October 2022

National Center's 50th Annual Conference in New York City

Save the Dates: March 26-28, 2023

On March 26-28, 2023, the National Center will be holding our 50th annual conference in New York City at Hunter College. It will be a hybrid conference, which will permit in-person and virtual options for panelists and attendees.

The theme of the 2023 annual conference will be Collective Bargaining in Higher Education Looking Back, Looking Forward, 1973-2023.

Below is a list of currently confirmed conference panels and panelists:

Panel: The 50-Year History of Collective Bargaining at Hofstra University with Herman Berliner, Lawrence Herbert Distinguished Professor, Provost Emeritus, Hofstra University, Peter C. Daniel, Professor of Biology, Hofstra University, Bernard J. Firestone, Professor of Political Science, Hofstra University, Estelle S. Gellman, Professor Emerita, Hofstra University, Elisabeth Ploran, Associate Professor of Psychology, Hofstra University, and Liora Pedhazur Schmelkin, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Hofstra University.

Panel: Cultivating a Collaborative Culture in a Climate of Semi-Permanent Austerity with Nicholas DiGiovanni, Partner, Morgan, Brown & Joy, Chief Negotiator, University System of New Hampshire, Patrick Dolenc, Professor of Economics, Keene State College, Chair of Keene State College faculty union bargaining team, Kimberly Harkness, Executive Assistant to the Provost and former Director of Human Resources, Keene State College, and Emile Netzhammer III, Chancellor, Washington State University, Vancouver, former Provost at Keene State College.

Panel: Yesterday and Today: Experienced Administrators Reflect on Collective Bargaining in Higher Education with Margaret E. Winters, Former Provost and Professor Emerita French and Linguistics, Wayne State University and Theodore H. Curry, Associate Provost and Associate Vice President for Academic Human Resources Emeritus, Professor Emeritus, School of Human Resources and Labor Relations, Michigan State University (panel in formation).

Panel: Yesterday and Today: Experienced Faculty Leaders Reflect on Collective Bargaining in Higher Education with Gary Rhoades, Professor and Director, Center for the Study of Higher Education, University of Arizona, Jeffrey Halpern, former President, Rider University AAUP, and Charles Toombs, President, California Faculty Association (panel in formation).

Panel: Collective Bargaining and Building Relationships During the COVID-19 Crisis with Melissa Sortman, Director, Faculty and Academic Staff Affairs, Michigan State University, Kate Birdsall, President, UNTF and Associate Professor, Michigan State University, Daniel L. Fay, Assistant Professor, Askew School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University, and Adela Ghadimi, PhD candidate, Askew School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University.

Panel: Non-Discrimination Contract Clauses in Higher Education: Substance and Procedures with Erin Ward, PhD Student in Sociology, CUNY Graduate Center, Anu Biswas, Graduate Student, CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies, Melanie Kruvelis, Graduate Student, CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies, and Ana Avendano, Professor, CUNY School of Law, Moderator.

Panel: Past, Present, and Future of Graduate Student Employee Unions with Bob Muehlenkamp, first TAA President, Julie Schmid, Executive Director, AAUP, Emily Schkeryantz, Organizer, UAW Local 1596, Danielle Dirocco, Organizational Specialist, NEA, Cassidy Wagner, Vice President for Communication, Coalition of Graduate Employees, AFT Local 6069, and Joseph van der Naald, PhD Candidate in Sociology, Graduate Center, CUNY, Moderator.

Panel: Collective Bargaining and Governance: In Harmony or In Conflict? with Amitaba Bose, President, NJIT Professional Staff Association/AAUP, Fadi Deek, former Provost & Senior Executive Vice President and Dean of the College of Science and Liberal Arts, NJIT, Rene Castro, CSU, Dominguez Hill, Carl Levine, Levy Ratner, and Christopher Sinclair, Secretary/Treasurer, AAUP, Moderator.

Panel: Title IX: Its Past, Its Present, and Its Future with Karen R. Stubaus, Ph.D., Vice President for Academic Affairs, Rutgers University and Alexandra Matish, J.D., Associate Vice Provost for Academic and Faculty Affairs and Senior Director, Academic Human Resources, University of Michigan (panel in formation).

Panel: Medical Training and Collective Bargaining: Histories and Challenges with Dr. Srinivas Pentyala, Professor & Director of Translational Research in Anesthesiology & SARAS Coordinator; Faculty in Orthopedics & Rehabilitation, Urology, Health Sciences, Physiology & Biophysics, Stony Brook School of Medicine, Dr. Samuel Marquez, Department of Pathology, SUNY Downstate School of Medicine, and David Dashefsky, Director of Strategic Campaigns, CIR-SEIU Healthcare (panel in formation).

Panel: History of Full-time and Part-time Contingent Faculty Unionization since the Early 1990s with Joseph P. McConnell, Morgan, Brown & Joy, Anne McLeer, Director of Higher Education and Strategic Planning, SEIU Local 500, and Andrew Cantrell, Field Service Director, Illinois Federation of Teachers (panel in formation).

Panel: Past and Present of Negotiated Contingent Faculty Job Security: Labor Perspectives from the University of California and the University of Michigan with Mia McIver, UC-AFT President, Kirsten Herold, President, Lecturers' Employee Organization, AFT Local 6244, and Alissa G. Karl, Vice President for Academics, United University Professions, Moderator (panel in formation).

Panel: Looking Back, Looking Ahead: State and Federal Higher Education Financing Over the Past Half-Century with F. King Alexander, Faculty Fellow, College Promise Foundation & Senior Faculty Fellow, Education Policy Center, University of Alabama, Sophia Laderman, Associate Vice President, State Higher Education Executive Officers Association, Fred Floss, Professor, SUNY at Buffalo & Co-Director, Center for Economic Education, and Thomas Harnisch, Vice President for Government Relations, State Higher Education Executive Officers Association, Moderator.

Panel: Economic and Other Factors Impacting Enrollment Trends, 1973-2023 with James Castagnera, Adjunct Professor of Law, Drexel University, former Associate Provost/Legal Counsel for Academic Affairs, Rider University, Brad Litchfield, Assistant Provost for Finance and Administration, Academic Affairs, Rider University, Karina Salazar, Assistant Professor, College of Education, University of Arizona, and Melanie Carter, Associate Provost & Director of the Center for HBCU Research, Leadership, and Policy, Howard University.

Panel: Salary Equity in Higher Education with Johanna E. Foster, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Sociology, Helen Bennett McMurray Endowed Chair of Social Ethics, Department of Political Science and Sociology, President and former Chief Negotiator, FAMCO AAUP-AFT, Monmouth University (panel in formation).

Panel: Exploring the Retirement Income Equity Gap with Brent Davis, Economist, TIAA Institute, Anne Ollen, Programs & Operations, TIAA Institute, and Alison Hirsh, Assistant Comptroller for Pensions and Senior Advisor, Office of the New York City Comptroller (panel in formation).

Panel: Public Service Loan Forgiveness: Labor-Management Cooperation for Campus and Community Benefits with Jeri O’Bryan-Losee, Secretary-Treasurer, United University Professions (panel in formation).

Panel: Annual Legal Update with Amy L. Rosenberger, Willig, Williams & Davidson and Aaron Nisenson, Senior Legal Counsel, AAUP (panel in formation).

Updates about panel and panelists, along with registration and hotel information, will be announced in future newsletters and on our website.

Become a Conference Sponsor or Program Advertiser to Celebrate the National Center's 50th Anniversary and Support Our  Research

2023 Conference Sponsorships

To help celebrate the National Center’s 50^th anniversary, we encourage higher education institutions, unions, law firms, organizations, and companies to become a sponsor of our 2023 annual conference. 

Through a conference sponsorship you will demonstrate support for the National Center’s continuing labor-management mission, programing, and research agenda.

Major Supporting Partner: $15,000

Benefits:

Complimentary registration for 3 conference attendees and a 50% reduction for a fourth;

Your organization’s logo and link to your site on the National Center website;

Opportunity to make introductory remarks at the plenary or mid-day greetings;

Your organization’s name referenced in our monthly newsletter;

Inclusion of a one-page display ad in the conference program;

Listing as a major supporting sponsor of the annual conference, webinars and conference receptions.



Supporting Partner: $10,000

Benefits:

Complimentary registration for 2 conference attendees and a 50% reduction for a third;

Your organization’s logo and link to your site on the National Center website;

Your organization name referenced in our monthly newsletter;

Inclusion of a one-page display ad in the conference program;

Listing as a supporting sponsor of the annual conference, webinars and conference receptions.

Participating Sponsor: $5,000

Benefits:

Complimentary registration for one conference attendee;

Your organization’s logo and link to your site on the National Center website;

Your organization name referenced in our monthly newsletter;

Inclusion of a half-page display ad in the conference program;

Listing as a participating sponsor of the annual conference, webinars and conference breaks.

Basic Sponsor: $2,500

Benefits:

Complimentary registration for one conference attendee;

Listing as a sponsor on the National Center website;

Your organization’s name referenced in our monthly newsletter;

Inclusion of a one-quarter display ad in the conference program;

Listing as a basic sponsor of the annual conference, webinars and conference breaks.

Introductory Sponsor: $1,500

Benefits:

Complimentary registration for one conference attendee;

Listing as a sponsor on the National Center website;

Your organization’s name referenced in our monthly newsletter;

Inclusion of a one-quarter display ad in the conference program;

Listing as an introductory sponsor of the annual conference, webinars and conference breaks.

2023 Conference Program Advertisements

Another important way to celebrate the National Center’s 50^th anniversary and demonstrate support for our mission and research is for your institution, union, law firm, organization or company to place an advertisement in our 2023 conference program.

Full-page advertisement:       $ 1,500

Half-page advertisement:       $    750

Quarter-page advertisement: $    275

Please email us with any questions at: national.center@hunter.cuny.edu

Skidmore College: Contingent Faculty Vote for SEIU Representation

Skidmore College, NLRB Case Nos. 03-RC-295214 and  03-RC-296469

On September 27, 2022, NLRB Region tallied the ballots in elections conducted concerning representation petitions filed by SEIU Local 200United seeking to represent a bargaining unit of all Skidmore College full-time non-tenure-track faculty and a separate unit of all part-time non-tenured-track teaching faculty at the college.

In a bargaining unit of 126 full-time contingent faculty, 64 voted for SEIU Local 200United and 35 voted against with 4 additional ballots voided. In the election concerning the part-time contingent faculty unit of 91, 38 voted in favor of union representation, 19 voted against with 2 additional ballots voided.

The following is the composition of the full-time contingent faculty unit at Skidmore: 

Included: All full-time non-tenured-track teaching faculty, including Librarians employed by the Employer.

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

The following is the composition of the full-time contingent faculty unit at Skidmore: 

Included: All part-time non-tenured-track teaching faculty, including Accompanists employed by the Employer.

Excluded: All tenured and tenure-track faculty, department chairs and program directors, managers, confidential employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act, and all other employees who did not teach as a part-time non-tenured-track teaching faculty member.

College of Saint Rose: Appellate Court Rejects Faculty Layoff Challenge  

Matter of Hanbrough v. College, New York Appellate Division, Third Department

On October 20, 2022, New York’s Appellate Division, Third Department issued a decision overturning a lower court ruling that had sustained a lawsuit by tenured music department professors at the College of Saint Rose, in Albany, New York, challenging their terminations. 

The Appellate Division ruled that the lower court had erred in finding that the college had acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner in terminating the professors by failing to follow faculty manual retrenchment procedures. The appellate court found that the college had not engaged in any procedural irregularities based on the court’s reading of the manual provisions and the deference due to the college's interpretation of the manual concerning progam-wide preferences rather than departmental-wide preferences.

Art Institute of Chicago: AFSCME Files to Represent Contingent Faculty

School of the Art Institute of Chicago, NLRB Case No. 13-RC-304185

On September 28, 2022, the Art Institute of Chicago Workers United, AFSCME Council 31, AFL-CIO filed a petition with the NLRB seeking to represent a unit of approximately 668 contingent faculty at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Included: All full-time and part-time non-tenure-eligible faculty who teach at least 1 credit-bearing undergraduate or graduate course.

Excluded: All confidential and managerial employees, and supervisors

Yale University: Petition Filed to Represent Graduate Student Employers 

Yale University, NLRB Case No. 01-RC-305762

On October 24, 2022, UNITE HERE Local 33 filed a petition with the NLRB seeking to represent a bargaining unit of approximately 400 full time and regular part-time teaching assistants and students holding part-time reach positions in Yale University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and other graduate programs. An NLRB hearing on the petition has been scheduled for November 14, 2023.

The following is the proposed bargaining unit at Yale sought by UNITE HERE Local 33 in the representation petition: 

Included: All students enrolled in Yale University's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences or in another graduate or professional degree program at Yale University who are employed in fulltime or regular part-time teaching-related jobs (including but not limited to Teaching Assistants, Teaching Fellows, Instructional Teaching Fellows, Graduate Writing Fellows, McDougal Graduate Teaching Fellows, Discussion Section Leaders, Lab Leaders, Graders, Tutors, Part-Time Acting Instructors, Associates in Teaching, Secondary/ Undergraduate Lesson Teachers, Course Assistants, Coker Fellows, and Gallery Teachers); and all students enrolled in Yale University's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences who are employed in full-time or regular part-time research-related jobs (including but not limited to Research Assistants).

Excluded: All other employees, office clericals, managers and statutory supervisors.

Boston Univ.: Petition Filed to Represent Graduate Student Employees

Boston University, NLRB Case No. 01-RC-305360

On October 18, 2023, SEIU Local 509 filed a petition to represent a bargaining unit of approximately 3000 teaching, research, research/housing assistants at Boston University. SEIU Local 509 already represents contingent faculty at Boston University.

The following is the proposed bargaining unit sought by SEIU Local 509 in the representation petition: 

Included: All graduate students who provide instructional services, perform research services, and/or work as graduate resident/housing assistants, included but not limited to Teaching Assistants, Teaching Fellows, Preceptors, Course Assistants, Readers, Graders, Research Assistants (regardless of funding sources), Graduate Resident Assistants, and Graduate Housing Assistants, at Boston University at its Massachusetts campuses.

Excluded: All other employees.

Brown University, NLRB Case No. 01-RC-305104

On October 13, 2022, the Graduate Labor Organization, RIFT-AFT Local 6516 filed a petition to represent a unit of 34 Masters of Fine Arts graduate student employees at Brown University. It is unclear whether the petition seeks a separate unit or to add these graduate student employees to the preexisting bargaining unit.

The following is the at-issue proposed bargaining unit in the representation petition:

Included: Masters of Fine Arts Graduate Students employed as actors and directors.

Excluded: Supervisory faculty, Managers, Guards.

Barnard College, NLRB Case No. 02-RC-305306

On October 17, 2022, the Office Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 153 filed a petition with the NLRB seeking to represent a unit of 57 resident assistants at Barnard College. An NLRB hearing has been scheduled for November 4, 2022.

The following is the proposed unit sought by OPEIU in the representative petition:

Included: All Resident Assistants employed by the employer

Excluded: All confidential employees, managers, guards, and supervisors as defined

Mount Holyoke College, Case Number: 01-RC-304231

On September 29, 2022, United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW), Local 1459 filed a petition seeking to represent a unit of approximately 78 full-time and regular part-time residential advisors and residential fellows at Mount Holyoke College.

The following is the at-issue bargaining unit sought by UFCW Local 1459:

Included: All full-time and regular part-time Residential Advisors and Residential Fellows.

Excluded: Managers, supervisors and guards.

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.

We are grateful to TIAA, SEIU, AAUP, AFT, NEA and NCHE for sponsoring the conference, to the organizations, law firms, and businesses that purchased conference program advertisements, and to the individuals who made donations.

Below are links to video recordings of 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 Description and Panelists Bios

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 Description and Panelists Bios

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 Description and Panelists Bios

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

Job Posting: Elon University, Faculty Affairs Manager

Position: Faculty Affairs Manager

Elon University is inviting applications for a Faculty Affairs Manager position. The Faculty Affairs Manager serves as second-in-command to the Academic Affairs Operations and Resource Manager in personnel recruitment, hiring and management. This position is primarily responsible for the successful implementation and compliance of the collective bargaining agreement by union members and the university. This position will serve as the primary liaison between academic affairs, human resources, and departments as it pertains to the collective bargaining agreement and immigration work. An advanced degree in a related field and a minimum of five years’ experience in labor relations (e.g. J.D. or human resources certificate) will be considered positive in preparing for success in this position.

For full description and to apply, visit: https://elon.peopleadmin.com/postings/9035

Elon University is an equal employment opportunity employer committed to a diverse faculty, staff, and student body and welcomes all applicants.

Job Posting: AFSCME Council 3, Lead Higher Ed Campaigner

AFSCME Council 3 is currently seeking a Lead Campaigner for our Higher Education team. This role will report directly to the Organizing Director. The Lead will be responsible for developing and running a comprehensive organizing campaign field program in Higher Education.

Responsibilities include:

• Assist in developing and implementing statewide coordinated contract and external organizing campaigns that include the goals, strategies and tactics necessary to execute the plan, including effective management of staff, member and administrative resources.
• Work with staff and volunteer member organizers to develop and drive program.
• Assure the accuracy of lists, records, databases and wall charts related to campaign.
• Plan and implement worksite issue-based campaigns.
• Coordinate, identify, and develop worksite leaders and stewards.
• Work with elected member leaders, senior leadership and staff in ongoing development and implementation of strategic plan.
• Visits workers at their job sites and in their homes and trains and develops organizers and volunteer member organizers in organizing.
• Writes leaflets and other materials for campaigns.
• Lead coalition-building efforts with other unions, allies, and students to support local and statewide campaign goals.

Required Qualifications and Skills include:

• Ability to think strategically and work in teams.
• At least 3 years’ experience managing organizing campaigns including leading or supervising multiple staff
• Experience with collective bargaining, representation, organizing preferably in the public sector and/or public higher education.
• Ability to establish and maintain rapport and credibility with diverse demographic groups, and well as with professional, technical, administrative, and service workers
• Excellent written and oral communications.
• A demonstrated commitment to union democracy and supporting and developing members’ voices and leadership in their union.
• Willingness to work long and irregular hours, including nights and weekends.
• This position may require occasional overnight travel.
• Must possess a valid driver's license, reliable car and insurance.
• Bilingual (Spanish) a plus.

Salary starts at $70,000 – $85,000. Benefits include excellent health insurance, staff union contract, 3 weeks paid vacation, 15 paid holidays, 12 sick days, pension, optional 401k, life insurance, and great working environment.

To Apply:

Email cover letter and résumé to recruiting@afscmemd.org.