Register Now

Registration is now open for the National Center's 48th Annual Conference, which will take place virtually on May 17-20, 2021. The conference theme is Higher Education, Collective Bargaining, and the Biden Administration.

While we will not be charging a conference registration fee this year, we welcome donations to help support our mission and activities. We encourage you to forward this announcement to your colleagues and others who may be interested in attending.

The following is a list of confirmed panels and panelists:

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

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

Panel: Challenges of the Past Year and Perspectives on the Future of Academic Labor with Rebecca Givan, Rutgers AAUP-AFT, Jamie Martin, President, APSCUF, Justin Tzuanos, NEA Organizational Specialist and Higher Education Team member, and Gary Rhoades, Professor and Director, Center for the Study of Higher Education, University of Arizona, and Co-editor, Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy, Panelist and Moderator.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Panel: Preparing and Presenting Grievances in Arbitration with Sarah Miller Espinosa, Labor Arbitrator, Mediator, and Ombuds, Letitia F. Silas, Executive Director of Systemwide Labor Relations, University of California, Tara Singer-Blumberg, Labor Relations Specialist, New York State United Teachers, and Homer C. La Rue, Labor Arbitrator, Mediator, and Professor of Law, Howard University School of Law, Panelist and Moderator.

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

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

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

Panel: The Future of Graduate Assistant Unionization with Richelle Fiore, Organization & Field Services, AFT, Peter MacKinnon, SEIU Local 509 President and Chair, SEIU Higher Education Council, and Joseph van der Naald, PhD Candidate, Program in Sociology, Graduate Center, CUNY, Moderator (panel in formation).