Items of interest from the Canadian Association of University Teachers Bulletin:
Irish teachers say “no” to OECD reforms
The largest union of post-secondary teachers in Ireland is urging the government to reject the recommendations of an OECD review of the country’s tertiary education system. The OECD report, presented to the Irish government late last year, calls for sweeping reforms to the country’s higher education system, including the reintroduction of tuition fees, a greater emphasis on the commercialization of research, and a weakening of the tenure system.
CAUT Calls for Repeal of Anti-Terrorism Act
In testimony last month before special House of Commons and Senate committees, CAUT called for the repeal of Canada’s Anti-Terrorism Act.
Bookshelf: Reclaiming the Ivory Tower
In the last 20 years, higher education in the United States has been eroded by massive reliance on temporary academic labour — professors without tenure or the prospect of tenure, paid a fraction of the salaries of their tenured colleagues, working without benefits, offices, or research assistance, and often commuting between several campuses to make ends meet. Contingent instructors now constitute the majority of faculty at U.S. colleges and universities. Reclaiming the Ivory Tower is the first organizing handbook for contingent faculty — the thousands of non tenure track college teachers who love their work but hate their jobs. It examines the situation of adjunct professors in U.S. higher education today and puts forward an agenda around which they can mobilize to transform their jobs — and their institutions. In this context, Reclaiming the Ivory Tower also provides a guidepost for all those concerned about higher education: tenure track faculty, students, graduate employees, parents, other campus workers, and anyone interested in why a new labour movement has grown up on campuses across the U.S. and Canada.
Halls of Academia No Place for Differentiated Staffing
We have often been told that post-secondary institutions are inherently hierarchical. However, after a century of struggle to democratize higher education, it is becoming clear that the most fruitful model for the future is a co-operative institution in which the discovery and dissemination of knowledge and creative activity are the common endeavours.
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