Attendees at HCAFA’s Executive Committee meeting were enlightened by Kathi Griffin’s presentation on legislation regarding education and IEA members. If you were unable to attend, click on the link below for her PowerPoint presentation.
Kathi Griffin’s PowerPoint of Legislative Issues 0415
We hope to see you at our next Exec Committee meeting in May.
Harper College Adjunct Faculty Association
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Published online: 11 Mar 2015
To cite this article: Stephen A. Smith (2015) Contingent Faculty and Academic Freedom in the Twenty-First Century, First Amendment Studies, 49:1, 27-30, DOI: 10.1080/21689725.2015.1016362
Contingent Faculty and Academic Freedom in the Twenty-First Century Stephen A. Smith
As we celebrate the centennial of the AAUP’s 1915 Declaration on Academic Freedom and Tenure, those core principles are still essential, but the changing administrative regime of higher education institutions has put them at risk. The dramatic increase in the number and percentage of contingent faculty positions— those on annual or term contracts rather than tenured or tenure-track appoint- ment—undermines academic freedom in teaching, research, and public service. Where academic freedom was once fought and secured against specific charges or external pressures from particular ideological forces, the threat is now more insidious and structural from within the academy as well as outside interests.
It is beyond the scope of this article to detail the forces and circumstances that have led to cuts in public funding for public universities and the growing reliance on private funds with motives and priorities that have often compromised the mission, priorities, and core academic values of the scholarly enterprise of both public and private institutions. The increasingly ubiquitous market-driven education policy and its consequences have been argued quite well by others. 1
The point I wish to address is the seismic shift to contingent faculty and the stagnant or reduced number of tenure and tenure-track faculty. The argument is always economic exigence rather than any claim that it improves the quality of education. Administrators resist approving tenure track lines to save money by hiring contingent faculty with lower salaries and reduced benefits. At the same time, this alleged policy of scrimping has done nothing to slow the growth of the number of administrators and their salaries, an obvious point without mentioning the salaries and contracts of athletic coaches. Only faculty salaries and positions seem to be fodder in the losing battle to hold down the cost of tuition and fees for our students.
Contingent appointments have comprised a majority of all faculty positions for more than a decade. While adjuncts, lecturers, instructors, post-docs, and visiting faculty members are valuable, even essential, they are not particularly valued by
For the entire article, click on the link below.
First Amendment Studies, 2015
Vol. 49, No. 1, 27–30, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21689725.2015.1016362
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Vice President Kathi Griffin will make you feel good about being an IEA member. Please make sure to join the Executive Committee at the April 10 meeting to learn about the Illinois Education Association and all it does for HCAFA members. In addition, you’ll have your questions answered about IEA and how it is meeting the challenges posed by Governor Rauner and those opposed to union rights.
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The Harper Adjunct Advocate is available online and in your Harper mailbox now. Read the current issue for an update on all the ways HCAFA has shown it cares about you! HCAFA represents adjuncts. The sole purpose of HCAFA is to make adjuncts’ lives at Harper better. Adjunct Advocate – March 2015
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Dear HCAFA Members,
As you may have heard, Wednesday, February 25th is being called “National Adjunct Walkout Day.” This action began and has grown on social media as a way to publicize the plight of adjuncts across the nation. However, please be aware that walking off the job is not sanctioned by HCAFA, nor the IEA, our parent organization. That is because our current contract is still in effect. We cannot legally walk off the job or strike unless our contract has expired and we are working without one. Please note that anyone who walks out could be subject to discipline by the Harper administration. We do not want anyone to lose their job be punished for doing so.
Nevertheless, the HCAFA Executive Committee decided that we would like to show our solidarity and also increase our visibility on National Adjunct Walkout Day. If you are on campus that day try to wear something blue. This is something that other unions across the country are doing in order to be easily visible and to show support for adjuncts, especially those who do not have the protections and benefits of a union contract. If your students wonder why they are seeing so much blue, you could briefly mention the reason.
So if you’re on campus on Wednesday, try to make it a “blue” Wednesday!
Yours in unity,
The HCAFA Executive Committee
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You have probably heard about Gov. Rauner’s executive order to eliminate fair share for 6,500 state workers. We want to stress that members of IEA higher education locals are not impacted by the governor’s executive order. Continue reading
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We look forward to seeing you at the next HCAFA executive committee on Friday, Feb. 20, in L222, from 1:00 to 3:30.
We have a full agenda in addition to an election for an NEA rep to the convention in Orlando and an HCAFA rep to region 42.
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This is just a friendly reminder: if you may want to teach a course at Harper next fall and have not yet completed a Faculty Availability Form for the Fall 2015 semester, you only have a few days to do so. This form is required by the College. You must send it electronically to your division dean. Be sure that it is sent by February 15th!
The HCAFA Executive Committee
Note: If you do not have a copy of the form, you can find it on this website by selecting the document tab at the top and clicking availability form. You will have to log in to the HIP page. Then scroll down to the bottom of the page. Select the Availability form for Spring 2015; the college has not yet updated the web page to say “Fall” 2015].
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The January 2015 edition of The Harper Adjunct Advocate is available if you click on the link below. If you prefer to have a hard copy that you can peruse at your leisure, it will be in your mailboxes next week. Look for interesting articles on both Academic Freedom and the Joint Higher Ed Conference. HCAFA’s motto is WE CARE. Check out all the ways HCAFA puts that motto into practice.
Adjunct Advocate – January 2015
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Adjunct union president at Morraine Valley CC (Chicago area) sues against her firing for criticizing the college’s treatment of adjuncts. Claim reinstated in court. http://www.businessinsurance.com/article/20141030/NEWS07/141039981?tags=%7C70%7C303 and https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/10/31/appeals-court-backs-adjunct-case-over-first-amendment and http://chronicle.com/article/Federal-Court-Protects-an/149759/ Don Eon, the only contingent on AAUP’s Committee A on academic freedom and tenure, weighs in on the significance of the Moraine Valley CC decision. See below.
(Note: He doesn’t have it all correct – thinks IL is a right to work state, for instance, like CO is, but anyway here is his take on the significance of this lawsuit).
Dear Colleagues, Vanessa has asked that I weigh in on the recent Seventh Federal Court of Appeals decision regarding Robin Meade’s lawsuit against Moraine Valley Community College in Illinois. Vanessa, Jack and others have suggested that the long-term implications of the decision are unclear and, at least at this point, a note of cautious optimism might be the best response Continue reading
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Harper College Adjunct Faculty Association 