Academic Freedom and Collective Bargaining: A Joint Report by the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions and the AAUP’s Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom

Authors

• William A. Herbert, CUNY Hunter CollegeFollow
• Isaac A. Kamola, Trinity College, Hartford ConnecticutFollow
• Timothy R. Cain, University of GeorgiaFollow
• Erin Ward, CUNY Graduate CenterFollow
• Anita Levy, American Association of University ProfessorsFollow
• Kathryn Ritchie, CUNY Hunter CollegeFollow
• Ariana Gonzalez, CUNY Hunter CollegeFollow

Document Type

Report

Publication Date

3-2026

Abstract

This is a joint report by the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions at Hunter College (National Center) and the Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom (CDAF) at the American Association of University Professors. It presents excerpts from forty-five collective bargaining agreements in higher education to demonstrate the wide range of ways academic freedom is defined in contracts, or not, and how the negotiated definitions incorporate, quote, follow, mirror, or deviate from the principles set forth in the 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure (hereinafter 1940 Statement).