by E Wayne Ross on November 19, 2009
Inside Higher Ed: Staffing Up, Part Timers Down
WASHINGTON — Given how broad the data are and the fact that they represent a moment before the economy fully hit the skids late last year, it’s hard to know exactly how much to read into them. But a report issued by the Education Department on Wednesday shows a decline in the proportion of instructional staff at degree-granting colleges who were working part time in fall 2008.
The report, “Employees in Postsecondary Institutions, Fall 2008, and Salaries of Full-Time Instructional Staff, 2008-09,” is an annual study from the National Center for Education Statistics, part of the department’s Institute for Education Sciences. It provides a 30,000-foot look at the composition of the higher education work force, offering breakdowns by position type, type of institution, etc. While the report itself does not contain comparative data to previous years, some trends can be gleaned by comparing it to similar reports from 2007 and 2006.
The Chronicle: One-Third of College Employees Are Part-Timers, Education Dept. Reports
The proportion of part-time employees at colleges with students eligible for federal financial aid is holding steady at about one-third of the work force, according to an annual report released today by the U.S. Education Department’s statistical arm, the National Center for Education Statistics. The report, “Employees in Postsecondary Institutions, Fall 2008, and Salaries of Full-Time Instructional Faculty, 2008-09,” echoes findings in the report’s last three editions, covering 2005, 2006, and 2007. The employment data largely predate the effects of the financial crisis, so its impact on employment levels is not necessarily reflected in the report. Better salary data for the 2008-9 year have already been issued by the American Association of University Professors and the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources.
by E Wayne Ross on November 18, 2009
The New York Times: Labor Fight Ends in Win for Students
The anti-sweatshop movement at dozens of American universities, from Georgetown to U.C.L.A., has had plenty of idealism and energy, but not many victories.
In August, members of United Students Against Sweatshops picketed a Target store in Washington, to pressure the retailer to stop selling products made by Russell Athletic.
Until now.
The often raucous student movement announced on Tuesday that it had achieved its biggest victory by far. Its pressure tactics persuaded one of the nation’s leading sportswear companies, Russell Athletic, to agree to rehire 1,200 workers in Honduras who lost their jobs when Russell closed their factory soon after the workers had unionized.
by E Wayne Ross on November 18, 2009
The Chronicle: Teaching Assistants Suspend Strike at U. of Illinois
Graduate students who work as teaching assistants and researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign suspended a labor strike Tuesday night after informally agreeing to the terms of a new contract with the campus’s administration.
by E Wayne Ross on November 17, 2009
Call for Manuscripts: Special Section of Critical Education
The Lure of the Animal: Addressing Nonhuman Animals in Educational Theory and Research
Special Section Guest Editor:
Abraham P. DeLeon
University of Texas at San Antonio
Critical Education is seeking manuscripts that address the question of the nonhuman animal in educational research, theory and praxis. Examining the representations of nonhuman animals provides opportunities to explore ideology, discourse, and the ways in which the construction of nonhumans mirrors the representation of the human Other in contemporary and historical contexts. Schools are filled with social practices concerning nonhuman animals, whether that is the food served in the cafeteria, dissection in Science classrooms, or representations in textbooks. Linked to an agenda of social justice that has emerged in the educational literature over the past decade, the treatment of nonhuman animals needs to be addressed by critical theorists in education that seek to change structures of oppression for all of life on this planet. Traditional representations of the animal persist (unfettered desire, wild, barbaric, brutish, and savage), despite the fact that we know little outside of Western empirical science. To be animal then is to be wild and something apart from supposedly human traits of rationality, language, and logic. In turn, this allows highly exploitive and torturous industries to emerge and flourish that exploit nonhumans. However, ruptures existed that threw into question what it meant to be human, such as the case of wild people and feral children. As the category of human is often reified in educational scholarship unquestioningly, this provides a unique opportunity to deconstruct these categories and their exclusionary functions.
The recent literature surrounding eco-pedagogy and critical animal studies (Andrzejewski, et. al., 2009; Best, 2009; Bowers, 2001; Kahn, 2008; Martusewicz & Edmundson, 2005; Riley-Taylor, 2002) and the cultural politics of nature (Shukin, 2009) begs us to examine how the question of the animal is tied to the larger project of educational theory and practice. Published over a series of issues, this section will allow scholars to explore what this means for education. Some possible topics can include:
- Have schools largely ignored nonhuman animals in historical and contemporary contexts? If so, why and in what specific ways?
- How is the cafeteria implicated in relationships of domination over the nonhuman body?
- What do intersecting oppressions (racism, speciesism, classism, sexism) mean for educational theory and practice?
- Do anthropocentric ideologies emerge in educational, theory, practice, or policy? How does anthropomorphism emerge in traditional forms of curriculum or textbooks?
- What have been the roles of nonhuman animals in schools historically?
- How can critical educational theory respond to the paradox of the “animal”?
The guest editor seeks theoretical, conceptual, and qualitative papers addressing the central theme and any work submitted will be peer-reviewed.
Nonhuman animals need to be accounted for within the broader educational literature and this special section allows scholars to explore this important and timely topic.
Any questions can be directed to Dr. Abraham DeLeon, University of Texas at San Antonio, abraham.deleon@utsa.edu.
_________________________________
Critical Education is an international peer-reviewed journal, which seeks manuscripts that critically examine contemporary education contexts and practices.
Please see, http://m1.cust.educ.ubc.ca/journal/index.php/criticaled/index for more information and submission information.
by E Wayne Ross on November 17, 2009
The Chronicle: U. of Illinois and Striking TA’s Reach Tentative Agreement
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign reached a tentative agreement today with a union representing graduate students who work there as teaching assistants or researchers, potentially clearing the way for the end of a strike that had disrupted some classes on the campus. Bargaining teams representing the university’s administration and the student workers’ union, the Graduate Employees Organization, settled on a tentative pact this morning after the university removed a final sticking point by agreeing to the union’s demand that the university guarantee tuition waivers for teaching and graduate assistants who are not Illinois residents. The union’s strike committee has agreed to stop picketing and will vote tonight on whether to suspend the strike entirely. If the strike is ended and the union’s membership informally approves the contract this evening, the union will hold a formal contract-ratification vote later this week.
by E Wayne Ross on November 17, 2009
Inside Higher Ed: Strike Begins at Illinois
As graduate teaching assistants formed picket lines on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus Monday, administrators tried to assuage concerns that the university is maneuvering to end tuition waivers.
The Graduate Employees Organization (GEO), a union affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, commenced a strike Monday after contract negotiations broke down over a single issue. The GEO, which represents about 2,700 student employees, agreed to strike when administrators rejected a demand for more robust protections of tuition waivers. The university put forward its own language on the issue, but GEO leaders said it fell short of ensuring that waivers for out of state students would be retained.
by E Wayne Ross on November 17, 2009
SEIU Local 500: PART-TIME FACULTY SETTLES HISTORIC FIRST CONTRACT WITH MONTGOMERY COLLEGE
ROCKVILLE (Nov 16) — Late last week, part-time faculty leaders settled a historic first contract with Montgomery College. The contract, which must now be ratified by the part-time faculty and Board of Trustees, is the culmination of more than two years of organizing and negotiations by the part-timers, who teach nearly half of all classes at the College and who are represented by SEIU Local 500. Once ratified, it will be the first collective bargaining agreement for part-time faculty in any institution of higher education in the state of Maryland.
by E Wayne Ross on November 17, 2009
The Tribune (San Luis Obispo): President of Cuesta College resigns
Saying he is not an effective leader at Cuesta, Pelham takes job directing a college in Abu Dhabi
Cuesta College President David Pelham has resigned, telling board members and college staff in an e-mail Monday evening that he is “not the best person to lead Cuesta College.”
He told Cuesta College Board of Trustees President Pat Mullen of his decision Sunday night.
Pelham will leave at the end of December. His tenure, which began March 3, 2008, will be the shortest of any of the five presidents in the college’s 45-year history.
by E Wayne Ross on November 17, 2009
Berkshire Eagle: Williams fires accused professor
WILLIAMSTOWN — A Williams College visiting professor, who pleaded guilty to charges of fraud in federal court last week, has been terminated from the college.
In a letter to the Williams College community, Interim President William Wagner said Bernard Moore’s employment with the college ended as of Monday.
He further stated, “We have found no evidence of serious misuse on his part of college resources.”
Moore, 51, whose real name is Ernest B. Moore, was the college’s W. Ford Schumann ‘50 visiting assistant professor in Democratic Studies, and was in his second year at Williams College.
by E Wayne Ross on November 17, 2009
The New York Times: SUNY Weighs the Value of Division I Sports
New York’s state university system is among the largest in the country, but it has never been known for athletic prominence, unlike major public institutions in states like Florida, Pennsylvania and Michigan.
D. J. Rivera, one of Binghamton’s stars last season, was one of six players dismissed from the team this fall.
SUNY officials aimed to change that in 1986, when the trustees lifted a ban on athletic scholarships and cleared the way for the system’s four research universities — Buffalo, Stony Brook, Albany and Binghamton — to upgrade their sports programs.
by E Wayne Ross on November 16, 2009
The Chronicle: Zionist Group in Israel Urges Students to Report ‘Subversive’ Professors
Left-right tensions are rising on Israeli campuses over the complex legacy of Zionist ideology and the place of Zionism in Israeli society, with a call for students at one university to report on “Thought Police” professors, a campaign that is being likened to “McCarthyite” tactics in the United States.
The tensions pit radical academics, who are being accused of pursuing a political agenda and silencing pro-Zionist views, against Zionist groups, accused of a “witchhunt” against professors who reject the mainstream Israeli narrative.
by E Wayne Ross on November 16, 2009
The Chronicle: Strike by Graduate Teaching Assistants Disrupts Some Classes at U. of Illinois
Many classrooms at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are sitting empty today as a result of a strike by graduate students who teach or do research.
About 1,000 graduate students employed by the university have signed up to picket academic buildings in shifts today, with about 500 on the lines at any one time, said Peter O. Campbell, a spokesman for the Graduate Employees Organization, which has about 2,600 members. Graduate students generally teach about 23 percent of all undergraduate course hours on the campus.
by E Wayne Ross on November 16, 2009
Contra Costa Time: More than 100 students stage protest in UCSC library
SANTA CRUZ – More than 100 students occupied the UC Santa Cruz Science and Engineering Library Friday night in protest of budget cuts and the decision to close the library at 5 p.m. on Fridays and all day Saturdays.
According to student protester Brian Glasscock, the protesters had permission from library administration to do the overnight sit-in. As students flo
by E Wayne Ross on November 16, 2009
10news.com: SWC Professors Won’t Face Charges Over Campus Rally
CHULA VISTA, Calif. — Criminal charges will not be filed against three Southwestern College professors involved in a recent on-campus rally, 10News reported
On Friday, about 300 students and faculty members rallied in protest of the school’s free speech rules.
“I think we’re all here because we love this college,” said Rep. Bob Filner, who joined the rally against Southwestern College’s rules regarding when and where students can gather to protest.
by E Wayne Ross on November 16, 2009
Inside Higher Ed: Teaching Assistants Plan Strike at U. of Illinois
Graduate teaching assistants at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are planning to go on strike today, following the failure to complete a contract agreement. The union, affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, said that while many contract issues were resolved, the university would not offer assurances about the continuation of tuition waivers. “The administration’s refusal to guarantee the continuation of its current tuition waiver practice not only means that the majority of graduate employees could be forced to pay thousands of dollars in additional tuition charges, but also indicates its plans to implement such a change. By making graduate education untenable for all but the most affluent students, the administration is abandoning its responsibility to ensure access to the highest level of public education for all,” said a union statement. The university issued a statement in which it characterized the union’s interest in tuition waivers as new and not a subject over great disagreements. The union “has chosen to strike over an issue that historically has never been a source of contention between the union and management, and about which there is no indication would be a source of contention in the future,” said the university’s official statement. In turn, the union issued a new statement asking why, if the university was committed to the tuition waivers, it wouldn’t agree to add the desired language to the contract.
The Chronicle: Graduate Teaching Assistants Are Poised to Strike at U. of Illinois
Graduate students who teach and do research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign plan to go on strike early Monday.
Weekend negotiations between the graduate students’ union and the university failed to produce a guarantee the union wants from administrators that the institution will continue tuition waivers, the Graduate Employees’ Organization said. Without such waivers, many graduate students may have to shoulder an increase in the cost of their education.
by E Wayne Ross on November 14, 2009
The Editors of Workplace: A Journal for Academic Labor are pleased to announce the release of Workplace #16—”Academic Knowledge, Labor, and Neoliberalism.”
Check it out at: http://www.workplace-gsc.com
Table of Contents
Articles
Knowledge Production and the Superexploitation of Contingent Academic Labor
Bruno Gulli
The Education Agenda is a War Agenda: Connecting Reason to Power and Power to Resistance
Rich Gibson, E. Wayne Ross
The Rise of Venture Philanthropy and the Ongoing Neoliberal Assault on Public Education: The Eli and Edith Broad Foundation
Kenneth Saltman
Feature Articles
Theses on College and University Administration: A Critical Perspective
John F. Welsh
The Status Degradation Ceremony: The Phenomenology of Social Control in Higher Education
John F. Welsh
Book Reviews
Review of The Last Professors: The Corporate University and the Fate of the Humanities
Desi Bradley
Authentic Bona fide Democrats Must Go Beyond Liberalism, Capitalism, and Imperialism: A Review of Dewey’s Dream: Universities and Democracies in an Age of Education Reform
Richard A. Brosio
Review of Capitalizing on Disaster: Taking and Breaking Public Schools
Prentice Chandler
Review of Pedagogy and Praxis in the Age of Empire: Towards a New Humanism
Abraham P. Deleon
Review of Cary Nelson and the Struggle for the University: Poetry, Politics, and the Profession
Leah Schweitzer
Review of Rhetoric and Resistance in the Corporate Academy
Lisa Tremain
Read the Workplace Blog: http://blogs.ubc.ca/workplace/
Join us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=24374363807&ref=ts
by E Wayne Ross on November 14, 2009
Canadian Press: N.S. premier says he will consider binding arbitration to avoid college strike
HALIFAX, N.S. — Nova Scotia’s fledgling NDP government is facing its first real test on the labour front, the outcome of which will come under close scrutiny as hundreds of public sector contracts come up for renewal in the months ahead.
With the province’s 900 community college faculty and staff poised to strike Oct. 20, Premier Darrell Dexter pledged Friday to review a union proposal for binding arbitration.
by E Wayne Ross on November 14, 2009
The Chronicle: U. of Akron Rethinks Hiring Policy That Could Ask for DNA Sample
The University of Akron may soon revise a controversial policy that says new hires, at the university’s discretion, may be asked to submit a DNA sample or fingerprints for a federal criminal-background check.
Ted A. Mallo, vice president and general counsel at Akron, plans to recommend to the institution’s Board of Trustees that references to DNA testing be stripped from the new policy on criminal-background checks and replaced with language that would put new hires on notice that law-enforcement agencies may require them to provide “additional information” for such checks.
