This article explores the relationship between unionization and academic freedom protections for sessional faculty in Ontario universities. Specifically, we compare university policies and contract provisions with a view to determining whether unionized sessionals hired on a per-course basis have stronger academic freedom protections than their…

A focus on faculty professional learning, given the challenges that California community colleges and students face, must remain a high priority and continue to evolve. The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC) has long been an advocate for the development of robust professional development policies as part of senate purview…

Though there is a plethora of articles written over the past years on the ordeal adjunct professors go through while teaching in universities and community colleges, very little has been done to salvage the situation. The work adjunct professors do has been oversimplified while institutions that utilize their services save a lot. This article will…

Community and technical colleges (collectively referred to as associate's institutions throughout this brief) serve an important role in the U.S. higher education system. They are often an option for students who: (1) need skills development, an associate's degree, or training for specific jobs in their community; (2) need a more affordable…

The unionization of instructional workers is a central feature of U.S. higher education, with more than a quarter of those teaching college classes covered by collectively bargained contracts. Though dated, the best existing numbers indicate that more than 430,000 faculty members, graduate students, and related personnel are in bargaining units;…

One of the author's enduring concerns about the concept of academic freedom is with semantics. It has seemed to him that one of the biggest difficulties with discussions of academic freedom (as with many conversations about "value-laden" terms such as "democracy," "equity," and "justice") is that people begin from different positions and with…

American higher education is in transition and if there ever was a "golden age" for faculty, it probably is behind us. The best historical data on the composition of faculty is collected annually by the American Mathematical Society. Between 1967 and 2009, the share of full-time faculty with PhDs remained constant at about 90 percent at…

This collective bargaining agreement between the Loretto Heights College and the Loretto Heights College Faculty Education Association covers a period from 1974 to 1976. It contains articles revised from the 1974-1976 agreement (HE007747). Revised articles are: (1) part-time faculty; (2) college rights and faculty participation; (3) faculty…

The most important considerations in determining part-time faculty bargaining unit composition seem to be the way part-timers are paid, the benefits they receive, the amount of their participation in university governance, and the degree to which their working conditions are similar to those of full-time faculty. (Author/IRT)

The process and results of establishing collective bargaining for Rutgers University's (New Jersey) part-time faculty, largely women, are discussed. Negotiations for achievement of parity with full-time faculty through pro rata benefits and salaries, the most contested issue, are described briefly, focusing on administration resistance. (MSE)

Examines the status of part-time college faculty. Notes that some part-time faculty are entering into collective bargaining and joining unions in an effort to achieve equity with full-time teachers. (MM)

In 1977, the Connecticut State Board of Labor Relations confronted the question of defining what constitutes part-time status for college teachers. A brief on a case concerning a lecturer at the University of Connecticut reveals the difficulty in measuring faculty workload. (MLW)

Reports on initiatives of the American Association of University Professors to reach out to graduate students and part-time professors and the association's increasing involvement in unionization battles. Notes plans to form partnerships with various groups, including the American Conference of Academic Deans and teaching assistant unions. The…

Reviews decisions of the National Labor Relations Board on bargaining units for college faculties, noting difficulties involved in applying industrial experience to academic institutions. Emphasis in on whether department chairmen should be included in the bargaining unit as members of the faculty or excluded on the basis of…

Recounts how the part-time faculty at Chicago's Columbia College (Illinois) dramatically improved salaries and gained a strong voice in college decision making through unionization. Emphasis is on the negotiation process which worked to obtain the group's goals without undermining the "rather friendly college environment." (DB)