Adelphi University

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 29, 1972

195 N.L.R.B. 639 (N.L.R.B. 1972)

ADELPHI UNIVERSITY 639
Adelphi University and Adelphi University Chapter,
American Association of University Professors, Pe-
titioner . Case 29-RC-1640
February 29, 1972
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
BY CHAIRMAN MILLER AND MEMBERS FANNING
AND KENNEDY
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9(c) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, a hearing
was held before Hearing Officer Steven Fish. Following
the hearing, and pursuant to Section 102.67 of the Na-
tional Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations,
Series 8, as amended, the Regional Director for Region
29, on July 23, 1971, transferred this case to the Board
for decision. Thereafter, the Employer' filed with the
Board its brief previously filed with the Regional Direc-
tor.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the Na-
tional Labor Relations Board has delegated its au-
thority in this proceeding to a three-member panel.
The Board has reviewed the Hearing Officer's rulings
made at the hearing and finds that they are free from
prejudicial error. They are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds:
1. The parties stipulated that Adelphi University is
a private, nonprofit university located at South Avenue,
Garden City, Long Island, New York. During the past
year the University derived gross revenues in excess of
$1 million exclusive of contributions, which, because of
limitations by the grantor, are not available for use for
operating expenses. During the same period, the Uni-
versity purchased materials valued in excess of $50,000
directly, from sources located outside the State of New
York. Based on the foregoing stipulated facts, we find
that the Employer is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the Act and it will effectuate the purposes
of the Act to assert jurisdiction herein.
2. The labor organizations involved2 claim to repre-
sent certain employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning
the representation of certain employees of the Em-
ployer within the meaning of Section 9(c)(1) and Sec-
tion 2(6) and (7) of the Act.3
' The Employer's request for oral argument, opposed by the Petitioner
and Intervenor, is hereby denied, as the record and the Employer's brief
adequately present the issues and the positions of the parties.
2 Upon motion made at the hearing, United Federation of College Teach-
ers, Local 1460, American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO, was permit-
ted to intervene on the basis of its showing of interest.
' At the outset of the hearing, the Employer moved to dismiss the peti-
tion on the grounds that the showings of interest submitted by both labor
organizations were fatally tainted by supervisory participation. Upon a col-
lateral investigation of the matter by the Regional Director, we have been
195 NLRB No. 107
4. The Petitioner and Intervenor each seeks to repre-
sent a unit of all full-time and regular part-time faculty,
including professional librarians and research associ-
ates. The Employer stipulated to the appropriateness of
the foregoing unit4 but would also include therein the
graduate teaching and research assistants. The parties
further disagree on the supervisory status of certain
department and sequence chairmen, and various pro-
gram directors and coordinators whom the Employer
would exclude and the Petitioner and Intervenor would
include. Also in issue are the faculty members who
serve on the University's personnel and grievance com-
mittees; the Petitioner and Intervenor would include
them in the unit, while the Employer takes no position,
but notes that these committee members collectively
possess and exercise supervisory authority. There is no
bargaining history involving any of the foregoing em-
ployees.
BACKGROUND
Adelphi University is a private educational institu-
tion chartered by the Board of Regents of the State of
New York. It is composed of the college of arts and
sciences, the graduate school of arts and sciences, and
schools of business administration, nursing, and social
work. The University employs 600 faculty members
and professional librarians of whom 338 are full-time
and 262 are part-time.'
The University is governed by a board of trustees
which appoints the president. The vice president for
academic affairs, Dr. James B. Kelly, is directly respon-
sible to the president and the board for the University's
teaching and administrative personnel. Each of the
administratively advised, and are satisfied, that the Employer's contention
is without merit. For, we find, infra, that three of the four persons named
by the Employer as allegedly having solicited authorization cards are not
supervisors within the meaning of the Act. With respect to the fourth, we
are administratively satisfied that he engaged in no such solicitation after
assuming the supervisory position.
The parties stipulated the following unit as appropriate: All full- and
regular part-time-faculty including professional librarians and research as-
sociates . The parties further stipulated to exclude from the unit: All other
employees , administrative personnel, deans, associate deans, assistant
deans, assistants to the deans , support personnel such as counselors and
technicians, the director of continuing education, director and associate
director of the computer center, the registrar, research administrator, direc-
tor of admissions, director of intercollegiate athletics, director and assistant
director of libraries, directors of the school of nursing, director of the chil-
dren's theater, coaches except those who are engaged in full- or part-time
faculty functions, guest lecturers, field instructors in the school of social
work who are paid by outside agencies , guards, and supervisors within the
meaning of the Act
The parties also stipulated that a regular part-time employee shall be
defined as one who is employed in the current semester and who has been
employed at least one semester in each of the last 2 academic years exclusive
of summer sessions.
: The full-time faculty is divided into four ranks according to academic
credentials: instructor, assistant professor, associate professor, and full
professor. The part-time faculty is similarly divided, albeit, into five ranks,
starting with lecturer. The prefix "adjunct," or in the schools of nursing and
social work the prefix "clinical," is used to denote part-time employment.
640 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
University's schools is headed by a dean who is directly
responsible to Dr. Kelly and who may have associate
and/or assistant deans under him. In addition to the
academic schools there are six nonacademic divisions
headed by directors, also under Dr. Kelly's direct juris-
diction: admissions, the instructional media center, the
computer center, the registrar, director of libraries, and
the research administrator's office.6
Each of the schools, except the school of business
administration, is divided along academic lines into
departments or "sequences," as they are called in the
school of social work, which are headed by chairmen.
In addition, there are various interdisciplinary and spe-
cialty programs within the several schools each of
which is headed by a director or coordinator. The roles
which these chairmen, directors, and coordinators per-
form will be discussed more fully, infra.
Two written documents , adopted by the faculty and
approved by the board of trustees, shape the theory and
practice of the administration of the University's
professional personnel relations program. These are the
faculty constitution' and the personnel plan. The per-
sonnel plan has as one of its'stated purposes "[tjo assure
that, in accordance with the provisions of this Plan, the
faculty shall have primary responsibility for all person-
nel decisions concerning its members." In that connec-
tion, the personnel plan provides, inter alia, for the
methods of selecting department chairmen and estab-
lishes the University's personnel committee and griev-
ance committee. As more fully discussed below, these
committees act upon matters affecting faculty status
and grievances.
DISPUTED CATEGORIES
1. GRADUATE ASSISTANTS
There are 125 graduate assistants , consisting of 100
teaching assistants and 25 research assistants, all of,
whom are graduate students of the University working
towards their master's or Ph.D. degrees. Approxi-
mately two-thirds of the graduate teaching assistants
work in the science disciplines where, for the most part ,
they teach laboratory courses and, to a lesser extent,
recitation classes . These classes are part of regular
science courses which are under the charge of regular
faculty members each of whom determines the content
of his course and the grades to be given to his students.
The teaching assistants grade students in the lab or
recitation classes and submit their grades to the faculty
' Except for the director of instructional media center, who will be fully
discussed, infra, the parties stipulated to exclude the directors of these
nonacademic divisions See fn 4, supra.
9 The constitution, among other things, creates the University Senate,
whose membership consists of both students and faculty and which makes,
and/or advises on, policy decisions in various enumerated areas affecting the
University's academic and administrative life.
members, who may or may not consider them in deter-
mining the students' final grades. In the nonscience
area, the teaching assistants have no regular classes, but
sometimes substitute for absent faculty members and
assist in preparing examinations and grading papers.
The 25 research assistants are all in the science field.
They do no teaching and work directly with a faculty
member on research projects.
All graduate assistants are expected to devote 20
hours per week to their assistantship duties, for which
they are paid from $1,200 to $2,900 per academic year
(depending on the degree toward which they are work-
ing and the subject area in which they are involved)
plus free tuition for their courses. The graduate assist-
ants generally enroll in courses for up to 12 hours per
week.
Based upon their academic qualifications, functions,
and remuneration (which, with tuition, is sometimes
greater than that of regular part-time faculty mem-
bers), the University contends that the graduate assist-
ants enjoy a community of interest with the regular
faculty which warrants their inclusion in the unit. We
disagree.
The graduate assistants are graduate students work-
ing toward their own advanced academic degrees, and
their employment depends entirely on their continued
status as such. They do not have faculty rank, are not
listed in the University's catalogues as faculty mem-
bers, have no vote at faculty meetings , are not eligible
for promotion or tenure, are not covered by the Univer-
sity personnel plan, have no standing before the Uni-
versity's grievance committee, and, except for health
insurance, do not participate in any of the fringe be-
nefits available to faculty members. Graduate assistants
may be elected by the students as their representatives
on student-faculty committees. Unlike faculty mem-
bers, graduate assistants are guided, instructed, as-
sisted, and corrected in the performance of their assist-
antship duties by the regular faculty members to whom
they are assigned.
In view of the foregoing, we find that the graduate
teaching and research assistants here involved, al-
though performing some faculty-related functions, are
primarily students and do not share a sufficient com-
munity of interest with the regular faculty to warrant
their inclusion in the unit. Accordingly, we shall ex-
clude them.'
8 The University's attempt to liken the graduate assistants herein to the
research associate whom the Board included in the professional unit, in C.
W. Post Center ofLong Island University. 189 NLRB No 109, is unavailing.
For, unlike the graduate assistants, the research associate in that case was
not simultaneously a student but already had his doctoral degree and, under
the Center's statutes, was eligible for tenure. Similarly, we find the Univer-
sity's reliance on Federal Electric Corporation, 162 NLRB 512, 515, mis-
placed. There, the Board rejected the petitioner's request for a unit limited
to academic teachers, finding that they shared a community of interest with
vocational instructors, specialists, and counselors involved in the employer's
ADELPHI UNIVERSITY 641
II. ALLEGED SUPERVISORS
A. Department Chairman
The college of arts and sciences is divided along
academic lines into approximately 20 departments
which offer both undergraduate and graduate courses.9
In the graduate school of arts and sciences, there is only
one department, earth sciences, which for the most part
has only graduate students. Each of these departments
is headed by a chairman having essentially similar du-
ties and responsibilities.
The selection of department chairmen in the college
and graduate school is governed by the University's
personnel plan which provides that chairman:
... shall be appointed by the President after full
consultation with the department and related de-
partments and approval of the prospective chair-
man by a secret ballot of those full-time faculty
who have been full-time members of the depart-
ment for at least one year. If a deadlock occurs
between the President and the Department, the
President shall submit his choice for department
chairman to the University Personnel Committee
for its recommendation. In cases where the dead-
lock concerns an incumbent chairman, the recom-
mendation of the University Personnel Committee
shall be final.
Dr. Kelly testified that, in practice, the dean infor-
mally canvasses the department's faculty to determine
who would be most acceptable to them as chairman.
Based on this information, and Dr. Kelly's recommen-
dation, the president nominates the person having the
greatest peer support and the department then votes on
the nomination in the manner prescribed by the Uni-
vocational training school program by reason of the similarity of their skills,
training, salaries, fringe benefits, working conditions, and the high degree of
coordination and integration in the use of their training and skills in for-
mulating and implementing the employer's educational program In the
instant case, we have found that the graduate assistants are primarily stu-
dents and they therefore do not share a similar community of interest with
the faculty members and professional librarians.
On the other hand, some similarity does exist between the graduate
assistants here and the technical laboratory assistants whom the Board
excluded from a professional teaching unit in Long Island University
(Brooklyn Center), 189 NLRB No. 110. Thus, like the graduate assistants,
the technical assistants in that case held bachelor's degrees, with master's
degrees in progress , and worked in the science laboratories assisting regular
faculty members in preparing demonstrations and experiments in connec-
tion with the faculty's regular science course They also assisted the regular
faculty in maintaining laboratory equipment
' The center for foreign languages consists of separate departments of
French, German, and Spanish, each of which is headed by a chairman, as
well as smaller "programs" in Italian, Russian, and Latin, each of which is
headed by a "director." In the Russian and Latin programs, the directors are
the sole faculty members and Dr Kelly testified that the Latin program will
be discontinued upon the retirement of its director this year The Italian
program has two full-time faculty members, including the director Dr. Kelly
further testified that the director of the Italian program has the same au-
thority as department chairmen with respect to the hiring of part-time
faculty. There is no evidence, however, that the directors of the Russian and
Latin programs have similar authority The foreign language center itself is
headed by a "coordinator" whose status is discussed, infra
versity's personnel plan. Department chairmen serve
for 3-year terms but are eligible for reappointment in-
definitely. The president may remove a chairman
before his term expires only with the concurrence of a
majority of the department's faculty. As full-time mem-
bers of the faculty, department chairmen work under
the same 9-month teaching contracts as do other
faculty members, but are relieved of one-half of the
normal 12-hour teaching load. They do not, however,
receive additional compensation for their extra respon-
sibilities.
The chairmen perform many. functions in the ad-
ministration of their departments, most notably in the
recruiting, screening, and recommending of applicants
for appointment and reappointment to full- and part-
time faculty positions; negotiating new faculty mem-
bers' salaries, albeit within the established limitations;
preparing their annual departmental budgets; deter-
mining the courses to be offered and making faculty
assignments within the department; and generally in-
suring high levels of instruction. Most, but not all, of
these functions are performed in consultation with, and
upon agreement of, the department's entire faculty.
The procedure for faculty hiring depends on whether
the vacancy is for a full- or part-time position. The
University's personnel plan provides for broad faculty
participation in all personnel action affecting full-time
faculty. With respect to the appointment of part-time
faculty, however, the chairman has authority to act
virtually on his own, subject only to his dean's and Dr.
Kelly's approval. Thus, when a part-time vacancy ex-
ists, he compiles a list of prospective candidates from
among previous applicants, conversations with col-
leagues, and advertisements in professional journals.
The chairman then contacts and interviews the candi-
dates and makes his recommendation for appointment
to the dean and to Dr, Kelly. These recommendations
are generally accepted. Rates of pay for part-time
faculty are established by the University on the basis of
teaching experience and faculty rank, but the chairman
may recommend (to his dean and Dr. Kelly) a higher
rate if he thinks that the individual has special qualifi-
cations.
The chairman also makes the initial determination as
to whether a part-time faculty member will be reap-
pointed and, if so, whether for 1 or 2 years. He also
recommends the granting of merit raises to members of
his department and the dean generally accepts such
recommendations.
The chairman is responsible for preparing the de-
partment's annual budget and submitting it to the dean.
In this connection, he generally consults with the
faculty, considering and evaluating their needs and re-
quests in light of the anticipated available funds. The
chairman is also responsible for making all course as-
signments within his department. In so doing, however,
642 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
he is guided by the faculty members ' preferences and
areas of special expertise . However, where more than
one professor is capable of teaching the same course,
the chairman 's assignment controls . If a faculty mem-
ber is aggrieved by the chairman 's action , he has access
to the University 's grievance committee discussed in-
fra.
Since the record shows that chairmen have the au-
thority effectively to recommend the hire and reap-
pointment (or nonreappointment ) of all part-time
faculty members , and to allocate merit increases, with-
out the approval of the department 's faculty, we find
that they are supervisors within the meaning of Section
2(11) of the Act.10 Accordingly , we shall exclude from
the unit all department chairmen , as well as the direc-
tor of the Italian language program.
B. School of Social Work
Sequence Chairmen and Program Directors
The school of social work, consisting of 31, full- and
22 part-time faculty members, is headed by Dean Virgil
Vigilante who also has an associate dean (for academic
affairs) and an assistant dean under him. The school is
divided along subject matter lines into seven sequences
which, like departments in the college of arts and
sciences, are headed by chairmen. In addition, there are
four interdisciplinary programs (i.e., field work, under-
graduate studies, admissions, and the social work ser-
vices clinic) headed by directors. And, finally, there is
the North Queens training center which is headed by
a coordinator. The chairmen and directors (as well as
the coordinator who will be separately discussed,
infra) are appointed for indefinite terms by Dean Vigi-
lante after full consultation with the appropriate se-
quence faculty members involved."
Sequence chairmen work under the same 9-month
teaching contracts as other faculty members in the
school of social work, but they are relieved of about 20
percent of the normal teaching load and receive ap-
proximately 10 percent more in pay because of their
added responsibilities. The program directors, al-
though also full-time faculty members, work under I1-
month administrative-type contracts;" like sequence
chairmen they are relieved of a significant portion of
'° C W. Post Center of Long Island University, 189 NLRB No. 109.
Inasmuch as this authority alone is sufficient to constitute chairmen super-
visors, we need not consider or decide whether, absent this authority, they
would be within the statutory definition.
" Although the selection of sequence chairmen is not covered by the
University's personnel plan, Dean Vigilante's appointments are made pursu-
ant to the sequence faculty's recommendation. With respect to selecting
directors, however, the dean has explicit authority to reject the faculty's
recommendation and to require that they make recommendations accepta-
ble to him. The dean also has authority to terminate a director qua director.
12 The professional librarians within the unit also have 11-month con-
tracts.
their normal teaching load but, in addition, receive
from 15 to 20 percent higher salaries than the rest' of
the school's faculty.
Sequence chairmen have essentially the same general
responsibilities for, and perform similar function
within, their respective sequences as the department
chairmen in the college of arts and sciences. Thus, they
are responsible for the overall quality of teaching
within their sequences and may assist new faculty
members in their classroom performance. Chairmen
schedule all courses within their respective sequences
and assign professors to teach them. With respect to
personnel matters, they share certain responsibilities
with the directors, as more fully discussed below.
The directors have responsibilities which cut across
subject matter boundaries. Thus, the director'of field
work is in overall charge of the school's clinical pro-
gram, in which there are 28 full-time faculty members
of whom 8 have full-time field assignments. The pro-
gram places students in outside social work agencies
under the supervision of "field work instructors.""
This director, in consultation with a student-faculty
committee, the dean, and officials of the agencies in-
volved, selects the social work agencies which are will-
ing and able to provide field instruction for the Univer-
sity's students. He then assigns both students and
faculty advisors to such agencies and, when asked, as-
sists these faculty advisors in their jobs. In making
these assignments, the director always tries to match
the faculty members' special competence with the stu-
dents' fields of interest. The director develops seminars
at the University for the outside field work instructors
and has authority to select and terminate them as in-
structors in the program. He also hires, directs, and has
authority effectively to recommend the termination of
a full-time secretary.
The record is not entirely clear as to the exact func-
tion performed by the director of the undergraduate
program of this school.14 There are four full-time, and
two to four part-time, faculty members in that pro-
gram, in addition to the director, but the record fails to
disclose their precise roles. The record does establish,
however, that the director has authority effectively to
recommend the hire of one or two secretaries, as well
as the selection of two graduate teaching assistants, and
shares some authority with sequence chairmen for
faculty personnel actions, as discussed more fully be-
low.
13 There are approximately 50 "field work instructors" who are em-
ployees of, and paid by, the outside social work agencies. The parties stipu-
lated to exclude them from the unit (see fn. 4, supra) since they are not
employees of the Employer.
14 Unlike other directors and chairmen in the school of social work, who
are listed in the University's bulletin only under the heading of "Faculty,"
the director of the undergraduate program is listed under both "Officers of
Administration" and "Faculty "
ADELPHI UNIVERSITY 643
The director of admissions is responsible for screen-
ing all under-graduate and graduate students applying
for admission to the school of social work. He assigns
the job of screening applications and interviewing pro-
spective students to the 20 faculty members who are
involved in the, admissions program. In so doing, the
director determines which faculty members are best
suited to interview which students, and may reassign
particular applicants from one faculty member to
another. The director also has authority to recruit, to
select, and effectively to recommend the hire of a full-
time secretary.
The director of the social work services clinic man-
ages a clinic which provides assorted counseling ser-
vices to University-related individuals and their fami-
lies, as well as to the surrounding community. The
director is classified as a full-time faculty member, but
works full time at the clinic and is the only full-time
employee there. In addition, there are seven full-time
faculty members who spend from 10 to 50 percent of
their time at the clinic. The director assigns "cases" to
these faculty members on the basis of their special
competence and availability and may terminate such
assignments, albeit only after consulting with the
faculty member and with persons in related clinical
service facilities." The director has authority effectively
to recommend the hiring and termination of the clinic's
full-time secretary.
With respect to personnel matters, the sequence
chairmen and the directors (excepting the director of
admissions) are jointly responsible for recruiting and
initially screening applicants for faculty positions and
for having prospective, appointees interviewed by other
faculty members. Where a vacancy exists for a full-time
faculty position, both the sequence faculty members
and the chairman make recommendations to the dean,
who presents these to the school of social work person-
nel committee or to the University's personnel commit-
tee, depending on the rank of the vacancy. Dean Vigi-
lante testified that no faculty member will be hired if
the sequence chairman or the director of the program
within which the vacancy exists opposes the appoint-
ment. He also testified that, with the exception of the
director of admissions, the directors and chairmen have
authority to negotiate and, within budgetary limita-
tions, to fix the salaries of new faculty appointees. They
may also request the dean's permission to exceed the
salary limitation if they consider the candidate particu-
larly outstanding.
19 The social work services clinic is one of four clinics, each of which is
under the jurisdiction of a school or the University. The other three clinics
provide psychological, reading, and hearing and speech services Many of
the social work service clinic's "cases" are referred to it by the other three
clinics.
The sequence chairmen and the director of field work
have authority to recruit, interview, and effectively
recommend the hire of all part-time faculty members,
subject only to the dean's approval. Although they
might discuss such proposed appointments with other
faculty members in the sequence involved, or ask them
to participate in interviewing candidates for part-time
positions, the chairmen and director of field work are
not required to do so and have authority to act without
the faculty's consensus in such matters. Dean Vigilante
testified that the chairmen and directors (except the
director of admissions) have authority to hire and ter-
minate the various guest lecturers who are invited to
the school of social work. Although such hiring is al-
ways done in consultation with the dean or associate
dean of the school, Vigilante testified that he has never
reversed the actions of chairmen and directors with
respect to guest lecturers. Sequence chairmen make
annual evaluations of new faculty members (i.e., those
with 1- to 3-year contracts) for purposes of recom-
mending whether to renew their contracts. Chairmen
and directors also have authority to adjust certain
faculty grievances. 16'
As the record establishes that sequence chairmen
and the directors of the field work program, under-
graduate program, and social work services` clinic in the
school of social work have authority effectively to
recommend the hiring of part-time faculty members
and guest lecturers and to adjust faculty grievances, we
find that they are supervisors within the meaning of
Section 2(11) of the Act.'7
The director of admissions, on the other hand, does
not have such authority. His authority to assign and
reassign work to the 20 faculty members involved in the
admissions program is not, in our view', of a supervisory
nature. Although the director of admissions does have
authority to recruit, select, and effectively recommend
the hire of a full-time secretary, we find this insufficient
to constitute him a supervisor within the meaning of
the Act.
It is well settled that the mere fact that professional
employees have secretaries does not alone necessarily
constitute them supervisors." Thus, in Fordham Uni-
versity, supra, we held that department chairmen, al-
though playing a role in selecting their secretaries and
exercising some direction over them, were not super-
visors since they lacked authority directly to hire and
fire the secretaries. The Board, however, has not previ-
11 These grievances generally involve such faculty complaints as exces-
sive workloads, assignments to teach undesirable or new courses, and early
morning classes and requests to attend conferences
11 As with department chairmen (fn. 10, supra), we find it unnecessary
to decide whether, absent their authority with respect to part-time faculty
appointments, sequence chairmen and program directors would qualify as
statutory supervisors.
11 Fordham University, 193 NLRB No 23, citing AirLineFilotsAssocia-
t,on, International; 97 NLRB 929, 931
644 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ously considered the limited question presented here:
whether a professional employee is rendered a super-
visor within the meaning of the Act solely because he
has authority to hire and fire, as well as to direct, a
secretary.
The issue of supervisory status usually arises where
authority is regularly exercised on the employer's be-
half, over employees sought by the union , such as fore-
men in a production and maintenance unit . To include
in such a unit persons who exercise statutory super-
visory authority would clearly create the conflict of
interest which Congress intended to avoid . This does
not mean , however, that a similar conflict of interest is
necessarily created whenever persons occasionally ex-
ercise some authority over other employees of the em-
ployer . We have held , for example, that employees in
an employer 's personnel department who interview and
actually hire , on behalf of the employer, applicants for
nonskilled or semiskilled jobs are not supervisors
within the meaning of the Act. 19 On the other hand,
where professionals regularly (more than 50 percent of
their time) supervised nonunit employees , they were
nevertheless excluded from a unit of professional em-
ployees ,20 since under such circumstances the principal
interests of the excluded professionals were so allied
with management as to establish a differentiation be-
tween them and other employees in the unit.
The underlying rationale of this body of precedent is
that an employee whose principal duties are of the same
character , as that of other bargaining unit employees
should not be isolated from them solely because of a
sporadic exercise of supervisory authority over nonunit
personnel . No danger of conflict of interest within the
unit is presented , nor does the infrequent exercise of
supervisory authority so ally such an employee with
management as to create a more generalized conflict of
interest of the type envisioned by Congress in adopting
Section 2(11) of the Act. Moreover, we have made clear
that such an employee is considered to be in the unit
only to the extent that his interests as a nonsupervisory
employee are involved. Thus, in Westinghouse, supra,
we noted that , if, a bargaining representative were se-
lected , it would not represent such employees with re-
spect to their supervisory duties.
For these reasons , we find that the director of admis-
sions is not a supervisor within the meaning and intent
of Section 2(11) and we shall include him in the unit.
The North Queens training center in the school of
social work is an experimental field work unit , consist-
ing of five independent hospitals and social work agen-
cies combined under one umbrella to enable students to
obtain a more diversified clinical experience. It is
headed by a coordinator who is appointed by Dean
Vigilante . Eight full-time faculty members are assigned
to the center on a part-time basis to work with the
students . In addition, there are 20 to 30 field work
instructors who, as previously noted , 21 are employees
of, and paid by, the participating social work agencies.
The coordinator of the center, together with the direc-
tor of field work, approves the selection of field work
instructors , assigns them to supervise students' work,
and may terminate them as instructors in the center's
program. The coordinator teaches only part,time at the
University and his salary, is paid in part by,the Univer-
sity and in part by the cooperating hospitals and agen-
cies which comprise the center . In addition to supervis-
ing the field instructors , the coordinator also provides
guidance, as needed , to the full-time faculty members
who are assigned on a part -time basis to the center.
Since the coordinator supervises only persons who are
not employees of the University, we, find that he is not
a supervisor within the meaning of the Act . And,, al-
though he also assists the faculty members in their
work at the center , this does not appear to be responsi-
ble direction of such faculty members and hence does
not constitute him a supervisor. Accordingly, we shall
include in the unit the coordinator of the North Queens
training center.
C. Other Directors and Coordinators Within the
University
1. The director of the instructional media center,
Mrs. Marian Fuller, is a part -time instructor in the
college of arts and sciences , with the rank- of 'lecturer,
who usually teaches one course per semester. She is also
the only faculty member attached on a full -time basis
to the center and is directly responsible'to Dr. Kelly,
the vice president for academic affairs. The center pro-
vides audio' and visual equipment for use throughout
the University and the director consults with, and in-
structs , faculty members in the use and operation of
this equipment . In conjunction with Dr. Kelly, the
director prepares the center's annual budget. Within
the budgetary limitations, the director has authority to
hire , direct, discipline , and fire the center's part-time
employees , who are students of the University . She also
has authority effectively to recommend the hiring,
firing , and salary increases of the center 's part-time
secretary . In her role as lecturer, Mrs. Fuller works
under the standard 9 -month teaching contract, but she
also has an 11-month administrative -type contract for
her duties as director of the center.
Although a part-time instructor, it appears that Mrs.
Fuller devotes by far the greater portion of her time to
providing and servicing audio-visual equipment for use
throughout the University. In addition, she is one of six
Northrop Aircraft, Inc., 106 NLRB 23, 25-26 (employee Faranda)
Westinghouse Electric Corporation, 163 NLRB 723, 726-727. 11 See fn 13 , supra.
ADELPHI UNIVERSITY
nonacademic directors who work directly under the
vice president for academic affairs. As previously stated
(at fn. 6, supra), the parties stipulated to exclude the
other five such directors who, apparently, do not teach
any classes. In these circumstances, and on the record
as a whole, we find that the director of the instructional
media center shares a greater community of interest
with the University's administrative personnel who
were excluded by stipulation than with its teaching
staff. Accordingly, we shall exclude her from the unit.
2. The director of the motion picture studies pro-
gram, Mr. Paul Pitcoff, is a full-time instructor in the
college of arts and sciences who teaches a course in film
making. Although not 'part of any particular depart-
ment, the course involves, working with students in
producing, editing, and generally putting together
films. As the only faculty member in the program, Mr.
Pitcoff rents or purchases the necessary equipment and
has the films commercially processed. Until this year,
the program has been on a semester-to-semester basis
without a regular budget of its own. Next year, how-
ever, the program will become a regular part of the
University's curriculum and, to that end, an annual
budget has been prepared by Mr. Pitcoff and Dr. Kelly.
This budget includes not only the director's salary, but
also a sum of money to,pay salaries of part-time em-
ployees (who are students of the University)' and the
cost of film and equipment. At the time of the hearing,
however, Mr. Pitcoff had no employees under him,
although future employment of students22 is contem-
plated.
The Board has not previously considered whether, in
a university setting, professional employees are ren-
dered supervisors if they have authority to hire and fire,
as well as to direct, students as part-time employees. In
other settings, however, we have held that professional
employees who, although supervising non-professional
employees part of their time, had devoted 50 percent or
more of their working time, to their professional, non-
supervisory, duties during the 12 months preceding our
Decision were properly included in a professional unit
and were eligible to vote in an election therein.23 The
record herein does not establish the type of work which
the student employees will perform, the regularity of
such employment, or the proportion of time, during
one academic year, which the director will devote to
supervising them. It is clear that he ' will continue to
perform professional duties, and no showing has been
made that over 50 percent of his time will be required
by his supervisory duties. Under the circumstances, we
shall include the director of motion picture studies in
the unit at this time. As in Westinghouse, supra, if a
22 Students who are now employed by the University work part time and
are paid at an established hourly rate
Westinghouse Electric Corporation, 163 NLRB 723, 727
645
bargaining representative is selected it may not repre-
sent Mr. Pitcoff with respect to his supervisory duties.
We believe our rationale also makes clear that whether
or not he may properly continue to be included in the
unit in the future will depend upon the amount of time
he regularly spends in the, performance of supervisory
duties.
3. The coordinator of the center of foreign languages
is a full-time member of the faculty in the college of arts
and sciences whose teaching load is slightly reduced to
compensate for his extra responsibilities.24 As previ-
ously stated (see fn. 9, supra), the center is composed,
of the French, German, and Spanish departments, and
the Italian, Russian, and Latin programs. The coor-
dinator is selected by the dean of the college of arts and
sciences on the recommendation of the constituent lan-
guage department chairmen. Dr. Kelly testified that,
unlike department chairmen who are really administra-
tors of their departments, the coordinator " . . . acts
like ... a referee among the various foreign language
departments to ... see that all the requirements are
reasonably the same.... " In performing his role, the
coordinator necessarily consults with the chairmen of
the language departments which constitute the center.
Unlike these chairmen, the coordinator as such has
nothing to do with personnel action affecting the
faculty members within the language departments, un-
less his recommendation is specifically sought. In these
circumstances, we find that the coordinator of the for-
eign language center is not a supervisor within the
meaning of the Act, by reason of such functions, and,
therefore, we shall include him in the unit.25
4. The director of the accounting program, Associate
Professor Neale Kurlander, is a full-time faculty mem-
ber in the school of business administration, but carries
only half the normal teaching load.26 Unlike the college
of arts and sciences ,, the school of business administra-
tion is not divided into departments but consists of 22
full-time (and 23 part-time) faculty members, including
5 who teach in and comprise the accounting program.
The school is headed by a dean who has two associate
deans under him and who, together with the school
personnel committee or the University 's personnel
committee (depending on the faculty rank involved),
makes all decisions affecting the school's teaching staff.
And, although Mr. Kurlander's advice might be sought
26 The present coordinator, Assistant Professor Romano Giachetti, is also
director of the Italian language program. In', the latter capacity, according
to Dr Kelly, Professor Giachetti has the same authority as department
chairmen (see fn 9, supra).
" This does not detract from our earlier finding that the incumbent
coordinator is a supervisor by virtue of his authority as director of the Italian
language program
2' The director of the accounting program was appointed by the dean of
the school of business administration before Dr. Kelly came to the Univer-
sity. Dr Kelly testified, however, that the dean "probably" consulted, at
least informally, with the accounting faculty before making the appoint-
ment
646 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
with respect to personnel actions affecting the account-
ing program , all decisions are made by the dean and the
personnel committees . Mr. Kurlander 's recommenda-
tions with respect to course assignments among the
accounting faculty is generally approved by the dean.
These assignments , however, are largely governed by
the faculty members ' academic specialties and, there-
fore, are fairly routine.
The director's principal role is placing students in
apprenticeship training programs with private account-
ing firms and making sure that students meet the-re-
quirements for and pass the CPA examinations . This is
not a supervisory function-And, as the record as a
whole fails to establish that Kurlander has or exercises
supervisory responsibilities within the meaning of the
Act, we shall include him in the unit.
5. Thedirector of the Black studies program , Warren
Smith , is a part-time instructor (with rank of lecturer)
in the college of arts and sciences who works under an
11-month administrative contract . He was appointed
by Dr . Kelly on recommendation of the dean following
full consultation with, and the consensus of, the Uni-
versity's Black academic community (including stu-
dents), as well as certain faculty members in other de-
partments with which the program is most closely
allied . The program is an interdisciplinary one which
includes a major in Black studies but which has no
full-time faculty . The three or four part-time faculty
members who teach Afro -American studies, and the
guest lecturers , are largely recruited and hired by the
director, albeit with the participation and consensus of
the University 's Black academic community. The di-
rector also negotiates and fixes (within established lim-
its) salaries of new faculty appointees and he may sug-
gest payment of a higher rate where he considers a
candidate particularly well qualified . The director, in
consultation with the University 's Black academic
community , is responsible for formulating the Black
studies courses to be taught.
Although the director 's decisions regarding course
content and staff are generally grounded on a broad
consensus, it is clear that the director is responsible for
initiating actions and plays a predominant role in
securing and implementing any approved plan. In our
opinion , the director 's overall responsibility for the
Black studies program, its contents, and its staff, and
particularly the recruiting and hiring of part-time
faculty members and lecturers , is like that of a depart-
ment chairman and constitutes him a supervisor within
the meaning of the Act . Accordingly, we shall exclude
him from the-unit.
6. The director of the graduate sociology program is
an appointive position accompanied by a 25-percent
reduction in teaching load. Its present occupant,
Professor William Spinrad , testified that as director he
screens and decides upon all applications for admission
to the program . He also assists the graduate students in
finding suitable faculty members to supervise them- in
writing their masters ' theses . Until this year , the direc-
tor has been responsible for screening and selecting the
three graduate assistants allocated to the program. His
recommendations in this regard have always been ac-
cepted by the chairman of the sociology department
and the dean of the graduate school who , with Profes-
sor Spinrad, had to sign the appointing papers. This
procedure, however, has been changed and the applica-
tions for next year's graduate assistantships were sub-
mitted to , and voted on, by the entire sociology depart-
ment faculty . As "leader" of the graduate program, Dr.
Spinrad seeks faculty agreement in planning and sched-
uling the program's courses . With respect to hiring of
part-time faculty members and guest lecturers , Profes-
sor Spinrad has no greater role than other faculty mem-
bers in the sociology department . As the evidence thus
fails to disclose that Professor Spinrad possesses or
exercises supervisory authority , we shall include him in
the unit.
7. The directors of the institute for advanced psycho-
logical studies , the institute of marine science, and the
postdoctoral program in psychotherapy are appointed
and report to the dean of the graduate school of arts
and sciences .27 There are 10 full-time (and 23 part-time)
faculty members in the institute for advanced psycho-
logical studies , including the codirectors of the post-
doctoral program in psychotherapy , which has no full-
time faculty members attached to it . The full-time
faculty members in the institute for advanced psycho-
logical studies are at times required to teach in the
postdoctoral program. Similarly, the institute of ma-
rine science appears not to have a separate faculty as-
signed to it and its director , Professor Brenowitz, is
listed in the University's bulletin as a professor in bi-
ology . Although Dr. Kelly testified that his description
of the functions of department chairmen applies
equally to the foregoing directors in the graduate
school , specific evidence of the directors ' functions and
responsibilities , particularly with respect to personnel
matters, is extremely limited . Thus , Dr. Kelly testified
that the codirectors of the postdoctoral program "par-
ticipate" in the hiring , of full- and part-time faculty
members , but admitted to no direct knowledge as to the
extent and scope of such participation."
2' Professor Gordon Derner is director of the institute for advanced
psychological studies as well as codirector of the postdoctoral program in
psychotherapy.
28 Although the University 's brief asserts no position with respect to the
status of the graduate school directors, it took the position at the hearing
that they were akin to the department chairmen in the college of arts and
sciences . And, as the Petitioner and the Intervenor took the opposite posi-
tion at the hearing, the issue of the directors ' status is before us for consider-
ation.
ADELPHI UNIVERSITY 647
From the evidence presented in the record we are
unable to determine whether the aforementioned direc-
tors are supervisors within the meaning of the Act.
Accordingly, we shall permit them to vote in the elec-
tion subject to challenge.
III UNIVERSITY'S PERSONNEL AND GRIEVANCE
COMMITTEES
Created by the University's personnel plan, the per-
sonnel committee is composed of 11 full-time faculty
members (department chairmen are eligible ) who are
elected at large by the University's several schools for
3-year staggered terms. Members of this committee are
ineligible for reelection and may not serve concurrently
on any other university committee or council. The
function of the committee is to pass on all matters of
tenure , hiring at or promotions to associate or full
professor, granting sabbatical or honorary leaves-of-
absence, and suspending or terminating full-time
faculty members during the term of their contracts.
Guided by the University's personnel plan and its own
bylaws, the committee meets weekly and acts as fol-
lows:
In determining whether or not to grant tenure, the
committee receives a list of faculty members who, by
length of service, are eligible for tenure . It assigns one
of its members to evaluate the candidate according to
standards set out in its bylaws. The evaluator reviews
the candidate 's curriculum vitae and his publications,
if any; he interviews the members of the candidate's
department , including its chairman , plus a representa-
tive number of the candidate 's students, and possibly,
members of the administration and persons outside the
University. The evaluator presents a written summary
of these interviews, together with his own recommen-
dation, to the committee which, after discussing the
matter , takes a secret ballot vote on whether to grant
or deny tenure. The committee's vote, together with a
summary of its evaluation, is transmitted to the board
of trustees for final action. According to its current
chairman , Dr. Margaret Wittmann , all of the commit-
tee's approximately 10 recommendations with respect
to tenure in the past 2 years have been accepted.
In passing on promotions from assistant to associate,
and from associate to full professor , the committee acts
on recommendations made to it by the department
chairman or the department or school personnel com-
mittee involved. The committee evaluates the candi-
date and proceeds in the same manner as with respect
to tenure, but judges the individual's qualifications
against different standards prescribed in its bylaws. Dr.
Wittmann testified that, during the 2 years of her ex-
perience on the committee, the board of trustees has
accepted all of the committee's approximately 40
recommendations concerning promotions . In this re-
gard, the committee has agreed with the department
chairman's or the dean's recommendations in about 36
of the approximately 40 promotion cases considered.
With respect to the hire of new faculty members at
the associate or full professor level, the department
chairman, or the dean of the professional school in-
volved, physically presents the candidate to the com-
mittee and remains present during the committee's in-
terview. The candidate then leaves, and the chairman's
or dean's views are solicited. Thereafter, the committee
further discusses the candidate and the chairman's or
dean's comments and takes a secret ballot vote on
whether or not to recommend the candidate to the vice
president for academic affairs and the board of trustees.
The committee has accepted the department chair-
man's or dean's recommendations in all of the approxi-
mately eight cases considered during the past 2 years.
A person will not be hired as an associate or full profes-
sor without the committee 's affirmative recommenda-
tion.
As to sabbatical and other leaves-of-absence, the
faculty member presents his reasons for wanting leave
to the committee which, after reviewing the merits of
the request, votes its decision and makes it recommen-
dation to the vice president for academic affairs. Such
leaves-of-absence will not be recommended by the com-
mittee unless they are also approved by the chairman
of the department or the dean of the professional school
of which the applicant is a member.
The grievance committee, also created by the Uni-
versity's personnel plan, consists of three tenured
faculty members who are elected at large for 2-year
staggered terms. They may seek reelection. Depart-
ment chairmen and members of the personnel commit-
tee are ineligible to serve. It is the function of this
committee to hear and recommend the adjustment of
all faculty grievances, excepting dismissal proceed-
ings.2' Both full- and part-time faculty members may
present grievances, which are submitted in writing and
which, according to Dr. Kelly, might arise from failure
to achieve tenure or promotion or from alleged dis-
crimination by the administration. The committee ini-
tially determines whether the facts merit a detailed
investigation and whether a settlement is possible. If
informal settlement of the grievance is not possible, the
committee reports its investigative findings and recom-
mendation to the grievant and, according to the bylaws,
"to whatever administrative officer or faculty body it
chooses." If the grievant or the grievance committee
does not concur in the disposition of the grievance by
the administrative officer or faculty body, either or both
may appeal to the board of trustees, which makes a
final determination. Dr. Kelly testified that in the 3
" The parties stipulated that the committee has authority to adjust griev-
ances
648 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
years of its existence , the committee has considered no
more than six grievances and its recommendations
have been accepted in all cases either by the grievant
himself or by the board of trustees. The committee does
not hold regularly scheduled meetings , but convenes
intermittently as grievances are filed . The members of
the grievance and personnel committees are not com-
pensated for their service nor do they receive a reduc-
tion in their teaching load.
As stated at the outset of this Decision, the Employer
takes no position with respect to the inclusion or exclu-
sion of the personnel and grievance committees' mem-
bers, but asks that the Board determine their status in
light of the uncontroverted facts. The Petitioner and
Intervenor, on the other hand, contend that these com-
mittees ' members should be included in the unit as they
neither possess nor exercise supervisory authority as
individuals.
It is clear from the record that the personnel commit-
tee has considerable and effective authority with re-
spect to a wide range of actions affecting the status of
the University's professional personnel. We have held
in C. W. Post Center30 that such authority exercised by
the faculty as a group on the basis of collective discus-
sion and consensus was not sufficient to render the
individual members of such group supervisors within
the meaning of the Act. Although the group having
some supervisory authority in the Post case consisted
of the entire faculty, whereas here it consists of 14
persons elected from and by the faculty, the underlying
principle is the same. The difficulty both here and in
Post may have potentially deep roots, stemming from
the fact that the concept of collegiality, wherein power
and authority is vested in a body composed of all of
one's peers or colleagues, does not square with the
traditional authority structures with which this Act
was designed to cope in the typical organizations of the
commercial world. The statutory concept of "super-
visor" grows out of the fact that in those organizations
authority is normally delegated from the top of the
organizational pyramid in bits and pieces to individual
managers and supervisors who in turn direct the work
of the larger number of employees at the base of the
pyramid.
Because authority vested in one's peers , acting as a
group, simply would not conform to the pattern for
which the supervisory exclusion of our Act was de-
signed, a genuine system of collegiality would tend to
confound us. Indeed the more basic concepts of the
organization and representation of employees in one
group to deal with a "management" or authoritarian
group would be equally hard to square with a true
system of collegiality. Nevertheless, both here and in
" ° 189 NLRB No 109
Post, the collegial principle is recognized and given
some effect.
In this case, as in Post, the ultimate authority does
not rest with the peer group but rather with the board
of trustees. Thus, although the facts indicate that much
respect is paid by the trustees to the recommendations
of the collegial body, it is equally clear that the trustees
reserve the ultimate authority for themselves. It is also
clear that the board of trustees, even if it had such
power, has not attempted to convert the committees
into managerial or supervisory entities . They are not
advised to advocate management's interests in making
their decisions, nor are they advised that they are
management 's representatives in making them . Rather,
the board of trustees (the top of the pyramid) has seen
fit to seek, in a formalized manner, the advice of the
faculty (the base of the pyramid), and the faculty, by
agreement with the trustees , has seen fit to channel its
collective advice through these elected committees.
It is therefore apparent that these faculty bodies-
the more inclusive one in Post and the smaller, repre-
sentational one here-are not quite either fish or fowl.
On the one hand they do not quite fit the mold of true
collegiality. But on the other, surely they do not fit the
traditional role of "supervisor" as that term is thought
of in the commercial world or as it has been interpreted
under our Act.'t We are not disposed to disenfranchise
faculty members merely because they have some meas-
ure of quasi-collegial authority either as an entire
faculty or as representatives elected by the faculty. We
therefore find that the several members of the Univer-
sity personnel and grievance committees here are not
supervisors within the meaning of the Act solely by
reason of such membership, and we shall include them
in the bargaining unit.
In accordance with the above, we find that the fol-
lowing unit is appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining within the meaning of Section 9(b) of the
Act:
All full- and regular part-time faculty including
professional librarians and research associates, but
excluding all other employees, administrative per-
sonnel , deans , associate deans, assistant deans, as-
sistants to the deans, support personnel such as
counselors and technicians, the director of con-
tinuing education, director and associate director
of the computer center, registrar, research ad-
" The delegation by the University to such elected groups of a combina-
tion of functions , some of which are, in the typical industrial situation,
normally more clearly separated as managerial on the one hand and as
representative of employee interests on the other , could raise questions both
as to the validity and continued viability of such structures under our Act,
particularly if an exclusive bargaining agent is designated We have not been
asked to pass on these lurking issues and , in any event , would not do so in
the context of a representation proceeding Our finding here is limited solely
to the effect of membership on these committees on unit placement and
voting eligibility.
ADELPHI UNIVERSITY 649
ministrator, director of admissions, director of in-
tercollegiate athletics, director and assistant direc-
tor of libraries, directors of the school of nursing,
director of the children's theater, coaches except
those who are engaged in full- or part-time faculty
functions, guest lecturers, field instructors in the
school of social work who are paid by outside
agencies , graduate teaching and research assist-
ants, the director of instructional media center,
guards, and supervisors within the meaning of the
Act.
5. Adelphi University is in regular full session from
September until June and, although it may conduct
summer sessions , many faculty members do not teach
during the summer. Accordingly, and pursuant to the
parties' request, we shall direct that the election be held
at a time between September and June when the Uni-
versity is in full session, on a date to be determined by
the Regional Director for Region 29, among the em-
ployees in the appropriate unit who are employed dur-
ing the payroll period immediately preceding the date
of issuance of the Notice of Election.
[Direction of Election32 omitted from publication.]
MEMBER KENNEDY, dissenting in part:
I disagree with the conclusion of my colleagues as to
" In order to assure that all eligible voters may have the opportunity to
be informed of the issues in the exercise of their statutory right to vote, all
parties to the election should have access to a list of voters and their ad-
dresses which may be used to communicate with them Excelsior Underwear
Inc., 156 NLRB 1236, N . L . R B v Wyman-Gordon Co, 394 U S 759
Accordingly, it is hereby directed that an election eligibility list, containing
the names and addresses of all the eligible voters, must be filed by the
Employer with the Regional Director for Region 29 within 7 days of the
the status of members of the University's personnel and
grievance committees. I would exclude from the unit in
which the election is directed the members of both
committees.
As is more fully stated in the majority opinion, the
11 faculty members who constitute the personnel com-
mittee pass on all matters of tenure, on hiring at or
promotions to associate or full professorship, and on
granting or denying sabbatical leave to faculty mem-
bers. The members of the committee would clearly be
supervisors under the Act if they exercised their au-
thority as individuals. In my view, it makes no differ-
ence that they exercise this authority on a collective
basis through committee decision rather than as in-
dividuals. If the committee, when considered as a
whole, would satisfy the definition of a "supervisor"
under the Act, then a conclusion that each member of
such a committee is imbued with some supervisory
authority is logically sound, and I would so find. Diffu-
sion of authority throughout the entire faculty, as in the
Post case, is not analogous to the concentration of that
authority in an 11-man committee within a faculty of
600 members.
It seems to me, moreover, that individuals do not
have the right under our statutory scheme to sit on both
sides of the bargaining table in the collective-bargaining
process. It seems to me that members of the grievance
committee who hear and recommend the adjustment of
faculty grievances by the University should be excluded
from the bargaining unit.
date of issuance of the Notice of Election. The Regional Director shall make
the list available to all parties to the election No extension of time to file
this list shall be granted by the Regional Director except in extraordinary
circumstances Failure to comply with this requirement shall be grounds for
setting aside the election whenever proper objections are filed.