Abstract
Problem. Assembly Bill 1725 was major legislation that called for reform in the governance structure in California Community College Districts in 1988. The legislation mandated that each district implement shared governance and establish policies in the areas of equivalencies, hiring criteria, peer review, faculty evaluation, management evaluation, management retreat rights, faculty service areas, and tenure. The mandated change in the governance structure, conflict between management and faculty, and nonimplementation of reforms brought the scope of collective bargaining into question. Since the provision in AB 1725 that called for a study of the scope of collective bargaining was never funded, this study, therefore, examined the perceptions of management and union over selected issues outlined by AB 1725 to be included into the scope. Methodology. A survey was sent to each superintendent and faculty union president in the California Community College Districts. The survey collected data on the profile of the respondent and their district, policy and collective bargaining areas, scope and conflict areas, and overall perceptions of policy, collective bargaining, and working relationships. The data were treated using the Kolmogorov/Smirnov analysis. Findings. The data supported four major findings: (1) peer review, faculty evaluation, faculty service areas, and tenure should be included within the scope of collective bargaining; (2) equivalencies and hiring criteria need not be included within the scope; (3) management evaluation and management retreat rights need further investigation; and (4) management perceived no improvement in policy development/implementation, collective bargaining, and working relationships since the onset of AB 1725 while faculty perceptions were divided on the same issues. Conclusions and recommendations. Leadership styles, climate and culture, and communication are factors in successful shared governance and collective bargaining. It is suggested that there be: (1) cooperation by district unions on contract negotiations; (2) maintenance of statewide political action; (3) practices developed to create a climate and culture conducive to shared governance; (4) graduate program emphasis in labor relations, conflict resolution, and shared governance; and (5) statewide examination of the scope of collective bargaining using the findings from this study as a basis.