NATIONAL CENTER
for the S tudy of C ollective B argaining in 
H igher E ducation and the P rofessions
E-Note
  
 
   
 
Follow us on Twitter @HigherEd_CB
May 2017
The National Center E-Note is a monthly electronic newsletter containing research and analysis relevant to unionization and collective bargaining in higher education and the professions.

1.     45th Annual Conference Scheduled for April 15-17, 2018 

7.     Marywood Univ.: Petition Dismissed with Faculty Found to be Managerial  

 
 
 
45th Annual Conference Scheduled for April 15-17, 2018
The National Center's 2018 Annual Conference   
  
The National Center extends its many thanks to the speakers, sponsors, attendees, staff, and volunteers who made our March 2017 conference a major success.   

We are also pleased to announce that our 45th Annual Conference will take place on April 15-17, 2018 at the CUNY Graduate Center in NYC. 
 
The 2017 conference was underwritten with a TIAA grant.   

F2        

Call for Papers, Presentations, and Workshops for 2018 Conference
The National Center has issued a Call for Papers inviting scholars and practitioners from multiple disciplines to submit abstracts of proposed papers, panels, and interactive workshops for our 45th annual conference. 

Abstracts need to uploaded to dropbox here by September 8, 2017.
 
We welcome proposals by authors of recently published books who wish to present their scholarship relevant to higher education, unionization, collective bargaining, labor relations, and/or labor history.  

Proposed Papers and Panels

We seek proposed papers and presentations on relevant and timely topics including but not limited to the following:
 
 
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis, 50 Years Later: His Legacy for Our Times
 
Faculty Unionization in Historical Perspective 
 
Agency Fees: Janus v. AFSCME and Its Potential Consequences 

Common Goals and Narratives in Higher Education

Labor-Management Alliances in Support of Higher Education Funding

The Financing of Higher Education 

The NLRB and Higher Education: An Update

Immigration Enforcement and its Impact on Higher Education 

A Comparative Analysis of First Contracts for Adjunct Faculty: 2016-18 

Institutional Support for Research by Non-Tenure Track Faculty

Best Practices for Evaluating Non-Tenure Track Faculty 

Student Employee Collective Bargaining: Special Issues and Challenges 

Music and Art Colleges: Faculty Unionization and Collective Bargaining 

Academic Freedom and Faculty Activism On and Off Campus

The Use of Interest Arbitration to Resolve Higher Education Impasses

Discrimination Issues in Tenure Denial Cases

Title IX and Sexual Assault on Campus: An Update on Enforcement

Digital Accessibility Requirements in Higher Education

Reasonable Accommodation Issues for Faculty and Administrators

Free Higher Education: Where Do We Go From Here?

For-Profit Higher Education and the Trump Agenda

Community Colleges: Innovative Solutions for Contemporary Times

The Politics and Impact of Accreditation  

Online Learning: Labor-Management Practices and Intellectual Property

Collective Bargaining Issues Concerning International Programs 

Labor-Management Relations Involving Public/Private Partnerships 

Campus Construction: Contract Negotiations in the Building Trades 
 
Campus Public Safety Officers: Unionization and Collective Bargaining 

Violence on Campus: Labor-Management Issues for Ensuring Safety 

Wages and Benefits:  A Comparative Analysis 

Creative Solutions for Resolving Salary Compression

Impact of Federal Cuts in Research Funding on Post Doctoral Scholars 

Collective Bargaining For Doctors, Interns, Residents, and Nurses

The Unionization of Lawyers and Law Professors

Proposed Interactive Workshops

We seek proposed interactive workshops on relevant and timely topics including but not limited to the following:

    Unionization and Collective Bargaining for Administrators

    Organizing and Negotiating for Academic Labor

    Financial Data Analysis in Higher Education

    Bargaining Over Health Insurance in Higher Education

    Preparing, Presenting, and Defending at Arbitration

    Effective Lobbying for Higher Education  F3

New Study of Faculty Workload Policies 
The Faculty Workload and Rewards Project, which is funded by the National Science Foundation, is creating a repository of department, college or university workload policies that can help ensure fairness and equity. Examples include policy language regarding credit systems (e.g. for high enrollment classes, high number of advisees), equivalencies (supervising 5 MA capstones =1/2 a course release); performance benchmarks for merit pay and annual review (e.g. high performance in service includes x or y, low a or b), and differentiated workload policies (wherein faculty can agree to deviate from formula and teach more and be evaluated more on teaching than research), phased retirement policies, and ways of acknowledging both high and low performance. 
 
A key issue faced by many academic departments trying to improve the retention and satisfaction of faculty is workload and equity. As departments have hired more part-time faculty, there are often fewer full-time faculty to play shared governance roles. Women and underrepresented minority faculty (URM) often find themselves asked to serve on more committees, and engage in mentoring of URM or women students. Some faculty work is invisible, and does not seem to count in reward systems. Many institutions lose good faculty because of real and perceived equity problems as they relate to workload. 
 
The National Science Foundation program has funded the project (Advance Award:1463898) to work with departments to increase awareness of implicit bias in what work is taken up, assigned, and rewarded. Participating departments begin by creating dashboards of workload data and move toward creating organizational practice reforms to correct equity issues and proactively design workloads for greater fairness and flexibility. They then consider various policy options and put in place policy or practice reforms to ensure equity moving forward.
 
Joya Misra 
Professor of Sociology & Public Policy 
Graduate Program Director, Sociology 
Department of Sociology 
University of Massachusetts    F4
NYU's 70th Annual Conference on Labor to be Held on June 8-9, 2017  
Our friends at the NYU Center for Labor and Employment Law have announced NYU's 70th Annual Conference on Labor, which will be held on June 8 and 9. 2017 at NYU School of Law. The conference theme is Sharing the Gains of the U.S. Global Economy.  Register here for the NYU Conference on Labor 

The conference will focus on the challenges facing the U.S. economy and evaluating proposed solutions.  U.S. Secretary of Labor R. Alexander Acosta has agreed to give keynote remarks.   NLRB Chairman Philip A. Miscimarra and Acting EEOC Chair Victoria Lipnic will also present at the conference. F5
New Challenge to Agency Fees Likely Headed to the Supreme Court  
Janus v. AFSCME, United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

The constitutionality of the agency fee in public sector labor relations is likely headed back to the United States Supreme Court, following a March 21, 2017 decision by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals dismissing a lawsuit challenging agency fees in the public sector.  In the litigation, the plaintiffs seek to make the open shop a constitutional requirement under the First Amendment.  Victory for those seeking to constitutionalize the open shop has vastly improved with the confirmation of Judge Neil Gorsuch as the newest Supreme Court Justice.

The likelihood that the issue would return to the Supreme Court, following the 2016 dismissal of the lawsuit in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, was discussed as part of a panel discussion at our 2016 annual conference with Cynthia Estlund, New York University School of Law, Charlotte Garden, Seattle University School of Law, and Ruben Garcia, University of Nevada, Las Vegas School of Law. F6
Arcadia University:  AFT Certified to Represent Adjunct Unit
Arcadia University, NLRB Case No. 04-RC-194273

On May 2, 2017 an AFT affiliate was certified to represent a bargaining unit of 265 adjunct faculty at Aracdia University in Glenside, Pennsylvania.  The certification followed an April 20, 2017 tally of ballots in which 133 faculty members voted in favor of AFT representation and 62 voted against.

The following is the at-issue unit that the AFT has been certified to represent:

Included: All adjunct faculty currently instructing for the Employer and based in the United States or those adjunct faculty who taught at least three (3) credit hours during at least one (1) semester in two (2) of the academic years 2014-2015, 2015-2016 and 2016-2017. (An academic year includes fall, spring, and summer semesters.).

Excluded: All other employees: full-time faculty; guest lecturers; professional and clerical administrative staff; managers; department chairs; program directors; confidential employees; non-United States based adjunct faculty; guards; and supervisors as defined by the Act (including those employees that also taught courses as adjunct faculty in addition to their regular non-teaching duties). F7
Marywood Univ.: Petition Dismissed with Faculty Found Managerial
Marywood University, NLRB Case No. 04-RC-173160

On May 5, 2017, a unanimous NLRB Board affirmed the dismissal of a representation petition at Marywood University, concluding that the Acting Regional Director had correctly found that the at-issue full-time and pro-rata faculty are managerial.  In reaching its decision, however, the NLRB Board opaquely stated that "we do not adopt the rationale of the Acting Regional Director" without explaining the Board's rationale for the decision.
 
In his 2016 decision, the Acting Regional Director applied the modified standards adopted by the NLRB Board in Pacific Lutheran University, 361 NLRB No. 157 (2014) in concluding that the full-time and pro-rata faculty were managerial under NLRB v. Yeshiva University, 444 U.S. 672 (1980). 

In his decision, the Acting Regional Director rejected the university's argument that the NLRB should decline jurisdiction because of its religious affiliation.  However, the NLRB Board majority declined to consider the university's jurisdiction argument in affirming the dismissal of the petition.

The petition had been filed by an NEA-affiliate seeking to represent approximately 180 full-time and pro-rata faculty members, but not the adjunct faculty, at the university.
 F8
Brandeis University:  SEIU Certified to Represent GSE Unit
Brandeis University, NLRB Case No. 01-RC-196695

On May 2, 2017, the NLRB certified SEIU as the exclusive representative of a unit of 219 graduate student employees at Brandeis University.  The certification followed a May 2, 2017 tally of the ballots in which 88 graduate student employees voted in favor of SEIU representation, 34 voted against, and another 48 ballots were challenged. 

The following is newly certified GSE unit at Brandeis University:

Yale University: Certifications Issued for Two Additional Micro-Units
Yale University, NLRB Case Nos. 01-RC-183014 and  01-RC-183038 
  
On April 21, 2017, UNITE-HERE was certified by the NLRB to represent graduate student employees (GSE) in departmentally-based units at Yale University's East Asian Languages and Literature Department and its Political Science Department. There are now eight certified GSE bargaining units at Yale, all of which are being challenged by the university in requests for review pending at the NLRB Board.  In the meantime,

Eight Yale graduate students commenced a hunger strike two weeks ago seeking to compel the university to commence negotiations with their certified bargaining representative. 
  
  
East Asian Languages and Literature Department, NLRB Case No.  01-RC-183014 
 
All teaching fellows employed by the Employer at its New Haven, Connecticut facility who teach in the East Asian Languages and Literature Department, including discussion section leaders, part-time acting instructors, associates in teaching, lab leaders, and grader/tutors, but excluding all other employees, managers, guards and supervisors as defined in the Act.

Political Science Department, NLRB Case No: 01-RC-183038 

 

All teaching fellows employed by the Employer at its New Haven, Connecticut facility who teach in the Political Science Department, including discussion section leaders, part-time acting instructors, associates in teaching, lab leaders, and grader/tutors, but excluding all other employees, managers, guards and supervisors as defined in the Act. F10
Hawaii Pacific Univ.: AAUP Withdraws Petition to Represent Faculty      
Hawaii Pacific University, NLRB Case No. 20-RC-196678 

On April 11, 2017, AAUP filed a representation petition with the NLRB seeking to represent approximately 148 career-track faculty at Hawaii Pacific University in Honolulu, Hawaii.  Following the scheduling a hearing on the petition, however, a request to withdraw the petition was approved.  

Included: All career-track faculty including Career Instructional Faculty (CIFs) and also Department Chairs.

Excluded: Non-career track faculty, vice-deans, deans, other classified employees. F11
George Washington Univ: SEIU Withdraws Petition to Represent RAs
George Washington University, NLRB Case No. 05-RC-188871

On May 4, 2017, the Acting NLRB Region 5 Director accepted a request by SEIU to withdraw a representation petition it had filed in late 2016 seeking to represent a bargaining unit of 110 resident advisors (RAs) at George Washington University in its 26 student residences.  SEIU requested the withdrawal just prior to the scheduled election on May 3, 2017.

On December 7, 2016 a hearing was held concerning the representation petition, which was followed by the filing of post-hearing briefs by the parties.  An amici brief was filed by a large group of organizations representing colleges and universities, administrators, and personnel officers supporting George Washington University's opposition to the petition.

On April 21, 2017, the Acting Regional Director issued a
decision and direction of election rejecting the university's argument that the RAs were not employees for purposes of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).  In his decision, the Acting Regional Director applied the standard from Columbia University, 364 NLRB No. 90 (2016), where the NLRB Board found graduate and undergraduate teaching and research assistants are employees under the NLRA.

The following is the RA unit found to be appropriate at George Washington University:

Included: All resident advisors employed by the Employer during the payroll period ending April 8, 2017.

Excluded: All other employees including managers, supervisors, and guards as defined in the Act.  F12
Manhattan College: 2011 Adjunct Election Results May Be Forthcoming
Manhattan College, NLRB Case No.
02-RC-023543

On April 20, 2017, the NLRB issued a decision concerning a representation petition filed on October 5, 2010 by the AFT-NEA affiliate in New York seeking to represent a part-time faculty unit at Manhattan College.  In its decision, the NLRB Board majority ruled that the Region 2 Director had erred, in part, by asserting jurisdiction over adjunct faculty in the Department of Religious Studies because the record demonstrated that a reasonable applicant for a position in that department "would expect that the performance of their responsibilities would require furtherance of the College's religious mission."  

As a result, the NLRB remanded the case to the Region 2 Director with a direction that the ballots of faculty members from the the Department of Religious Studies in a 2011 representation election should not be counted when the ballots are tallied, and "[i]f those ballots have been commingled with other ballots, the Petitioner cannot be certified unless the Regional Director determines that it achieved a majority of countable ballots." 

The ballots had been impounded by the Region 2 Director in 2011 following a mail ballot election in light of the college's legal challenge to the NLRB assertion of jurisdiction over the religiously-affiliated college based on the Supreme Court's decision in NLRB v. Catholic Bishop of Chicago, 440 U.S. 490 (1979).

The recent NLRB decision is a good reminder of how litigation over issues like bargaining unit composition, employee eligibility for representation, and NLRB jurisdiction over religiously-affiliated institutions can substantially delay the tallying of ballots, the certification of a bargaining representative, or other final actions in a representation case.

The following is the agreed-upon bargaining unit at Manhattan College:

Included: All individuals employed as part-time faculty with an adjunct academic rank who teach a minimum of a three (3) credit college degree level course for a full semester (or the equivalent hours of a semester length course)

Excluded: All other full and part-time employees, including visiting and full time faculty, regardless of teaching load, students who are employed by the College, and guards and supervisors as defined in the Act.  F13
Washington University: Election Ordered for Second NTT Faculty Unit
Washington University, NLRB Case No. 14-RC-196901

On May 1, 2017, NLRB Region 14 Director issued a decision and direction of election concerning a petition filed by SEIU seeking to represent a unit of approximately 119 full-time non-tenure track faculty at Washington University's School of Arts and Sciences.  In 2015, SEIU was certified to represent a separate larger unit of part-time non-tenure track faculty at the university.

In his decision, Regional Director rejected the university's claim that there was insufficient time to conduct a representation election prior to the end of the current academic year.  The Regional Director found that the at-issue adjunct faculty's contractual commitment does not expire until May 31, 2017, and that all of the current faculty were offered reappointments for the next academic year.  In addition, he ordered a mail ballot election, rather than a manual election, because 80% of the at-issue unit are not required to be present on campus after May 9, 2017.  The tally of the mail ballots is scheduled for May 24, 2017.

The following is the at-issue full-time adjunct unit at Washington University:

Included:  All employees appointed by the University as fulltime non-tenured and nontenure track faculty who teach at least two credit-bearing courses in the academic year on Washington University's Danforth campus in Arts & Sciences who were employed by the Employer during the payroll period ending April 30, 2017.

Excluded: All faculty with only one or more part-time appointments; adjunct faculty; tenured, tenure track and research track faculty; postdoctoral appointees; deans; provosts; administrators; department chairs; faculty who also serve in a supervisory, managerial or confidential role; faculty who teach only online courses; faculty who teach only courses at campuses other than the Danforth Campus; faculty who teach only courses in schools other than Arts & Sciences; faculty who teach only courses as a field supervisor; athletic coaches; graduate students; resident assistants; all other employees, managers, confidential employees, office clerical employees, other professional employees, guards and supervisors as defined in the Act.  F14
Vanderbilt University: Four NTT Micro-Units Found Appropriate
Vanderbilt University, NLRB Case No. 10-RC-193205

On May 3, 2017, the Acting NLRB Region 10 Director issued a decision and direction of election finding that the at-issue adjunct faculty are not managerial, and are therefore entitled to the rights guaranteed by the National Labor Relations Act.  In rejecting the university's argument, the Acting Region Director found that the adjunct faculty do not exercise managerial control or make effected recommendations because they represent only a minority on nearly all faculty committees within the governance structure.  Even where adjunct faculty constitute a majority on two committees, the Acting Region Director found that the evidence was insufficient to find that they were managerial.

The Acting Region Director, however, rejected the bargaining unit proposed by SEIU, as amended.  Instead, she determined that separate micro-units for adjunct faculty in four of the university's ten colleges were appropriate under the standards set forth in Specialty Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center of Mobile, 357 NLRB No. 83 (2011) enfd. sub nom. Kindred Nursing Centers East v. NLRB, 727 F.3d 552 (6th Cir. 2013. This constitutes the first decision to find micro-units to be appropriate with respect to the unionization of faculty in higher education.

Mail ballot elections have been ordered for each unit with the tallies of ballots scheduled for June 6, 2017.

The following are the units found to be appropriate at Vanderbilt University:

The College of Arts and Science Unit with 225 NTT faculty:

Included: All full-time and part-time non-tenure-track faculty employed by Vanderbilt University with a primary appointment in the College of Arts and Science.

Excluded: All faculty of other Schools and Colleges, all tenured faculty, tenure-track faculty, emeritus faculty, research faculty who are not teaching courses, adjoint faculty, clinical faculty, all administrators (including deans, directors, provosts, and chairs who may have teaching assignments); faculty who are paid by entities other than Vanderbilt University (including governments, and other organizations), visiting faculty paid by their home institutions, athletic coaches, all other employees employed by the University, including those who teach a class or course and are separately compensated for such teaching;, managers, confidential employees, office clerical employees, professional employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the National Labor Relations Act.

The Peabody College of Education and Development Unit with 141 NTT faculty:

Included: All full-time and part-time non-tenure-track faculty employed by Vanderbilt University with a primary appointment in the Peabody College of Education and Development.

Excluded: All faculty of other Schools and Colleges, all tenured faculty, tenure-track faculty, emeritus faculty, research faculty who are not teaching courses, adunct faculty, clinical faculty, all administrators (including deans, directors, provosts, and chairs who may have teaching assignments); faculty who are paid by entities other than Vanderbilt University (including governments, and other organizations), visiting faculty paid by their home institutions, athletic coaches, all other employees employed by the University, including those who teach a class or course and are separately compensated for such teaching;, managers, confidential employees, office clerical employees, professional employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the National Labor Relations Act.

The Blair School of Music Unit with 102 NTT faculty

Included: All full-time and part-time non-tenure-track faculty employed by Vanderbilt University with a primary appointment in the Blair School of Music.

Excluded: All faculty of other Schools and Colleges, all tenured faculty, tenure-track faculty, emeritus faculty, research faculty who are not teaching courses, adjunct faculty, clinical faculty, all administrators (including deans, directors, provosts, and chairs who may have teaching assignments); faculty who are paid by entities other than Vanderbilt University (including governments, and other organizations), visiting faculty paid by their home institutions, athletic coaches, all other employees employed by the University, including those who teach a class or course and are separately compensated for such teaching;, managers, confidential employees, office clerical employees, professional employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the National Labor Relations Act.

The Divinity School Unit with 16 NTT faculty

Included: All full-time and part-time non-tenure-track faculty employed by Vanderbilt University with a primary appointment in the Divinity School.

Excluded: All faculty of other Schools and Colleges, all tenured faculty, tenure-track faculty, emeritus faculty, research faculty who are not teaching courses, adjunct faculty, clinical faculty, all administrators (including deans, directors, provosts, and chairs who may have teaching assignments); faculty who are paid by entities other than Vanderbilt University (including governments, and other organizations), visiting faculty paid by their home institutions, athletic coaches, all other employees employed by the University, including those who teach a class or course and are separately compensated for such teaching;, managers, confidential employees, office clerical employees, professional employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the National Labor Relations Act.  F15
Vanderbilt University: SEIU Withdraws 2d Petition for NTT Faculty 
Vanderbilit University, NLRB Case No. 10-RC-195750

On March 29, 2017, SEIU filed a second representation petition seeking to represent a unit of 135 full-time and part-time non-tenure track faculty at Vanderbilt University. However, the petition to represent that unit was withdrawn eight days later.  
 
The following is the unit description in SEIU's withdrawn representation petition:

Including: All fulltime and parttime nontenuretrack faculty (including but not limited to the following titles : Lecturers, Senior Lecturers, Principal Senior Lecturers, Adjunct Faculty, Adjunct Instructors, Adjunct Lecturers, Adjunct Assistant Professors, Adjunct Associate Professors, Adjunct Professors, Adjunct Artist Teachers, Adjunct Senior Artist Teachers) employed by Vanderbilt University and currently teaching at least one course in the Blair School of Music or the Peabody College of Education & Human Development. 
 
Excluding: All tenured faculty, tenure track faculty, all assistant professors, all associate professors, and all full professors, all senior artist teachers, emeritus faculty, research faculty, adjunct faculty, clinical faculty, and faculty of the practice, the College of Arts & Science faculty, the Divinity School faculty, School of Medicine faculty, the School of Nursing faculty, the Law School faculty, the Owen Graduate School of Management faculty, the School of Engineering faculty, all administrators (including deans, directors, provosts, and chairs who may have teaching assignments); faculty who are paid by entities other than Vanderbilt University (including governments, and other organizations), visiting faculty paid by their home institutions, athletic coaches, all other employees employed by the University, including those who teach a class or course and are separately compensated for such teaching, managers, confidential employees, office clerical employees, professional employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act. F16
Tufts University:  NLRB Election Scheduled for GSE Representation
Tufts University, NLRB Case No. 01-RC-197023  

On April 18, 2017, SEIU filed a representation petition seeking to represent a bargaining unit of 415 graduate student employees at Tufts University.  In recent years, SEIU has been certified to represent two units of adjunct faculty at Tufts.   

A mail ballot election has been scheduled by the NLRB with the tally of ballots scheduled for May 18, 2017. 

The following is the unit description stipulated to by the parties:

Included: All PhD students enrolled and working in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences who provide instructional or research services, whether as Teaching Assistants, Graduate Instructors or Research Assistants, as a condition of receiving a stipend.

Excluded: All undergraduate students; all post-baccalaureate students who work or provide services outside of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences; student who are compensated on an hourly basis, who have no current work or service obligations, or who work only in the Experimental College or Summer School; all other faculty; all other employees, managers, confidential employees, guards and supervisors as defined in the Act.  F17 
 Harvard University:  H.O Report Might Require New GSE Election 
Harvard University, NLRB Case No. 01-RC-186442

On April 19, 2017, NLRB Heating Officer Thomas A. Miller issued a report and recommendations determining challenges and objections in an election involving a petition filed by the UAW to represent graduate student employees at Harvard University.  The December 22, 2016 tally of ballot found that the graduate student employees had rejected union representation by 185 votes.

In his report, the Hearing Officer overruled challenges to ballots by 195 eligible employees, and further found that Harvard University failed to substantially comply with its legal obligations because the voting list it provided failed to include 535 eligible employees.  The Hearing Officer recommended that the challenged 195 ballots be counted, and that a new election be held if the additional ballots do not result in the UAW "receiving a majority of valid votes counted plus challenged ballots."  F18
University of South Florida: SEIU Files to Represent Adjunct Faculty     
University of South Florida, FPERC Case No. 2017-007

On April 20, 2017, SEIU filed a petition with the Florida Public Employees Relations Commission seeking to represent a unit of 600 adjunct faculty at the University of South Florida. 

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

Included:  All part-time non-tenure track faculty (including Adjunct Faculty, Adjunct Contingent, Adjunct, Adjunct Instructor, Skilled Craftsman, Into/Pathways, Instructor, Instructor I, Instructor II, and Hourly Employee) employed by the University of South Florida (107 7th Ave S, St. Petersburg, Fl 33701), and Sarasota-Manatee Campus (8350 N Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, Fl. 34243), and teaching at least one college-credit bearing course, including any employee who also works for the University in another capacity unless expressly excluded:

Excluded: All other faculty, including tenured and tenure-track faculty, full-time faculty, visiting or contract faculty, faculty who are currently part of an existing bargaining unit, all administrators (including academic advisors, deans, assistants to deans, provosts, directors, coordinators, and department chairs), student services advising generalists, athletic coaches, all faculty teaching at the College of Medicine, School of Nursing, School of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health Practice, School of Epidemiology Biostatistics, School of Environmental and Occupational Health, Morsani College of Medicine, College of Public Health, School of Physical Therapy, School of Biomedical Sciences, and College of Pharmacy, all other employees who  are not compensated additionally for teaching, managers, confidential employees, and supervisors.  F19 
University of New Haven: Election Scheduled for Adjunct Unit
University of New Haven,  NLRB Case No. 01-RC-197669

On April 27, 2017, SEIU filed a petition seeking to represent a bargaining unit of 270 adjunct faculty at the University of New Haven.  A notice of election was issued on May 8, 2017 scheduling a mail ballot election, with the tally of ballots scheduled for June 9, 2017.

The following is the agreed-upon adjunct faculty unit at the University of New Haven:

Included: All adjunct faculty and Practioners in Residence who teach at least one credit bearing class, including Dental Hygiene instructors, Criminal Justice instructors, Fire Science instructors, Music instructors, Hybrid-Online instructors and Emeriti faculty, employed by the University of New Haven at its West Haven, Saw Mill, Orange and Lyme, Connecticut campus locations who were employed by the Employer during the payroll period ending

Excluded: All other employees, tenured faculty, tenure track faculty, full-time faculty, Professor Emeriti, Professionals in Residence, On-line instructors, ROTC instructors, graduate assistants, senior lecturers, lecturers, PhD candidates, clinical fellows, tutors, clerical staff, full time staff, administrators, Provosts, Deans, Assistant Deans, Department Chairs, Directors and Coordinators, other employees who are not compensated for teaching, managers, and guards and supervisors as defined in the 
Act.   F20
University of Chicago: AFT-AAUP Files to Represent GSE Unit
University of Chicago, NLRB Case No. 13-RC-198325

On May 8, 2017, a representation petition was filed with the NLRB by the Graduate Student Union, AFT-AAUP, seeking to be certified to represent a bargaining unit of 2559 graduate student employees at the University of Chicago. 

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

Included: All graduate students who are regular full-time and part-time teaching assistants, research assistants, course assistants, workshop coordinators, writing interns, preceptors, language assistants, instructors, and lecturers in the School of Divinity, School of Social Services Administration, Division of Social Services, Division of Humanities, Division of Biological Sciences, Division of Physical Sciences, and Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago.

Excluded: All other employees, managers, supervisors, and guards. F21  
University of Chicago: Petition Filed to Represent Library Employees
University of Chicago, NLRB Case No. 13-RC-198365

On May 8, 2017, a representation petition was filed by the Student Library Employees Union, IBT, with the NLRB seeking to be certified to represent 173 student library employees at the University of Chicago. 

The following is the petitioned-for bargaining unit:

Included: All hourly paid student employees of the University of Chicago Libraries, including students employed at the Joseph Regenstein Library, the Joe and Rika Mansueto Library, Eckhart Library, John Crerar Library, D'Angelo Law Library and the Social Services Administration Library

Excluded: All employees represented by other labor organizations and by other collective bargaining agreements, temporary employees, professional employees, supervisory and managerial employees as defined by the National Labor Relations
Act. F22
Univ. of Florida: Florida PBA Certified to Represent Supervisory Unit
University of Florida Board of Trustees, FPERC Case No.RA-2016-004

On April 18, 2017, the Florida Public Employees Relations Commission granted the recognition-acknowledgement petition filed by the Florida Police Benevolent Association, Inc. to be certified as the exclusive bargaining agent for a unit of sworn law enforcement lieutenants employed by the University of Florida Board of Trustees. 

The following is the at-issue supervisory public safety bargaining unit: 
 
Included: All sworn law enforcement officers employed by the University of Florida, Board of Trustees, certified pursuant to Chapter 943, Florida Statutes, in the following classification: law enforcement lieutenant.

Excluded: All other employees of the University of Florida, Board of Trustees, and excluding specifically the classifications of law enforcement officer, law enforcement corporal, law enforcement sergeant, law enforcement investigator, law enforcement lieutenant assigned to internal affairs unit, law enforcement captain, law enforcement major, assistant chief of police, and chief of police.  F23
Philadelphia Community College: ULP for Alleged Strike Dismissed
Philadelphia Community College, Case No. PERA-C-17-31-E

On April 18, 2017, the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board (PLRB) issued a final order affirming the dismissal of an unfair labor practice charge against the Faculty Federation of Community College of Philadelphia, Local 2026, AFT, which alleged that the union had engaged in an unlawful strike when it instructed its members to refrain from performing mandated assessment work.  

The unfair labor practice charge was dismissed because the the court, rather than PLRB, has the exclusive jurisdiction for determining whether conduct constitutes an unlawful strike under the Pennsylvania Public Employe Relations Act.   F24
The Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

Journal of CBA Logo  
   
   
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
 
 

The Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy (JCBA) is the National Center's peer review journal co-edited by Jeffrey Cross, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, Eastern Illinois University, and Steve Hicks, Professor of English, Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania.  
 
We encourage scholars, practitioners, and graduate students in the fields of collective bargaining, labor representation, labor relations, and labor history to submit articles for potential publication in future JCBA volumes.   F25
Job Posting for SEIU Organizing Positions
SEIU Local 509 in the Greater Boston Area has posted a notice seeking 2 full-time organizers to work in the area of higher education.  Individuals interested in applying should submit a résumé and cover letter, with "Internal Organizer, Higher Education " in the subject line, to Jeremy Thompson, Director of Higher Education, at jthompson@seiu509.org .
National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions 
national.center@hunter.cuny.edu | http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/ncscbhep
H unter College, City University of New York
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