Education Commons^™

A New Foundation, Revisited, Richard J. Boris

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

In 2014, the author offered several critical observations and suggestions as possible guides for the National Center’s future role in public higher education. Eight years later, several merit repeating (and expanding), more forcefully than before, at a time when our public institutions are increasingly fragile and clearly confused about what their charter and role ought to be three years into a world-wide pandemic where everything is not quite as it was before.

2022 Celebration Of Scholarship, Creativity, And Engagement, Todd Bruns, Beth Heldebrandt

Programs

At this annual celebration, the entire Division of Academic Affairs is pleased that the important work of faculty continues and evolves as EIU’s professors have individually and collectively redefined the boundaries of scholarship, creativity, and innovation for the emerging post-COVID era. Indeed, we are excited to come together to celebrate the achievements and outstanding contributions of our colleagues and students to their disciplines and professions. And, as the following pages illustrate, faculty have engaged in continuing scholarly and creative activities that have provided outstanding mentoring experiences for our undergraduate and graduate students.

In addition to sharing faculty productivity, research excellence …

Asymmetries In The Bargaining Process, Margaret E. Winters

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

Although both sides in academic collective bargaining state that they are interested in the best interests of the institution, there are, of course, differences as to what these interests are and how they are to be achieved. Some of the divergences are differences of degree (the union may look for much larger raises for the economic good of their members and the administration team may look to maintain economic viability for the institution), while others are differences of kind, asymmetries in the process. The present paper considers the latter kind of difference, considering the teams, their planning processes, and their …

Retrenchment Clauses And The Problem Of Force Majeure: Evidence From Aaup Chapter Collective Bargaining Agreements In Ohio, Dominic Wells, Trey Peters

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

In May of 2020, the University of Akron administration invoked the force majeure clause in their collective bargaining agreement with faculty, which they used to justify bypassing the negotiated retrenchment procedures. The AAUP-Akron challenged the decision by administration, but ultimately lost in arbitration. Faculty at the university were laid off without consideration of rank or tenure status. The arbitrators decision in favor of the administration underscores the need for clear retrenchment language in contracts. This article analyzes the retrenchment language in AAUP chapter contracts in Ohio. Contracts are coded for language on financial exigency, conditions, consultation, order, alternatives, notice, and …

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

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

Colleges and universities have, by and large, responded well, one might say, very effectively as organizations, to the pandemic. This observation may come as a surprise because some would vehemently disagree. Surprising also because in many academic environments, decision-making around managing crises, let alone implementation of solutions, is slow, politicized, and often driven by personal or constituent agendas. Responding to internal or external challenges, implementing strategic plans or effectuating decisions proactively, particularly at the system or institutional level, is difficult. I believe this less than sanguine view is commonly held, and research on decision making in academic organizations over the …

2021 Celebration Of Scholarship, Creativity, And Engagement, Todd Bruns, Beth Heldebrandt

Programs

At this annual celebration, we, as a shared community, are pleased that the important work of faculty continues and evolves as faculty have broadened and redefined the boundaries of scholarship, creativity, and innovation throughout the COVID, late-COVID, and soon-to-be post-COVID eras. While we are pleased to return to more familiar campus-based traditions, functions, and activities, the experiences of 2020-2021 have contributed to the development of new forms and strategies for scholarship and creativity that reflect the core principles of faculty life and ensure that student learning remains central to the mission of Eastern Illinois University.

For that reason, our faculty, …

Working In Coalition, And Wall-To-Wall: The New Progressive Normal, Gary Rhoades

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

As the U.S. starts to come out of the pandemic, public declamations about and private deliberations within colleges and universities are framed in part by negotiating getting back to some form of “normal.” At the center of and delimiting these labor/management negotiations is an all-too-familiar master narrative articulated by management invoking a “new normal,” a time of conditions and challenges borne of, transmitted by, and/or accelerated and amplified due to Covid-19. Yet, I suggest that yet another iteration of disaster/disastrous academic capitalism is neither called for nor does it offer a compelling future for higher education. In addition, there is …

The Gig Academy: Naming The Problem And Identifying Solutions, Daniel T. Scott, Adrianna J. Kezar

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

Over the past few decades, workers (staff, faculty, postdocs, graduate students) in higher education face working conditions and employer relationships that are increasingly similar and exploitative. Higher education has seen the implementation, spread, and refinement of technologies of labor exploitation that have proliferated in the broader economy often termed the gig economy. In this article, we posit and articulate the features of the Gig Academy – a unique iteration of the gig economy. We first describe the shifts in employment structures that make up the Gig Academy. We then describe how this transformation of the academy has eroded community, shared …

Online Learning, Covid-19, And The Future Of The Academy: Implications For Faculty Governance And Collective Bargaining, Anthony Picciano

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

The purpose of this article is to speculate on the future of higher education as online technology, including adaptive learning (also referred to as personalized learning) infused by artificial intelligence software, develops and matures. This is a risky undertaking since predicting the future, and in this case the evolution of technology, is difficult. While many try to predict what will happen and sometimes get it right, predicting when something will happen is far more challenging. Online and blended learning have already advanced within education, but the most significant changes are yet to come. Evolving technologies have the potential to change …

Post-Pandemic Collective Bargaining In Higher Education: An Irresistible Force Meeting And Immovable Object?, James Ottavio Castagnera

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

Rider and the AAUP were last at the table for a full-fledged renegotiation of their contract during the summer of 2017.The bargaining was concessionary, as my university --- like so many small-to-medium sized private colleges --- struggled with a looming deficit. Last year, no doubt, the union and its members looked forward to a return to the table with high hopes of recuperating some of those 2017 concessions. But, as Humphrey Bogart once famously observed, fate took a hand.

2020 Celebration Of Scholarship, Creativity, And Engagement, Todd Bruns, Beth Heldebrandt

Programs

The 2020-2021 academic year is truly extraordinary and higher education’s new, hopefully temporary, normal began on rather short notice in Spring 2020. While our environment has changed, we, as a shared community, are pleased that the important work of faculty continues and evolves as faculty broaden and redefine the boundaries of scholarship, creativity, and innovation in accelerating hybrid and remote environments. And, as new forms and strategies for scholarship and creativity emerge, the core principles of faculty life and student learning remain central to the mission of Eastern Illinois University.

For that reason, our faculty, department chairs, college deans, the …

Organizing Of Teaching Faculty In Private Higher Education Bucks A Long-Standing Historical Trend In American Unionization, James Castagnera

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

No abstract provided.

Revitalizing Scholarship On Academic Collective Bargaining, Daniel J. Julius

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

Research on unions in academe began in the 1960s and 1970s. It continued in the 1980s as greater numbers of faculty organized but then declined in the 1990s, with the exception of a small group of scholars who continue to study and comment on labor management relations in post-secondary education. Many prognostications, originally put forward in the 1970s and 1980s, remain unexamined. The last two decades in particular, have seen less attention focused on unions in academe. Organizing efforts continue to be robust, and advocates from all vantage points continue to offer arguments both in favor or against collective bargaining. …

Adjuncts And The Chimera Of Academic Freedom, Deirdre M. Frontczak

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

The last 40 years have seen a dramatic shift in the hiring, evaluation and promotional structures prevalent in higher education. While the model of a largely full time, tenure-track faculty continues to be the ideal of most academic institutions, economic, political and social changes have eroded that model. A substantial percentage, typically a majority, of college and university faculty are now hired on a contingent or part-time basis, with fiscal and other conditions determining job security, compensation, professional advancement, and an opportunity to participate in governance of departments and institutions. This paper examines the unseen impact that such hiring practices …

The California Faculty Association: Keeping Racial And Economic Justice At The Forefront, Jennifer Eagan

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

Remarks made at the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions California Conference at California State University, Long Beach, CA on December 6, 2019.

Strong Fusion Of Social Unionism And Normative Contract Negotiations: A Square Peg In A Round Hole?, Barry Miller

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

This paper considers a recent strike at York University in Toronto, Canada by three units of Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 3903, representing teaching assistants, contract or adjunct faculty and graduate assistants. The consideration of the strike has a two-fold purpose: The first is to situate it within the concept of social unionism, illustrating how this concept assists in understanding the strike beyond its strictly local and sector context. The second purpose is to consider how the strike reflects back on social unionism. In this regard, the paper considers challenges that can arise from the fusion of normative …

Examining The Employment Profile Of Institutions Under The Mission-Driven Classification System And The Impact Of Collective Bargaining, Louis Shedd, Stephen G. Katsinas, Nathaniel Bray

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

The focus of this study is an analysis of institutions, salary expenditures, employment categories (full-time professors by academic rank), and number and average pay of full-time faculty. Our new mission-driven classification system provides the framework for the analysis and specifically presents the data by both the presence or lack of a collective bargaining agreement. The goal of this paper is to illustrate differences in monetary compensation of full time faculty using the mission-driven classification system (as opposed to the Carnegie Classification) and to see the impact of the presence or lack of collective bargaining agreements. We argue that the Carnegie …

Maintaining Peer-Based Faculty Evaluation: A Case Study Involving Student Surveys Of Teaching, Laura Murphy, Leah M. Akins

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

Bargaining regarding faculty evaluation is challenging in an environment in which administrators throughout higher education have successfully imposed corporate-style forms of evaluation and supervision that many have come to accept as normal, despite their incompatibility with principles of academic freedom and peer-review. Student surveys of teaching are increasingly central to this management strategy, despite the growing body of evidence indicating bias against historically marginalized groups in student survey results. This paper presents a case study of contract negotiations undertaken in 2016 at Dutchess Community College (SUNY) in Poughkeepsie, New York. During these negotiations the college administration sought to expand the …

Does A Prolonged Faculty Strike In Higher Education Affect Student Achievement In First Year General Education Courses?, Stephen J. Jacquemin, Christine R. Junker, Mark Cubberley

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

The effect of faculty strikes in higher education on student achievement is vastly understudied yet has broad implications for discerning potential consequences of labor disputes in academia. Research in this area is understandably difficult, however, as work stoppages in higher education are uncommon, unplanned, and typically brief, which precludes much of the comparative data needed to assess impacts on students. In the spring semester of 2019,WrightStateUniversityexperienced a nearly three-week faculty work stoppage as a result of failed contract negotiations. In this study, end-of-course grades for six undergraduate first-year courses taught prior to and during Spring 2019 by the same instructors …

Labor Unions And Equal Pay For Faculty: A Longitudinal Study Of Gender Pay Gaps In A Unionized Institutional Context, Rodrigo Dominguez-Villegas, Laurel Smith-Doerr, Henry Renski, Laras Sekarasih

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

Previous single university studies of gender equity in faculty salaries conducted at both private and public universities in the U.S. have consistently found significant within-job gender gaps in pay. This study presents data from a less common labor context for faculty: a strongly unionized campus. Using data on all faculty at a large public university 2003-2015, three kinds of multivariate analyses are conducted: OLS multivariate regressions that include controls for race, field, and rank; Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition models to identify the explained and unexplained portions of the gender gap; and innovative longitudinal models for wage growth trajectories to examine the change …

A Different Set Of Rules? Nlrb Proposed Rule Making And Student Worker Unionization Rights, William A. Herbert, Joseph Van Der Naald

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

This article presents data, precedent, and empirical evidence relevant to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) proposal to issue a new rule to exclude graduate assistants and other student employees from coverage under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The analysis in three parts. First, the authors show through an analysis of information from other federal agencies that the adoption of the proposed NLRB rule would exclude over 81,000 graduate assistants on private campuses from the right to unionize and engage in collective bargaining. Second, the article presents a legal history from the past half-century about unionization of student employees …

2019 Celebration Of Scholarship, Creativity, And Engagement, Beth Heldebrandt, Todd Bruns, Seth Yeakel, Matthew Eifrid

Programs

Scholarship, creativity, innovation, and the many forms of collaborative engagement that shape faculty life and student learning are central to the mission of Eastern Illinois University. For that reason, our faculty, department chairs, college deans, the Provost, and the entire campus community celebrate the achievements and outstanding contributions of our colleagues and students to their disciplines and professions every year. And, as the following pages illustrate, faculty engaged in continuing scholarly and creative activities that have provided outstanding mentoring experiences for our undergraduate and graduate students.

In addition to recognizing faculty performances, shows, publications, grants and other professional efforts, the …

Research Panel: Variation In Women Attaining Full Professorships At Research Universities And Non-Tenured Faculty Systems In The Us And Abroad, Lisa Allen

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

Adjunct Faculty: Why and How We Should Help Them

Research Panel: Variation In Women Attaining Full Professorships At Research Universities And Non-Tenured Faculty Systems In The Us And Abroad, Sandra Darkey

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

Structural/Organizational Determinants of Variations in Women Attaining the Full Professorship at Research Universities

Research Panel: Variation In Women Attaining Full Professorships At Research Universities And Non-Tenured Faculty Systems In The Us And Abroad, Martin Finkelstein, Yiannis Floropoulos

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

Employing Part-Time and Temporary Academic Staff: A Comparative Perspective

Panel: Organizing Outside The Law, Karly Safar

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

No abstract provided.

Panel: Organizing Outside The Law, Hailey Huget

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

Circumventing the NLRB in Grad Organizing: Georgetown and Gage

Panel: Peer-Based Faculty Evaluation V. Student Evaluation Of Teaching

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

Student Survey of Teaching

Panel: Peer-Based Faculty Evaluation V. Student Evaluation Of Teaching, Leah Akins, Laura Murphy

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

No abstract provided.

Panel: Peer-Based Faculty Evaluation V. Student Evaluation Of Teaching, Leah Akins, Laura Murphy

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

Maintaining peer-based faculty evaluation: a case study involving student surveys of teaching