National Center Events

Thank You for a Successful 51st Annual National Conference

We thank all of the speakers, moderators, and conference attendees for a successful 51st Annual Conference of the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions on March 17-19, 2024.

We are grateful to Tom Kochan for his thoughtful and informative keynote address, which included an analysis of the growing unionization efforts by graduate and undergraduate student employees.

The theme of this year's annual conference was New Crossroads in Collective Bargaining and Labor Relations in Higher Education and the Professions. The program was designed to touch upon issues that impact everyone who works in higher education.

The success of the conference would not have been possible without the support and assistance of Hunter College Interim President Kirschner, our Board of Advisors, along with the staff of Roosevelt House, the CUNY Graduate Center, and conference staff and volunteers.

Finally, we thank the sponsors of our 51st annual conference along with the unions, businesses, institutions and law firms that purchased advertisements in our conference program.

In the coming months we will post select recordings of conference panels and images from the event.

51st Annual National Conference Sponsors

Become a Conference Sponsor or Program Advertiser to Celebrate Our 52nd Annual Conference and Support Our Research

To help celebrate the National Center’s 52nd annual conference, we encourage higher education institutions, unions, law firms, and companies to become a sponsor of our 2025 annual conference.

Through a conference sponsorship you will demonstrate support for the National Center’s continuing labor-management mission and research agenda.·

Another important way to celebrate the National Center’s 52nd annual conference and demonstrate support for our mission and research is for your institution, union, law firm, organization or company to place an advertisement in the conference program.

Please email us with any questions at: msavares@hunter.cuny.edu.

Regional Higher Education Collective Bargaining Workshop at the University of Illinois-Chicago: A Major Success

On September 14 and 15, 2023, the National Center held a regional higher education collective bargaining workshop at the University of Illinois-Chicago. The regional conference was co-sponsored by the University of Illinois System, and the University of Illinois School of Labor & Employment Relations’ Labor Education Program.

The sold-out workshop included over 100 attendees and speakers from Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, New York, New Jersey, Oregon, and California.

This was the third regional workshop organized by the National Center since 2013, with the last two being held in California. It is part our effort to revive the tradition of holding regional programming similar to the events the National Center sponsored in earlier decades.

The workshop program at the University of Illinois-Chicago included facilitated sessions on specific collective bargaining issues as well as traditional panel discussions on collective bargaining, community colleges, academic freedom and free speech rights on campus, affirmative action and discrimination, best practices in arbitration, and legal obligations under public sector collective bargaining laws and the National Labor Relations Act. The conference keynote speaker was Sameer Gadkaree, President, The Institute of College Access and Success.

Click here for the workshop website and here for the conference materials.


Best Practices in Collective Bargaining Panel with (l-r) Diana Valera, President CFA/IFT, Columbia College, Mark Bennett, Laner Muchin, Marcia Mackey, Michigan Education Association (moderator), Melissa Sortman, Assistant Provost and Director, Faculty and Academic Staff Affairs, Michigan State University, and Elizabeth Towell, SEIU Local 73	Best Practices in Collective Bargaining Panel with (l-r) Stephen Yokich, Bloch, Bennett, Cervone, Auerbach & Yokich, LLP, Robb Craddock, Labor and Employee Relations Executive Director, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Mike Newman, Deputy Director, AFSCME Council 31, Richard W. Fanning, Jr, Clark Hill, PLC, and Terry Curry, former Associate Provost and Associate Vice President, Michigan State University (moderator)	Collective Bargaining, Discrimation, Affirmative Action & Title IX Panel with (l-r) Ricky Baldwin, Assistant Director, State Division, SEIU Local 73, Risa Lieberwitz, Professor of Labor and Employment, Cornell ILR and AAUP General Counsel, Augustus Wood, Assistant Professor, School of Labor & Employment Relations, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Julie Miceli, Husch Blackwell, and Karen Stubaus, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Rutgers University and National Center Affiliated Researcher (moderator)


Legal Obligations under Public Sector Statutes and NLRA Panel with (l-r) Richard W. Fanning, Jr., Clark Hill, PLC, Ellen Strizak, General Counsel, Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board, Angie Cowan Hamada, National Labor Relations Board Region 13 Director, and Alice Johnson, General Counsel Cook College Teachers Union (moderator)	Community Colleges: Distinct Bargaining Issues and Challenges Panel with (l-r) Robert Boonin, Dykema, PLLC, Tony Johnston, Cook County Teachers Union, Local 1600 President, Andre' L. Poplar, Vice Chancellor for Human Resources and Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, Oakland Community College, Shannon Altson, Director of Business, Legal & Human Resources, Michigan Edcuation Association, and Joshua Walker, Dean of Business and Institutional Effectiveness, John Wood Community College (moderator)	10 Best Practice Tips from Experienced Labor Arbitrators with (l-r) Meeta Bass, Arbitrator, Cary Morgen, Arbitrator, and Betty Widgeon, Arbitrator, (moderator and panelist)