DATA GATHERING and DECISION MAKING AMONG COMMUNITY COLLEGE FACULTY UNION LEADERS Mary K
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National Louis University Digital Commons@NLU Dissertations 6-2011 DATA GATHERING AND DECISION MAKING AMONG COMMUNITY COLLEGE FACULTY UNION LEADERS Mary K. O'Sullivan National-Louis University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss Part of the Community College Leadership Commons Recommended Citation O'Sullivan, Mary K., "DATA GATHERING AND DECISION MAKING AMONG COMMUNITY COLLEGE FACULTY UNION LEADERS" (2011). Dissertations. 38. https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/38 This Dissertation - Public Access is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons@NLU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@NLU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. NATIONAL LOUIS UNIVERSITY DATA GATHERING AND DECISION MAKING AMONG COMMUNITY COLLEGE FACULTY UNION LEADERS A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE DOCTOR OF EDUCATION IN COMMUNITY COLLEGE LEADERSHIP BY MARY K. O‘SULLIVAN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS JUNE 2011 Copyright © 2011 Mary K. O‘Sullivan All rights reserved. IV DEDICATION This research is dedicated to the faculty union leaders of community colleges. These devoted educational leaders give much of their time and energy for the advancement of the rights, benefits and opportunities of the faculty they represent. Their commitment to this process inspired this research and my many thanks go to these talented community college leaders. V ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to my dissertation chair, Dr. Martin Parks, for his knowledge and guidance through this long process. Thank you to my committee, including Dr. A.J. Styer and Dr. Dennis Haynes, your time and commitment to helping me produce a quality document is truly appreciated. It is evident to me that all of the CCL faculty, including Drs. Lake and Haynes, are dedicated to student success, and I am thankful for their contributions to my education. To my ECC co-workers who led the way through this graduate program, Drs. Miksa and Boyd, thank you for providing me with help when asked as well as encouragement and humor as needed. To my family, who never quite understood where I was for three years but supported my decisions and efforts nonetheless, you managed to always keep me humble. To numerous friends, near and far, whom I have neglected along the way, thank you for understanding what I was trying to finish and not giving up on me. And finally, to L.L. and J.P., I owe you the most in return for your continued patience and love- thank you for everything. VI ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to identify how faculty union leaders gather data and incorporate past experience to prioritize decisions for new contract negotiations in Illinois community colleges. The National Labor Relations Act of 1935 legalized collective bargaining in the United States, but state laws further regulate collective bargaining and make such agreements enforceable under state law. The Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act (IELRA) requires educational employers to bargain in good faith with the employees‘ exclusive representative. Specifically, this qualitative case-study research sought to identify the strategies undertaken by community college faculty union leaders to prepare for, and prioritize decisions for upcoming contract negotiations. Five Illinois community college faculty union leaders were interviewed and asked to provide insight into this process. Data gathering was identified as an essential first step in the process, offering constituents the opportunity to voice their concerns regarding the existing contract. While this step may be modified as needed to fit the parameters of the negotiation, this step cannot be bypassed. It establishes the first link in the need for open communication between the negotiation team and union members. Validation of decisions by the lead negotiator occurs as a means to substantiate the list of issues for negotiation. Union affiliates and local union leaders are consulted most often. Experience of the lead negotiator grows more important for contentious negotiations, as the more experienced negotiators relied on their own instincts and ability to interact with and read administrative team members. The study concluded that the type of bargaining practiced by the college, whether interest-based or distributive, held the most influence over the pre-negotiation process. Interest- VII based negotiations were more inclusive of faculty concerns. The faculty negotiation team was an essential source of information and support for each of the union leaders. VIII TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................... xii Chapter I. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 1 Background and Context............................................................................... 1 Growing Demand for Higher Education ....................................................... 3 Involvement of Business and Industry .......................................................... 4 Community Colleges and Community Prestige ............................................ 6 The Emerging Mission of the Community College ...................................... 7 Emergence of Faculty Unions in Community Colleges ............................... 8 Research Purpose .......................................................................................... 10 Research Questions ....................................................................................... 11 Significance of Study .................................................................................... 11 Research Design ............................................................................................ 13 Data Collection .............................................................................................. 15 Data Analysis ................................................................................................ 15 Limitations and Delimitations ....................................................................... 17 Assumptions .................................................................................................. 18 Definition of Terms ....................................................................................... 18 Organization of the Study.............................................................................. 21 Chapter Summary .......................................................................................... 21 II. LITERATURE REVIEW .............................................................................. 23 Introduction ................................................................................................... 23 Education Unions: A Historical Perspective ................................................. 24 Illinois Collective Bargaining ........................................................... 25 The NEA and the AFT ....................................................................... 27 Overview of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education ............................ 29 The Influence of Collective Bargaining ............................................. 32 Union Influence on Salaries and Benefits .................................................... 33 Union Challenges ......................................................................................... 35 Contemporary Union Issues ......................................................................... 38 Contingent Faculty ............................................................................. 38 Distance Education ............................................................................ 40 Theoretical and Conceptual Framework ...................................................... 43 Game Theory ..................................................................................... 43 IX The Concepts of Distributive and Interest Based Bargaining ..................................................................... 44 Intraorganizational Bargaining ................................................ 47 Decision Analysis .................................................................... 51 Chapter Summary ........................................................................................ 53 III. METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................... 55 Introduction .................................................................................................. 55 Purpose Statement ........................................................................................ 56 Guiding Questions ....................................................................................... 57 Research Design........................................................................................... 58 Qualitative Research .......................................................................... 58 Case Study ................................................................................................... 59 Data Collection Procedures .......................................................................... 62 Site Selection ..................................................................................... 62 Participant Selection .......................................................................... 63 Data Sources