Academic freedom is a fundamental concept that exists to ensure that institutions of higher education function for the public good and that colleges are constructed on the foundations of genuine trust. For over a century, members of The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) have been agile guardians, careful stewards, and erudite…

The purpose of this paper is to address the need for guidance on professional standards for educational practices in online education. Since 1995, the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC) has provided leadership in the introduction and successful implementation of distance education. During this time, the ASCCC has played a…

In 2007, the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges adopted the paper "Sabbaticals: Benefiting Faculty, The Institution, and Students." Based in part on survey results, it reiterated the fundamental value of the sabbatical leave concept, but uncovered wide disparities in implementation among California's community colleges.…

The number of staff members serving American higher education institutions has more than doubled in the past twenty years, as occupations in technology, development, government relations, and even athletic administration have grown as never before in the history of the academy. As the number, variety, and importance of these positions have grown,…

Sabbatical leave has a long and distinguished history in academe, both at universities and community colleges. By virtue of its traditional benefit to professors, institutions, and students, sabbaticals may appropriately be considered as a "right" by the professoriate. Even so, during statewide budgetary crises, sabbatical leave was…

This report outlines the history of the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC) from its inception in 1963 to 1997. The Senate has its roots in Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 48, which specified that the State Board of Education provide for the establishment of academic senates "...for the purposes of representing…

The working relationship between the bargaining agent, AAUP, and the traditional governance body, the faculty senate at Southern Connecticut State University, is described. (MLW)

Edited versions of two conference papers are presented. The first paper, "The Debate Over Academic Unions and Faculty Governance," by Irwin H. Polishook, discusses why the concept of collective bargaining continues to be a significant issue in academe and is considered to be incompatible with faculty governance. It examines the union…

Collegiality and unionization, although they seem contradictory, are complementary expressions of a faculty desire for involvement in institutional decision making. These impulses are simultaneously present in the recent history of faculty involvement in the California State University system. (MLW)

A critique of the presupposition, inherent in collective bargaining at the higher education level, of a community of interests among faculty members and an adversarial relationship between faculty and administrators. In general, faculty members have doubts about the wisdom or legitimacy of collective bargaining. (TE)

Summarizes a national study of the impact of faculty unionism on personnel practices, academic senates, and administrative and governance procedures. Concludes that faculties are better off because of unionization and that collective bargaining is a neutral decision-making process, its impact determined by the involvement of faculty and…

In 1985, the faculty of Chabot College in California decided to revise the constitution and develop by-laws for the Faculty Senate on the grounds that the present operating rules were inadequate to help promote the Faculty Senate as an effective group within the governance structure of the college. A study was conducted to review the operating…

Explores the unique nature of the academic senate, its management and employee representation roles, the National Labor Relations Act requirement of exclusive representation, and the nature of mandatory bargaining subjects. (Author)

Even if the court's sweeping conclusion that all Yeshiva University faculty members are managers is not entirely justified, it is possible that that position has essential validity. (Author/IRT)

Opponents of collective bargaining for faculty charge that unions will destroy faculty governance by abolishing faculty senates, dictating institutional policy, and eliminating peer review in favor of automatic tenure and promotion. The history of collective bargaining at the City University of New York shows this has not happened. (MLW)