Implications for Community College Governance under Collective Bargaining.

Since collective bargaining is a practice that is growing even more rapidly in community colleges than in other areas of higher education, the concepts involved in bargaining and contracts are of particular interest to community colleges. Contracts differ from policies in that contracts require the approval of all parties, who are considered relatively equal, while policy regulations do not. Collective bargaining changes the traditional collegial governance pattern by making faculty members employees, an arrangement under which they have more decision-making power. Collective bargaining also induces a change in management relationships among administrators because many of the interests of administrators below the rank of president are not represented in the bargaining. The employee bargaining unit is composed of instructors, counselors, librarians, coordinators and, frequently, chairpersons. The inclusion of certain nonacademic employees is dependent upon the need for influence and revenue and the possible assignment of nonprofessionals to classes during a strike. The employer bargaining unit usually consists of members of the governing board. The employees' position that anything is open for negotiation usually prevails over the employers' position that negotiable items are restricted. Definitions of management rights differ, but the agreement itself necessarily diminishes these rights. Contract statements of employee association rights are much more detailed. Workload formulas and grievance procedures are important points in agreements, and most contracts contain no strike/no lockout pledges. (KM)