Tales from the NM #Adjunct/iverse

…as told & written by @SFCCNM #adjunct #JessicaLawless, 

Recently, @MirandaMerklein, my friend and sister adjunct activist here in New Mexico sent me this disturbing article from the Albuquerque Journal on NM adjuncts

The paper doesn't allow comments without having a subscription so I wrote a letter to the editor (see below) to the editor and another to the journalist who wrote the article, as well as emailing him at mbush@abqjournal.com. I also have been sending the links and my reply around FB and Twitter.

The article is typical of the challenging terrain we have in New Mexico. Despite being one of the most impoverished states in the country, it is also one of the most stunningly beautiful places in the country. That lived tension plays out on a daily basis through an imposed norm that we should not talk about our struggles, we should instead focus on how lucky we are.

Colorado HB14-1124: #EqualPay4EqualWork

…Today TuesJan 21, Don Eron wrote #adjuncts on the adj-l list. Links, docs, etc referenced below will also be aggregated on a separate page along with other items relevant to this important campaign. 

Dear Colleagues,

For those of you who are interested in following the progress of the "Community College Pay and Benefits Equity Act of 2014," the Colorado House hearing will be on February 3 at 1:30 pm.

Documents will be posted on BOTH the "Equal Pay Bill 2014" page of, the Front Range Community College's AAUP web site, and on the  Colorado Conference of the AAUP web page.  [Ed note: the plucky Colorado Adjuncts are also on Facebook if you'd like to leave them a congrats message]

Clarice Lawless, Front Range CC, at the mic

The press release about our press conference on the steps of the State Capitol last Friday on the Front Range page includes a video of the press conference, embedded player and link. There were nine speakers -- five adjuncts, the house sponsor, the senate sponsor, an AAUP speaker (me), and an AFT speaker.

CFHE Conference January, 2014…

The CFHE Conference in Manhattan, hosted by PSC CUNY, was fantastic and a great success. The PSC staff went out of their way to accommodate the over 100 attendees, and Mike Fabricant ran the tightest, yet most informative and collaborative, conference possible. I am sure I speak for all attendees when I offer a resounding THANK YOU!

The conference began Friday evening with a unique dinner featuring tastes from all over the world and a comprehensive discussion of the accreditation battle at City College of San Francisco. It is amazing how corrupt an accreditation board can be.

Saturday morning began with a panel discussion on 'Effective Higher Ed Campaigns'.

#ForProfit HE Abuses

…by @USinjustice) HT @AnaMFores at #AdjunctJustice, replying to Dahn Shaulis on the adj-l listserv: "I thought of you when this "loan spigot" article came out in the NYTimes today: I will add these sources to the others on Adjunct Justice ~ thanks"

Is the goverment fleecing higher ed students for their selfish gain? They are largest lender, providing 73%. But look who profits: certainly not adjuncts! Quoting the NYT,

"At 149 institutes in 39 states (and online), ITT offers nursing, criminal justice, business, information technology and other programs to 61,000 students. Based in Carmel, Ind., the company generated $800 million in revenue in the first nine months of 2013, down 18 percent from the year-earlier period."  

Jan 19, 2014, at 8:44 AM, Dahn Shaulis <dahnshaulis@gmail.com> wrote:

UALE Conference 2014 Registration

…Jan31 deadline for #UALE2014 conference early rates is just around the corner HT #UALE list. Email us at  ualeconference@gmail.com & follow UALE on Facebook…then join us in L.A.! 

Be an early bird! 

Register now for the UALE 2014 Annual Conference

Organizing for Power: A New Labor Movement for the New Working Class
Los Angeles, California
March 26-29, 2014

The Power of Networks—Video + Links #rhizo14

… more #network theory « @theRSAorg…so BYOP

As an related aside and footnote to the video, I'm taking—and will be blogging here and elsewhere—about a course (see below) that applies this theory to learning and education. The New Unionism Network has published articles applying it to organizing labor—more rhizomatic connections and without even getting into ubiquitous social media—also not trees or hierarchies but networks.

#PFR network: blog & #socialmedia directions

…because a) I want your ideas t & b) writing about mine helps crystallize them, especially the most stubbornly inchoate.

First though, comes a brief social media re-cap with a reminder (here it comes) that questions and calls for clarification are always welcome. Post them wherever -- as comments here, on the blog, or on a social media iteration (Facebook or G+ as Twitter seems a tad minimalist for the purpose). Here you can be as anonymous or psuedonomynous as you wish or suits your needs.

PS: #PFR = Precarious Faculty Rising; "network" because it is.

Already I'm blogging more. Not blogging was a sure sign of my discontent. Facebook-busy was just an excuse, albeit not a bad or entirely invalid one. 84 posts in 2013, 202 in 2012. Even bloggers living in a houseboat on the Nile can't deny that message. There are 4-5 posts in draft, reblogs that I need to add copy to and several more in my inbox.

Surfing #HigherEdMedia: IHE's Daily & CHE's #AcademeToday

… on @WH #HigherEd Summit & other important articles, too many #paywall/ed for most #adjuncts…unfortunately Peter Schmidt's article on adjunct organizing is one of them. Since the article is about municipal endorsements, you can probably find articles in local Boston area, and L.A. press. The good news is that Rich Moser's (already featured on Facebook at A new faculty majority and other pages is not. 

IHE makes this easier by publishing their daily newsletter online as well as a weekly and a monthly—subscribe by email or rss. No pay walls -- and here's a White House Summit story (POTUS meets with 100 college presidents—what's wrong with this picture besides everything?) to sub for the one pay-walled at the Chronicle.  

Contingency at #MLA14

…Schedule

…of #adjunct issue sessions. Numbers are bold red and in #hashtag format to facilitate following by Twitter. Just search #mla14 + session hashtag to see tweets from/about a particular session.  Anyone can follow, no account/login required. Check the Program on MLA Convention page and lists by topic for more sessions; more links at the bottom of the page. I'll be following on Twitter from @precariousfac and @vcvaile, RT'g and posting on Facebook at A new faculty majority ~ and if you feel bad about being limited to virtual attendance and missing the meat world version, just check the Chicago weather or Google up images for Chicago + "Polar Vortex"

Ready for Electronic Village Online 2014?

…#evosessions 2014—#PD4educators…free online professional development for educators A project of TESOL's Computer-Assisted Language Learning Interest Section

About EVO

For five weeks in January and February, TESOL experts and participants from around the world engage in collaborative online discussions or hands-on virtual workshops of professional and scholarly benefit. These sessions bring together participants for a longer period of time than is permitted by land-based professional development conventions and allow a fuller development of ideas than is otherwise possible.

Sessions are free and open to anyone around the globe. It is not necessary to attend the TESOL Convention in order to participate. All you need is access to the Internet. Choose a session from this year's offerings, listed below.  And please inform your colleagues about this unparalleled professional development opportunity!

The Electronic Village Online is your chance to connect, share, learn, network with like-minded educators in the many sessions we offer about various education-related topics.  

Important Dates

• Jan 6th to 12th  - EVO Registration
• Jan 12th - EVO Kick-Off Webcast with Jeff Lebow
• Jan 13th to Feb 16th  - EVO Sessions
• March 26th to 29th  - TESOL Convention in Portland, USA

 

Choose your EVO Session here

 Ready for our Electronic Village Online 2014? A Free Online Professional Development Opportunity for Educators

CIHE | The Boston College Center for International #HigherEd

…aka @BB_CIHE—because #WeAreAllInThisTogether—defines its mission to be advancing knowledge about the complex realities of higher education in the contemporary world…more about

Issue 74, Winter 2014

International Issues

• The Need for Research and Training for the Higher Education Enterprise - The Shanghai Statement
• Research Universities in Developing and Middle-Income Countries - Karen MacGregor
• The Abdication of Thinking Capacity in International Higher Education - Philip G. Altbach
• Higher Education in Post-Conflict Conditions - Iván F. Pacheco and Ane Turner Johnson