The goal of this paper is to estimate the causal effect of unionization on institutional decision-making. We use a national survey of presidents and faculty senate leaders to measure the level of shared governance at 341 public universities in fifteen different areas. To address the endogeneity of faculty unionization, we use an index of state employee collective bargaining rights as an instrument for unionization. We find that unionization greatly increases faculty influence over decision-making in areas such as setting faculty salary scales, individual faculty salaries, appointing department chairs, and appointments to institution-wide committees.

This is one of the first compilations on collective bargaining in higher education reflecting the work of scholars, practitioners, and employer and union advocates. It offers a practical and comprehensive resource to higher education leaders responsible for developing, managing, and maintaining collective bargaining relationships with academic personnel. Offering views from an experienced and diverse group, this book explores how to manage relationships in collaborative, transparent, and equitable ways, best practices for meaningful outcome measures, and approaches for framing collective bargaining as a long-term process that benefits the institution. This volume provides an overview of the contemporary landscape, benchmark measures of success, and practical advice focusing on advancing collaborative, equitable, and sustainable labor relations approaches in higher education. Designed for administrators, union leaders, elected officials, and policy makers, at all stages of their careers as well as for faculty and students in graduate programs, this volume serves as an invaluable resource for those who endeavor to conceptualize, conduct, manage, and implement collective bargaining in more mutually effective and beneficial ways for all parties.

Faculty unions are an important part of the current higher education landscape, particularly in the public sector. Yet, the rise of unionism among university faculties during the 1960's and 1970's was an unexpected development that clashed with many assumptions about academic life. Amid campus tensions, economic crisis and state political controversies, the faculties of the Universities of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island were among those joining ranks of organized labor during that era. This book follows the documentary record of faculty unionization at these New England universities to explore how and why unionization came about. As the book reveals, faculty unionization can be much more than the simple result of local controversies. When examined in light of the surrounding political and economic environment, a complex picture emerges. On these New England campuses, the process invoked the participation of many actors. Faculties, administrations, boards, state political leaders, and national associations all played a part in shaping the course of events, sometimes in unexpected and unintended ways. Gordon B. Arnold places these events in context, providing a 35-year overview of faculty unionism, and locating faculty unionization within the broader realm of organized labor and the rise of public sector collective bargaining.