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July/August 2025 Newsletter

We hope that you had a good, productive, and engaged summer during these extraordinary times for higher education and our country.

The July/August 2025 newsletter includes a reminder that the final date for submission of proposals for our 2026 conference is August 29, 2025. In addition, it provides updated information about current National Center affiliated research scholars.

The newsletter also reports on newly certified bargaining agents at Stevenson University, the University of Pennsylvania, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and Macalester College and pending representation petitions at Thomas College, Northwestern University, Tulane University and Norwich University.

Lastly, the newsletter includes information provides videos from our 2025 annual conference and links to articles from the most recent volume of the Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy.

Last Chance to Submit 2026 Conference Proposals

Due August 29, 2025

The National Center invites proposals for balanced and diverse labor-management panels and interactive workshops for our 53rd annual conference that will take place on March 22-24, 2026 in New York City.

The theme of the conference will be Uniting for Political and Workplace Democracy.

We welcome proposals for panels and workshops that include labor and administrator representatives to discuss subjects relevant to the conference theme including higher education unionization, collective bargaining, and labor relations.

We strongly encourage proposals that include newer and diverse speakers, moderators, and facilitators. Suggested panel and workshop topics are set forth below.

We also encourage conference proposals from authors of recently published books relevant to the theme of the conference. 

Those interested in proposing a panel or workshop should upload an abstract by August 29, 2025 to 2026 Conference Abstract Dropbox.

To be considered, the abstract must include a title and description along with a list of invited or confirmed participants with their titles, affiliations, and contact information. For proposed Interactive workshops, the abstract should identify a proposed experienced facilitator to lead the workshop. The abstract should also state how the proposed panel or workshop will ensure diversity of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives.

Questions concerning the call for proposals should be emailed to msavares@hunter.cuny.edu.

Suggested Conference Panel or Workshop Topics

• Political and Workplace Democracy: Joint Strategies for Defending and Educating
• Campus Leader Responses to Anti-DEI Efforts and Efforts at Championing Inclusivity at Higher Ed Institutions
• Creating Alliances Between Institutions, Labor, and Community Groups
• Mutual Aid and Protection Agreements Between Higher Ed Institutions
• Immigration: Best Practices for Protecting Faculty and Students
• An Immigration Law Update
• Scope of Current Public Sector Higher Ed Collective Bargaining Rights
• State Legislative Changes and Proposals Concerning Collective Bargaining
• State Law Alternatives to the National Labor Relations Act?
• Negotiating Non-NLRB Representation Election and Card Check Procedures
• Community Colleges: Innovative Contract Provisions for Contingent Faculty
• Distinct Bargaining Issues and Negotiation Histories Involving Campus Staff
• Bargaining and Implementing Recent Postdoctoral Scholar Contracts
• Creative Labor-Management Solutions to Federal Cuts in Research Funding
• Analysis of Recent Graduate Student Employee First Contracts
• Strategies for Improving Morale on Campus in Unprecedented Times
• Changing Union Organizational Cultures to be Proactive Against Racism
• Successful Strategies in Arbitrating Over Academic Freedom Issues
• Best Practices in Presenting Past Practice Arguments Before an Arbitrator
• The Challenges in Negotiating Shared Governance Procedures
• The Status of Title VI and Title IX Enforcement on Campus
• Practical Skills in Handling Weingarten Rights and Disciplinary Interrogations
• Disciplinary Arbitration: Best Practices in Preparing and Presenting
• The Scope of Protected Conduct for Political, Social, and International Advocacy
• Mindfulness for Stressful Times in Higher Education and the Professions
• Information Demands and Responses in Negotiations and Grievance Processing
• Selecting Arbitrators and Mediators: Considerations for Unions and Institutions

National Center Newsletter Sponsor

National Center Research: Project Update and Request

The National Center is conducting research to publish a report on academic freedom clauses in the collective bargaining agreements that were gathered in the Center's publication, the 2024 Directory.

To assist with the Center's research, we are requesting unions and administrators to submit arbitration awards in regard to academic freedom to the following Dropbox folder: Academic Freedom Arbitration Awards.

Introducing National Center Affiliated Research Scholars

Stevenson University: SEIU Certified to Represent Adjunct Faculty Unit

Stevenson University, NLRB Case No. 05-RC-364416

On June 26. 2025, SEIU Local 500 was certified to represent a unit of 296 regular part-time faculty employed by Stevenson University. The certification followed a June 17, 2025 tally of ballots that demonstrated the faculty had voted 96-48 in favor of SEIU Local 500 Representation.

The following is a description of the new faculty bargaining unit at Stevenson University:

Included: All regular part-time faculty employed by Stevenson University teaching at least one credit-earning class in-person or online.

Excluded: All other full-time or part-time staff or administrative employees, full-time faculty, graduate assistants, clinical fellows, teaching fellows, teaching assistants, research assistants, managers, guards, and supervisors as defined by the National Labor Relations Act.

Thomas College: NEA Petitions to Represent a FT Faculty Unit

Thomas College, NLRB Case No. 01-RC-370968

On August 8 2025, the Maine Education Association-NEA filed a petition with the NLRB seeking to represent a unit of 39 full-time faculty employed by Thomas College.

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

Included: Full time faculty.

Excluded: All others.

University of Pennsylvania: UAW Certified to Represent Postdoc Unit

Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania, NLRB Case No. 04-RC-364372

On July 25, 2025, Research Associates and Postdocs United at Penn-UAW was certified to represent a bargaining unit of 1,500 post-doctoral scholars at the University of Pennsylvania. The certification followed a July 17, 2025 tally of ballots that demonstrated the employees voted 703-38 in favor of Research Associates and Postdocs United at Penn-UAW representation.

The following Is a description of the new bargaining unit at the University of Pennsylvania:

Included: All postdoctoral researchers who provide services to the University of Pennsylvania, including Postdoctoral Researchers, Postdoctoral Fellows, NRSA Postdoctoral Fellows, and Research Associates.

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

Northwestern University: Postdocs Representation Election Scheduled

Northwestern University, NLRB Case No. 13-RC-369482

On August 1, 2025, the NLRB Region 13 issued a notice scheduling an in-person representation election to take place on August 25 and 26, 2025 concerning a petition by Northwestern University Postdoc Union (NUPU-UE) to represent a unit of 1,300 postdoctoral scholars at Northwestern University. 

The following is a description of at-issue unit:

Included: All Postdoctoral Researchers employed by Northwestern University at the Evanston and Chicago campuses in the following positions: Postdoctoral Scholar and Research Associate:

Excluded: All other employees, MD-only Postdoctoral Researchers, JD-only Postdoctoral Researchers, Senior Research Associates, Clinical Research Associates, Senior Clinical Research Associates, Clinical Fellows, Feinberg Fellows, Postdoctoral Fellows (Direct), Visiting Postdoctoral Fellows, managerial employees, guards and supervisors as defined by the Act.

Others permitted to vote:

The parties agreed that NRSA Postdoctoral Fellows may vote in the election, but their ballots will be challenged since their eligibility has not been resolved. No decision has been made regarding whether the individuals in these classifications or groups are included in, or excluded from, the bargaining unit. The eligibility or inclusion of these individuals will be resolved, if necessary, following the election.

Tulane University: Representation Election Scheduled for Librarians

Tulane University, NLRB Case No: 15-RC-368845

On July 16, 2025, NLRB Region 15 issued a notice of election concerning a July 7, 2025 representation petition filed by Workers United, Southwest Regional Joint Board-SEIU seeking to represent a unit of 37 full-time and part-time librarians working at Tulane University.

The following is the description of the proposed unit in the representation petition:

Included: All full-time and part-time librarians.

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

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign: AFT Certified to

Represent Expanded GSE Unit

Board of Trustees University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign,

IELRB Case No. 2025-RS-0035-C

On July 22, 2025, the Illinois Education Labor Relations Board certified the Graduate Employees Organization, IFT-AFT, to represent an expanded graduate student employee bargaining unit to include research assistants at the University of Illinois, Urban-Champaign following a representation election. 

The certification followed a representation election involving 2,311 eligible voters with the tally of ballots demonstrating that the vote was 269-13 in favor of representation by the Graduate Employees Organization, IFT-AFT

The following is the description of the expanded certified bargaining unit at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign:

Included: Assistants who are graduate students in good standing at the University’s Urbana Champaign campus and who have appointments as either Research Assistants, Teaching Assistants (except for the initial semester when teaching is required by departments listed below) or Graduate Assistants, and either hold a total appointment between. .25 FTE and .67 FTE or who receive a tuition and fee waiver from an assistantship appointment. Only those hours/duties spent by a graduate employee in the satisfaction of his/her included (TA. RA or GA) appointment will be included in the bargaining unit and all persons employed by the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in the title of Pre-professional Graduate Assistants who are graduate students in good standing and either hold a total appointment between .25 FT and .67 FTE or receive a tuition waiver from an assistantship appointment.

Excluded: Teaching Assistants in the following departments will be excluded from the bargaining unit only for the first semester that they teach: Animal Biology, Biochemistry, Cell & Structural Biology, Chemistry, Germanic Languages & Literature, Microbiology, Plant Biology and Psychology, Teaching Assistants, Research Assistants, Graduate Assistants or Pre-professional Graduate Assistants who are supervisory, managerial, confidential and/or short term employees as defined in Section 2 of the Illinois Education Labor Relations Act and all other employees.

Emerson College: SEIU Files Petition to Represent a Professional Unit

Emerson College, NLRB Case No. 31-RC-370556

On August 1, 2025, SEIU Local 888 filed a petition with the NLRB seeking to represent a unit of 4 professional employees working on the Los Angeles campus of Emerson College. According the NLRB docket, the case was closed on August 11, 2025, which suggests that the petition was withdrawn by the union

The following is a description of the proposed unit :

Included: All full-time and regular part-time employees including the Academic Department Coordinator for LA Campus, Assistant Director for Experiential Learning, Assistant Director for Experiential Learning and Employer Relations, and the Special Projects & Programs Specialist for ELA employed by Emerson College in the Division of Academic Affairs at its Los Angeles, California campus located at 5960 West Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90028.

Excluded: All other employees, student employees, temporary employees, managerial employees, confidential employees, guards and supervisors as defined in the Act, as amended.

Macalester College: Union Certified to Represent Non-Professional Staff

Macalester College: NLRB Case No. 18-RC-365116

On July 3, 2025, the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees was certified by the National Labor Relations Board to represent a unit of 217 full-time and regular part-time non-faculty staff who are not “professional employees” as defined by the National Labor Relations Act who are employed by Macalester College. 

The certification followed representation elections in which non-professional staff voted 99-84 in favor of representation by the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees and the professional employees voted 4-0 against being a part of the bargaining unit with the non-professionals.

The following is the newly certified bargaining unit at Macalester College:

Included: All full-time and regular part-time non-faculty staff who are not “professional employees” as defined by Section 2(12) of the Act and who are employed by the Employer at its St. Paul, MN campus;

Excluded: Faculty, professional employees, athletic staff, medical staff employed at the Employer’s Hamre Center for Health and Wellness, managers, confidential employees, and guards and supervisors as defined by the Act, as amended.

Norwich University: Objections Filed to Non-Academic Unit Election

Norwich University- The Military College of Vermont, NLRB Case No. 03-RC-366072

On July 29, 2025, Norwich University-The Military College of Vermont filed objections to an election conducted by the NLRB concerning a representation petition filed by Teamsters Local 597 to represent a unit of 21 non-academic employees at the college. 

The objections were filed following a July 22, 2025 tally of ballots demonstrating that the employees had voted 18-1 in favor of representation by Teamsters Local 597.

The following is a description of the proposed bargaining unit:

Included: grounds crew chief, grounds, plumber, carpenter, electrician, ice rink assistant manager, building control specialist, maintenance, vehicle maintenance, maintenance/heating plant operator.

Excluded: confidential employees, custodians, managers, faculty, student workers, guards, directors, provosts, adjunct faculty, coordinators, coaches, investigators, student athletes, work-study students, office clerical employees, managers, professional employees, and supervisors as defined in the Act and all other employees.

Rutgers University: Grievance Challenging Discharge

Can Proceed to Arbitration

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, NJPERC Decision No. 2025-45

On June 26, 2025, the New Jersey Public Employment Relations Commission (NJPERC) issued a decision denying a request by Rutgers University to stay the arbitration of a grievance filed by Health Professionals and Allied Employees, AFT, AFL/CIO, Local 5094 challenging the termination of a pharmacist under the just cause provision of the parties’ collective bargaining agreement. Rutgers had discharged the pharmacist based on her alleged inability to perform her duties as a pharmacist without returning to work on-site after denying her disability-related accommodation to be allowed to continue to work remotely. In its decision, NUPERC noted that the university retained its managerial right to determine employee work assignments and placements.

Community Health of Central Washington: Petition Filed to

Represent Unit of Doctors and Other Professionals

Community Health of Central Washington, NLRB Case No. 19-RC-369009

On July 9, 2025, the Union of American Physicians & Dentists filed a petition with the NLRB seeking to represent a unit of 100 of doctors, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and other professional employees working for the Community Health of Central Washington in Yakima Washington.

The following is a description of the proposed unit in the petition:

Included: All Physicians, Doctor of Osteopathy, Nurse practitioners, Physician Assistants, Behavioral Health Counselors, Dentist and Pharmacists employed at the above locations.

Excluded: All others, supervisors and guards as defined in the Act.

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.

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.