Category Archives: Uncategorized

Call for Programs:

The Coalition on the Academic Workforce (CAW) is looking for programs (association- and institution-based) that support the work and professional development of contingent faculty

The Coalition on the Academic Workforce maintains a website, http://www.academicworkforce.org/, where it is developing two lists of programs that address adjunct and contingent faculty work.

One list will feature programs supported by associations, and it will document various kinds of help associations offer adjunct and contingent faculty. The other list will feature institutional programs.

If your institution has a program or policy that supports non-tenure line faculty members through benefits and practices to help these teachers share in institutional work, practice, and culture, please send an electronic link or description of that program to Monica F. Jacobe at mjacobe@aaup.org. You may also send information about programs you may know of at other institutions.

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Santa Monica Daily Press: Teachers going to head of the class

SMC ó The lesson of the day is union organization, as professors plan to hold the first of a series of rallies today aimed at drawing attention to a contentious contract dispute between faculty and administrators.

Professors plan to march from the main campus to the collegeís administrative headquarters each day until the board of trusteesí next meeting, scheduled for Monday, May 5, said Mitra Moassessi, a math professor at SMC and chief negotiator for the Santa Monica College Faculty Association.

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Inside Higher Ed: Soft Support for Tenure

Americans back the concept of tenure — but they don’t necessarily know what it entails. Americans think highly of professors — except that a substantial minority of Americans doesn’t. Americans don’t rate political bias in the classroom as the top problem in academe today — but many think it’s a serious one.

Those are among the findings of a national survey of public opinion being released today by the American Association of University Professors. The results are a classic case of “is the glass half empty or half full,” with plenty of evidence to show that academe is held in high regard, and plenty of evidence of vulnerabilities in public perceptions. The survey was conducted by an independent polling group and has a margin of error of 3.4 percent. AAUP leaders said that they wanted to measure public attitudes in light of the barrage of criticism from various conservatives that higher education is a center of bias and outrageous views.

The Chronicle: PUBLIC OPINION ON ACADEME

What do Americans see as the most important issue facing higher education? High tuition was identified by many more people than classroom political bias, according to a poll by the American Association of University Professors. But other results from the survey, released on Thursday, won’t make faculty members relax.

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photonics.com: NAS Council Opposes Academic Boycotts

The governing council of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) said in a statement this week that it opposes academic boycotts, “firmly believing that scientists provide a voice for rationality and moderation in political affairs. A boycott of Israeli academics announced yesterday by Britain’s largest faculty union would undermine the crucial long-term goal of building strong bridges of understanding between cultures.” (For a 2005 NAS Council statement, “International Cooperation in Science,” visit: http://www.nationalacademies.org/morenews/20060530.html)

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The Chronicle: Pennsylvania Lawmakers Discuss Curricula in Final Hearing on Bias in Classrooms

In its final hearing on whether Pennsylvania’s public colleges indoctrinate students in left-wing ideology and discriminate against conservatives, a committee of state lawmakers went somewhat off-topic on Thursday to discuss whether more emphasis on the traditions of Western civilization would serve as an antidote to any liberal bias in academe.

David W. Saxe, an associate professor of education at Pennsylvania State University at University Park, testified that studies of Western intellectual traditions were being crowded out of college curricula. That’s why he wants to create a Center for the Study of Free Institutions and Civic Education at his institution.

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The Chronicle: Review Confirms Plagiarism by Ohio U. Graduate Students and Recommends Professors’ Dismissals

An investigating committee at Ohio University has called for the dismissal of the chairman of the department of mechanical engineering and another unidentified faculty member at the Russ College of Engineering and Technology after finding evidence of “rampant and flagrant plagiarism” by graduate students in the department that took place over more than 20 years.

The committee’s report, released this week, is the latest development in the university’s continuing investigation of allegations brought by a former graduate student, Thomas A. Matrka, who asserted that faculty members had encouraged or ignored widespread cheating and plagiarism within the department.

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The Guardian: Oxford University to press ahead with controversial reforms

Oxford University is to press ahead with controversial reforms of the way it is run, including plans to hand more power to business despite growing opposition among some dons.

In a white paper, the vice-chancellor, John Hood, confirmed that the council, which runs the university, would have a majority of outside members, including those with strong corporate interests, for the first time in Oxford’s 800-year history. The move, part of a drive to modernise Oxford’s governance, will be put before Congregation, the dons’ ancient parliament, in the autumn.

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The Hindu: AAAS condemns British group’s proposed academic boycott of Israel

The American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest general science society, today urged a British teachers association to withdraw a motion calling on its members to boycott Israeli scholars and academic institutions that do not publicly declare their opposition to Israel’s policies in the territories.

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DNA India: Anti-quota stir intensifies, doctors launch civil disobedience campaign

NEW DELHI: Striking medicos to intensify two-week-long stir by launching a ‘civil disobedience’ campaign.

The medicos, under the banner of Youth for Equality, will also call on the President later in the day to convey their position on the emotive issue and their decision to continue with the strike.

“We really thank the President for his concern, but it has come a bit too late as the government has already announced its decision to go ahead with the proposal,” said Amithasha Sinha, a representative of Youth for Equality.

The agitation by resident doctors and medical students also got a boost as traders in the capital decided to join their movement and threatened to shut shops if the government failed to rollback its quota proposals within 100 hours.

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Inside Higher Ed: Faculty rights post-Katrina

When colleges want to eliminate a faculty job (and not get a bad reputation), there are extensive procedures they can follow that have been set forth by the American Association of University Professors. Rules cover how to determine whether colleges face a financial necessity to eliminate a job, the rights that should be accorded to someone losing a position, and so forth.

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Inside Higher Ed: Unwanted Export?

A new online university is set to open its virtual doors on June 1, promising to provide free tuition to 150 students from developing nations. A number of circumstances surrounding the program — including an empty headquarters in Washington, accreditation from a self-proclaimed autonomous government operating in Italy, and a Web site based in the French Antarctic — have several real-life diploma mill experts raising caution flags.

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The Chronicle: A 3rd Data Breach Prompts a Reorganization of Ohio U. Computer Services

Ohio University officials are shaking up the institution’s computer-support services following the revelation that a third server containing personal information about people on the campus had been broken into.

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San Jose Mercury News: Professor fights portrayal as supporter of terrorism”

As one of Stanford University’s most respected Middle East scholars, professor Joel Beinin knows what terrorism looks like.

So it was a shock when he saw his own face on the cover of a new book titled “Campus Support for Terrorism,” linking him to radical Islam.

He’s suing the book’s publishers in what is the first counteroffensive by a professor against a growing campaign by conservative groups targeting left-leaning college educators.

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Inside Higher Ed: Fact-checking Horowitz

From the moment in February that David Horowitz’s new book appeared, scholars have been poking at it, identifying errors and what they consider to be distortions (even as Horowitz was praised by many conservative talk show hosts, who have helped him boost sales).

Today, a coalition of academic and civil liberties groups is releasing a more detailed analysis of the Horowitz book,The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America. In “Facts Count,” the debunking document being released today, Horowitz’s book is slammed as “sloppy in the extreme.” The analysis also says that the details included in the book suggest that Horowitz is not concerned with the students he says he is trying to protect, but is actually trying to punish professors whose views he doesn’t like.

Among the findings in “Facts Count”:

• Horowitz does not cite a single example of a student having his or her grade changed because of political views — despite his repeated statements that the “Academic Bill of Rights” is needed to prevent such grade punishment. (That bill would bar such grade changes and would also require that a range of views be taught — a measure many professors say would require them to teach intelligent design or Holocaust denial, or risk getting sued.)

• In 52 of the descriptions of professors Horowitz critiques, he does not cite a single classroom event or statement — despite his statement that his concern about professors is over what they do and say in the classroom.

• Of all of the evidence offered in the book, 80 percent concerns non-classroom activities.

• Professors who teach women’s studies or other alternative viewpoints are consistently criticized, regardless of the quality of their work or scholarship.

• While Horowitz’s book promises a list of the 101 most dangerous academics, he actually includes only 100.

• Quotes and facts from Horowitz about individual professors are incorrect and many quotes are “wildly out of context.”

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Daily Illini: Intellectual incest in academia

Editor’s Note: This is the first of a two-part series by columnist Billy Joe Mills on accusations of liberal professor bias on campus.

There is a danger to the vitality of intellectual life at American universities. It lies within the overwhelming domination of campus by liberal thought. This problem exists, although many believe it does not. Many professors at our University earnestly see the majority of their colleagues as conservative. Surprisingly, my solution rejects David Horowitz and others who wish to legislate political equality, which I will develop next week.

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Inside Higher Ed: The Eroding Faculty Paycheck

The average faculty salary increased by 3.1 percent in 2005-6 — a year in which the inflation rate was 3.4 percent, according to data released today by the American Association of University Professors.

The Chronicle: Inflation Beats Faculty Salaries Again

Faculty salaries failed to keep pace with inflation for the second year in a row, according to a report scheduled for release today by the American Association of University Professors. The Chronicle’s coverage includes charts, tables, and a database containing seven years of average faculty salaries at more than 1,400 colleges.

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LJWorld.com: New, little-known law that requires disclosure of financial details angers some KU professors

A new state law requiring the disclosure of personal financial details by several hundred Kansas University professors as well as thousands of their colleagues across the state has caught them by surprise, leaving many perplexed or angry.

“It seems to me this is entirely out of line,” said Allan Hanson, KU professor of anthropology.

A year ago, the Kansas Legislature passed an obscure amendment to the state government ethics law that requires faculty members making $50,000 or more and who are employed by a state education institution to complete a “statement of substantial interests.” The requirement doesn’t include adjunct faculty.

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Inside Higher Ed: Another New Orleans University Cuts Back

To balance a projected $9 million dollar budget deficit left in Hurricane Katrina’s wake, Loyola University in New Orleans plans to cut 17 tenured and tenure track faculty members, and 16 undergraduate and graduate degree programs.

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Courier-Journal: UK staff members seek assistance from unions

Staff members at the University of Kentucky said yesterday they are forming an organization led by two unions to advocate on their behalf, even though the school doesn’t recognize collective bargaining.

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Inside Higher Ed: Fresh Approach to Accountability

An association of public research universities is studying the possibility of creating a new, voluntary system to define and measure the outcomes of undergraduate education, in a way that would allow for public comparisons of similar institutions.

The National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges — a group of more than 200 public research universities, including flagship institutions in every state — is floating this idea as a federal panel on the future of higher education has become increasingly critical of the way the government and colleges assure their quality. Leaders of the Secretary of Education’s Commission on the Future of Higher Education have for months been scaring colleges with talk of using new national tests to assure quality. And just last week, the panel infuriated accreditors when it released a report suggesting that the regional system of accrediting colleges be replaced with a national one.

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