Arbitrator ends dispute between admin and AAUP
By Hannah Newman
The dispute over the administration’s elimination of programs came to an end on July 19 with the arbitrator deciding there was no violation of the Rider faculty union’s collective bargaining agreement, a contract between the administration and Rider’s chapter of American Association of University Professors.
“None of these programs cost a lot of money. None of these cuts saved very much money,” said Chief Grievance Officer for the AAUP Jeff Halpern. “But what it did do was lead to the starvation of offering to students.”
An improper-elimination-of-programs grievance was taken to arbitration by the AAUP on Feb. 14, 2023, when the university announced cuts for 25 academic programs on June 7, 2022.
The AAUP believed the move was a breach of contract, since the union’s collective bargaining agreement states that existing programs cannot be discontinued without the approval of the Academic Policy Committee, according to the official arbitration settlement.
The administration denied the grievances, arguing that, in the past, some academic offerings had been eliminated through the governance process and others through just administrative action, according to the official arbitration settlement.
The administration cited prior instances when they eliminated programs unilaterally without grievance due to pressing circumstances, such as financial distress and low student enrollment, according to the official arbitration settlement.
The programs cut ranged from free-standing programs like American Studies to majors within departments like the Department of History and Philosophy.
Although some of the programs did not contain a lot of students, they set the foundation for many career pursuits, Halpern argued.
“We are gratified that, through the grievance process, an impartial third party arbitrator supported the University’s position in denying the union’s grievance… [we have found] that there is nothing in the collective bargaining agreement between the parties that confers on Academic Policy Committees [as] a monopoly on eliminating academic programs,” said Provost DonnaJean Fredeen in an email sent to The Rider News. “The arbitrator’s decision is binding on both parties.”
As the elimination of these offerings was motivated by the ongoing budget deficit the university faces, said Halpern, the AAUP fears it will see another set of cuts.
