For years, public higher ed has been a punching bag for the likes of more than a few politicians, who trumpet budget cuts and efficiency over quality education, student access and affordability.
Lately, philanthropic organizations such as the Gates Foundation and Lumina Foundation have joined in, waving dollars and pushing their business model approach to education (promoted as educational “reforms”), an intoxicating combination for cash-strapped colleges looking to lessen the blow of reduced state dollars.
Higher education has hit back in the past, but not with a unified, nationwide blow to air concerns and sound warnings about where higher ed is headed.
Things are different now—and in a good way. The Campaign for the Future of Higher Education (CFHE) made its debut in May with strong support from UUP, the AFT, the California Federation of Teachers, and more than 30 other unions, student groups, and black and Hispanic associations from 26 states and Canada.
Mission: possible
The CFHE’s mission is to the point: to ensure that affordable, quality higher education is accessible to all sectors of society in the future. The campaign’s seven principles elaborate on its mission; they include a diverse curriculum; investing in faculty and giving them the support to do their jobs; more public funding and less focus on measuring quality with standardized metrics.
Already, the campaign has formed a virtual think tank—with fine higher ed minds like Gary Rhoades, former general secretary for the American Association of University Professors—producing policy-oriented research to spur new federal and state laws and reform campus policies.
Campaign supporters, including a representative from UUP, will get together in Boston in November to set the CFHE’s spring 2012 slate of activities.
But, as UUP Secretary Eileen Landy—who helped shape CFHE’s course as a Steering Committee member at the group’s first meeting in January—says, the campaign’s strength is its solidarity. Higher ed can and must push back and the CFHE is an excellent vehicle to make our issues known.
You can read more about the CFHE’s beginnings and its plans for positive change on page 12 of this issue.
Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are the three biggest social media outlets and UUP has used each of them at times to get the union’s message out to the masses. Granted, our social media presence has been tentative since plunging in over the last year or so, but that’s set to change.
Look for UUP to have more of a presence on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube over the next few months. You can see what we’re saying on Facebook at http://on.fb.me/oqR7K8, on Twitter at twitter.com/uupinfo and YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/ user/uupcomm.
Speaking of the web, UUP’s 2011 Annual Report to the Membership is available on the union’s website at www.uupinfo.org.
A link to the document (http://www.uupinfo.org/reports/reports.html) will take you to Reports and Guides; click on the 2011 UUP Annual Report to the Membership link under the Other Reports/Guides section of the page to access it.
The report contains a synopsis of union activities during the 2010-11 academic year, focusing on academics and professionals, membership, legislation and political action, communications, finances and benefits. It’s a great way to learn about how your union has been working for you.
UUP’s website is also where you’ll find the latest about our contract negotiations with the state. News and information will be posted on our home page; look for the red-lettered 2011 Negotiations Information link at the top of the right-hand column. Chapter leaders may also be able to answer some of your questions as they receive regular negotiations updates.
Rest assured that no matter the issue, UUP is working for you.