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Election Ordered Concerning Temple PT Faculty Being Added to FT Unit

November 04, 2015 / PSU-AAUP

Temple University, Case No. PERA-R.14-400-E

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.  The decision was issued following six days of hearing after a representation petition was filed by the Temple Association of University Professionals (TAUP) on December 17, 2014 seeking to add approximately 1,040 part-time faculty to the TAUP-represented bargaining unit.  The current TAUP-represented bargaining unit includes approximately 500 full-time tenured faculty, 150 tenure-track faculty, 600 non-tenure track faculty, 25 librarians and 25 academic professionals.   

In directing an election, Hearing Officer Prozniak concluded that the part-time faculty share an identifiable community of interest with faculty in the existing unit because their teaching responsibilities, courses, campuses and classrooms are virtually identical to the full-time faculty.  In addition, he found they have nearly the same educational requirements as full-time faculty, they regularly interact with full-time faculty, and are subject to many of the same faculty policies.

The administrative decision rejected various arguments raised by the university in opposition to the petition.  Differences between part-time and full-time faculty, such as roles in shared governance, research and service requirements, workload and eligibility for tenure, were determined to be "minor" and "reflect the division of labor at a major university."  The hearing officer also rejected the university's contention that accretion would be inappropriate based on potential tensions that might arise between the full-time and the part-time faculty.

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