It’s Not Personal. It’s Just Business.

In a recent post, I detailed the “golden goodbyes,” the no longer extraordinary, very generous retirement packages, being negotiated by university presidents across the United States. I described this trend as salient evidence of the corporatization of our universities, but I don’t think that one can truly understand what is occurring with pensions without knowing…

House Hearings on the Impact of the ACA on Education: Part I: Maria Maisto’s Testimony on the Impact on Part-Time Faculty

In her testimony, Maria Maisto correctly emphasizes that the ACA itself is not the problem but, instead, the efforts by colleges and universities to avoid providing to their part-time faculty the health insurance that the ACA makes available. _________________________   1700 West Market Street #159 Akron, OH 44313 Testimony for the Record Submitted to the…

House Hearings on the Impact of the ACA on Education: Part II: News Release from the Committee on the Hearings

Not surprisingly, the following news release reflecting the ideological position of the GOP majority on the committee completely ignores Maria Maisto’s testimony and frames the hearings in which she participated as providing just further evidence of the supposedly devastating impact of the ACA. Notice that Maria’s testimony is not quoted even once in the excerpts…

House Hearings on the Impact of the ACA on Education: Part III: Rep. Miller Announces eForum on Adjunct Faculty in Higher Education

Nov 19, 2013 Issues: Education, Higher Education, Labor, Jobs and Job Training, Worker Rights,Wages and Benefits WASHINGTON – Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, today announced an eForum to investigate how an increased reliance on contingent faculty by colleges and universities nationwide has impacted the lives of…

The Public Accountability Initiative Partners with the Student Debt Campaign to Document the Dubious Schemes through Which U.S. Corporations Are Generating Profits from Public Higher Education

This announcement may be somewhat dated, but it is the first that I have seen it. I think that everyone should be aware of it, even if your institution is not participating. And it is possible that they may still be looking for institutions to participate. _________________________ Kick Wall St. Off Campus! Investigation & Research…

Tips for Navigating Corporatized Colleges and Universities

Guest blogger Jeanne Zaino is professor of political science and international studies at Iona College. In his provocative and deeply depressing The Last Professors Frank Donoghue warns that corporate logic has taken over the academy.  His findings are confirmed by Andrew DeBlanco who, in his award winning College: What it Was, Is, and Should Be not…

The New Working Class?

The dogs started in on it. I clicked off the computer screen and walked upstairs to answer the door. My wife was already on the stoop, talking to an earnest-looking couple. She had given them a dollar for a copy of The Militant, the small ‘paper associated with the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) and was trying…

Kate Fawver’s Testimony at the U.S. Department of Education’s Hearing on President Obama’s Plan for Higher Education

Wednesday, November 6, 2013 California State University, Dominguez Hills Good Morning: Thank you for holding this public forum. We are honored to have you on our campus.  My name is Kate Fawver and I am Professor and Chair of the Department of History here at CSU Dominguez Hills.  I come before you today speaking as…