Lawmakers in some states are seeking more openness and transparency from public university governing boards. read more >

We had a short bargaining session yesterday. At the beginning, we presented a list of data that we’ll need from the administration to process economic issues. We’re going to attempt to use Interest-Based Bargaining to negotiate salary and benefits. Our facilitator has successfully used this process with other educational unions in Oregon, and she assures us that it can work. read more >

The sociology Ph.D. student at the New School teaches two undergraduate courses, holds office hours, answers students’ emails, and performs research unrelated to her dissertation for professors. "When I had an issue with my pay stub," Ms. Aparicio says, "I was referred to human resources and payroll. I wasn’t referred to my adviser or my dean, because I’m an employee, and those are my wages." read more >

We continued our discussions about academic professional issues. We mostly focused on promotion and pay structures. AAUP proposed that we create a step system that provides incremental pay increases based upon years of experience, specific areas of expertise (bilingual, advanced degrees, certifications) and enhanced job duties (such as supervisory or training duties). read more >

On November 13, 2015, the AAUP filed with the American Federation of Teachers an amicus brief before the US Supreme Court arguing that the payment of agency fees by non-members in collective bargaining unions to support union representation is constitutional. The case started when the plaintiffs, sponsored by organizations seeking to weaken unions, sued the California Teachers Association and a local California school district seeking to invalidate agency fee provisions in the collective bargaining agreement, arguing that agency fee clauses in the public sector violate the First Amendment. read more >

Oregon slashed per-student spending on higher education more than all but one other state between 2000 and 2014, according to a new national study. read more >

We continued to discuss issues for academic professionals at yesterday’s bargaining session, completing the first three steps of the Interest-Based Bargaining Process: Framing the Issue/Question, Identifying Data and Sharing Interests. We agreed to address three main problem categories—Salary Structures/Promotional Opportunities, Workload, Scheduling and Decision-Making input, and Job Security/Evaluation. read more >

Your employer has already brought it up in bargaining, or else is about to: the health care headache known as the “Cadillac tax.” How hard are unions getting hit—and what can we do about it? Labor Notes interviewed Mark Dudzic, coordinator of the Labor Campaign for Single Payer, which just issued a new report on the tax. - See more at: http://labornotes.org/2015/11/cadillac-tax-threat-looms-how-can-unions-respond#sthash.zD7NZrmH.dpuf read more >

We achieved a major victory at the bargaining table! We will have language in our new Collective Bargaining Agreement governing summer pay rates. read more >

The union representing professors at the California State University System have voted to authorize a strike if faculty and administrative leaders cannot reach agreement on a pay raise. read more >

At last Friday’s bargaining session, we started off the day discussing some of the task force charges that we have already signed-off on. The Work/Life Balance task force letter of agreement stated that we intended to have a conversation in bargaining about childcare issues that might result in additional task force responsibilities, so we started a brief conversation about childcare. read more >

Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board Hearing Examiner John Pozniak issued a decision on September 29, 2015 ordering an election among part-time faculty at Temple University's undergraduate schools and colleges concerning whether they wish to be included in the existing bargaining unit of full-time faculty and other professionals. read more >

The part-time faculty at Emerson College's Los Angeles center have requested voluntary recognition from the college to be added to an existing bargaining unit, represented by Affiliated Faculty of Emerson College-AAUP. read more >

So: no, there will not be real tenure in the University of Wisconsin System. That much has been more or less clear since May 29, when the Joint Finance Committee dropped its UW omnibus motion bomb. read more >

Correcting past wrongs at colleges requires programs that commit to educational justice, not mere discussion—or erasure—of racist symbolism read more >

In our last meeting, we began discussing Summer Session. We had come up with a framing question to guide our discussion: How do we compensate faculty during summer session in a way that is equitable, predictable and sustainable while considering student needs? read more >

Bryan Jones is not anti-gun – he keeps two rifles and a handgun at his country home and is a former member of the National Rifle Association. But he does not want weapons in his workplace, and he is not alone. The government professor at the University of Texas is one of about 800 academics there who have signed a petition opposing the campus carry law that is set to go into effect in Texas on 1 August 2016. “There are some places guns don’t belong,” he said. “I think we’ve had enough of this. We’ve been lucky in the sense that we’ve started a little bit of a firestorm because our organization came at about the same time as a shooting on campus in Oregon.” read more >

Portland State University might make a bid for regional tax money with an initiative petition drive for the November 2016 election, President Wim Wiewel revealed this week to the Portland Tribune. The idea, Wiewel says, comes after years of not getting enough out of Salem. “I would much rather have a statewide solution, but I have been fighting for seven years now,” he says, acknowledging that the state boosted funding to Oregon's seven public universities by $30 million this biennium, but it was $55 million short of what they asked for. “It’s still not anywhere near enough for what we need.” read more >

Portland lawyer Jill Gibson has, as she'd promised, filed another initiative petition to make Oregon a "right to work" state, at least for public employees. read more >

Professors and graduate students must navigate all kinds of tricky topics in their relationships. Dissertation deadlines, Ph.D. career paths, and the occasional lapse in research ethics are just a few examples. Now add to that list graduate-student unionization. Or at least that’s what Harvard administrators think. read more >