PA Faculty Harden Resolve and Move Closer to Strike

BY KEVIN MAHONEY In the morning session of APSCUF’s Legislative Assembly meeting, faculty delegates received the unvarnished news about the state of negotiations from the union’s chief negotiator Stuart Davidson. Davidson emphasized that PASSHE’s behavior at the bargaining table indicates that they are not really serious about reaching an agreement. “Do you remember the tapes…

The University as a Community of Scholars

BY ALVIN BURSTEIN Guest blogger Alvin Burstein is professor emeritus at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and past president of the Louisiana AAUP conference. For many academics, members or not of the AAUP, the need to protect academic freedom and tenure is a rallying cry, and the organization has been stalwart in defending both.  However, the…

As Temperatures Rise, Universities Must Change

BY MARCUS PETER FORD Guest blogger Marcus Peter Ford is the author of Beyond the Modern University: Toward a Constructive Postmodern University. He lives in Flagstaff, Arizona, where he is involved in creating a new, ultrasmall college focused on earth-centric education. We are currently on track to having the hottest year ever, breaking the record established…

Pursuing Virtue in State-University Relations

BY DAVID J. WEERTS Guest blogger David J. Weerts is associate professor and faculty director of the jCENTER for Innovative Higher Education at the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities. His research focuses on state-university relations, community-university engagement, and alumni giving, volunteerism, and advocacy. For those interested in the politics of higher education, the ongoing sparring in…

Negotiations Breakdown: PASSHE Sets Stage for First Ever Faculty Strike

BY KEVIN MAHONEY Faculty union members at the 14 Pennsylvania state-owned universities (PASSHE) have had just about enough. Following three consecutive days of marathon negotiating sessions on Tuesday and more sessions scheduled for Wednesday and beyond, faculty members were showing signs of optimism that a deal might not be that far off. However, after PASSHE continued to put…