Author Archives: E Wayne Ross

UNC system head is ‘very disappointed’ in Campbell’s role in the hiring of Mary Easley; Wants NCSU Board Chairman Out

News & Observer: Bowles wants NCSU chairman out
UNC system head is ‘very disappointed’ in Campbell’s role in the hiring of Mary Easley.

The president of the University of North Carolina system has asked McQueen Campbell, chairman of the N.C. State University board, to resign immediately after learning this week that Campbell played a role in hiring former first lady Mary Easley.

Canadian Professors Continue to Earn High Salaries

The Chronicle News Blog: Canadian Professors Continue to Earn High Salaries

Full-time Canadian professors earn, on average, $86,000 to $132,000 in U.S. dollars, according to a preliminary report on faculty salaries issued today by Statistics Canada.

The data in the report represent a snapshot of salaries on October 1, 2008. The report says: “It should be noted that many factors can influence salaries, including qualifications and number of years teaching. As well, some universities impose a maximum to the salary range for each rank while others have an open-ended scale.”

The highest-paid professors, according to the report, are at the University of British Columbia, and the lowest are at Cape Breton University. The report contains data from only 27 of the 116 institutions that were included in the 2006-7 salary survey, the most recent with final results compiled by the statistics agency.

The Canadian university system is mostly publicly financed and has a reputation for paying full-time faculty members well, partly because most of them are unionized. Starting salaries in Canadian higher education are the highest in the world, according to a report comparing 15 countries that was issued last year by Boston College’s Center for International Higher Education. —Karen Birchard

Captive knowledge: The funding for academic research has been taken over by business

Guardian: Captive Knowledge

May 12, 2009 By George Monbiot

The funding for academic research has been taken over by business

Why is the Medical Research Council run by an arms manufacturer? Why is the Natural Environment Research Council run by the head of a construction company? Why is the chairman of a real estate firm in charge of higher education funding for England?

Because our universities are being turned by the government into corporate research departments. No longer may they pursue knowledge for its own sake: now the highest ambition to which they must aspire is finding better ways to make money.

Zambia: Teachers in Southern province resolve to strike next Monday

Lusaka Times: Teachers in Southern province resolve to strike next Monday

Teachers in Southern Province have resolved to go on strike when schools re-open for the second term on Monday.

Basic Education Teachers Union of Zambia, BETUZ,Acting Chairperson, Mwangala Dyaunka and Provincial Secretary, Basil Hibajeene, disclosed this to ZANIS in Mazabuka today.

The two union officials said the teachers resolved not to report to work in order to press government to expedite the conclusion of negotiations for increased salaries and improved conditions of service.

Detroit: DPS officials meet with teachers’ union leaders

Detroit Free Press: DPS officials meet with teachers’ union leaders

Detroit Public Schools officials met with city, state and national teachers’ union leaders in Washington, D.C. today, just weeks before contract negotiations are expected to begin in Detroit.

DPS Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb and his top academic appointee, Chief Academic and Accountability Auditor Barbara Byrd-Bennett, met with Detroit Federation of Teachers President Keith Johnson and American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten at AFT headquarters, according to district officials.

Hungary: Teachers join strike, disruption sporadic

MTI/Hungarian News Agency: LIGA strike – Teachers join strike, disruption sporadic

Budapest, May 8 (MTI) – Around six thousand public education employees joined the LIGA union strike on Friday, according to the education trade union PDSZ chairman Gabor Kerpen, who told MTI that the strike had been successful.

Australia: Queensland teachers poised to strike for better pay

The Age: Teachers poised to strike for better pay

Queensland teachers are voting on whether to take strike action, possibly within two weeks, as they pursue a new wage deal with the state government.

Los Angeles School Board eliminates thousands of teachers’ jobs

World Socialist Website: Los Angeles School Board eliminates thousands of teachers’ jobs

The decision by the Los Angeles School Board to eliminate thousands of positions is the latest in a series of attacks on California teachers. The vote by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) came at a special April 14 meeting called to address a budget deficit of $596 million for 2009-2010.

Australia: Qld teachers vote to stage 24-hour strike

ABC News: Qld teachers vote to stage 24-hour strike

Queensland’s state school teachers will go on strike for 24 hours over its pay dispute with the State Government.

More than 37,000 teachers will strike next Tuesday, May 19.

The State Government has been in talks with the Queensland Teachers Union (QTU) over a new enterprise bargaining agreement, which has expired.

Oxford tops Guardian’s 2010 university league table

Guardian: Oxford tops Guardian’s 2010 university league table

Full Guardian university guide for 2010, along with advice on how to apply to university, fees, and how to get the best from your course

The Disappearing Tenure-Track Job

Inside Higher Ed: The Disappearing Tenure-Track Job

Year by year, various federal data sets are released, and document the steady growth of adjunct positions and decline of tenure-track jobs in the academic work force.

In an attempt to draw more attention to these shifts over time, the American Federation of Teachers is today releasing a 10-year analysis of the data, showing just how much the tenure-track professor has disappeared. The overall number of faculty and instructor slots grew from 1997 to 2007, but nearly two-thirds of that growth was in “contingent” positions — meaning those off of the tenure track. Over all, those jobs increased from two-thirds to nearly three-quarters of instructional positions.

AAUP Plans to Investigate Clark Atlanta U. Over Faculty Layoffs

The Chronicle: AAUP Plans to Investigate Clark Atlanta U. Over Faculty Layoffs

The American Association of University Professors today informed Clark Atlanta University of plans to investigate the university over its dismissal of 70 full-time faculty members in February.

In a letter to Clark Atlanta’s president, Carlton E. Brown, the associate secretary of the AAUP, B. Robert Kreiser, wrote that the institution’s “massive dismissals of faculty” raised “key issues of academic freedom, tenure, and due process” that remain unresolved after two months of communications with the university. Accordingly, Mr. Kreiser said, the AAUP plans to establish an investigative panel to determine whether the association’s committee on academic freedom and tenure needs to take action against the university.

Bucking the Trend, St. John’s U. Converts Instructors Into Tenure-Track Professors

The Chronicle: Bucking the Trend, St. John’s U. Converts Instructors Into Tenure-Track Professors

Scholars who teach composition, a staple on the schedule of many a college freshman, often wind up stringing together a series of adjunct teaching jobs while keeping an eye out for that first step on the golden track to tenure. So it is easy to see why Roseanne Gatto marvels at her good fortune. She is not quite finished working on her dissertation but has almost finished her first year as an assistant professor of writing at St. John’s University. “This was huge for me,” says Ms. Gatto.

Who’s Teaching at American Colleges? Increasingly, Instructors Off the Tenure Track

The Chronicle: Who’s Teaching at American Colleges? Increasingly, Instructors Off the Tenure Track

At community colleges, four out of five instructors worked outside the tenure track in 2007. At public research institutions, graduate students made up 41 percent of the instructional staff that year. And at all institutions, the proportion of instructors working part time continued to grow.

U.S. academics staying in Canada

University Affairs: U.S. academics staying in Canada
Some who moved north in Bush presidency have no plans to return

In 2005, just after George Bush was re-elected President of the United States, University Affairs told the story of a number of American academics who had recently moved to Canada – attracted north by jobs but also by this country’s more liberal attitudes. (See “The pursuit of happiness,”).

Four years later, those academics are still here. All say they’re committed to staying despite the election of Barack Obama in the U.S. and the less certain outlook for research funding in Canada. And – while this is by no means a scientific survey – they say they’ve heard of no American-born colleagues who are packing up and going back home.

CAUT Council Postpones Acadia Censure

CAUT Bulletin: CAUT Council Postpones Acadia Censure

Caut Council delegates voted last month to postpone consideration of censure of the board and administration of Acadia University over the firing of professor Colin Wightman, following a recommendation of CAUT president Penni Stewart and executive director James Turk.

They told delegates that recent discussions with the university administration were productive, and they were optimistic a suitable resolution would be forthcoming from mediated talks to be held in the coming weeks.

In a report released last year, a CAUT committee of inquiry said Wightman was fired without due process and should be reinstated.

CAUT Condemns Lakehead Shutdown, Unpaid Leave for Employees

CAUT Bulletin: CAUT Condemns Lakehead Shutdown, Unpaid Leave for Employees

Lakehead University administration announced April 24 that the school would shut down for four
days in December, citing fiscal challenges. All non-essential employees will be prohibited from going into the university and “will not be paid,” Lakehead said in a statement.

Academic Staff at Carleton Ratify One-Year Contract

CAUT Bulletin: Academic Staff at Carleton Ratify One-Year Contract

Professors, professional librarians and instructors at Carleton University have voted to ac­cept a tentative agreement reached with the employer April 17.

The deal was reached before the collective agreement expired and is effective May 1, 2009 to April 30, 2010.

Jackson Community College faculty union planning to picket board meeting

The Jackson Citizen: Jackson Community College faculty union planning to picket board meeting

Jackson Community College’s faculty union plans to picket Monday’s Board of Trustees meeting to bring attention to its lack of a new contract and concerns about the number of full-time faculty on campus.

The board said Friday in a statement it was surprised by the JCC Faculty Association’s plans to picket and responded to what the union calls “major issues” dividing the two sides.

New Mexico Highlands University regents have unanimously approved a contract that gives raises to the faculty

NewsWest9.com: Highlands regents approve contract with faculty

LAS VEGAS, N.M. (AP) – New Mexico Highlands University regents have unanimously approved a contract that gives raises to the faculty.

The regents voted in favor of the contract last week, a day after the professors’ union voted for it.