UEA President: Michael Pfau
Here are all the details for Benjamin Ginsberg's (author of the Fall of the Faculty: the Rise of the All Administrative University and Why it Matters) public lecture Thursday evening September 26th at 7 p.m. at the Marshall Performing Arts Center.
Ginsberg does an admirable job of identifying the many challenges facing higher education generally and faculty in particular.
Ginsberg’s work has done much to document problems facing higher education.The day after his public lecture, Friday, September 27, please join us for a day of panel and workshop sessions, organized around potential solutions: “After the Fall: Restoring the Faculty and Preserving Higher Education.”
Throughout the day a series of panels and workshop sessions will explore issues revolving around contingent faculty, the high cost of higher education, faculty governance and collective bargaining, effective legislative lobbying, and student action. The day will conclude with the roundtable discussion with Ginsberg and the day’s session panelists. We expect attendees from a number of state and regional higher education institutions, so please take this opportunity to make common cause with faculty.
Registration is free (there is a small fee if you wish to join us for lunch) for faculty and students, and can be completed online at: http://events.SignUp4.com/
Here is the full schedule for Friday's sessions
After the Fall: Restoring the Faculty & Preserving Higher Education
Sponsored by UMD History Department, University Education Association, Education Minnesota
Friday, September 27, 2013
University of Minnesota-Duluth Campus
Registration
8:30-10:30 Kirby Student Center, Rafters
Session 1
9:30-10:30
- Why does college cost so much?
An overview of what drives cost in higher education, how tuition is set and what links cost to price will be discussed. Sticker shock over rising college tuition has been the focus of politicians and the media. The popular perception is that colleges are inefficient and dysfunctional. From an industry perspective, this is not an accurate explanation. We will explain why higher education costs rise more rapidly than costs of other goods and services. The rise in the average standard of living, the distribution of income and the use of highly educated labor will be examined. As long as productivity grows so too will society’s ability to pay for college. College only appears to be unaffordable. Find out why.
Room: KSC RDC 323 Presented by Jennifer Schultz and Richard Green
- Boots on the Ground: Effective Lobbying, Relationship Building and Why it Matters
“I did my part, I wrote a check and I voted.”
It is not enough to simply vote for recommended candidates. We must engage in the whole electoral process, from campaigning to effective lobbying and holding legislators accountable to the issues that are important to us. The value of developing relationships with legislators at home and at the capitol has a direct connection to your work life.
In this workshop will discuss the importance of organizing and actively engaging in the entire electoral process. Participants will have opportunity to become actively involved in this session.
Room: KSC RDC 333 Presented by Michael Mullins and Jodee Buhr
Session 2
11:00-12:00
- Contingent Faculty and Why They Matter
Who are "contingent faculty"? They are known as adjuncts, postdocs, TAs, non-tenure-track faculty, clinical faculty, part-timers, lecturers, instructors, or at UMD non-regulars. What they all have in common: they serve in insecure, unsupported positions with little job security and few protections for academic freedom. And they are the vast majority of U.S. faculty today. Something needs to change. 46 percent of all faculty are part-time and non-tenure-track positions of all types account for 65 percent of all faculty appointments in American higher education
The session will target both Union members and non-members, with one goal to bring more of the latter into the fold
Session goals:
- Promote engaged, informed advocacy.
- Promote an education-based culture that values teaching.
- Promote collaboration of term faculty as a collegial unit.
Questions to address:
- What is the ideal working environment for term faculty at UMD?
- What are the current shortfalls?
- How do we move from the present scenario towards the idea.
Room: KSC RDC 323 Presented by Paul Bates
- Student Action & Higher Education
Are you stressing out over how you are going to pay for college? This session will discuss what MPIRG is all about and how we advocate for issues that are important to students. We have been working a campaign focused on increasing college affordability for students. Join us to learn more about how you can make a difference and be a part of the change you want to see in the world.
Room: KSC RDC 333 Presented by MPIRG and Greg Miller
Lunch
12:00-1:00 Rafters
Session 3
1:00-2:00
- Empowering Faculty Governance
Campus governance is one stage on which the plights and opportunities of contemporary faculty can be seen in stark relief. The facilitator will discuss various models of campus governance, and relate the story of UMD's recent (and ongoing) attempts to re-arrange governance, in order to spark discussion about governance related strategies for maintaining and promoting the place of the faculty.
Room: KSC RDC 323 Presented by David Gore
- Building Organizational Power Through Members Engagement and Local
Ok, you’re right, so what? People with power and privilege rarely give it away just because it is the right thing to do. If you have power, then you can get something done. The best way to build your power is to organize. This session will help you to build local capacity through organizing. We will explore various ways to build on member strength to increase your local’s power in a variety of situations.
Room: KSC RDC 333 Presented by Kathleen Adee
2:30-4:00
Roundtable Discussion
- What’s Next?
Panelists: Benjamin Ginsberg, Steve Matthews, Michael Pfau, Panel Presenters
Room: Kirby Student Center, Rafters