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Register Today for the National Center's 2025 Conference
| The National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions, Hunter College, City University of New York will hold our 52nd annual national conference on March 23-25, 2025 in New York City with the theme Unity in Defense of Higher Education and Collective Bargaining. To register for the 2025 annual conference click here. The following is a list of currently confirmed conference panels: |
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 Keynote Presentation: Unity in Defense of Higher Education and Collective Bargaining with Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of Teachers, Lynn Pasquerella, President, American Association of Colleges and Universities, and Adrienne Lu, Senior Reporter, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Moderator. |
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| Plenary: Five Years after George Floyd: A New Era for DEI in Higher Education with Nancy Cantor, President, Hunter College, CUNY, Robert J. Jones, Chancellor, The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Charles Toombs, President, California Faculty Association, Taiese Bingham-Hickman, Executive Director, The Leadership Alliance, Brown University, and Adrianna J. Kezar, Professor, Higher Education and Director, Pullias Center for Higher Education, University of Southern California, Moderator. | |
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| Research Panel: Presentation on the 2024 Directory of Faculty Contracts and Bargaining Agents in Higher Education with William A. Herbert, Executive Director, National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions, Hunter College, CUNY, Jacob Apkarian, Associate Professor, Sociology, York College, CUNY, Joseph van der Naald, PhD Candidate in Sociology, Graduate Center, CUNY, Susan Kelly, President, Microsearch Corporation, Mary Taber, Director of Research, UUP, Commentator, Dana Fleming, Associate General Counsel, Tufts University, Commentator, and Malini Cadambi-Daniel, Executive Director, Professional Staff Congress-CUNY, AFT Local 2334, Moderator. Panel: Loper Bright, Labor Rights, and the Attack on the Administrative State with Diana Reddy, Assistant Professor of Law, Faculty Co-Director, Center for Law and Work, UC Berkeley Law, Seth D. Harris, Distinguished Professor of Practice, Doctoral Program in Law & Policy and Affiliated Faculty and Senior Fellow, Burnes Center for Social Change, Northeastern University, David Lopez, University Professor of Law, Professor Alfred Slocum Scholar, and Co-Dean Emeritus, Rutgers University, and Deepa Das Acevado, Associate Professor of Law, Emory University Law School, Moderator. Panel: Artificial Intelligence: Changing the Bargaining Landscape with Jeffrey M. Hirsch, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Geneva Yeargan Rand Distinguished Professor of Law, University of North Carolina School of Law, Kyle Arnone, Director, AFT Collective Bargaining, Rob Weil, AFT Director of Policy, Research and Field Services, Nicholas L. Collins, ArentFox Schiff LLP, and Framroze M. Virjee, President, Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, Moderator. Panel: Collective Bargaining and Labor Relations: Looking Back, Looking Forward with Carl Levine, Levy Ratner, Joe Ambash, Fisher & Phillips LLP, Faye Moore, Director of Contract Administration, Professional Staff Congress, CUNY, AFT Local 2334, Thomas H. Riley, Jr., Executive Director of Labor and Special Counsel, University of Illinois System, 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, Moderator. Book Discussion: Organizing Professionals: Academic Employees Negotiating a New Academy (Rutgers University Press, 2025) with author Gary Rhoades, Professor and Director, Center for the Study of Higher Education, University of Arizona. Workshop: The Fundamentals for Labor Management Committees in Higher Education with Stephanie Burkes, Program Associates for Labor Management Services, NYS-CSEA Partnership, Daniel Shook, Program Associates for Labor Management Services, NYS-CSEA Partnership, and Liesl K. Zwicklbauer, Associate Vice Chancellor and Chief Counsel for Employee Relations, Moderator. Panel: “We have a first contract – now what?” with Katherine H. Hansen, Gladstein, Reif & Meginniss, LLP, John H. Gross, Ingerman Smith LLP, John Coverdale, Arbitrator, Ahsan Ali, Director of Labor Relations, Tufts University, Robin J. Sowards, Technician, Collective Bargaining, Research, and Benefits, United Steelworkers, and Katie Rosen, Arbitrator & Mediator, Moderator. Panel: New Developments, Old Problems for Contingent Faculty with Elizabethada Wright, Professor, University of Minnesota Duluth, and Contract Administrator, UEA, Rebecca Ropers, Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, University of Minnesota Duluth, Gretchen McNamara, President, Wright State University AAUP, Commentator, Randa Wahbe, Vice President, Community College Association (CTA/NEA), Commentator, and Christina Gallup, Associate Professor, University of Minnesota Duluth, Moderator. Panel: Antiracism and Social Justice Issues and Working Conditions as Negotiable Subjects with Sharon Elise, Professor of Sociology, California State University, San Marcos and Associative Vice President, Council for Racial and Social Justice, California Faculty Association, Donna Murch, Associate Professor of History, Rutgers University-New Brunswick, Region 4 AAUP National Council Member and former Chapter President of the New Brunswick chapter of the Rutgers AAUP AFT, Kathy Sheffield, Director of Representation and Bargaining, California Faculty Association, Karen R. Stubaus, National Center Visiting Scholar and former Vice President for Academic Affairs, Rutgers University, and Margarita Berta Avila, Professor of Education, Sacramento State University and Vice President, California Faculty Association, Moderator. Panel: Administrator Responses to Campus Protest: Lessons from History with Ellen Schrecker, Professor of History (retired), Yeshiva University, member AAUP Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure, Paul Ortiz, Professor of Labor History, Cornell ILR, and Jelani Favors, Henry E. Frye Distinguished Professor, Department of History and Political Science and Director, Center of Excellence for Social Justice, North Carolina A&T State University. (Panel in formation). Panel: The Uses and Abuses of Title VI with Rana Jaleel, Associate Professor, Gender, Sexuality, & Women's Studies and Asian American Studies, University of California-Davis, Chair, Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure, AAUP, Risa Lieberwitz, Professor of Labor and Employment Law, Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Frederick P. Schaffer, former General Counsel, CUNY, and Suzanne B. Goldberg, Herbert and Doris Wechsler Clinical Professor of Law, and Director, Center for Gender & Sexuality Law & Sexuality and Gender Law Clinic, Columbia University Law School, Moderator. Panel: Annual Legal Update (CLE) with Damien DiGiovanni, Morgan, Brown & Joy, LLP, Amy L. Rosenberger, Willig, Williams & Davidson, Aaron Nisenson, Senior Legal Counsel, AAUP, Brian Selchick, Cullen and Dykman LLP, and Ayanna T. Blake, Director Labor Relations, Weill Cornell Medicine, Moderator. Facilitated Workshop: Mindfulness as Both a Life Skill and a Negotiator's Asset with Lili Palacios-Baldwin, Deputy General Counsel, Tufts University and Joshua Wright, Lecturer, Department of Psychology, The City College of New York. Panel: A New Approach to Interest-Based Bargaining in the State of Florida: Successful Bargaining in Challenging Times with Eric Scarffe, President UFF-FIU, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Florida International University, Daniel Saunders, Chief Negotiator UFF-FIU, Associate Professor of Higher Education, Florida International University, Heather Russell, Vice Provost, Faculty Leadership and Success, Florida International University, Barbara Manzano, Chief Negotiator, Associate Vice President, Academic Affairs, Florida International University, and Andrea Cancer, Commissioner, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services, Moderator. Research Panel: Work Stoppage Across the Educational Continuum: K-12 to Higher Education with Jacob Apkarian, Associate Professor, Sociology, York College, CUNY and National Center Affiliated Researcher, Melissa Arnold Lyon, Assistant Professor of Public Policy Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, University at Albany, SUNY, Daniel Iskhakov, Graduate of Hunter College, CUNY, and Rhiannon M. Maton, Associate Professor, Foundations and Social Advocacy, SUNY Cortland and National Center Visiting Scholar, Panelist and Moderator. Panel: Faculty Members’ Perceptions of the Impact of Unionization on Shared Governance with Brian Rossman, Associate Professor, Open Educational Resources (OER) and Scholarly Communication Librarian, Montana State University Library, Bozeman, Ernesto Longa, Professor of Law, The University of New Mexico School of Law, Commentator, Catherine Bond Hill, Managing Director, Ithaka S+R, and former President, Vassar College, Commentator, and Rotua Lumbantobing, Vice President, AAUP, Moderator. Panel: Beyond the Table: Best Practices for Collaboration in the Implementation of Collective Bargaining Agreements with Kim C. O’Halloran, Ph.D., Vice President for Academic Planning & Administration, University Academic Affairs, Rutgers University, Heather Pierce, Ph.D., Lecturer, Political Science, Contract Enforcement Chair, PTLFC-AAUP-AFT, Local 6324, Rutgers University, Kamil Robakiewicz, Senior Labor Relations Representative, College of Literature, Science and Arts, University of Michigan, Kirsten Herold, President, LEO, AFT-MI Local 6244, and Bronte Burleigh Jones, CFO, Vice President and Treasurer American University, Moderator. Panel: Empowering Classified Staff: Advancing Equity and Mindfulness in Higher Education through Collective Bargaining with Anel Gonzalez, President, CCE/Local4522, Anthony Solis, CFT Field Representative, Lead Negotiator, Carmelino Cruz, CCE Negotiator and Steward, Anna Pedroza, Vice President Human Resources, and John Rose, Dean, Diversity and Compliance, Hunter College, CUNY, Moderator. Panel: Lessons from Negotiating: Selection of Bargaining Team Members and Dealing with Rogue Bargaining Team Members with Terry Calaway, Ed.D., President Emeritus, Johnson County Community College and Professor of Practice, Community College Leadership, Kansas State University, Andre’ L. Poplar, J.D., Vice Chancellor for Human Resources, Oakland Community College, Martin Balinsky, Ph.D., Professor, Tallahassee State College, President, United Faculty of Florida-Tallahassee State College and Vice-President, College Bargaining Council, and Deborah H. Williams, J.D., Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Johnson County Community College, former JCCC Faculty Association President and Lead Negotiator, Moderator. Panel: Demographics and the Doctorate: Predictors of Graduate Student Organizing at Research Universities with Lauren McGuire, M.P.P., Ph.D. Student, Educational Leadership, Policy, & Human Development, College of Education, North Carolina State University, Alissa G. Karl, Statewide Vice President for Academics, UUP, Commentator, Mike Miller, Director, UAW Region 6, Commentator, Marcelle Grair, Chief of Staff, SEIU Local 509, Commentator, and Alexandra (Sascha) Matish, Associate Vice Provost for Academic and Faculty Affairs and Senior Director, Academic Human Resources, University of Michigan, Moderator. Panel: Graduate Unions as a Training Ground for Higher Education Collective Bargaining with Sikander Khare, UF-GAU Bargaining Chair, Cassandra “Cassie” Urbenz, UF-GAU Co-President, Lane Demaske, URI-GAU Grievance Chair, Danielle Dirocco, NEA Higher Ed Organizational Specialist, and Kate Birdsall, Director of Faculty and Academic Staff Affairs, Michigan State University, Moderator. Panel: The New Wave of Campus Student Workers: The Historic Unionization of CSU Student Assistants with Joseph Jelincic, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Collective Bargaining, The California State University, Christina Checel, Associate Vice Chancellor for Labor and Employee Relations, The California State University, Jim Philliou, Executive Director, California State University Employees Union, SEIU Local 2579, Catherine Hutchinson, Statewide President, California State University Employees Union, SEIU Local 2579, J. Felix De La Torre, General Counsel, California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), Moderator. (Panel in formation). Panel: Negotiating over Tenure Procedures with Joseph P. McConnell, Morgan, Brown & Joy, LLP and Rosemary A. Townley, Arbitrator and Mediator, Townley ADR, P.C., Moderator. (Panel in formation). Panel: Funding of Higher Education over the Next Decade with Thomas L. Harnisch, Vice President for Government Relations, State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO) and Frederick G. Floss, Professor, and Co-Director, Center for Economic Education, Buffalo State University, Panelist and Moderator. (Panel in formation). Additional confirmed panels and speakers will be announced in future newsletters and blasts. |
52nd Annual Conference Sponsors
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Become a Conference Sponsor or Program Advertiser to Celebrate Our 52nd Annual Conference and Support Our Research
| To help celebrate the National Center’s 52nd annual conference, we encourage higher education institutions, unions, law firms, and companies to become a sponsor of our 2025 annual conference. For sponsorship information, click here. Through a conference sponsorship you will demonstrate support for the National Center’s continuing labor-management mission and research agenda. Another important way to celebrate the National Center’s 52nd annual conference and demonstrate support for our mission and research is for your institution, union, law firm, organization or company to place an advertisement in the conference program. For more information on ad placement, click here. Please email us with any questions at: msavares@hunter.cuny.edu. |
Anti-Discrimination Clauses in Higher Education Collective Bargaining Agreements
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The National Center is pleased to announce its latest publication: Anti-Discrimination Clauses in Higher Education Collective Bargaining Agreements. The study is based on research that led to the publication in September of our 2024 Directory of Bargaining Agents and Contracts in Higher Education. The purpose of this study is to assist negotiators, labor representatives, and administrators in developing, amending, and implementing anti-bias contract provisions.
The study includes excerpted anti-discrimination text from 30 collective bargaining agreements negotiated by different nationally-affiliated unions and institutions at all levels of higher education from across the country involving tenured and tenure track faculty, non-tenure track faculty, postdoctoral scholars and academic researchers, and graduate student employees. For each contract, the monograph includes the contract's anti-discrimination clause and the relevant negotiated procedure concerning enforcement when the contract does not permit, limits, or modifies the use of the standard grievance-arbitration procedure to enforce the anti-discrimination clause. In addition, the monograph includes a hyperlink to each contract to permit the contextualization of the excerpted provisions within the terms of the entire agreement. |
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To download the Anti-Discrimination Clauses in Higher Education Collective Bargaining Agreements, click on the image below:
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To order a hard copy of the report, click here.
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KEY FINDINGS
-While most anti-discrimination clauses explicitly prohibit discrimination based on race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, and union activity, there are wide differences with respect to other protected categories.-Over the course of time, anti-discrimination clauses have changed, reflecting the historical context during which they were negotiated. Examples of those changes over the years are prohibitions against discrimination based on civil union status, HIV status, and Vietnam-era veteran status. -Recent contract clauses have expanded protections against discrimination to include caste; citizenship status; immigration status; ancestry; marital or parental status; status as a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking; gender expression; gender identity; genetic information; height; weight; arrest record; military status; veteran status; or unfavorably discharged from military service. Only one contract has an anti-discrimination clause limited to prohibiting discrimination based on union activity. -Certain contracts expand upon sex as a protected category to explicitly address sexual harassment and sexual misconduct, as well as faculty-student relationships. The most detailed definitions of sexual harassment, with special procedures for investigating and remedying sexual harassment complaints under Title IX and anti-discrimination clauses, are in contracts involving postdoctoral scholars and graduate student employees. -A significant difference among the contracts is the agreed-upon means of enforcement. Some contracts permit discrimination claims to be processed under the regular grievance-arbitration procedure. Others modify those procedures for handling discrimination issues and some agreements exclude alleged violations of the anti-discrimination clause from the grievance process. Lastly, some parties have opted to condition the arbitration of a discrimination grievance on the employee waiving her or his rights to pursue statutory discrimination claims in court or other external forums. |
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2024 Directory of Bargaining Agents and Contracts in Institutions of Higher Education
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The National Center is pleased to announce the publication of the 2024 Directory of Bargaining Agents and Contracts in Higher Education on the scope of higher education unionization involving faculty, postdoctoral scholars, and graduate and undergraduate student employees. The 2024 Directory includes data and analysis concerning over 900 collective bargaining relationships in higher education through January 1, 2024, and hyperlinks to 813 recent contracts in higher education.
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To order a hard copy of the 2024 Directory, click here.
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Advance Praise for the 2024 Directory
The 2024 Directory of Bargaining Agents and Contracts in Institutions of Higher Education is an invaluable resource for the field. At the Delphi Project, we have found data to be one of the most important levers for change. Change agents will now have access to data for over 900 collective bargaining relationships and 813 contracts that shed light on ways to improve the working conditions in higher education. The analysis in the 2024 Directory demonstrates the growth of unions by region, institutional type and employee category. The growth of non-tenure track faculty, postdocs, academic researchers, graduate and undergraduate students shows how unionization is becoming a tactic of choice for change. Adrianna Kezar, Professor and Director of the Pullias Center for Higher Education and the Delphi Project on the Changing Faculty and Student Success, University of Southern California This comprehensive and timely report and update on developments in collective bargaining in higher education provides a treasure trove of data and an inventory of contracts that will serve as invaluable resources to researchers and practitioners working in this sector. Bravo to the army it took to collect, assemble, summarize, and make available all these useful data. Thomas A. Kochan, Professor Emeritus, MIT Sloan School of Management and Institute for Work and Employment Research The first step towards better labor conditions in academia is knowing the labor conditions of academia. By collecting a broad swath of the collective bargaining agreements that cover academic employees today, the National Center’s 2024 Directory sets us on the right path. The 2024 Directory’s painstakingly gathered yet highly accessible data is an invaluable resource for everyone interested in learning more about employment relationships in academia, from the campus organizer to the scholar of higher education to the parent or legislator. Deepa Das Acevedo, JD, PhD , Associate Professor of Law, Emory University |
Support the National Center's research by contributing by clicking the donate button below: |
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