Thesis (Ph.D.)--Michigan Technological University, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the World Wide Web.

Report (M.S.)--Michigan Technological University, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Michigan Technological University, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Michigan Technological University, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Michigan Technological University, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the World Wide Web.

No description available.

The purpose of the study was to collect, consolidate and report the perceived advantages and disadvantages of unified bargaining concepts currently operational in the state of Michigan as ranked by uniserv field representatives, local education association presidents, school board presidents and school superintendents.Data were generated through a forced choice questionnaire of twenty-six items drawn from a review of related literature and validated by professional consultants in the field of unified bargaining. Questionnaires were mailed to randomly selected participants in unified bargaining structures in each of the existing thirty-three multiple association bargaining organizations in the state of Michigan.Responses from the selected respondents were tabulated and reported by respondent group type. Frequency distributions according to items identified as advantages, disadvantages or not applicable to unified bargaining were presented tabularly and discussed narratively as were the-rankings of the most important advantages and disadvantages as perceived by respondents.Findings in the study indicated:1. Employee groups perceived the reduced probability of local associations ratifying sub standard contracts, standardization of contractual agreements, ready availability of professional negotiators and greater employee power in the bargaining process as the most important advantages of unified bargaining.2. Employee groups regarded the subordination of local association goals and autonomy to regional and state associations as the most important disadvantages of unified bargaining.3. Employer groups noted the increased utilization of professionally trained negotiators and the concomitant objectivity introduced into the bargaining process when professionally trained personnel negotiate as the most important advantages of unified bargaining.4. Employer groups identified decreased individual and local association autonomy and influence and the perception professional negotiators are not responsible for managing nor are subject to contracts bargained as the most important disadvantages of unified bargaining.5. A degree of congruence existed within and between employee and employer groupings. The greater degree of congruence between employee and employer groupings was noted in the ranking of disadvantages of unified bargaining.The following were among the conclusions drawn based upon the findings and the review of related literature:1. Individual and local education association autonomy and influence over. the business of the local education association is decreased as a result of participation in unified bargaining.2. Employee association power is increased when unified bargaining formats are operational. 3. Unified bargaining results in increased utilization of professionally trained negotiators. 4. Decreased amounts of direct employee-employer communication occur when unified bargaining formats are operational.5. The probability local education associations will ratify sub standard contracts is reduced when local education associations participate in unified bargaining.

The purpose of the study was to determine in the judgment of respondents what organizations have and should have the major responsibility for providing supplemental services to local Michigan school districts and if the need for the service was adequate in 1973.Three local kindergarten through twelfth-grade school districts were randomly selected from each of the functioning fifty-eight intermediate school districts. District data were gathered by means of a questionnaire mailed to the superintendents of the selected school districts. Ninety-five districts responded and were included in the statistical component of the study.The instrument used in the study listed fifty-six selected school functions for which local school districts might have a need for supplemental services from an external organization. Data were tallied at a state-wide level for each specified school function to indicate the percentage of represented districts receiving assistance from each organization, the percentage of responses which specified each organization as the organization which should be providing service, and the need for assistance beyond what was being received.Data concerning district needs were tabulated into three district enrollment categories with each category containing approximately the same number of represented districts. The category containing districts with the smallest enrollments ranged from 210 to 1,303 students. The category containing the middle size districts had student populations from 1,364 to 2,734 and the category containing the districts with the largest enrollments had student populations which ranged from 2,825 to 22,850.The state was also divided into five regions for data examination. The Upper Peninsula was designated Region 1 and in the Lower Peninsula the northwest was Region 2, the northeast Region 3, the southwest Region 4, and the southeast Region 5.Institutions of higher education were providing a limited amount of supplemental service for most school functions and were judged as being responsible for providing additional assistance for the school functions of recruitment of professional personnel and scholarship information. The intermediate school districts were the major supplier for a markedly smaller number of school functions than desired by respondents and tended to be assigned the responsibility of providing service for functions for which local school districts were not receiving assistance. School functions for which the State Department of Education was the major supplier of supplemental service tended to be the same functions for which respondents indicated the State Department should be the supplier.Computer related activities, assistance with personnel problems, and high school and post-high school vocational-technical programs were functions district representatives judged the intermediate school district as being responsible for additional service. Assistance with school functions involving finances and educational research were the responsibility of the State Department.All regions had a common need for additional supplemental service for some school functions but each region had major needs which were not duplicated for every school function examined. Representatives from districts with large enrollments tended to desire assistance for more school functions involving research and evaluation than districts with smaller enrollments.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Michigan Technological University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.S.)--Michigan Technological University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the World Wide Web.