU (CSUEU-SEIU), seeking to represent a bargaining unit of 336 student workers and student assistants employed by the private sector employer Associated Students Inc. on the Long Beach campus of California State University. The tally demonstrated that the student employee voted 57-16 in favor of CSUEU-SEIU representation.

The following is the new student bargaining unit of workers employed by Associated Students Inc.:

Included: All full-time and regular part-time Student Workers and Student Assistants employed by the Employer at its facilities currently located at 5700 East Atherton Street, Long Beach, California; 1401 Palo Verde Avenue, Long Beach, California; 1212 Bellflower Boulevard, Long Beach, California; and Peterson Hall 1, East Campus Drive, Long Beach, California.

Excluded: All other employees, confidential employees, office clerical employees, professional employees, managerial employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act.

Metropolitan Museum of Art: Professional and Non-Professional Employees Vote for UAW Representation

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NLRB Case No. 02-RC-374601

On January 15, 2026, the NLRB tallied the ballots in an election concerning the representation of 896 professional and non-professional employees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The tally demonstrated that the employees voted 542-172 in favor of representation by the Technical Office and Professional Union, Local 2110 UAW, AFL-CIO. 

The following is a description of the unit of professional and non-professional employee at the Metropolitan Museum of Art:

Included: All full-time and regular part-time professional and non-professional employees, employed by the Employer, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, at its facilities located at 1000 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10028 and 99 Margaret Corbin Drive, New York, NY 10040.

Excluded: All employees represented by another labor organization, confidential employees, managers, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act.

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 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.