Director’s Update

Harry C. Katz is the Director of the Scheinman Institute and the Jack Sheinkman Professor of Collective Bargaining.

With the pandemic still raging while vaccines have begun to be made available and needed, and bold proposals are being offered by the Biden administration, we at the Scheinman Institute are operating “mixed mode.” On the one hand, we continue to find ways to make a difference by adapting our activities to the pandemic. At the same time, we’re preparing for a post-pandemic world that includes changes in the way we do things based on lessons learned during the pandemic. 

For the Scheinman Institute operating in a mixed mode means that our faculty are teaching their on-campus (Ithaca) courses via a mixture of in-person, virtual, and classes, which include some present students and on-line students. On the outreach side, we continue to offer our professional development programs virtually while preparing to offer a mix of in-person and virtual classes next fall.  Planning the latter is made difficult by the uncertainty surrounding both the extent to which there will be demand for a return to in-person learning and the state of the economy.

Conflict resolution in the world of work clearly is also operating in a mixed mode. This is revealed in a series of interviews posted on the Institute’s web site in which I asked a variety of conflict resolvers how the issues addressed in hearings, negotiations, and court cases were affected by the pandemic and how the processes used to resolve those conflicts changed. (Watch the videos)  On February 9th, I participated in an eCornell keynote on how the NLRB might evolve with the new Biden administration. Later this month, on the 23rd, I will be moderating a webinar on how labor and management are using problem-solving approaches to address workplace issues arising due to the pandemic.  Get more information and register.

Like me, I bet you too feel as though you are operating “mixed mode.” My work and family life, like that for our faculty and staff, has been relocated due to the pandemic. But how will I be teaching next fall? And will our New York City offices be fully open next fall? Will the work of our faculty and staff be permanently shifted to more work at home given what we’ve learned over the past year?  While there is a depressing side to the mixed mode given the rising pandemic death toll I sense, at the same time, a definite excitement in the air given  post-pandemic possibilities.