The newsletter also includes links to video recordings and materials from our 49th annual conference on April 11-13, 2022, links to articles from the latest volume of the Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy, and another reminder to institutions and unions to submit responses to our collective bargaining census survey.

Lastly, the newsletter provides a link to a recording of our March 2, 2022 webinar titled Race, History, and Academic Freedom, A Teach-In as well as information about two recent books about higher education: Collective Bargaining in Higher Education: Best Practices for Promoting Collaboration, Equity, and Measurable Outcomes, edited by Daniel J. Julius; and Power Despite Precarity: Strategies for the Contingent Faculty Movement in Higher Education by Joe Berry and Helena Worthen.

Skidmore College, NLRB Case No. 03-RC-295214

Included: All part-time and full-time non-tenure-track teaching faculty, librarians, and accompanists.

Excluded: All tenured and tenure-track faculty, department chairs and program directors, managers, supervisors, confidential employees, and guards as defined by the Act.

Santa Clara University, NLRB Case No. 32-RC-294533

In April, 2022, SEIU filed a petition to represent 450 contingent faculty at Santa Clara University. On May 11, 2022, the NLRB Region 32 Director issued a notice scheduling a mail ballot election with ballots being mailed to eligible voters on May 27, 2022, and s the ballot count scheduled for June 20, 2022.

Cerritos Community College District, CPERB Case No. LA-CE-6378-E

On May 6, 2022, the California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) issued a decision and order denying exceptions filed by the Cerritos Community College District, which challenged a proposed decision by an administrative law judge finding that the College had engaged in an unfair labor practice by refusing to bargain certain just cause proposals made by the Cerritos College Faculty Federation, AFT Local 6215 (Federation), which are mandatory subjects of bargaining.

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

In March, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) granted a request for review by Bates College seeking of the December 16, 2021 decision and direction of election by the NLRB Region 1 Director who found a combined unit sought by Maine Service Employee Association, SEIU Local 1989 of full-time and regular part-time professional employees, including contingent faculty, and non-professional staff to be presumptively appropriate and met the traditional community of interest standards to constitute an appropriate unit.

In granting review, 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)."

Following submission of briefs on the merits by Bates College and Maine Service Employee Association, SEIU Local 1989, AAUP filed an amicus brief arguing that a combined bargaining unit of faculty and staff can be appropriate under NLRB precedent and that AAUP's positions on academic freedom and shared governance do not preclude the certification of a combined unit. In response, Bates College has raised procedural objections to AAUP's submission of an amicus brief.

Washington State University, WPERC Case No. 135073-E-22

On May 4, 2022, the UAW filed a petition with the Washington Public Employment Relations Commission seeking to represent a bargaining unit of approximately 1,600 graduate assistants at Washington State University.

The following is the proposed unit:

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

On May 16, 2022, NLRB Region 4 tallied the ballots in an election concerning a petition by United Academics of Philadelphia, AFT-PA, AFT, AFL-CIO, Local 9608 to represent a unit of 113 non-faculty professionals and non-professionals at the University of the Arts.

The tally demonstrated that the at-issue employees voted 72-13 in favor of United Academics of Philadelphia, AFT-PA, AFT, AFL-CIO, Local 9608 representation. The following is the at-issue bargaining unit at the University of the Arts:

Professional Employees Included: Academic Advisor, Acquisitions Assistant, Admissions Counselor, Area Coordinator, Assistant Controller, Assistant Director for Counseling, Assistant Director for Faculty Outreach and Support, Assistant Director for Graduate Admissions, Assistant Registrar, Assistant Registrar for Student Enrollment & Communications, Bookstore Manager, Business Analyst, College Health Nurse, Communication Manager, Communications Administrator, Costume Shop Manager, Database Administrator, Design Director, Digital Content Producer, Digital Fabrication Studio Manager, Director for Academic Operations, Director for Special Projects, Director for the Center for Teaching & Learning Assessment, Instructional Designer, Internship and Career Advisor, IT Resources Manager, Loan Counselor, Manager for Annual Fund & Leadership Giving, Master Electrician, Network Systems Engineer, New Student Programming Coordinator, Operations Director for Graduate & Professional Studies, Programmer/Analyst, Senior Admissions Counselor, Senior Director for Alumni Relations & Special Events, Senior Integration Specialist, Social Media Specialist, Staff Accountant, Staff Therapist, Student Financial Services Counselor, Systems Administrator, and Windows Support Specialist.

Professional Employees Excluded: All other employees, faculty employees, Assistant Vice Presidents, Assistant Deans, Assistant Director for Enrollment Marketing, Accompanist Coordinator, Benefits Manager, Director-Center for Immersive Media, Director for Campus Events & Scheduling, Director for Exhibition & Chief Curator, Director for International Student Services, Director for Music Technology, Director for Student Affairs, Director for Web & Digital Strategy, Director Office of Educational Accessibility, Vice Presidents, managers, non-professional employees, confidential employees, guards and supervisors as defined by the Act.

Non-Professional Employees Included: Accompanist, Accounting Clerk, Accounts Payable Clerk, Administrative Assistant, Audio Support Specialist, Circulation Supervisor, Development Coordinator, Enrollment Management Coordinators, Executive Assistant, Film Coordinator, Graduate Education Program Assistant, Head Cashier, Health Services Coordinator, Library Technician, Mailroom Clerk, Metals Shop Supervisor, OTIS Support Specialist, Print and Store Sales Associate, Processing Manager, Program Coordinator, Senior Administrative Assistant, Shop Supervisor, Shop Supervisor-Fibers, Shop Supervisor-Printmaking, Shop Supervisor-Product Design, Student Employment Coordinator, Technical Coordinator, Visitor Services Assistant, and Visual Resources and Special Collections Assistant.

Non-Professional Employees Excluded: All other employees, Assistant Vice Presidents, Vice Presidents, Human Resources Information Systems Assistant, Payroll Administrator, professional employees, confidential employees, managers, guards and supervisors as defined by the Act. Others permitted to vote:

The parties had agreed that other classifications would be allowed vote in the election but their ballots would be challenged since their eligibility had not been resolved. The eligibility or inclusion of these individuals would be resolved, if necessary, following the election. Professionals: Director for Title IX Equity & Compliance Operations, PIE/MEd Program Director, Director of DEI, Director of Academic Affairs, Director for Institutional Research, and Director for Media Relations and Communications. Non-Professionals: Print Shop Supervisor and Senior Executive Assistant.

New Mexico State University, NMPELRB Case No. 313-21

On May 16, 2022, the New Mexico Public Employment Relations Board (NMPELRB) issued a decision and order affirming the recommended decision by NMPELRB Executive Director to reject procedural objections raised by New Mexico State University (NMSU) to the card check procedures used to determine whether United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) should be certified to represent a bargaining unit of NMSU full-time and part-time graduate assistants at NMSU's main campus in Las Cruces and branch campuses in Alamogordo, Carlsbad, Doña Ana and Grants.

Oregon Coast Community College, OERB Case UC-005-22

On April 7, 2022, AFT-Oregon Coast United Employees, Local 6020 filed a unit clarification petition seeking to expand its full-time and part-time non-faculty bargaining unit to include the following titles: Student Success Coach; Academic Coordinator; Student Resource Navigator; Facilities Tech 1; Finance Analyst; Marketing & Foundation Coordinator; IT Support Technician; AQS/Science Lab Assistant; Small Business Development Center Counselor; and Business Advisor.

Keck School of Medicine of USC, NLRB Case No. 21-RC-292035

On May 4, 2022, NLRB Region 21 tallied the ballots in an election concerning a petition filed by Committee of Interns and Residents, SEIU, to be represent a bargaining unit of interns and residents at Keck School of Medicine of USC.

Included: All full-time and regular part-time interns, residents, chief residents, and fellows, employed by the Employer, including when rotating at any and all rotation sites including 1975 Zonal Avenue, Los Angeles, California, 2051 Marengo Street, Los Angeles, California, and 4650 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles California, 1812 Verdugo Boulevard, Glendale, California, and 7601 Imperial Highway, Downey, California.

Excluded: All other employees, other physicians, registered nurses, other professional employees, business office clerical employees, skilled maintenance employees, technical employees, guards, other non-professional employees, confidential employees, managerial employees, and supervisors as defined in the Act

The National Center's 2022 annual conference on April 11-13, 2022 was a major success. We thank all the panelists, moderators, and attendees for their participation.

Below are links to video recordings o conference presentations along with links to panel descriptions, panelists bios, and reading material. Click here for the full conference program.

Welcoming Remarks from Jennifer J. Raab, President, Hunter College, CUNY, Theodore H. Curry, Professor of Human Resources and Labor Relations, Michigan State University, Christopher Simeone, Director, Department of Organizing and Services, AAUP, and William A. Herbert, Executive Director, National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions, Hunter College, CUNY.

Keynote Presentation by 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. Panelists Bios

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, Discussant, 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 Description and Panelists Bios. At our request, the panelists prepared the following bibliography for further study of the issues.

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 Description and Panelists Bios; Reading Material

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, Discussant and Moderator.

Panel Description and Panelists Bios; Reading Material

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 Description and Panelists Bios; Reading Material

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 Description and Panelists Bios; Reading Material

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 Description and Panelists Bios; Reading Material

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 Description and Panelists Bios; Reading Material

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

Sandra Weese, Organizing Director, California Federation of Teachers, Ron McKinley, Vice Chancellor of Human Resources and Employee Relations, Peralta Community College District, Dyana Delfin-Polk, Peralta Community College District Board of Trustees, and Jennifer Shanoski, President, Peralta Federation of Teachers, AFT Local 1603, Moderator. Panel Description and Panelists Bios; Reading Material

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 Description and Panelists Bios; Reading Material

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 Description and Panelists Bios

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. Panel Description and Panelists Bios; Reading Material

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. The current survey is a continuation of data collection performed by the National Center since its creation.

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 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.

The National Center is pleased to announce publication of the latest volume of the Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy on the theme of Collective Bargaining in the Pandemic.

During our 2022 annual conference the Journal's co-editors, Jeffrey Cross and Gary Rhoades, made an announcement about the new volume.

Pandemic Responses: What They Reveal About Crisis Management, Decision-Making, and Shared Governance by Daniel J. Julius

Retrenchment Clauses and the Problem of Force Majeure: Evidence from AAUP Chapter Collective Bargaining Agreements in Ohio by Dominic Wells and Trey Peters

Asymmetries in the Bargaining Process by Margaret E. Winters

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.

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:

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.