Faculty Have a Branding Problem

…as New Faculty Majority VP Matt Williams reminds us on his blog, Akron Adjunct, no words minced in title, posts or here as reposted from Matt's blog (also listed in the blogroll on the left sidebar). There's a lot more than just posts on The New Faculty Majority blog. After this cautionary tale, we're waiting for the higher education faculty version of A Christmas Carol. Consider CCAC course cutting shenanigans as the trailer. Stay tuned for the next installments.

College faculty in America have a branding problem.  When even the Vice President of the United States disses you publicly, scapegoating you as the reason that college tuition has skyrocketed over the past twenty years…and when the vice president is supposed to be your ally…and when the vice president’s wife is a community college professor (i.e., he should know better)…well…like a Jeff Foxworthy joke…you might have a branding problem.

Wet Tinder: Will the Adjunct Movement Ever Catch Fire?

NFM vice president Matt Williams tells how and this Republican adjunct teaching business and marketing became an adjunct activist and joined the New Faculty Majority. Matt (pictured below "swimming in a sea of non-Republicans" at 2010 NFM Retreat in Akron Ohio. Left to right: Ross Borden, Research Chair, SUNY Cortland; Matt Williams slaving over a hot laptop; NFM President Maria Maisto, U Akron, Anne Wiegard, then Secretary, now President NFM Foundation, SUNY Cortlandt). 


Matt writes....

I have struggled from time-to-time over the past several years that I have been involved in the adjunct & contingent faculty movement, occasionally reflecting on the question of when, if ever, the movement will achieve meaningful change.  The sparks–which have been plentiful–have thus far failed to ignite the tinder and yield a useful flame.  Why is this?  Will it change?  It it the right time?  What am I doing here?  Is all this merely a waste of time and resources?  Are we really just spinning our tires?

My late night ruminations have included the following:

Could the Affordable Care Act Help Cure HigherEd of Adjunctivitis?

NFM VP Matt Williams explores the implications of the Affordable Care Act for Adjuncts at AkronAdjunct, reposted below in full.

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld healthcare reform today, and the decision promises to change the landscape of the healthcare industry in America.  While much of the focus of the debate has been on the individual mandate, the employer mandate may have some surprising (and potentially positive) implications for the nation’s nearly 1 million adjunct faculty who often teach for poverty wages and are frequently denied access to employer sponsored health insurance. 

The controversial health care law includes an employer mandate that requires large employers (i.e., those with more than 50 full-time employees or full-time equivalents) to provide health insurance to its employees or pay a penalty. 

#NFM a strong voice for #ContingentFaculty @ 3rd #CFHE Gathering

Despite possible impressions to the contrary, the New Faculty Majority was well represented, highly visible and a strong voice to make adjunct and contingent issues a priority at the Third National Gathering (left) of the Campaign for the Future of Higher Education (CFHE), hosted by the Michigan Conference AAUP in Ypsilanti, Michigan May 18-20. 

Gary Rhoades including New Faculty Majority Foundation board membership in his Saturday morning introduction signaled our presence, further highlighted by a highly visible NFM presence that included active participation and presentations: President Maria Maisto, VP Matt Williams (right), Treasurer Bill Lipkin, Board Member Alan Trevithick, Esther S. Merves, the Foundation’s Director of Research and Special Programs, and member Daniel Maxey. Additionally, members of NFM’s Board of Advisors, Elizabeth Hoffman,  Associate Vice President,  Lecturers, California Faculty Association, and Richard Moser, of Rutgers AAUP-AFT, were also heard in support of a strong and continuing focus on contingency.  

Petition to Rescind U of Akron DNA Sampling Rule

Surely you've caught the buzz over U Akron's DNA and NFM VP Matt Williams' dramatic reaction that brought the administrative regulation out of the shadows and put it square in the public eye.

The story moved out of academic and college presses and blogs in short order, jumping into non-academic social and mainstream media, even crossing the Atlantic.

Surely that's worth its own story but not just yet. First, let's add our names to the online petition that Matt created.

The petition calls on The University of Akron to rescind the offending provision of University Rule 3359-11-22 that DNA sampling of applicants for employment.

Please repost on any other blogs, lists, or websites. We want to reach 10K signatures by the end of the week.

Rescind University of Akron DNA Sampling Rule

DNA in The Atlantic's Daily Dish

More national (& non-academic) coverage of NFM veep Matt Williams, Akron U & DNA kerfuffle in Andrew Sullivan's The Daily Dish column, "Resume, Cover Letter, DNA"

Matt reports on the Staffing Summit

from NFM VP Matt Williams: Maria and I had a great day yesterday as we attended the AAUP Summit on Higher Education Staffing for Ohio held in Columbus.  The meeting was attended by about 50 state and local AAUP, AFT, NFT, NEA, OEA, and OFT representatives along with Maria and myself from NFM and several graduate students from Ohio State University. The meeting took a very favorable change in course toward our issues, specifically Ohio Senate Bill 129 that seeks to overturn Ohio law with respect to the exclusion of graduate assistant and part-time faculty labor from collective bargaining in the state.  We received a very supportive hearing, and Maria did a great job getting her message across.  The meeting concluded with a consensus that Senate Bill 129 should be the top legislative priority for the three unions during the coming months.  There was a sense of collective agreement on the need to reverse this arcane provision of Ohio law. The meeting was also attended by two members of the state legislature as well as by a staffer representing a third. The staffer left the meeting very enthused about the issue and intent on informing his colleagues in other offices throughout the State House.  Maria and I, in consultation with AFT's lobbyist, have determined that she and I should spend time visiting every member of the legislature in our effort to seek their support for the legislation.  SB 129 is not a slam dunk, to be sure, but looks promising in as much as the issue is beginning to receive coverage in the press.  Regards, Matt Williams, VP, New Faculty Majority Note: spread the word... join NFM and AFT in working toward passage of Ohio HB129. Write, fax or email an Ohio legislator. Sign the petition (coming soon). Wondering how to find a legislator and then how to write a legislator?  Follow New Faculty Majority on Twitter too ~ @NewFacMajority