Higher Ed & HR: Rider University offers graduate certificate in higher ed collective bargaining

Be Among the First to Be Certified in Higher Education Collective Bargaining

A unique and timely post-baccalaureate certificate program, offered jointly by Rider University’s graduate program in Organizational Leadership and the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions at Hunter College, CUNY, will begin in fall 2012.

Rider University in Lawrenceville, N.J., and the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions (NCSCBHEP) at Hunter College, City University of New York, have joined forces to offer a new online graduate certificate in Higher Education Collective Bargaining, which successfully integrates academic theory and practical strategies, for the fall 2012 semester.

This unique program – perhaps the first of its kind ever offered by a university – is offered by Rider’s graduate program in Organizational Leadership, and is available exclusively online. The four-class, 12-credit program is designed to give current and aspiring college and university administrators, as well as their institutions’ faculty union representatives, the knowledge and skills required to effectively represent their constituencies in collective bargaining negotiations.

Dr. Richard Boris, director of the NCSCBHEP, says the need for training in the practice of collective bargaining in higher education has also increased as the seasoned pioneers of the process exit the workforce.

“The issue is essentially generational: the original negotiators, from both sides, who ‘invented’ academic collective bargaining are retiring,” Boris explained. “A major issue we face now is training the newcomers, those who will take their place at the table, which explains the very high enrollments at our collective bargaining workshops during our national conference.”

Professionals who complete the Higher Education Collective Bargaining graduate certificate will be able to apply to continue with the complete M.A. in Organizational Leadership at Rider, according to Dr. Elizabeth Watson, associate professor of Graduate Education at Rider and director of the M.A. in Organizational Leadership program.

“This combination of focused study, followed by the broader master’s degree, will be a highly useful and relevant educational experience,” she explained. “For professionals, who are operating in higher education environments, and who want to become more effective within their organizations, this option will enhance their leadership skills.”

The program’s four courses offer a comprehensive overview of the collective bargaining process in higher education, from a historical perspective of how the practice has evolved, to current bargaining issues, to particular strategies and tactics for successfully navigating the negotiating table. Highlights of each course include:

Introduction to Collective Bargaining and Labor Relations in Higher Education

·      The scope, objectives, practices and challenges of labor relations as it has emerged and evolved in America.

·      The rise of American higher education and its professorate with emphasis on such issues as academic freedom, tenure, and control of curricula.

·      An overview of unionization on college campuses and its relationship to organized labor across the educational system, including K-12.

·      The collective bargaining process, including such key concepts as good-faith bargaining and bargaining impasse, using actual and hypothetical situations common to negotiations with faculty unions.

·      Day-to-day administration of the collectively bargained relationship on campus.

Bargaining Issues in Higher Education

·      Economic issues, such as compensation and fringe benefits

·      Non-economic issues, including academic freedom, appointments, promotions and tenure, discipline and grievance procedures, peer review, personnel records and workload issues, among many others.

Collective Bargaining in Higher Education – Strategies and Tactics

·      Preparations for collective bargaining, bargaining leadership, proposal development and formulation, setting the ground rules, the bargaining process, pressure tactics, and conflict and its resolution.

Administration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement in the Higher Education Environment

·      Union issues: internal union governance, administering the collective agreement, grievance and arbitration, and duty of fair representation.

·      University issues: communicating with unionized faculty and managing within the confines of the collective agreement.

·      Shared issues: Just cause and due process rights of unionized faculty, and amending the collective agreement mid-contract.

For complete descriptions of course material, visit www.rider.edu/leadership. Program participants must hold an undergraduate degree from an accredited institution. The Higher Education Collective Bargaining certificate program may be taken in part or in whole, and credits may be applied toward Rider University’s Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership or Master of Arts in Educational Leadership.

For more information, contact Dr. Elizabeth Watson, director of the M.A. in Organizational Leadership program at Rider University, at 609-896-5348 or visit www.rider.edu/leadership.

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