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Speaking OutCompromise Is Not ConcessionInterest-based bargaining. Collaborative problem solving. Win-win. Mutual gains. No matter what you call the emerging new approach to union-management relations, it has become clear that college faculty and administrators can make extraordinary progress when they approach the problems facing their institutions with a shared vision. At Mott Community College in Flint, Michigan, many of the unions on our campus, including two NEA affiliates, use a problem-solving approach to bargaining. The faculty union at MCC has an excellent contract and a proud 30-year history of traditional bargaining. We still use traditional negotiations in our regular contract talks. But, in 1994, long-time local President Leatha Terwilliger pushed to have a "collaborative problem solving" section added to our contract. Terwilliger understood that some bargaining issues are best dealt with in partnership with parties who know the technical aspects of the issue at hand. So, at the end of our 1997 round of bargaining, two such issues, professional development and intellectual property rights, were put aside and assigned to problem-solving committees. For 16 months, our faculty representatives met with counterparts from the administration to focus on intellectual property rights for distance learning courses. The committee met off-campus, using a neutral facilitator. The result: an agreement that outlines an equitable process for the creation, distribution, ownership, and revenue sharing of distance-learning course materials at the college. The agreement was overwhelmingly ratified by the faculty and lauded by the college board of trustees. This new language on intellectual property rights could not have been achieved without our joint problem-solving approach. The agreement has won positive reviews nationally, from both faculty at the 1999 NEA Higher Education conference and at the American Association of Community Colleges, a group made up largely of college presidents and administrators. Our experience with the problem-solving process for intellectual property rights negotiations has proved to us that compromise doesn't necessarily mean concession. You can view the agreement and our intellectual property language on our Web site: www.mccea.org/.
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I'd like to Say...One way for Ms. Sullivan [May Advocate, Dialogue: No] to increase her employability would be to use apostrophes correctly. Or perhaps it was an editing error that turned a plural into a singular possessive? One may try to remake the world to support one's loves, forcing universities to compensate grad assistants to the extent that assistantships become full-time jobs that do not naturally exist in the marketplace. But graduate students would benefit more by following Lynn Woodbury's example of considering all employers who appreciate her skills. ---Bruce W. Prothel (Editor's note: The proofing error was ours, not Sullivan's.) I have found there is very little communication or collaboration across community college campuses and would like to develop a model for vocational educators to use to share information. Do any readers have knowledge of successful models that might help me in this area? ---Tim Harrison |
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