As AAUP Prepares to Celebrate Its Centennial, Is It Time for It to Develop Some International Reach?

In a recent op-ed piece on the Chronicle of Higher Ed’s Worldwide blog, Dzulkifli Abdul Razak responded to an article written by Nigel Thrift, vice chancellor of the University of Warwick. Thrift had argued for the creation of an international association of colleges and universities, suggesting that it would not only facilitate efforts to meet…

Update: Pacific Lutheran University vs. SEIU

This is a more detailed version of the invitation to file amicus briefs with the NLRB prior to its consideration of Pacific Lutheran University’s filing to prevent SEIU from organizing the university’s faculty. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BEFORE THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Case 19-RC-102521 PACIFIC LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY Employer and SERVICE EMPLOYEES INTERNATIONAL Union, LOCAL…

Thank You for the Clarification

The following correction appeared at the end of an updated version of “After Bridge Scandal, Chris Christie’s Fiery Spokesperson Retreats to the Shadows,” an article by Martin Mueller that was published in the ­Newark Star Ledger: “An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated Drewniak referred to the Port Authority’s executive director as a ‘piece…

Rape Denial on Campus

James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal argues, “What is called the problem of ‘sexual assault’ on campus is in large part a problem of reckless alcohol consumption, by men and women alike.…If two drunk drivers are in a collision, one doesn’t determine fault on the basis of demographic details such as each driver’s sex.…

Taking Rejection in Stride

Thanks to those wonderful folk at Retraction Watch, I now know where I am going to submit my next article and at which conference I would like to present. Come one, come all, to the Journal of Universal Rejection and its brand-new Conference of Universal Rejection!

The Biggest Thing on the Internet Is the Antithesis of the Internet

Sam Smith of the The Progressive Review offers the following thought-provoking characterization of Facebook: “Facebook is the anti-Internet. It is a gated community designed to protect its residents from the incredible variety of the real Internet. Its guard house is there not to block undesired people, but unwanted information. In the early days, people had…

What’s Happened in Kosovo and What Is Happening Here

In Kosovo, students had been clashing with police for weeks, with dozens of police and students reportedly injured in the process. The students were intent on removing not just the head of Pristina University, the small country’s major university, but also a number of the faculty, after it became apparent that their academic credentials were…

An Important Step in the Efforts to Organize Adjunct Faculty

The following announcement has just been disseminated by the Department of Labor. _________________________ NLRB Invites Briefs Regarding Religious University Jurisdiction and Faculty Member Status February 10, 2014 The National Labor Relations Board is inviting briefs from interested parties on two questions: whether a religiously-affiliated university is subject to the Board’s jurisdiction, and whether certain university…

“I wouldn’t buy a used car from a university president.”

So says Richard Vedder in “New Analysis Shows Problematic Boom In Higher Ed Administrators,” an article by Joe Marcus appearing last week on Huffington Post. Marcus writes: Universities have added these administrators and professional employees even as they’ve substantially shifted classroom teaching duties from full-time faculty to less-expensive part-time adjunct faculty and teaching assistants, the figures show.…