RWU Faculty Association

The Roger Williams University Faculty Association:

A Brief History

Although many Roger Williams University (RWU) faculty members have been here longer than they might like to remember, many others have come to the university during the past several years.  These relative newcomers might appreciate a brief history of the Roger Williams University Faculty Association (RWUFA), the labor union that has represented the RWU faculty since 1973.

The Bristol, Rhode Island, campus of Roger Williams College (RWC) opened in 1969 with around 60 full-time faculty members.  As an emerging and rapidly growing institution of higher education that had just recently transformed itself from a two-year to a four-year institution, RWC faced a number of challenges.  Among these problems were gaining accreditation and developing a formal and effective system of academic governance.  These problems were further complicated by the lack of a permanent chief academic officer, an unstable administration, and a growing sense of distance between the faculty and the individuals of the administration who were in charge of RWC at the time.

In the spring of 1972, in an effort to break the deadlock that had developed between faculty and administration and bring stability and regularly to their workplace, members of the RWC faculty canvassed three national organizations that represented higher education faculty in collective bargaining:  the National Education Association (NEA), the American Federation of Teachers, and the American Association of University Professors.  Judging primarily on the basis of which organization could provide the most extensive support services and assure the highest degree of autonomy, RWC faculty members selected the NEA to represent themselves.  After several procedural steps required by the National Labor Relations Act, an election was held in 1973.  The result was a vote of 80 to 8 in favor of organizing in affiliation with the NEA.

In 1973, a Faculty Senate Constitution and By-Laws were negotiated and formally adopted and implemented in a manner that guaranteed a system of shared authority and responsibility with the administration.  In fact, when this faculty governance system was incorporated in our initial faculty contract, it was the first time such a thing had been accomplished in the United States.  For sixteen years, this working arrangement between the faculty and the RWC administration worked to the benefit of the institution.  Accreditation was secured, and RWC experienced steady growth and enhanced academic quality.  Each party came to respect the needs and responsibilities of the other.  The normal academic operational irritations and occasional disagreements over specific goals and priorities remained, but there was a process in place that allowed faculty and administration to deal with these problems short of confrontation and public dispute.  Faculty-administration relations, nonetheless, were strained at times.  Difficult contract negotiations in 1986 resulted in a one-day faculty strike.  More than 90 percent of the full-time faculty chose not to report for work on the first day of classes in the fall.  The successful strike prompted a quick settlement that was favorably received by the faculty.

Difficult contract negotiations during the summer of 1989 resulted in the dismantling of RWC’s shared governance system.  During collective bargaining, negotiators for the administration invoked the Yeshiva University Supreme Court decision of 1981, which ruled that faculty members who participated in activities traditionally assigned to management—admissions policies, budgeting, hiring and firing, curriculum management—were, in effect, “managers” rather than “workers” and, therefore, could not unionize under the National Labor Relations Act.  With great regret, the RWUFA membership was forced to recognize that the force of federal law and subsequent decisions by the National Labor Relations Board supported the administration’s position.  The faculty’s 16-year partnership in shared governance was ended.  Faculty members essentially withdrew from major managerial decision-making, and the Faculty Senate was dissolved.  (The Faculty Senate resurfaced in 1993, functioned until 2000, then was declared “a failed experiment” by the administrative management team and was again disbanded.)

Difficult contract negotiations in 1995 resulted in a summer salary stoppage.  (By then, RWC had become RWU.)  In mid-summer, the RWU administration decided to withhold faculty paychecks.  NEA-Rhode Island stepped in with $500-per-paycheck interest-free loans to sustain faculty members during this emergency.  A tentative contract agreement was reached on the evening before classes began, avoiding another faculty strike.  This contract resulted in the adoption of a formal tenure process and the establishment of ranks for faculty members.  (Before 1995, the RWC/RWU faculty were unranked.)  Paychecks were again withheld during difficult contract negotiations during the summer of 2001, but an impromptu payday faculty march on the office of the RWU administration’s chief negotiator, followed, the next week, by the commencement of the term of a new RWU president, Dr. Roy Nirschel, resulted in quick resumption of faculty salaries.

Under President Nirschel’s leadership, a form of shared governance returned to RWU.  A Faculty Senate was reestablished.  Contract negotiations in 2004 resulted in the creation of department chairs who would remain faculty members and members of the RWUFA.  The new contract outlined a system of peer review for faculty members scheduled for tenure, promotion, and reappointment.  Faculty members serve on a variety of committees that make recommendations on issues involving curriculum; faculty appointments, reappointments, and promotions; technology use; sabbaticals; and research funding.  In most cases, faculty members make recommendations, while administrators make final decisions.

RWC/RWU has developed a reputation as an institution that emphasizes teaching over research.  The 2004 faculty contract, however, provided opportunities for faculty members to obtain funding and releases from teaching to participate in research activities.  The 2004 contract also featured, for the first time in RWU history, opportunities for merit pay for faculty members.

This brief history was initially composed by Professor J. Philip Schuyler, who served as president of the RWUFA for 21 years and retired in 2000 after 30 years at RWC/RWU.  The document has been edited and updated to include events that occurred after Professor Schuyler’s retirement.