The newsletter includes the complete program and registration information for the National Center's 49th annual conference on April 11-13, 2022. It also includes another important reminder about our academic collective bargaining census survey. We urge union leaders and administrators with requisite knowledge of bargaining unit size and composition, and related information, to submit a survey response.

The newsletter provides a link to the recording of our March 2, 2022 webinar "Race, History, and Academic Freedom, A Teach-In and a link to the National Center's March 3, 2022 comments to the New York State Public Employment Relations Board about the agency's proposed amended rules relating to private sector collective bargaining. It also welcomes Letitia F. Silas, Executive Director of System-Wide Labor Relations for the University of California, to the National Center's Board of Advisors.

In this issue, we also report on the following higher education developments at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and state labor relations agencies:

Lastly, the newsletter provides information about three recently published books about higher education Collective Bargaining in Higher Education: Best Practices for Promoting Collaboration, Equity, and Measurable Outcomes, edited by Daniel J. Julius, Power Despite Precarity: Strategies for the Contingent Faculty Movement in Higher Education by Joe Berry and Helena Worthen, and Ellen Schrecker's The Lost Promise: American Universities in the 1960s, along with links to recordings from our 2021 annual conference and to articles from the current volume of the Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy.

The National Center's 49th annual labor-management conference will be taking place virtually on April 11-13, 2022.

The theme of the 2022 conference will be The State of Collective Bargaining and Higher Education. Links for online access to the conference will be sent out closer to the event date.

Click here to register.

Click here for the conference schedule.

Below is a list of confirmed conference panels and panelists:

Keynote Presentation with Montserrat Garibay, Senior Advisor for Labor Relations, Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of Education in conversation with Kathleen Mulligan, Director of the National Labor Leadership Initiative, Cornell University, ILR School.

Panel: The Future of Higher Education with Arthur Levine, The Great Upheaval: Higher Education's Past, Present, and Uncertain Future, Ann Kirschner, University Professor, City University of New York, Adrianna Kezar, Endowed Professor and Dean's Professor of Leadership, USC, Director, Pullias Center, and Director, Delphi Project, Discussant, and Daniel Greenstein, Chancellor, Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, Moderator.

Panel: Reassessing and Reexamining the History of Higher Education with Elizabeth Tandy Shermer, Indentured Students: How Government-Guaranteed Loans Left Generations Drowning in College Debt, Cristina Viviana Groeger, The Education Trap: Schools and the Remaking of Inequality in Boston, Davarian Baldwin, In the Shadow of the Ivory Tower: How Universities Are Plundering Our Cities, and Ellen Schrecker, The Lost Promise: American Universities in the 1960s, and Suzanne Kahn, Managing Director of Research and Policy, Roosevelt Institute, Moderator.

Panel: Contract Negotiations under COVID and Beyond with Margaret E. Winters, former Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, Wayne State University, Ricardo Villarosa, Wayne State University AAUP-AFT, Dominick Fanelli, Associate Director Labor Relations, University of Michigan, Kirsten Herold, President, Lecturers' Employee Organization, AFT Local 6244, and Homer C. La Rue, Labor Arbitrator, Mediator, and Professor of Law, Howard University School of Law, Moderator.

Panel: COVID and Higher Education: The Role of Unions and Arbitration Regarding Vaccine Mandates with Richard Bales, Professor of Law, Pettit College of Law, Ohio Northern University, Eve Weinbaum, Co-President, Massachusetts Society of Professors, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Michael Eagen, Associate Provost for Academic Personnel, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and Charles Toombs, President, California Faculty Association, Moderator.

Panel: Pandemic Organizing and Bargaining Lessons in Higher Education with Larry Savage, Chair, Department of Labour Studies, Brock University and Lauren Byers, United Faculty of Florida, Unit Service Director, Organizing Specialist, Barry Miller, Senior Policy Advisor on Labour Relations, York University, Moderator.

Panel: Lessons Learned: Organizing and Collective Bargaining by Graduate Assistants During the Pandemic with Jacob A. Bennett, MFA, PhD, University of New Hampshire, Ben Serber, Higher Ed Organizer, North Dakota United and Past President, FSU Graduate Assistants United, Amy L. Levant, Assistant Director of Labor and Employee Relations, University of Illinois, Chicago, and Joseph van der Naald, Graduate Student Researcher, Program in Sociology, Graduate Center, CUNY, Moderator.

Panel: Limiting the Use of Student Evaluations in Contracts: Challenges in Vision and Enforcement with Steven Newman, former President, Temple Association of University Professionals, Temple University, Ian Sakinofsky, Professor of HR Management, Ryerson University, Laura Murphy, Dutchess United Educators, Alexandra Matish, Associate Vice Provost for Academic and Faculty Affairs, University of Michigan, and Timothy S. Taylor, Arbitrator, Scheinman Arbitration and Mediation Services, Moderator.

Panel: Federal Funding, Inequality, and Higher Education: Politics and Policy-Making with Adam Harris, staff writer at the Atlantic, National Fellow at New America, and author, The State Must Provide: Why America’s Colleges Have Always Been Unequal — and How to Set Them Right, Rebecca S. Natow, Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership & Policy, Hofstra University and author, Reexamining the Federal Role in Higher Education: Politics and Policymaking in the Postsecondary Sector, and Sosanya Jones, Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Howard University, Moderator.

Panel: Becoming JEDI: Labor-Management Strategy to Challenge Racism on Campus and Stem Community College Enrollment Decline with Courtney Brewer, Professor of Psychology, Executive Vice President, Faculty Association Suffolk Community College, Christina Vargas, Chief Diversity Officer and Title IX Coordinator, Suffolk County Community College, board member, ERASE Racism NY, Patty Munsch, Interim Vice President for Student Affairs, Suffolk County Community College, Jennifer Browne, Associate Dean for Curriculum Development, Suffolk County Community College, Lauren Liburd, Specialist, SCCC Foundation, Co-Chair Achieving the Dream Committee, and Cynthia Eaton, Professor of English, Secretary, Faculty Association Suffolk Community College, Moderator.

Panel: Collective Bargaining and Shared Governance: Findings from the 2021 AAUP Shared Governance Survey with Lynn Pasquerella, President, Association of American Colleges and Universities, Timothy Reese Cain, Associate Professor of Higher Education, University of Georgia, Hans-Joerg Tiede, Director of Research, American Association of University Professors, and Michael Loconto, Arbitrator and Mediator, Loconto ADR, Boston, MA, Moderator.

Panel: Achieving Pay Parity for Part-Time Faculty in Community Colleges with

Panel: An Update from NLRB and Public Sector Labor Relations Agencies on Higher Education Issues with Mark Gaston Pearce, Executive Director, Workers’ Rights Institute, Georgetown University Law School, and former National Labor Relations Board Chairman, J. Felix De La Torre, General Counsel, California Public Employment Relations Board, Ellen Maureen Strizak, General Counsel, Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board, and Jennifer Abruzzo, General Counsel, National Labor Relations Board.

Panel: Faculty Unionization and Collective Bargaining in the Philippines: Similarities and Differences with Benjamin Velasco, Assistant Professor, University of the Philippines, School of Labor and Industrial Relations, Rene Luis Tadle, Associate Professor, Philosophy, University of Santo Tomas and Lead Convenor, Council of Teachers and Staff of Colleges and Universities of the Philippines, Gerardo L. Blanco Associate Professor, Higher Education, Academic Director, Center for International Higher Education, Boston College, Shannon Lederer, Director of Immigration Policy, AFL-CIO, and Ashwini Sukthankar, Secretary/Treasurer, International Commission for Labor Rights. 

Panel: Higher Education Legal Update with Henry Morris, Jr., Partner, Arent Fox LLP, Monica Barrett, Bond, Schoeneck & King PLLC, Angela Thompson, CWA Special Counsel for Strategic Initiatives, and Aaron Nisenson, Senior Legal Counsel, AAUP, Panelist and Moderator.

The National Center's research team continues its work in seeking responses to our electronic national census survey, which collects current information about all collective bargaining units and contracts in higher education involving faculty, administrators, postdoctoral scholars, and student workers.

The survey seeks bargaining unit size (the number of employees represented) and bargaining composition (the titles covered), along with other important information.

We thank the hundreds of unions and institutions that have submitted survey responses. After nine months of contacting labor and administrator representatives, however, we still have a long way to go to complete the data collection. Therefore, we need your help and cooperation. Please join the other unions and institutions from around the country by answering the survey today.

The survey takes about 15 minutes to complete by a person with knowledge about the bargaining unit. The National Center's research team will continue to be telephoning and emailing leaders and staff of unions and institutions that have not yet submitted a response. To avoid such communications, we urge you to respond to the electronic survey today.

A word version of the survey is also available. You can request one, or submit questions to our research team members, via email: ncscbint1@hunter.cuny.edu. We will be happy to answer your questions and provide you with timely assistance in completing the survey.

The data collected will be used for a new open-source directory of collective bargaining relationships and contracts. Remember that without current data, we will not be able to produce a new directory for your use.

On March 2, 2022, the National Center hosted a webinar titled Race, History, and Academic Freedom, A Teach-in. The goal of the webinar was to educate those working and studying on campuses throughout the country about the current attacks on the teaching and learning about race in American history. 

Click here for the link of the recorded event.

Click here for the webinar reading materials.

The panelists were:

On March 3, 2022, the National Center submitted comments to the New York Public Employment Relations Board (NYPERB) in response to the agency's proposed amendments to its rules concerning private sector collective bargaining rights under New York's State Employment Relations Act (SERA), as amended by the 2019 Farm Laborer Fair Labor Practices Act (FLFLPA).

In our comments, the National Center encouraged PERB to adopt a new administrative structure for processing and determining private sector representation cases and

The National Center Welcomes Letitia F. Silas to its Board of Advisors

The National Center welcomes Letitia F. Silas to our Board of Advisors. Ms. Silas is the Executive Director of System-Wide Labor Relations for the University of California.

As a leader representing employers in traditional labor law, labor-management relations, labor strategy, and employee relations, Letitia has dedicated her career to helping employers develop and execute effective labor relations programs and strategies that meet their business and workforce relations needs and objectives. Throughout her career, Letitia has been a champion of equity, diversity, inclusion, and professional development for women and individuals from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

Letitia’s background includes a unique combination of private and public practice. In her current role with the University of California, Letitia is responsible for the University’s development and execution of a comprehensive labor relations program and strategy across the University’s 10 campuses, 5 medical centers, and national laboratories and covering over 130,000 employees. This includes leading the University’s system-wide labor relations professionals, responsible for University’s contract negotiations, implementation, interpretation, and administration of labor relations matters. She is also responsible for ensuring the University’s compliance with its 34 collective-bargaining agreements, labor law and policy including, but not limited, the California Higher Education Employee Employer Relations Act, various state statutes governing labor relations, Regents Policies, and internal University policy.

Prior to joining the University of California, Letitia represented employers in traditional labor and employment matters while at two of the nation’s top exclusively labor and employment law firms. Most recently, she was a partner at Fisher Phillips. Letitia also served as Senior Labor Counsel and Director of Labor Relations for Howard University and Howard University Hospital, where she was responsible for developing the university’s comprehensive labor relations program and strategy, restoring healthy labor relations with the University’s nine labor unions, and representing the University in arbitration and proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board. Prior to Howard University, Letitia was an associate at law firm and a field attorney for the NLRB, where she investigated and prosecuted unfair labor practices on behalf of the General Counsel. In that capacity, she served in both the Boston and Washington DC Regional Offices.

Recognized as a leading woman by the Maryland Daily Record, Letitia is a recognized subject matter expert, regular panelist at labor law conferences across the country and served as a Chapter Editor for the ABA’s Developing Labor Law for several years. Her written work on labor and employment matters has been published in HR Magazine, Law 360, Widener Journal on Law, Economics, and Race, and other legal journals. In addition to her professional career, Letitia is committed to community service. She has been a member of the United Way Women’s Leadership circle, Western Maryland, served as a volunteer for Dress for Success and various programs for youth in foster care, mentored youth across the country, and currently provides training in professional dress and branding to MBA students Howard University.

President and Trustees of Bates College, NLRB Case No. 01-RC-28438

On March 18, 2022, the National Labor Relations Board issued a decision granting a request for review by Bates College seeking to challenge the December 16, 2021 decision and direction of election by the NLRB Region 1 Director who found a unit of all full-time and regular part-time professional employees, including adjunct faculty, and non-professional employees to be presumptively appropriate and met the traditional community of interest standards to constitute an appropriate unit.

In its recent decision, the NLRB Board found that Bates College raised "substantial issues warranting review, particularly with respect to (1) whether the long-standing principle that a petitioned-for wall-to-wall unit is presumptively appropriate should be applied to units in higher education that include both faculty and staff; and (2) whether the petitioned-for unit is appropriately considered a wall-to-wall unit as contemplated by, e.g., Kalamazoo Paper Box Corp., 136 NLRB 134 (1962)."

A final NLRB decision on the two related uniting issues might impact future wall-to-wall collective bargaining at private higher education institutions.

Board of Trustees University of Illinois, IELRB Case No. 2022-RS-0013-C

On February 23, 2022, UIC United Faculty Local 6456, IFT-AFT, AAUP, AFL-CIO filed a representation petition with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board seeking to add 29 post-doctoral research associates in the Bridge to Faculty Program to its full-time non-tenure track faculty bargaining unit at the University of Illinois-Chicago. The university opposes the petition, arguing that the post-doctoral research associates do not share a community of interest with the non-tenure track faculty.

The following are descriptions of the current bargaining unit and the expanded unit sought in the petition:

Current Unit:

Included: All full-time (i.e., employees who have 0.51 or greater appointment as a faculty member) non-tenure track faculty.

Excluded: All faculty members of the College of Pharmacy, the College of Medicine, and the College of Dentistry. All supervisors, managerial and confidential employees as defined under the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act.

Proposed Unit:

Included: All full-time (i.e., employees who have 0.51 or greater appointment as a faculty member) non-tenure track faculty, including all fellows in the Bridge to Faculty program.

Excluded: All faculty members of the College of Pharmacy, the College of Medicine, and the College of Dentistry, and Bridge to Faculty fellows in those Colleges. All supervisors, managerial and confidential employees as defined under the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act.

Nassau Community College, NYPERB Case No. CP-1646

On January 13, 2022, the New York Public Employment Relations Board affirmed the dismissal of a unit clarification petition filed by Nassau Community College seeking to fragment a group of employees, employed jointly by the College and the County of Nassau (County), from a bargaining unit of employees employed solely by the County. The agency ruled that a unit clarification petition was not the appropriate procedural vehicle to seek fragmentation.

Antelope Valley Community College District, CPERB Case No. LA-CO-1786-E

On March 22, 2022, the California Public Employment Relations Board (CPERB) issued a decision affirming the dismissal of an unfair labor practice charge filed by Antelope Valley Community College alleging that the Antelope Valley College Federation of Teachers violated the California Educational Employment Relations Act by demanding to negotiate over the elimination of the winter intersession term in the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 academic years. CPERB rejected the College's claim that the bargaining demand and the union's conduct constituted a violation of the duty to bargain in good faith.

Claremont Colleges, Inc. ,NLRB Case No: 21-RC-290066

Trustees of Clark University, NLRB Case No. 01-RC-290362

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, NLRB Case No. 01-RC-289879

On February 1, 2022, United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) seeking to represent a bargaining unit of graduate assistants at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

On March 3, 2022, the NLRB Regional Director issued a notice of an in-person election to take place on April 4 and 5, 2022. The following is the at-issue graduate assistant unit at MIT:

Fordham University, NLRB Case No: 02-RC-291360

Included: All Graduate School of Arts and Sciences student employees who receive remuneration for services (including hourly wages or stipends) from Fordham University and/or GSAS.

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

According to media reports, Wesleyan University has voluntary recognized Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPIEU), following a March 22, 2022 card check conducted by the American Arbitration Association, to represent the university's ResLife undergraduate staff including Resident Advisors, Community Advisors, and Program House Managers.

University of the Arts, NLRB Case No. 04-RC-292294

On March 15, 2022, United Academics of Philadelphia, AFT Local 9608 filed a petition seeking to represent approximately 117 full-time and regular part-time non-faculty professional and non-professional staff employees at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.

The following is the at-issue proposed unit:

Included:

Group A. Full-time and regular part-time professional staff employees, employed at the University of the Arts including Development Coordinators, Enrollment Management Coordinators, Area Coordinators, New Student Programming Coordinators, Student Employment Coordinators, Program Coordinators, Film Coordinators, Business Analysts, Programmer / Analysts, Database Administrators, Systems Administrators, Assistant Registrars, Assistant Registrars for Student Enrollment & Communications, Benefits Managers, Managers for Annual Fund and Leadership Giving, Communication Managers, Processing Managers, Managers for Annual Fund and Leadership Giving, IT Resources Managers, Admissions Counselors, Loan Counselors, SFS Counselors, Assistant Directors, Assistant Directors for Faculty Outreach and Support, Assistant Directors of Counseling, Senior Directors for Alumni Relations & Special Events, PIE/MEd Program Directors, Operations Directors, Directors of Media Relations & Communications, Directors of Special Projects, Interim Directors of DEI, Directors of Institutional Research & Effectiveness, Directors for the Center for Teaching & Learning Assessment, Directors for Academic Affairs, Directors for Academic Operations, Artistic Directors, Technical Directors, Social Media Specialists, Windows Support Specialists, Academic Advisors, Network Systems Engineers, Staff Accountants, Assistant Controllers, College Health Nurses, Acquisitions Assistants, Instructional Designers, Digital Content Producers

Group B: All full-time and regular part-time non-professional staff employees employed at the University of the Arts including Visitor Services Assistants, Mailroom Clerks, Senior Executive Assistants, Accounting Clerks, Accounts Payable Clerks, Health Services Coordinators, HR Information Systems Assistants, Payroll Administrators, Technical Coordinators, Administrative Assistants, Executive Assistants, Senior Administrative Assistants, Executive Assistant to the Deans, Ceramics Shop Supervisors, Fibers Shop Supervisors, Print Shop Supervisors, Accompanists, Shop/Studio Supervisors, Executive Assistants, Program Assistants, Audio Support Specialists, Costume Shop Managers, Bookstore Managers, Makerspace Studio Managers, Head Cashiers, Support Specialists, Imaging Lab Supervisors, Library Technicians, Visual Resources and Special Collections Assistants, Master Electricians.

Excluded:

Group A: All faculty, non-professional employees, Assistant Vice Presidents, Vice Presidents, Managerial employees, Supervisors, Confidential employees as defined in the Act.

Group B: All professional employees, all Assistant Vice Presidents, Vice Presidents, Managerial employees, Supervisors, Confidential employees as defined in the Act. Voting Groups to be polled in accordance with Sonotone Corporation, 90 NLRB 1236 (1950)

Maryland Institute College of Art, NLRB Case No. 05-RC-291652

On March 4, 2022, SEIU Local 500 filed a petition seeking to represent a bargaining unit of 203 non-faculty professional and non-professional employees at the Maryland Institute College of Art.

The following is the petitioned-for bargaining unit:

Included: All full-time and part-time professional and non-professional employees employed by the Employer, whose address is 1300 W Mount Royal Ave., Baltimore, Maryland 21217

Excluded: All other employees, temporary and casual employees that would be excluded in accordance with NLRB case law, full-time and part-time faculty who do not have non-faculty positions at the Employer, confidential employees, managerial employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act.

Dartmouth University, NLRB Case No.: 01-RC-290146

On February 4, 2022, the Student Workers Collective at Dartmouth filed a representation petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) seeking to represent a bargaining unit of 130 full-time and regular part-time student employees working for the Dartmouth Dining Services. A notice of a mail ballot election was issued by NLRB Region 1 on February 22, 2022 with the ballots being commingled and tallied on March 30, 2022.

The following is the at-issue student workers bargaining unit at Dartmouth University:

Included: All full-time and regular part-time student employees of the Dartmouth Dining Services including Dining Student Associates, Student Supervisors and Cashiers.

Trustees of Grinnell College, NLRB Case No. 18-RC-291710

On March 4, 2022, Grinnell College and the Union of Grinnell Student Dining Workers (GSDW) entered into a neutrality agreement concerning an organizing drive by student workers for a campus-wide bargaining unit. On the same day, GSDW filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board seeking to represent the following bargaining unit of 768 student workers:

Included: Student employees (1) enrolled as degree-seeking undergraduate students, full-time or part-time, at Grinnell College and (2) employed by Grinnell College as non-exempt, hourly employees.

Excluded: (1) students whose sole “employment” relationship with Grinnell College is an internship, research fellowship, Mentored Advanced Project, or an equivalent relationship, such as externally grant-funded positions, (2) students who were formerly, but are no longer, enrolled as undergraduate students at Grinnell College, or (3) students who were formerly, but are no longer, non-exempt hourly employees of Grinnell College.

A notice of election was issued on March 18, 2022 by the NLRB with the ballot count scheduled for April 21, 2022.

Routlege recently published Collective Bargaining in Higher Education: Best Practices for Promoting Collaboration, Equity, and Measurable Outcomes, edited by Daniel J. Julius.

The book contains contributions from a diverse group of scholars, practitioners, and advocates, many of whom have been active in National Center programs and activities. It provides an overview of the contemporary landscape and practical advice concerning collective bargaining and labor relations in higher education.

Routledge is offering a 20% discount for each book purchase. Use this discount code at checkout: code FLY21.

Joe Berry and Helena Worthen have published a new book on Pluto Press titled Power Despite Precarity: Strategies for the Contingent Faculty Movement in Higher Education.

The book describes the historical periods leading to major transitions in higher education faculty. It then examines the three-decade effort by contingent faculty at California State University to improve their working conditions through collective bargaining. Berry and Worthen are well-known contingent faculty activists with extensive experience in organizing contingent faculty nationwide. Their new book draws upon their vast practical experiences and observations to analyze the strategies and challenges of seeking to improve contingent faculty terms and conditions of employment.

The National Center's virtual May 2021 national conference was a major success. We thank the panelists and moderators who participated in the conference, as well as, all of the attendees.

Below are links to video recordings of conference presentations along with links to panel descriptions, panelists bios, and written materials.

Welcoming Remarks and Announcement with Jennifer J. Raab, Hunter College President, William A. Herbert, National Center Executive Director, DeWayne Sheaffer, President, NEA's National Council for Higher Education, Alexandra Matish, Associate Vice Provost for Academic and Faculty Affairs, University of Michigan, Jeffrey Cross and Gary Rhoades, Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy.

The Biden Administration: Higher Education and Labor Initiatives with Lynn Pasquerella, President, Association of American Colleges and Universities, Mark Gaston Pearce, Executive Director, Workers Rights, Georgetown University Law School and former National Labor Relations Board Chairman, Damon A. Silvers, Director of Policy and Special Counsel, AFL-CIO, and Michael Loconto, Founding Principal, Fenway Law, LLC, Moderator. Panel Description and Panelists Bios Reading Material

Collective Bargaining in Higher Education: Best Practices for the Promotion of Collaboration, Equity and Measurable Outcomes with Daniel J. Julius, Visiting Fellow, Yale University, School of Management and Professor of Management, New Jersey City University, Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld, Professor, Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University, Adrienne E. Eaton, Dean, School of Management and Labor Relations, Distinguished Professor, Labor Studies & Employment Relations Department, Rutgers University, Thomas Kochan, MIT Sloan Institute for Work and Employment Research at the MIT Sloan School of Management, and David Lewin, Professor Emeritus, Management and Organizations, UCLA Anderson School of Management. This panel was co-sponsored by the LERA Higher Education Industry Council. Panel Description and Panelist Bios

Challenges of the Past Year and Perspectives about the Future with Daniel Greenstein, Chancellor, Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, Susan Poser, Provost & Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, University of Illinois Chicago, Mildred Garcia, President, American Association of State Colleges and Universities, and Scott Jaschik, Editor, Inside Higher Ed, Moderator. Panel Description and Panelists Bios

Challenges of the Past Year and Perspectives on the Future of Academic Labor with Rebecca Givan, Rutgers AAUP-AFT, Jamie Martin, President, APSCUF, Justin Tzuanos, NEA Center for Organizing Fellow, NEA Organizational Specialist and Higher Education Team member, Charles Toombs, President, California Faculty Association, and Gary Rhoades, Professor, Center for the Study of Higher Education, University of Arizona, JCBA Co-editor, Moderator. Panel Description and Panelists Bios

COVID-19 and Its Impact on Academic Women with Karen R. Stubaus, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Rutgers University, Maria Lund Dahlberg, Study Director, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Eve Higginbotham, Dean of Inclusion and Diversity, University of Pennsylvania, Leslie D. Gonzales, Associate Professor in the Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Learning Unit in the College of Education, Michigan State University and Juli Wade, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at University of Connecticut. Panel Description and Panelists Bios

COVID-19 and Racial Equity in Higher Education with Amalia Dache, Assistant Professor, Higher Education Division, University of Pennsylvania, Jennifer Johnson, Assistant Professor, College of Education and Human Development, Temple University, Henrika McCoy, Associate Professor and Interim Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Student Services, Jane Addams College of Social Work, University of Illinois Chicago, and Roseanne Flores, Associate Professor, Psychology, Hunter College, CUNY, Moderator. Panel Description and Panelists Bios

Joe Biden and Catholicism in the United States with Massimo Faggioli Professor of Theology and Religious Studies, Villanova University and contributing writer to Commonweal magazine, E.J. Dionne, Jr., Washington Post Syndicated Columnist, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution, and Georgetown University Professor, Heidi Schlumpf, Executive Editor, National Catholic Reporter, and Paul Moses, Professor of Journalism, Brooklyn College, CUNY, Moderator. This panel was co-sponsored by the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute and Commonweal Magazine.

Just Universities: Catholic Social Teaching Confronts Corporatized Universities with Gerald J. Beyer, Associate Professor of Christian Ethics, Villanova University, Patricia McGuire, President, Trinity Washington University, Discussant, Mary-Antoinette Smith, Professor, English, and Executive Director, National Association for Women in Catholic Higher Education (NAWCHE), Seattle University, Lily Ryan, Organizer, Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor, Georgetown University, and Donna Haverty-Stacke, Professor, History, Hunter College, CUNY, Moderator. This panel was co-sponsored by the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute and Commonweal Magazine.

Speaking of Dignity: Non-Unionized Adjunct Faculty Teaching at a Catholic Church-Affiliated University with Jacob Bennett, University of New Hampshire, Maria Maisto, New Faculty Majority, James Coppess, Associate General Counsel, AFL-CIO, and David Marshall, Director, Center for Labor and Employment Law, Dorothy Day Professor of Law, St. John's University School of Law, Panelist and Moderator. Panel Description and Panelists Bios

Social Unionism to Bargaining for the Common Good in Higher Education: Then and Now with Charles Toombs, President, California Faculty Association, Ellen Schrecker, Professor Emerita of American History, Yeshiva University, Andrew Feffer, Professor, History, Union College and author of Bad Faith: Teachers, Liberalism, and the Origins of McCarthyism, Marilyn Sneiderman, Professor and Director, Center for Innovation in Worker Organization, Rutgers University School of Management and Labor Relations, and Malini Cadambi-Daniel, Director for Higher Education, SEIU, Moderator. Panel Description and Panelists Bios

How Public Employees Win and Lose the Right to Bargain with Dominic Wells, Assistant Professor, Political Science, Bowling Green State University, author of From Collective Bargaining to Collective Begging: How Public Employees Win and Lose the Right to Bargain (2020), William P. Jones, Professor & Director of Graduate Studies, Department of History, University of Minnesota, President, Labor and Working-Class History Association, Eleni Schirmer, PhD candidate at University of Wisconsin-Madison in Educational Policy Studies, and William A. Herbert, National Center Executive Director, Moderator. Panel Description and Panelists Bios

Contingency, On-Line Education and Faculty Strikes in the US and the UK with Mariya Ivancheva, Lecturer in Higher Education Studies at the University of Liverpool, Robert Ovetz, Lecturer, Political Science, San Jose State University, David Harvie, Associate Professor of Finance and Political Economy, University of Leicester, and Alyssa Picard, Director, AFT Higher Education, Moderator. Panel Description and Panelists Bios

Higher Education Legal Update with Henry Morris Jr., Partner, Arent Fox LLP, Monica Barrett, Bond, Schoeneck & King, PLLC, Angela Thompson, Associate Director, AFT Legal Department, and Aaron Nisenson, Senior Legal Counsel, AAUP, Panelist and Moderator. Panel Description and Panelists Bios

Academic Freedom in Collective Bargaining Agreements and Faculty Handbooks with Hans-Joerg Tiede, Director of Research, AAUP, Risa Lieberwitz, General Counsel, AAUP and Professor of Labor and Employment Law, Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Missy A. Matella, Watkinson Laird Rubenstein, P.C, and Jeffrey Cross, Former Associate VP, Academic Affairs, Eastern Illinois University (Emeritus), Editor, Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy, Moderator. Panel Description and Panelists Bios

Shared Governance, Collective Bargaining, and the Future of Online Learning in Light of COVID-19 with Anthony G. Picciano, Professor, Hunter College and CUNY Graduate Center, School of Education, Irene Mulvey, President, AAUP, Joseph McConnell, Morgan, Brown & Joy, LLP, and Theodore Curry, Professor of Human Resources and Labor Relations, Michigan State University, Moderator. Panel Description and Panelists Bios

The Future of Graduate Assistant Unionization with Ken Lang, Director of Organizing, UAW, Peter MacKinnon, SEIU Local 509 President and Chair, Higher Education Council, Kavitha Iyengar, Graduate Assistant Union President, UAW 2865, University of California, Shukura Umi, Executive Vice President, United Campus Workers, and Joseph van der Naald, Graduate Student Researcher, Program in Sociology, Graduate Center, CUNY, Moderator. Panel Description and Panelists Bios

Principles and Practices for Effective Negotiations with Kathy Sheffield, Director of Representation and Bargaining, California Faculty Association, Barry Miller, Senior Policy Advisor on Labour Relations, Office of the Provost, York University, Deborah Williams, Johnson County Community College Faculty Association, Judi Burgess, Esq., Director of Labor Relations, Boston University, and Elena Cacavas, Esq., Cacavas ADR, LLC, Moderator. Panel Description and Panelists Bios

Preparing and Presenting Grievances in Arbitration with Letitia F. Silas, Executive Director of Systemwide Labor Relations, University of California, E. Kevin Young, Associate Director for System-wide Labor Relations, University of California, Tara Singer-Blumberg Labor Relations Specialist, New York State United Teachers National Center Executive Director William A. Herbert, and Homer C. La Rue, Labor Arbitrator, Mediator, and Professor of Law, Howard University School of Law, Panelist and Moderator.

The National Center has published the latest volume of the Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy, on the theme Beyond Getting Back to the New/Old “Normal." We thank the Journal's co-editors Jeffrey Cross and Gary Rhoades for their tireless work.

Post-Pandemic Collective Bargaining in Higher Education: An Irresistible Force Meeting and Immovable Object? James Ottavio Castagnera

Online Learning, COVID-19, and the Future of the Academy: Implications for Faculty Governance and Collective Bargaining Anthony Picciano

The Gig Academy: Naming the Problem and Identifying Solutions Daniel T. Scott and Adrianna J. Kezar

Working in Coalition, and Wall-to-Wall: The New Progressive Normal Gary Rhoades

The Journal is an open access, peer-reviewed, online periodical, the purpose of which is to advance research and scholarly thought related to academic collective bargaining and to make relevant and pragmatic peer-reviewed research readily accessible to practitioners and to scholars in the field.

We encourage scholars and practitioners in the fields of collective bargaining, labor relations, and labor history to submit articles for potential publication in future volumes.

The Journal is supported, in part, by a generous contribution from TIAA and is hosted by the institutional repository of Eastern Illinois University.