Development of a procedural collective bargaining model for use by administrator/negotiators when negotiating faculty contracts in state universities

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop a procedural faculty collective bargaining model for use by state university administrator/negotiators. The model was developed in three parts. The first two parts of the model, preparations for bargaining and conduct of bargaining, were developed based upon responses to questions posed in a telephone interview guide to a randomly selected sample of five state university administrator/negotiators. The third part of the model, contract provisions to be included, was developed based upon an analysis of the twenty-nine state university faculty collective bargaining contracts in effect in June 1982. A review of the literature indicated there had been only one similar research project before and it was more limited to scope than the present research. To test the model's utility, a questionnaire was developed, pretested, and mailed, along with a copy of the proposed model, to the chief administrator/negotiators at the twenty-nine state universities identified as comprising the research population. Thirteen questionnaires (44.8 percent) were completed and returned. The questionnaire response provided the following conclusions: (1) The model contained sufficient common elements to assist those involved in the collective bargaining process. (2) Because of the random nature of the questionnaire return, no meaningful perception of bargaining agent policies/strategies by the administrator/negotiators was obtained. (3) Because of the random nature of the questionnaire return, no meaningful perception of a pattern of bargaining by the bargaining agents was obtained. (4) The state university contracts were quite similar, with the exception of some miscellaneous items.