Tag Archives: Layoffs

Capilano U seizes instructor’s sculpture of president with poodle #bced #bcpoli #edstudies #censored

Capilano U faculty member George Rammell’ s caricature of the institution’s President Kris Bulcroft, “Blathering on in Krisendom”

Carlito Pablo, Georgia Straight, May 13, 2014– IT’S A WORK in progress: Capilano University president Kris Bulcroft wrapped in a U.S. flag, with a poodle, and all.

But it’s gone, and its creator, George Rammell, a CapU instructor of sculpture, wants the piece returned.

“It’s ridiculous!” Rammell told the Straight by phone today (May 12) about the seizure of his work from the university grounds.

“I mean, we live in Canada for God’s sakes,” Rammell continued. “We’re not living in China or Iran.”

In a news release, Rammell said that he discovered the unfinished sculpture titled Blathering on in Krisendom gone from CapU’s sculpture area last Wednesday (May 7).

“I immediately called security and the guard told me that orders were given by the top level of the Administration to seize it. I could hardly believe my ears. The Administration had ordered my piece removed off campus to an undisclosed location, without any consultation or prior discussion. I was shocked and not sure if this was Canada,” Rammell stated in the release.

He continued: “I called the RCMP to report the theft. The officer arrived and he said he had been talking to Administration: they had asked him if they would be liable if they destroyed the sculpture. They were making assumptions (with the aid of their lawyer), believing they owned the work because it was made on university property. They are concerned that if returned to me I’d continue to exhibit it.

“Last May President Bulcroft held a public forum where she asked everyone to forgive her violations of process and follow her into the future. She denounced my effigy as sexist, misogynist bullying. But several faculty members who teach Woman’s Studies didn’t see anything sexist about the piece whatsoever. In fact they chastised the President’s attempts to gain sympathy in such a manner.

“I started the project at the request of a faculty member and I had the financial support of my Faculty Association.

“I recently showed Blathering on in Krisendom at the Gordon Smith Gallery of Canadian Art, and in a solo show in the Studio Art Gallery at Cap U, but I don’t consider the piece finished. As with much of my work it’s continuing to evolve. I now want my sculpture returned immediately so I can continue sculpting it. I have other exhibition intentions for this on-going project. I see the Administration’s illegal seizure as part of their ongoing assumption that they can ignore the basic rights of employees and ignore their responsibilities to consult. The BC Supreme Court ruled in favor of our faculty’s position that the university violated the University Act in making unilateral cuts to Programs. These art Programs carry a legacy across the country and will be impossible to replace.”

On the phone, Rammell explained that Bulcroft was brought in from the U.S. to head CapU, hence the American flag in the sculpture. He added that some of Bulcroft’s promotional materials show her with a poodle.

Brita Harrison Brooke, manager of stakeholder relations for CapU, didn’t have an immediate comment. Brooke wrote the Straight to say that the university’s vice president for finance and administration, Cindy Turner, will be speaking to Rammell.

Cuts to English language learning programs in #BCed #highered #caut #edstudies #ubc #ubced #bcpoli

Cindy Oliver, CAUT Bulletin, January 2014– English Language Training (ELT) programs play an increasingly critical role in Canada’s post-secondary institutions as the diversity and complexity of our student population changes, and with it, the need to address those changes with programs that strengthen language proficiency. Although post-secondary education is primarily a provincial responsibility, the federal government plays a crucial role in the funding of ELT programs across the country. And it’s the looming cuts to the federal government’s contribution to those programs that has united British Columbia’s student organizations and the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators to pressure governments to take a different approach.

On Dec. 16, the federation, along with the BC division of the Canadian Federation of Students held a press conference at the Vancouver Community College’s (VCC) downtown Vancouver campus to announce plans to launch a province-wide campaign to pressure the federal and provincial governments to protect the funding arrangement that sees close to $20 million in federal funding flow through BC’s Ministry of Advanced Education to support a range of ELT programs in BC institutions.

It was no coincidence the press conference was held at the Vancouver campus of VCC; it is the largest provider of ELT programs in western Canada. It’s a role that VCC has excelled at for more than 40 years. And it has become something of a professional hub for a growing number of international students who have come to Canada to begin a new life, but need to strengthen their English language skills to ensure they can fully participate in their new country.

On hand for the press conference was Saeideh Ghassarifar, a foreign trained doctor who enrolled at VCC after immigrating to Canada from Iran. During media interviews, Ghassarifar pointed out she has an extensive educational background in her chosen field — she has three degrees, including a PhD in health care education — but she recognizes that her English language skills need to be much stronger. As she said in one interview, “as a doctor I need to understand and be understood when I am dealing with patients.” For her, the VCC English language programs are critical to her ultimate success in this country.

However, the very programs Ghassarifar accesses at VCC are under threat if the federal government moves ahead with its plans to withdraw funding currently in place under a long-standing federal-provincial settlement services agreement. It is through that agreement that BC receives close to $20 million in federal funding that eventually works its way into ELT programs at institutions like VCC. The change to the settlement program in BC, if it goes ahead as announced, would take effect on April 1, 2014.

The federal government’s rationale for cutting the funding makes no sense. Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s austerity rhetoric has permeated every aspect of life in Canada, from oversight of the environment to the muzzling of federal government researchers and scientists. In every case, Harper’s approach has been to diminish the capacity of government to provide information and services that would fulfill the federal government’s part of the social contract with Canadians, a contract that should respect our rights as citizens while ensuring sustainable and balanced growth is shared. During his ten­ure as Prime Minister we have seen no evidence that he intends to keep up his side of the contract.

Just as troubling, however, is that Harper’s reneging on the $20 million in funding for BC programs comes at a time when the pro­vincial government’s commitment to post-secondary education has come under enormous pressure. For most of the past 12 years, core funding of BC’s public institutions, like in many other provinces, has simply not kept pace with the demands of increased enrolment or system-wide cost pressures. Add in the fact that government policy shifts that have allowed tuition fees to skyrocket over that same period — in BC the average undergraduate tuition fee has more than doubled — and the pressures on access and affordability have simply added more barriers to the education that government, business leaders and the broader community all know are critical to our collective success as both a province and a country. Notably, the BC Business Council — hardly a left-wing think tank — has pointed out on numerous occasions that 75 per cent of all new jobs in BC will require some form of post-secondary education (a degree, diploma, certificate or completed apprenticeship). The council notes that currently only two-thirds of BC’s labour force has that education.

The cuts in funding for English language programs are a step backwards. They will hurt students, the very people that BC and Canada need to support and encourage. Our campaign will focus on their stories and highlight the urgent need to keep ELT funding in place. Working together with allies and the broader community we are confident we can make a difference.

Cindy Oliver is president of the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators of BC.

Read More: CAUT Bulletin

Podcast CBC: The income gap between tenure faculty & adjunct contract professors in Canadian universities #ubc #ubced#bced #criticaled #edstudies

The Current, CBC– If you’ve got a university student in the family, increasingly they may be being taught by a highly educated professional who can’t get full time work. Or make a living wage. Today, Project Money looks at impoverished professors.

Many people who’ve earned advanced degrees are astonished at how little some universities value their graduates.

“Our working conditions are your learning conditions. I will give you an A plus right now if you promise to agitate on behalf of adjunct equity and rights.”

Fordham adjunct professor Alan Trevithick teases students

In Canada, climbing the Ivory tower has never been harder. More people graduate with PhDs, but full-time tenure track faculty positions are harder to get. Many highly educated Canadians struggle to find adequate-paying work that meets their credentials.

And for those who dream of chalk-boards, lecture halls, and tweed jackets… the best they can get is work as a part-time instructor.

It’s estimated that about half of all teaching in the country is done by contract professors — instead of permanent full time professors.

  • Beth Parton left teaching in search of greener pastures… along with stable work and good pay. She is a former university professor with a doctorate in religion and culture. Beth Parton was in Toronto.
  • Elizabeth Hodgson is a tenured professor at the University of British Columbia but spent 9 years teaching there as an adjunct professor. She is also a member of the Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee at the Canadian Association of University Teachers. Elizabeth Hodgson was in our Vancouver studio.
  • Ian Lee says there are many reasons adjunct professors are falling behind. He is an Assistant Professor in Strategic Management and International Business at the Sprott School of Business. Ian Lee was in Ottawa.

Listen: CBC The Current

SIU faculty warned of possible layoffs

Herald-Review: SIU faculty warned of possible layoffs

CARBONDALE — Southern Illinois University at Carbondale is putting some employees on notice layoffs could happen later this year.

A letter from the university administration to the Non-Tenure Track Faculty Association earlier this week indicated some nontenured faculty positions may have to be eliminated, citing decreases in state funding and a possible decline in enrollment this fall. Full-time nontenured faculty will be notified of a decision by July 6, all others by July 21, the letter states.

Harvard Layoffs Threaten the University’s Backbone: Libraries | Labor Notes

Harvard Layoffs Threaten the University’s Backbone: Libraries | Labor Notes.

Harvard has 73 libraries that comprise the largest private library collection in the world. The library system attracts researchers from around the world, a major draw for attracting the best faculty in all fields. From ancient maps to personal effects to photography collections, not to mention millions of books and journals in multiple languages, the materials of Harvard’s libraries are the keystone supporting billions of dollars in research grants awarded to the Harvard community each year.

Such a large collection is unusable without librarians and library staff to catalog materials and help researchers sift through the mountains of information. Most research using the Harvard library would be impossible without the aid of library workers.

When Tenure Means Nothing

Inside Higher Ed: When Tenure Means Nothing

Clark Atlanta University violated the rights of 55 faculty members — 20 of them with tenure — when it eliminated their jobs without faculty consultation or due process, and without regard to whether or not they had tenure, according to a report issued Wednesday by the American Association of University Professors. The AAUP called the dismissals — covering a quarter of the faculty — “outrageous” and “especially egregious.”

The historically black university said at the time that it was responding to an “enrollment emergency,” and repeatedly denied that it was facing “financial exigency.” The latter state is one that the AAUP requires for the elimination of the jobs of tenured professors (although even in such cases, the association’s guidelines require faculty participation in the process, which was largely absent at Clark Atlanta). Not only do AAUP guidelines not allow for such job eliminations as a result of enrollment declines, but the report questioned whether the declines were as significant as the university claimed.

AAUP Report Slams Clark Atlanta U. Over Faculty Layoffs

The Chronicle: AAUP Report Slams Clark Atlanta U. Over Faculty Layoffs

The American Association of University Professors issued a report today accusing Clark Atlanta University of numerous violations of faculty rights in connection with its dismissal of about a fourth of its faculty members last year.

The report, by an AAUP investigative committee, concludes that the university’s administration declared a nonexistent “enrollment emergency” last February as a pretext for firing about 55 full-time faculty members without due process.

Facing Protesting Workers, College Backs Off Layoffs

San Jose Mercury News: Evergreen College Board backs off plans to lay off workers in wake of chancellor Perez investigation

Facing about 200 angry college employees, the board of trustees of the San Jose/Evergreen Community College District backed off plans to lay off 85 workers and 21 managers, saying it would explore other strategies to fill a $3.5 million dollar budget shortfall.

Employees said their jobs should not be sacrificed in light of allegations that outgoing Chancellor Rosa Perez charged the district and its foundation for lavish perks that included overnight stays at San Jose’s luxury Fairmont Hotel, a tour of El Salvador and airfare to Scotland.

Texas employee union targets UT layoffs

The Daily Texan: Employee union targets UT layoffs

More than a thousand students, professors and faculty have put their names on a petition to protest proposed layoffs during the new budget cycle. The Texas State Employees Union is organizing the petition and asking participants on campus to call the UT Board of Regents, UT President William Powers and state legislators with their concerns.

Layoffs reversed at Radford

Richmond Times-Dispatch: Radford president asks administrators to return to their jobs

RADFORD — Radford University President Penelope Kyle has asked two popular administrators to return to their jobs in the New Student Programs and Services Office, which was dissolved this month by Vice President for Student Affairs Norleen Pomerantz

When Tenured Professors Are Laid Off, What Recourse?

The Chronicle: When Tenured Professors Are Laid Off, What Recourse?
At Southern Mississippi, fights against program cuts are hampered by the lack of a formal process, professors find

If the University of Southern Mississippi seeks to fire a tenured faculty member for cause—that is, for allegedly sleeping with a student or some other malfeasance—that faculty member has recourse to a long sequence of hearings and appeals, spelled out in 48 paragraphs in the faculty handbook.

Rutgers University faculty union approves pay raise delay to avoid layoffs, cuts

Star-Ledger: Rutgers University faculty union approves pay raise delay to avoid layoffs, cuts

The Rutgers University faculty union approved an agreement with school officials Friday that staves off layoffs and other deep cuts by delaying two previously negotiated raises.

By slowing down wage increases for 4,200 union members, including professors and teaching assistants, Rutgers will spend $20 million less than initially thought over the next two years. That should help the university ride out the recession without shedding jobs. Without the deal, according to vice president of budgeting Nancy Winterbauer, the number of full-time faculty and staff positions would have fallen by 270 — 3.6 percent of the state-funded workforce. And about 450 fewer part-time lecturers would be appointed, she wrote in an e-mail.

U of Illinois’s Global Campus staffers given notice of layoffs

News-Gazette: UI’s Global Campus staffers given notice of layoffs

URBANA – Virtually the entire University of Illinois Global Campus staff, which services about 500 students in the online education program, has been notified of layoffs.

Meanwhile, the leader of Global Campus has moved back to faculty status but retains the $344,850 salary he earned as administrator, at least for the next year.

Update on Korea University layoffs

This is the news of the demand for revocation of the 88 lecturers laid off by Korea University.

It is understood that 88 lecturers from Korea University, and 5,000-10,000 lecturers in the whole country, have been the victims of lay-offs.

If it was a typical company those who were fired could fight and in the case of Ssangyong Motors, they fought and were able to achieve a half-victory. However if a fired lecturer fights, in the academic world that lecturer would be labelled as a troublemaker, and it would be the end of his career. It is worse than simply being put on a blacklist. Even I myself teach every semester with the thought that it may be my last one to seek university normalization. So even though all of the 88 lecturers are as one in resenting the dismissal, they cannot step forward to fight it.

One laid off lecturer says: I don’t want to lecture anymore. Another lecturer who has a PhD says: My child are just two so I can’t speak up. Another lecturer said to his department, I received to teach three courses in the second semester; but I can’t teach any longer because I can’t stand this Korea University which only gives lip service to academic freedom and conscience’. The department said it was struggling with the university so they should be a little patient.

On Koreapas (koreapas.net) one laid-off lecturer’s wife posted the desperate words below, on 8. 23:

The following is what i posted online on July 10 on the university homepage’s Cyber-inspection room for online petitions. Since I received no reply I posted it on the free bulletin board, but maybe because it became old it has been removed and I am re-posting it here. Whatever is the reason we need a cyber-inspection room, if they simply ignore what people post without responding at all? It would be less embarrassing if they simply got rid of it….

‘I am the wife of an hourly paid lecturer who is teaching at your esteemed university.

A few days ago, my husband was contacted by a department professor who told him that since he has worked over 4 terms in the second semester he would be dismissed.

The department professor told him, this instruction was passed to them through an official notice from the university central department in relation to the irregular worker act.
What I don’t understand is, my husband already received the instruction to proceed teaching in the second semester at the end of the first semester; the teaching schedule for the second semester has already been posted and students’ course applications already received, and the irregular worker act does not even apply.

That even a famous private university, Korea University which is called the people’s university, would do this kind of excessive and rude act is a fact that makes me angry and miserable.

I even think that now there are no longer any teachers existing, who think of education seriously. It only inspires disillusionment and contempt that, in this country, the university itself is the place that is turning a large number of hourly lecturers who are responsible for education, into a socially weak and marginalized class.

I hope that you can abandon the false image of authority which is not even recognized, and wake up and clarify this for us.’

Even though he had no security for his future, my husband lived with fulfillment from teaching his students and juniors. But now I see that he has lost all motivation and as his wife I feel anxious and insecure.

I feel, it is not right to use and dispose of a person like this.

I feel, it is not right to ignore even the students’ right to study as they choose, like this.

I wonder, as an alumnus of Korea University myself, whether I should just accept all this, and so I ask for the rest of the Korea University community for your thoughts…

***
On August 21, 10 a.m., in front of the central Anam Building of Korea Univerdity, a press conference titled ‘Please let us have our teachers back!’ was held by Korea Univ student unions, where over 40 people attended, including Chung Tae-ho, president of Anam Campus of Korea Univ. student union, Lee Sae-ra, vice president of Sejong Campus of Korea Univ. student union, representatives of College of Political Economy, representatives of College of Liberal Arts, Kim Dong-ae, head of Central Struggle Committee for Restoration of University Teacher Status of University Lecturers and Normalization of University education, Song Hwan-woong, vice director of National Association of School Parents for Genuine Education, Do Chun-soo, president of Korea University Democracy Alumni Association, and others. Reporters from several media attended including MBC, SBS, YTN, Seoul Newspaper, Hangook University Newspaper, Korea University Newspaper, Bae Lusia Int! ! ernet, etc. and YTN has reported on it.

Korea University union local leader Kim Young-kon said, ‘Whether from the aspect of the irregular worker protection act or raising the quality of lecturers, there are no grounds for dismissing the lecturers.’ Vice director Song Hwan-woong said ‘Apart from university entrance, if you want to improve the quality of university education and university lecturers, the dismissal of the lecturers must be revoked and their status as university teachers restored. President Do Chun-soo said, ‘Korea University must restore the jobs of the dismissed lecturers, and vice president Lee Ki-su of the Korean University Association should join in calling for the restoration of university teacher status to lecturers.’ President Jung Tae-ho said, ‘Give back our teachers.’ Vice president Lee Sae-ra said, ‘ The dismissal of our teachers is unfair and we demand revocation of the dismissals.’ Resolutions continued to be read out and shared.

****
You can send a letter to want revocation of laid-off lecturers of Korean University to below emails.
President of Korea University Lee Ki-su, e-kisu@korea.ac.kr
President of Republic of Korea, Lee Myung-bak, webmaster@president.go.kr
Minister of Education, Science and Technology, Ahn Byung-man, webmaster@mest.go.kr
Head of Korean Council for University Education & President of Ewha University, Lee Bae-yong. master@ewha.ac.kr
Head of the Committee for Education and Science & Technology of Korean National Assembly, Lee Jong-kul, anyang21@hanmail.net

Kim Young-kon, Korea University union local leader
Kim Dong-ae, head of Central Struggle Committee for Restoration of University Teacher Status of University Lecturers and Normalization of University education

Korean University Professors Union Reports Layoffs and Protests

Report from Korean University Irregular Professors Union, Chairman Kim Youngkon:

1935565411_yw3odw6r_imgp2636jpg2006224861_3gquvwvl_imgp2614jpg

Korea University laid off 88 irregular professors in July. Professors who have doctorate are except from the law that protects regular professors’ employment rights. Irregular professors lecture 4.2 hours a week average in Korea.

Korean irregular professors have no status in Korean Higher Education Law. Korean irregular professors want the Higher Education Law to be revised.

http://stip.or.kr/

California students unite against fee hikes, layoffs

Daily 49er: Students unite against fee hikes, layoffs
CSU faculty and students formed a rally Tuesday to give ‘shame’ to the CSU board of trustees

Protesters shouted “Shame on you!” and other slogans at trustees as they entered the chancellor’s office in Long Beach on Tuesday.

Ainsley Sanchez wiped the sweat off her forehead and punched her fists in the air as she marched and chanted alongside students, faculty members and parents who showed up Tuesday to protest outside California State University Chancellor Charles Reed’s office.

Cal State chancellor says layoffs likely even with furloughs

KPCC: Cal State chancellor says layoffs likely even with furloughs

California State University’s chancellor said today he anticipates layoffs next year even if its largest union agrees to furloughs. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez has more.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: During a teleconference, Cal State chancellor Charles Reed said his plan for two furlough days a month would apply to almost all employees and would erase nearly half of Cal State’s $584 million deficit.

Charles Reed: Furloughs save jobs. Furloughs keep people’s health insurance and retirement benefits in place.

Chancellor says CSU community will have to share the budget burden

The Tribune News: Chancellor says CSU community will have to share the budget burden

Those employed and studying at Cal Poly and the California State University system’s 22 other campuses will have to share the pain of budget shortfalls, chancellor Charles Reed said Thursday.

Economic conditions affect jobs of teachers across county

The Flint Journal: Economic conditions affect jobs of teachers across county

GENESEE COUNTY, Michigan — Local districts are clinging to their teachers and trying to avoid layoffs as enrollment numbers and funding lag.

While the Flint School District is taking a big hit, laying off 257 teachers in April, most local school systems are trying to avoid cutting instructors.

In Flint, the layoffs were intended to help avoid a $20-million budget deficit. On June 17, the Flint Board of education called back 73 teachers.

alif. budget crisis forces schools to slash programs, fire teachers, expand class sizes

Calif. budget crisis forces schools to slash programs, fire teachers, expand class sizes

Budget crisis forces deep cuts at Calif. schools

RICHMOND, Calif. — California’s historic budget crisis threatens to devastate a public education system that was once considered a national model but now ranks near the bottom in school funding and academic achievement.