{"id":9082,"date":"2012-09-06T15:15:47","date_gmt":"2012-09-06T23:15:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/workplace\/?p=9082"},"modified":"2012-09-06T15:15:47","modified_gmt":"2012-09-06T23:15:47","slug":"cocal-updates-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/workplace\/2012\/09\/cocal-updates-8\/","title":{"rendered":"COCAL Updates"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>COCAL Updates<br \/>\nUpdates in brief and links<\/p>\n<p>1. Kaplan faculty in Liverpool, England, UK unionize!  From Jon Blanchette a Kaplan NY union leader.<br \/>\nThe reason why I&#8217;m writing is to let you know about another organizing victory for Kaplan teachers, this time in the UK. One of their reps posted this comment on our blog to reach out and let us know that our success in NYC helped them make the case to teachers in Liverpool to do likewise:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/abetterkaplan.blogspot.com\/2012\/07\/the-unionization-process.html?showComment=1345815597957#c5791634900816573691 \">http:\/\/abetterkaplan.blogspot.com\/2012\/07\/the-unionization-process.html?showComment=1345815597957#c5791634900816573691 <\/a><\/p>\n<p>[To the best of my knowledge, it&#8217;s the first Kaplan to unionize in the UK.]<\/p>\n<p>2.<a href=\"http:\/\/www.truth-out.org\/buzzflash\/commentary\/item\/10402-are-americas-public-universities-in-danger-of-being-privatized \"> Are American Public Universities being privatized?<\/a><\/p>\n<p>3.<a href=\"http:\/\/logosjournal.com\/2012\/spring-summer_schultz\/\"> The Rise and Demise of the Neoliberal University<\/a><\/p>\n<p>4.<a href=\"http:\/\/socialistworker.org\/2012\/08\/28\/chicago-teachers-draw-a-line\"> Good article on Chicago Teachers struggle<\/a><\/p>\n<p>5.<a href=\"http:\/\/www.adjunctproject.com\/adjunct-issues-continuing-to-infiltrate-mainstream-media\/\"> Adjunct Project comments on new Huffington post online story<\/a><\/p>\n<p>and <a href=\"http:\/\/live.huffingtonpost.com\/r\/segment\/5038143a2b8c2a0c4d0000f0\">the story with people you know on screen<\/a><\/p>\n<p>6. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.insidehighered.com\/news\/2012\/08\/31\/newt-u-runs-kaplan-platform-gop-convention\">Newt Gingrich teaches a MOOC online for Kaplan from GOP convention<br \/>\n<\/a><br \/>\n7.<a href=\"http:\/\/www.enewspf.com\/latest-news\/school-news\/36151-us-conference-of-bishops-statement-supports-adjunct-union-at-duquesne.html \"> US Conference of Bishops supports adjunct union at Duquesne U<\/a><\/p>\n<p>8. <a href=\"http:\/\/jacobinmag.com\/2012\/08\/china-in-revolt\/\">Good article on Chines labor struggles<\/a><\/p>\n<p>9. Grad union at U Michigan seeks organizer. see below<\/p>\n<p>10.<a href=\"http:\/\/www.insidehighered.com\/news\/2012\/09\/04\/faculty-union-large-community-college-system-agrees-performance-pay#.UEZMBKqSQ2s.email\"> Chicago City Colleges FT faculty union, AFT 1600, accepts contract with merit pay tied to student test results<\/a><\/p>\n<p>11. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/pablo-eisenberg\/caste-system-higher-education_b_1853917.html\">Huffington Post blog (Pablo Eisenberg) on the recent Campaign for the Future of Higher Ed\/NFM report on contingent faculty<br \/>\n<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.adjunctnation.com\/?p=4533#comment-13685\">more reactions to the report<\/a> and  <a href=\"http:\/\/www.onlinecolleges.net\/2012\/08\/30\/we-are-all-adjunct-faculty\/\">http:\/\/www.onlinecolleges.net\/2012\/08\/30\/we-are-all-adjunct-faculty\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>12. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.counterpunch.org\/2012\/09\/04\/democrats-and-u-s-labor-delusional-about-latin-america\/\">From Counterpunch, Democrats, US Labor and Latin America (well worth a look)<\/a><\/p>\n<p>13.<a href=\"http:\/\/www.insidehighered.com\/quicktakes\/2012\/09\/05\/cal-state-faculty-union-endorses-new-contract\"> CA Faculty Assoc. (CFA) in the CA State U System ratifies new contract.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>14. Corrected info for Non-tenure Track Faculty conference in April in Pittsburgh  (see below)<\/p>\n<p>15. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2012\/09\/05\/us\/saving-joe-fraziers-gym-and-his-philadelphia-legacy.html?_r=0&#038;adxnnl=1&#038;adxnnlx=1346860925-K556Mprzl1TmBv330Uxtnw\">An adjunct teacher leads fight to save historic gym in Philly, from Alex Kudera, the adjunct novelist\/memoirist:<br \/>\na bit on the lighter side but worth noting it was an adjunct who saved Joe Frazier&#8217;s gym<\/a>: maybe another good example of how adjuncts, often by necessity living in the communities where they are teaching, can know a lot more about their students and what is going on in or around the campus community than the luxury faculty beamed in from Affluencia, USA.<\/p>\n<p>alex<\/p>\n<p>16. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.adjunctnation.com\/?p=4539\">Former Green River CC (WA) local president and WFT VP found to have embezeled funds. Adjunct Keith Hoeller presses for further investigation into this and other issues.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>17. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.insidehighered.com\/news\/2012\/09\/06\/national-university-faculty-say-administration-cutting-them-out-governance Updates in Full\">National U (CA), a CA nonprofit following the for-profit business model including no faculty tenure, is retaliating against faculty who complain.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>9.  ORGANIZER<\/p>\n<p>Graduate Employees\u2019 Organization (GEO), the union of graduate student instructors and graduate student staff assistants at the University of Michigan, is seeking a union organizer to work in Ann Arbor, MI.<\/p>\n<p>Candidates should have strong one-on-one organizing skills, deep knowledge of the higher education workplace, significant experience working with diverse populations, and a commitment to a participatory and progressive labor movement.<\/p>\n<p>Necessary Qualifications:<br \/>\n\u25cf      Strong one-on-one organizing skills<br \/>\n\u25cf      Ability to manage time and coordinate multiple projects in high-stress situations<br \/>\n\u25cf      Ability both to work independently and to facilitate group interactions<br \/>\n\u25cf      Ability to work evenings and weekends as needed<br \/>\n\u25cf      Willingness to make at least a two-year commitment<br \/>\n\u25cf      Basic computing knowledge, including experience with Microsoft Office or Open Office<br \/>\n\u25cf      Social networking skills<br \/>\n\u25cf      Ability to write, interpret, and apply contract language<br \/>\n\u25cf      Familiarity with grievance processes<br \/>\n\u25cf      US citizenship or other authorization to work in the United States<\/p>\n<p>Preferred Qualifications:<br \/>\n\u25cf      Internal organizing experience, especially in higher education<br \/>\n\u25cf      Other prior experience in a higher education environment<br \/>\n\u25cf      Experience organizing job actions and contract campaigns<br \/>\n\u25cf      Experience as a staff member in a volunteer-run organization<br \/>\n\u25cf      Experience in the labor movement<br \/>\n\u25cf      Work with a wide variety of software applications, including QuickBooks, Salsa, and MS Access<\/p>\n<p>The immediate assignment of the candidate hired for the currently-available position will focus on direct one-on-one organizing. Experience in this area is essential. Prior representation or union leadership experience is welcomed, but not necessary.<\/p>\n<p>Applications will be accepted through Monday, Sept 10, 2012. Salary range is approximately $54,000, with a potential for increases based on experience.  Health insurance provided by employer.  An additional stipend is given as an allowance for phone and parking expenses.<\/p>\n<p>Please submit a single PDF file with last name as the first part of the filename (i.e. smith_application.pdf) containing a resume, a brief introductory letter, and answers to the following questions, length no longer than 2 pages total:<\/p>\n<p>        \u2022 What do you see as the central purpose of a union?<br \/>\n        \u2022 This position involves organizing a large number of people. Some might not be enthusiastic about getting involved in the union, may not know much about unions, or will be afraid of what their supervisors will think of their involvement with a union. What would be your strategy to recruit members and leaders and build the organization?<br \/>\n        \u2022 A department steward isn\u2019t coming to meetings, and isn\u2019t being conscientious about following up with people in their department.  A first-year student in this department is very eager to be involved.  What do you do?<\/p>\n<p>E-mail to Jenny Kohn at veep@geo3550.org. Please use \u201cGEO Organizer Application\u201d as the subject line.<\/p>\n<p>GEO is an equal-opportunity employer.<\/p>\n<p>_______________________________________________<br \/>\ncgeu-list mailing list<br \/>\ncgeu-list@cgeu.org<br \/>\nhttp:\/\/cgeu.org\/cgi-bin\/mailman\/listinfo\/cgeu-list<br \/>\n&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;<\/p>\n<p>14.  Dear faculty, graduate students, and those interested in the non-tenure-track faculty conference:<\/p>\n<p>I am writing because you may have received the incorrect address for the conference Countering Contingency: Teaching, Scholarship, and<\/p>\n<p>Creativity in the Age of theAdjunct, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, April 5-7, 2013.<\/p>\n<p>The correct address for abstracts and other communication is nttfconference@gmail.com (note the &#8221; f &#8220;)<br \/>\nPlease resend your abstracts and any questions or concerns, and please accept our apologies for this error.<br \/>\nAttached you will find the corrected Call for Participation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>COCAL Updates Updates in brief and links 1. Kaplan faculty in Liverpool, England, UK unionize! From Jon Blanchette a Kaplan NY union leader. The reason why I&#8217;m writing is to let you know about another organizing victory for Kaplan teachers, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/workplace\/2012\/09\/cocal-updates-8\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2254],"tags":[2421,504213,1288944],"class_list":["post-9082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-contingent-labor","tag-adjuncts","tag-cocal","tag-contingent-labor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/workplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/workplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/workplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/workplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/workplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9082"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/workplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9082\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9083,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/workplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9082\/revisions\/9083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/workplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/workplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/workplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}