War of Words in Alabama Escalates From Cockroaches to Mobsters to the Führer

Posted on August 18, 2007 by | Comments Off on War of Words in Alabama Escalates From Cockroaches to Mobsters to the Führer

The Birmingham News: Reed letter is battle’s latest front

o say that the battle for control of the state’s two-year college system is intense would be an understatement.

The clash has Gov. Bob Riley and state two-year college Chancellor Bradley Byrne on one side and the Alabama Education Association and some state lawmakers on the other. It already has resulted in the forced retirements of two community college presidents and one system vice chancellor, and it has produced one lawsuit with the promise of more to come.

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Posted in Administration

U. of California’s President, Robert Dynes, to Resign After Tumultuous 5 Years

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The Chronicle News Blog: U. of California’s President, Robert Dynes, to Resign After Tumultuous 5 Years

Robert C. Dynes, president of the University of California since 2003, announced today that he would step down in June 2008. During a busy stint as president, Mr. Dynes, a renowned physicist, has faced budget cuts, a compensation scandal, high turnover among campus chancellors, and struggles over maintaining student diversity in the 10-campus system.

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Posted in Administration

New Zealand Faculty Union Warns It Could Sue Over American Professor’s Dismissal

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The Chronicle: New Zealand Faculty Union Warns It Could Sue Over American Professor’s Dismissal

New Zealand’s major faculty union has warned it may sue the country’s largest university over its dismissal of an American political scientist who sent an inflammatory e-mail message to a graduate student.

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Posted in Employment rights

Openly Gay Presidents Say ‘Chronicle’ Article Left Them Out

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The Chronicle News Blog: Openly Gay Presidents Say ‘Chronicle’ Article Left Them Out

An article in this week’s Chronicle reports that the nation now boasts three openly gay university presidents. In response, several presidents have written to ask: “What about us?”

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Posted in Administration, Diversity

Drexel to considers California branch

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Auburn Journal: Drexel University considers Roseville campus

An East Coast private university is entertaining the thought of going bi-coastal and setting up shop in Placer County.

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Posted in Corporate University

UCLA Police Officers Used Excessive Force in Taser Incident, Independent Report Concludes

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The Chronicle: UCLA Police Officers Used Excessive Force in Taser Incident, Independent Report Concludes

Police officers at the University of California at Los Angeles used excessive force last November when they repeatedly used a stun gun to subdue a student, according to a new independent report. The campus police chief disagrees with that finding, however, and says no officers will be disciplined.

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Posted in Students

Academic Coalition Loses Court Challenge to U.S. Government’s Near-Ban on Academic Travel to Cuba

Posted on August 18, 2007 by | Comments Off on Academic Coalition Loses Court Challenge to U.S. Government’s Near-Ban on Academic Travel to Cuba

The Chronicle: Academic Coalition Loses Court Challenge to U.S. Government’s Near-Ban on Academic Travel to Cuba

A federal court has ruled against a group of academics who challenged restrictions imposed by the Bush administration in 2004 that virtually ended academic travel to Cuba

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Posted in Government

Colleges Champion Diversity Among Students and Professors, but Few Hire Openly Gay Presidents

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The Chronicle: Colleges Champion Diversity Among Students and Professors, but Few Hire Openly Gay Presidents

While gay and lesbian scholars are taken for granted throughout most of academe, they are in noticeably short supply in college presidencies. Experts cite a number or reasons for that disparity, including cautious governing boards that are concerned about alienating donors.

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Posted in Administration, Diversity

Chicago: Teachers union: That raise won’t be enough

Posted on August 17, 2007 by | Comments Off on Chicago: Teachers union: That raise won’t be enough

Sun-Times: Teachers union: That raise won’t be enough

The Chicago Teachers Union came out charging Wednesday evening, saying a deal announced this week of 3 to 3.5 percent yearly raises for non-teaching Chicago Public School workers isn’t enough for teachers.

“[CPS] will have to change for us,” CTU President Marilyn Stewart told reporters after she briefed CTU members on contract talks.

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Posted in Campaigns & Contracts

Kenya: We’ll Strike Over TSC, Say Teachers

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allAfrica.com: Kenya: We’ll Strike Over TSC, Say Teachers

The Kenya National Union of Teachers has threatened to mobilise its 240,000 members for a strike should the Government scrap the Teachers Service Commission.

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Posted in Strikes & Labor Disputes

Wisconsin: It’s time for UW faculty to gain union rights

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Journal-Sentinel: It’s time for UW faculty to gain union rights

Albert Einstein once said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Unfortunately, in the University of Wisconsin System, we have reached critical mass on the insanity meter.

Faculty begin each academic year believing that shared governance means we have a say in what happens on campus. (It doesn’t.) The Republicans in the Legislature begin each biennium by casting their first stones at UW System faculty and academic staff. When will faculty members wise up and realize that collective bargaining will actually give us a say in what goes on and will remove the bull’s-eye painted on our backsides?

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Posted in Uncategorized

Newfoundland: Student union worried about faculty strike

Posted on August 17, 2007 by | Comments Off on Newfoundland: Student union worried about faculty strike

CBC: Student union worried about faculty strike

Memorial University students are anxiously awaiting word on the current impasse between the school and its professors.

Talks between the Memorial University Faculty Association, MUNFA, and the school’s administration broke off Friday after 12 months of negotiations, and the association says a strike vote is imminent.

CBC: N.L. university profs ready for strike vote

Professors at Memorial University in Newfoundland say a strike is imminent, after 12 months of negotiations broke off Friday.

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Posted in Strikes & Labor Disputes

Pennsylvania: ESU faculty union urges teachers to reject contract

Posted on August 15, 2007 by | Comments Off on Pennsylvania: ESU faculty union urges teachers to reject contract

AP: ESU faculty union urges teachers to reject contract

HARRISBURG — Leaders of a union that represents 5,500 faculty members at Pennsylvania’s state-owned universities, including East Stroudsburg University, have withdrawn their endorsement of a tentative contract and are urging professors to reject the four-year pact, the union president said Wednesday.

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Posted in Campaigns & Contracts

Delaware: UD student sues after Web site leads to university suspension

Posted on August 2, 2007 by | Comments Off on Delaware: UD student sues after Web site leads to university suspension

The Daily Times: UD student sues after Web site leads to university suspension

A student suspended and banned from the University of Delaware over concerns about offensive material on his Web site filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday claiming that the school has violated his constitutional rights to free speech and due process.

According to Maciej Murakowski, 19, UD makes its Internet server available for students to create their own Web sites, with no restrictions on content other than that it not violate state or federal law, and can not be used for commercial purposes.

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Posted in Students

Pa. university union leaders now oppose faculty pact

Posted on August 2, 2007 by | Comments Off on Pa. university union leaders now oppose faculty pact

New Journal: Pa. university union leaders now oppose faculty pact

Leaders of a union that represents 5,500 faculty members at Pennsylvania’s state-owned universities have reversed their position on a tentative contract agreement and are urging professors to reject the four-year pact, the union president said today.

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Posted in Campaigns & Contracts

Ousted President at Eastern Michigan U. Dishes to Larry King

Posted on August 1, 2007 by | Comments Off on Ousted President at Eastern Michigan U. Dishes to Larry King

The Chronicle News Blog: Ousted President at Eastern Michigan U. Dishes to Larry King

The former president of Eastern Michigan University, John A. Fallon III, has spoken publicly for the first time since his firing this month. He appeared on CNN’s Larry King Live last night, along with his wife and his lawyer.

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Posted in Administration

Ward Churchill And The Diversity Agenda

Posted on August 1, 2007 by | Comments Off on Ward Churchill And The Diversity Agenda

FrontPage Magazine: Ward Churchill And The Diversity Agenda
By KC Johnson

Mindingthecampus.com | 7/30/2007

This week, as expected, the University of Colorado regents dismissed Professor Ward Churchill from his tenured position in the Ethnic Studies Department. (A university committee had found that Churchill committed plagiarism and misused sources.) And, as expected, Churchill has filed suit, alleging First Amendment violations.

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Posted in Diversity

More than 10,000 academics sign petition against U.K. boycott bid

Posted on August 1, 2007 by | Comments Off on More than 10,000 academics sign petition against U.K. boycott bid

Haaretz: More than 10,000 academics sign petition against U.K. boycott bid

More than 10,000 people have signed a petition denouncing attempts to mount an academic boycott against Israel. The petition was initiated in early June by Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME), an independent, faculty-driven, nonprofit group.

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Posted in Protests

UK: Teachers strike over extra hours

Posted on August 1, 2007 by | Comments Off on UK: Teachers strike over extra hours

Enfield Independent: Teachers strike over extra hours

LESSONS were cancelled at Edmonton County School last week as teachers went on strike over a rise in the amount of time they must spend in the classroom.

Around 50 teachers, who are members of the National Union of Teachers (NUT), stood outside the educational establishment, in Great Cambridge Road, on Wednesday morning.

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Posted in International, Strikes & Labor Disputes

South Africa: Second strike in Western Cape ‘unavoidable’

Posted on August 1, 2007 by | Comments Off on South Africa: Second strike in Western Cape ‘unavoidable’

Mail & Guardian: Second strike in Western Cape ‘unavoidable’
This week union federation Cosatu declared a dispute with government, setting the stage for a second public service strike in the Western Cape less than three weeks after the end of the biggest civil servant strike since 1994.

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Posted in International, Strikes & Labor Disputes