OPINIONS OF FULL-TIME FACULTY OF THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY ON THE IMPORTANCE OF SELECTED FACTORS TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AT THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY

This study ascertained opinions of the full-time faculty of The American University on the seat of authority in deciding twenty-one governance matters and on the importance of ten factors associated with the promotion of unions on campus. Implications were drawn from the findings regarding the extent to which conditions at The American University are favorable to unionization. Further, hypotheses were tested that there are no differences in opinions among the faculty sampled classified by each status characteristic of sex, tenure status, academic rank, and nature of duties (teaching or administrative). The study population was the full-time faculty of The American University in October 1980, excluding faculties of the professional schools, law and nursing. Data were collected using the Collective Bargaining Inventory (CBI), a Likert-type questionnaire constructed by the researcher. One hundred ninety-three faculty (50.4 percent of the study population) provided usable responses to form the study sample of faculty. Hypothesis testing utilized the Wilcoxon Test for ordinal data in two-group comparisons and the Kruskal-Wallis Test in comparisons of more than two groups. The .01 level was set as the standard for statistical significance. Each hypothesis was confirmed, indicating that the relationship between each characteristic considered and the opinions of the study sample was not beyond chance expectation. In the opinion of faculty, the administration is dominant in deciding eleven of twelve governance matters considered and the University Senate holds less than moderate influence in deciding eight of nine campus issues. Among the ten factors associated with the development of collective bargaining on a campus, study respondents, in general, attributed highest importance to faculty salary, job security, and voice in campus decision-making as pertinent to their campus. Of the study participants, 46.4 percent favored representation by a bargaining agent, 47.7 percent were against, and 5.7 percent were undecided. Consequently, a consensus does not exist within the study sample either for or against collective bargaining at The American University. Apparently conditions at the institution have not produced a definitive faculty position regarding the desirability of union representation.