One of the biggest concerns at colleges and universities is how best to improve retention. Retention means something quite different depending upon the institution. At elite colleges, for example, retention rates below 85 percent in four years are a cause of concern. At two-year and four-year colleges that are overwhelmingly first generation, highly diverse, adult-learning…
I wrote a short essay for a Minding the Campus symposium about William Deresiewicz’s recent essay, “Don’t Send Your Kid to the Ivy League,” from his soon-to-be-released book, Educating Sheep. The symposium includes Peter Augustine Lawler (who praises religious colleges for providing the education of the soul Deresiewicz desires), Samuel Goldman (who argues that college doesn’t…
SEIU has been pursuing a regional strategy to organize adjunct faculty in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area. The campaign is called Adjunct Action. Thus far, the results have been mixed. In mid-June, adjunct faculty at Hamline University became the first adjuncts in Minnesota to form a collective bargaining unit, voting to unionize by a 72%-28%…
By Susan Gubernat The following op-ed piece appeared in the July 25 issue of the Sacramento Bee. Susan Gubernat, is Professor of English at California State University, East Bay, and secretary of the California State University system Academic Senate. She is a member of the California Faculty Association and the AAUP. California’s public higher education…
In an article titled “Outsourced in Michigan” written for Inside Higher Ed, Colleen Flaherty chronicles the movement among Michigan’s community colleges to outsource the hiring of adjunct faculty and the management of related “payroll duties” to a corporation called EDUStaff. EDUStaff had previously specialized in providing substitute teachers for K-12 systems. So, if you have…
In response to a complaint by a parent, Ohio State University launched a two-month investigation of its nationally renowned marching band. That investigation led to the firing of band director, Jonathan Waters. Waters had served as band director since October 2012, but he had been an assistant band director for a decade previous to that.…
A recently released research article in the July issue of Frontiers in Psychology, authored by Gretchen M. Reevy and Grace Deason, finds that the nature of non-tenure-track employment—now a reality for some 70% of higher education faculty members in the U.S.—brings with it an increase in stress, depression, and anxiety. Appropriately titled “Predictors of depression, stress,…
The following post by Richard B. Simon, Professor of English at City College of San Francisco, appeared initially on the Forum Blog of the California Part-Time Faculty Association (CPFA) and is reposted with the author’s permission. CPFA serves approximately 40,000 Non-tenure Track Faculty in California Community Colleges and has been advocating for Part-time faculty in…
MacInnes, Helen. Assignment in Brittany. Boston: Little, Brown, 1942. Among authors in the espionage category, MacInnes stands out for her lack of cynicism and for her faith in the essential decency of individuals who are willing to expose themselves to hazard for the sake of a good cause. This sensibility makes her work very distinct…
Bonuses, both for performance and longevity, have become commonplace for higher-ed administrators at both public and private institutions. Indeed, these bonuses have become so commonplace that they now generally go unnoticed and unquestioned. But when such bonuses continue to be given during periods of great budget constraints, while faculty and staff compensation and/or positions are…