California: Solano Community College professors decry low wages

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Vallejo Times-Herald: Solano Community College professors decry low wages

As contract talks near an impasse, a teacher salary survey shows Solano Community College near the bottom of the pack in California, according to the school’s faculty union.

Solano Community College ranks 63rd out of 72 California community college districts in salaries for first-year instructors with master’s degrees, chief faculty negotiator Terri Pearson-Bloom told the board of trustees this week. Some pay as much as $11,930 a year more, she said.

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Posted in Salary/Economic Benefits

Australia: ‘Activist’ academics black list under fire

Posted on October 20, 2008 by | Comments Off on Australia: ‘Activist’ academics black list under fire

The Australian: ‘Activist’ academics black list under fire

ACADEMICS named as militant left-wing ideologues in a black list tabled in federal parliament claim they are victims of a Young Liberals “witch-hunt”.

While many of the black-listed academics admit that humanities and social science faculties are dominated by progressives, they say bias is not a serious problem in Australian universities.

The list of more than 30 academics who are described as “unashamed activists for political and ideological causes such as radical feminism, animal rights and gay rights” has been published on the Young Liberals’ website.

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Posted in Government

U. of Nebraska at Lincoln Cancels Speech by William Ayers

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Omaha World-Herald: University cancels speech by Ayers

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln rescinded its speaking invitation tonight for 1960s radical-turned-educator William Ayers.

Just 11 days after next month’s election, the University of Illinois-Chicago professor, William Ayers, is scheduled to speak at a student research conference held by the UNL College of Education and Human Science.
University officials cited “safety reasons” for canceling Ayers’ Nov. 15 appearance.

Spokeswoman Kelly Bartling declined to elaborate on what safety concerns would keep Ayers from addressing a College of Education and Human Sciences event.

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Posted in Free speech

Interim President of Mississippi State U. Resigns Over Landscaping Scandal

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The Chronicle: Interim President of Mississippi State U. Resigns Over Landscaping Scandal

Vance H. Watson resigned today as interim president of Mississippi State University, according to a university news release. Mr. Watson had been under fire for authorizing $12,333 in landscaping work last year at the home of the state’s higher-education commissioner, Thomas C. Meredith.

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Posted in Administration

Don’t Be Kind to Adjuncts

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The Chronicle: Don’t Be Kind to Adjuncts

By STEVE STREET

This year, don’t be kind to adjuncts. Don’t be kind to the 68 percent of appointments in higher education that are now off the tenure track, to the 46 percent of faculty members nationwide who serve part time. Don’t be kind unless you can also put equity for us — proportional pay, benefits, security, and opportunities for professional development and advancement — front and center in department meetings, faculty senates, budget allocations, and even mission statements. Factor equity into your visionary fiveand 10-year plans. If even presidential tickets have begun to reflect the actual population, can academics continue to avoid the realities of ours?

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Posted in Commentary, Contingent labor

Proponents of Online Education Plan to Start Peer-to-Peer University Related materials

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The Chronicle: Proponents of Online Education Plan to Start Peer-to-Peer University
Related materials

Five academics from around the world plan to open a new kind of online university early next year, built upon professor star power and students learning from one another through online social tools. The teachers will be volunteers, the courses will cost next to nothing, and no official credit will be given.

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Posted in Academics, Technology

AAUP to Investigate Closing of Antioch College

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The Chronicle News Blog: AAUP to Investigate Closing of Antioch College

The American Association of University Professors plans to investigate whether Antioch University violated faculty-governance standards when it shut down Antioch College.

The Yellow Springs News, in Ohio, reported on Friday that the AAUP sent a letter this month to Antioch leaders informing them of the investigation. Anita Levy, an associate secretary of the association, told the newspaper that the group was concerned that professors had not been properly consulted and that their due-process rights had been violated. An ad hoc committee of professors from around the country who have not been involved in the case will conduct the investigation.

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Posted in Unions

UK: Lecturers fear anti-terror laws

Posted on October 19, 2008 by | Comments Off on UK: Lecturers fear anti-terror laws

University World News: UK: Lecturers fear anti-terror laws

A senior member of Britain’s Higher Education Academy has noted that many academics teaching and researching terrorism-related subjects are including disclaimers in their course materials as a result of anti-terror laws. According to Times Higher Education, a senior coordinator at the Academy’s centre for sociology, anthropology and politics organised a workshop on ‘teaching terrorism’ at the University of Strathclyde last month in response to the new fears.

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Posted in Academic freedom

Politics Found to Be Irrelevant in Most Courses

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Inside Higher Ed: Politics Found to Be Irrelevant in Most Courses

As David Horowitz and other critics have attacked colleges in recent years as full of liberal indoctrination, many college professors have wondered which campuses these critics had visited. While professors are more liberal than the average American, these faculty members have said over and again, the vast majority of courses focus on accounting or Spanish or composition or whatever — without much discussion of politics at all. A new book from the Brookings Institution Press finds pretty much what these professors have been saying all along. Closed Minds? Politics and Ideology in American Universities — by three professors at George Mason University — is based on both surveys and interviews and finds that there is so much “ideological peace” on campus that political debate is relatively rare and that campuses are rarely the site of sustained political discussions.

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Posted in Academics

Washington: WSU releases report on provost dispute

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Seattle Post-Intelligencer: WSU releases report on provost dispute

Washington State University officials on Thursday released a confidential internal report detailing a tense, hostile senior staff meeting that ended in profanity and a hallway shoving match.

The report, written by Senior Assistant Attorney General Antoinette Ursich, includes conflicting e-mails written to WSU President Elson Floyd and interview notes from conversations with everyone in the room when Steven Hoch’s provost career at WSU began to unravel.

Ursich said witnesses described Hoch’s behavior at a Sept. 10 staff meeting as “disrespectful, rude, condescending and arrogant.” The meeting veered out of control during a discussion of a proposed new budgeting model for the university.

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Posted in Administration

Arrivederci, Tenure

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Inside Higher Ed: Arrivederci, Tenure

Marcello Simonetta, an Italian professor for seven years at Wesleyan University, appeared to be on his way to receiving tenure last spring. But a funny thing happened on the way to the Board of Trustees. Despite having been vetted and approved by three faculty bodies, he was not recommended for tenure by Michael S. Roth, the university’s new president. Now, as he considers his next professional move, Simonetta believes rumors, spread among faculty, that he plagiarized his most recent book were the cause of his not being awarded tenure.

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Posted in Tenure & Promotion

Washington: WSU provost says he was assaulted by vice president

Posted on October 16, 2008 by | Comments Off on Washington: WSU provost says he was assaulted by vice president

Moscow-Pullman Daily News: WSU provost says he was assaulted by vice president

Washington State University Provost Steven Hoch claimed Wednesday he was “assaulted” last month by WSU Vice President for Business and Finance Greg Royer.

He said the incident is insignificant compared to another major issue at the university. He declined to elaborate.

Hoch said he has discussed the matter with a lawyer. He has been on paid personal leave since Sept. 23. He will step down as provost Oct. 31 and assume a tenured faculty position in the department of history Nov. 1.

Royer was placed on administrative leave from Sept. 13-22. He did not return calls seeking comment.

WSU spokesman James Tinney said President Elson S. Floyd was not available for comment.

WSU officials have declined to provide the reasons for Hoch and Royer’s leaves. The university plans to release more information Oct. 22 in response to a pair of public records requests.

In an e-mail, Tinney stated that the “situation” was reported internally, as required by university policy.

“It was looked into,” he said. “When the records are released, I believe they will show that the university took appropriate steps to respond to the situation.”

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Posted in Administration

Grievances About Grievance Procedures

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Inside Higher Ed: Grievances About Grievance Procedures

When a faculty member feels wronged, there’s usually a system in place to turn to, whether or not it’s one that has broad support and trust.

It’s that last part that makes the difference between grievance procedures that enjoy broad buy-in from faculty, as opposed to a perception that they are a tool of the administration. At the University of Missouri at Columbia, where the system has undergone several overhauls in recent years, faculty members are again voting for a new set of procedures that would streamline the process and, among other things, place an administrator on the grievance resolution panel along with members of the faculty.

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Posted in Governance

Schwarzenegger’s Veto of Labor Centers Is Said to Threaten Academic Freedom

Posted on October 15, 2008 by | Comments Off on Schwarzenegger’s Veto of Labor Centers Is Said to Threaten Academic Freedom

The Chronicle News Blog: Schwarzenegger’s Veto of Labor Centers Is Said to Threaten Academic Freedom

Berkeley, Calif. — More than 400 faculty and staff members at California colleges sent a letter on Wednesday protesting Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s elimination of funds for labor-research centers on two University of California campuses, saying the cuts threatened academic freedom.

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Posted in Academic freedom

The Tenure Lawsuit of a Lifetime

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The Chronicle: The Tenure Lawsuit of a Lifetime

Joseph M. Hayse’s three-decade quest for tenure is littered with bodies. It has outlived the careers of most of the people involved — and several of the people themselves.

In 1979, Mr. Hayse filed a lawsuit against the University of Kentucky that has turned into a legal Ping-Pong match anecdotally described as the longest-running court battle in the Bluegrass State, and perhaps the lengthiest tenure dispute in the country.

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Posted in Legal issues, Media, Tenure & Promotion

Morelos State Mexico Riot Police Clash With Teachers

Posted on October 15, 2008 by | Comments Off on Morelos State Mexico Riot Police Clash With Teachers

Morelos State Mexico Riot Police Clash With Teachers

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Posted in Protests

In Search of Self-Governance, Unionization?

Posted on October 15, 2008 by | Comments Off on In Search of Self-Governance, Unionization?

Inside Higher Ed: In Search of Self-Governance, Unionization?

Ohio University’s Faculty Senate voted 23-18 with three abstentions Monday to endorse a movement toward unionization — calling on professors to “begin the process of organizing themselves into a collective bargaining unit for the purpose of negotiating a contractual agreement with the university, instituting meaningful shared governance, to which the university administration would be bound by law.”

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Posted in Governance, Unions

EUROPE: A better life for EU researchers?

Posted on October 14, 2008 by | Comments Off on EUROPE: A better life for EU researchers?

World University News: EUROPE: A better life for EU researchers?

The 27 European Union governments have moved to improve the working conditions and career prospects of their researchers by approving measures designed to provide them with “real social recognition and a satisfactory standard of living”.

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Posted in Working conditions

Michigan: Teachers back from strike, but some students boycott

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Detroit Free Press: Teachers back from strike, but some students boycott

Wayne-Westland Community Schools reopened Friday after a four-day teacher strike, but some high school students boycotted classes and there were questions about whether some parents were holding children home in support of teachers.

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Posted in Strikes & Labor Disputes

Ohio: Your turn: Data point to unionization as ‘move backward’ for OU

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The Post: Your turn: Data point to unionization as ‘move backward’ for OU

Ohio University Faculty Senate is contemplating a resolution for collective bargaining. Pro-union faculty suggest collective bargaining will benefit faculty long-term. Unfortunately, data do not support this argument. Institutional Research Salary Study data demonstrate that 5-year cumulative salary increases at non-union schools are higher than union schools for all faculty ranks: Professors, 16 percent non-union versus 11 percent union; Associate Professors 13 percent union versus 10 percent union; Assistant Professors, 16 percent non-union versus 14 percent union. Faculty salary increases (%) at Ohio University often equal or exceed the salary increases (%) at other non-union universities in Ohio.

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Posted in Commentary