Two conditions are needed to effect large-scale reforms in academia: a hierarchical, top-down system of governance that can enact sweeping changes, and for that system to be controlled or heavily influenced by those outside the system. Strong board governance provides both of those conditions. Most university boards, especially the public ones,…

Why are America's public schools falling so short of the mark in educating the nation's children? Why are they organized in ineffective ways that fly in the face of common sense, to the point that it is virtually impossible to get even the worst teachers out of the classroom? And why, after more than a quarter century of costly education reform,…

School systems sometimes make promises they have no intention of keeping. Other times, they can deliver a world of opportunities to the neediest children. They may or may not want to listen to parents or even teachers, but school systems always attend to the demands of the most powerful individuals and institutions in their communities. For the…

"The Still Divided Academy" is a wonderful examination of the academic community that shows their inner workings by addressing a broad range of issues including: academic politics, tenure, perceived and real political imbalance, academic freedom, and diversity. Administrators, professors, and students have very different priorities, values, and…

The presence of a faculty union in a community college has a significant impact on its governance. This chapter offers recommendations for dealing with the challenges presented by collective bargaining in the postsecondary education environment.

The structure and scope of faculty unionization in American, British, and Canadian universities are compared. The importance of the legal foundation for unionization, the organizational characteristics of the unions, and the status of the bargaining contract are analyzed from the standpoint of their impact on management. (Author/MLW)

Because the existing provisions for communication between the administration and faculty of Emerson College had been ineffective, in 1978 the responsibility for contract negotiations was delegated to faculty and administrative teams. The key contract issues identified by the administrative team consisted of revising a clause pertaining to faculty…

Discusses "National Labor Relations Board v. Yeshiva University," which ruled that college faculty were managers and thereby excluded from collective bargaining, focusing on why the Supreme Court classified professors as managers, whether the Court did something unusual in this case, or whether faculty is simply the unlucky vanguard of a…

The status of faculty collective bargaining in Canada is compared with that of the United States, and it is suggested that, although U.S. political action in favor of faculty and higher education in general is more advanced, Canadian collective bargaining is substantially ahead in its scope and effects. (MSE)

Montana's university system's experience with collective bargaining within a statutory system, featuring a central management bargaining authority (the board of regents) and multiple bargaining units, is considered. Particular attention is given to how this system has led to greater uniformity of faculty salaries and other conditions of…

The steady state in Australian higher education has encouraged faculty and nonfaculty unionization. In the former case, if the university is truly a self-governing collegium, there is a question as to faculty simultaneously being employees and employers. Active unionism may have negative and positive consequences. (MSE)

This paper explores the implications for democratic policy making and school governance of collective bargaining with teachers. Based on a case study of the 1992 Teachers Strike in Detroit, Michigan, the research examines the relationships among actors involved in the strike and in its settlement. Findings of this research suggest that the strike…

The sharing of authority after collective bargaining is initiated in higher education institutions is addressed. Seven issues at the center of power struggle within organized institutions are looked at: long-range planning, retrenchment, promotion, appointment, nonrenewal, tenure, and management rights. An analysis of two-thirds of the bargaining…

Excerpts from magazine and newspaper interviews with the president of the American Federation of Teachers concerning unions and collective bargaining at colleges and universities are presented. Topics concern: professionalism and economic self-interest, unions and freedom of inquiry, merit pay, academic elitism, the political influence of college…

Proceedings of the 1981 conference on the legal and economic status of collective bargaining in higher education, sponsored by the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions, are presented. Papers and authors are as follows: "Yeshiva Shock Waves" (David Kuechle); "The Yeshiva Case:…