precarious life & times: Storify

Showing posts with label Storify. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Take a course prep break: tour the #bestHEbuildings w/@michaelcollins

…a unplanned change of pace. Another post, short but informative, was in the works when I stumbled, over this, enchanted by the images. Serendipity struck. It will still be there tomorrow or whenever. Annotated link collections, back to class posts about syllabi, talking to students, etc, and other reflections on issues current and impending can wait too. These are the settings we once fantasized for our higher ed live. Take an escapist break before getting back to reality...best not to dwell on how much the new buildings cost.

Let the storifying begin!

#MOOC my day ~ the next chapter

…another round of #highered disaster (and/or hysteria) blogging…but that's the way it breaks today. For today's post, I added selected links and a few amusing images to an existing Storify about MOOCs ~ or, as recently renamed by David Wiley,“Massively Obfuscated Opportunities for Cash.”

Sunday, March 3, 2013

ACA, #adjuncts…enter the IRS

…assembling documents for a teleconference on our statement for the IRS hearing on calculating work hours and part time status, I created a Storify to include the document collection on Scribd, additional links and images. To call this is a can of worms would be an understatement…

#MLA13 #S112

…a significant event & busy day for #adjunct/ency today, and not just MLA & AHA...As for the other stories, you'll just have to wait for them. Tomorrow has another major, don't miss adjunct relevant session too. Meanwhile, catch up with general higher ed news with the Inside HigherEd Daily Newsletter.

For now, it's all about, #S112 The Presidential Forum: Avenues of Access: Non-Tenure-Track Faculty Members and American Higher Education, Thursday, 3 January, 5:15–7:00 p.m., Constitution Ballroom, Sheraton.

Session Description:

This session will discuss and review recent efforts to address the working conditions of faculty members off the tenure track and will ask what those working conditions mean for the future of American higher education. If, as the New Faculty Majority slogan has it, faculty working conditions are student learning conditions, then how should we seek to improve those conditions without devaluing the work that non-tenure-track faculty members do?

Here's an #S112 Storify (long but could have been longer). Special thanks to virtuoso tweeps, Brian Croxall, Roger Whitsun and Lee Bessette for making this Storify possible and packed with tweetalicious goodness.

View the story "MLA13 ~ Presidential Forum, S112" on Storify MLA13 ~ Presidential Forum, S112 Avenues of Access: Non-Tenure-Track Faculty Members and American Higher Education, Thursday, 3 January, 5:15–7:00 p.m. Presiding: Michael Bérubé, Storified by · Thu, Jan 03 2013 22:02:16 Pres @MichaelBerube1 into his Pres Forum on adjunct fac. Hurry over! #mla13 #s112 Constitution Ballrm. http://pic.twitter.com/ck2R7RAVRosemary G. Feal #mla13 Presidential Forum (#S112) on role of NTT faculty members in higher ed starts in 30 mins in Constitution Ballroom, Sheraton.MLA Convention

1. "Free-Market Faculty Members: The Adjunct Project and the Disposable Professor," Joshua Boldt, Univ. of Georgia

2. "Human Resources: Employment Practices and the Future University," Elizabeth Landers, Univ. of Missouri, St. Louis (?)

3. "Addressing the Scarlet A: Adjuncts and the Academy," Maria Maisto, New Faculty Majority

4. "Reinventing Access: Free Public Higher Education, Quality Instruction, and Job Security for All Faculty Members," Robert Samuels, Univ. of California, Los Angeles

Session Description: This session will discuss and review recent efforts to address the working conditions of faculty members off the tenure track and will ask what those working conditions mean for the future of American higher education. If, as the New Faculty Majority slogan has it, faculty working conditions are student learning conditions, then how should we seek to improve those conditions without devaluing the work that non-tenure-track faculty members do?

#Adjunct Update: #MLA13 #S112, Presidential Forum: Avenues of Access: Non-Tenure-Track Faculty Members & American... http://fb.me/GpEr6FibNew Faculty Majority Now let's see how much conscience the profession has. How full will this session be? http://mla13.org/112 #mla13 #S112Paula Krebs .@josh_boldt: Profession of college professor is becoming less and less sustainable. but that's old news. #mla13 #s112Brian Croxall Adjunct ProjectThe Adjunct Project exists for the growing number of graduate degree holders and adjunct professors who are unemployed and underemployed. Adjuncts' jobs depend on keeping quiet, not protesting. Josh Boldt's adjunct project helped change that dynamic. #mla13 #s112Rosemary G. Feal RT @readywriting: Over one million faculty members teaching off the tenure-track. Wow. #mla13 #s112Melonie Fullick Half of the total faculty in higher education hold a Ph.D. - Majority of contingent labor hold an MA or are ABD. #s112 #mla13Roger Whitson MT @rogerwhitson: Much of the support for the adjunct project have come from tenured professors. #s112 #mla13Johannes Wheeldon A gen call to convert part-time to f-t has 2 probs: only abt half of part–timers want f-t work, and only abt half hold PhD. #mla13 #s112Rosemary G. Feal YES!!! Starting to advocate with the accrediting agencies about staffing practices! #mla13 #s112Lee Skallerup @rogerwhitson Seriously. So tired of the hypocritical of groups like SACS about "academic standards" #mla13 #s112Lee Skallerup @readywriting Hopefully this will make something happen. #hitemwhereithurts #s112 #mla13Roger Whitson MT @MariaMaistoNFM: New Faculty Majority leads with statement: "Faculty working conditions are student learning conditions." #mla13 #s112David Hull .@MariaMaistoNFM: Students, "so you mean I'm paying for steak and getting hamburger?" No, your food handlers are bad though. #mla13 #s112Brian Croxall "Who is Professor 'Staff'?" http://www.futureofhighered.org/uploads/ProfStaffFinal.pdf Great report on working conditions of adjunct faculty #mla13 #s112Lee Skallerup Research CenterMISSION STATEMENT The Center for the Future of Higher Education is an advocacy think tank bringing together academics to address current ... .@MariaMaistoNFM recommends "A is for Adjunct," which collects different stories about NTT life: http://bit.ly/YZStOj. #mla13 #s112Brian Croxall A is for Adjunctcollected sightings of the academic precariat in cyberspace [Page 1] The expression "extraordinary faculty" might be a good term for non t-t faculty. T-t = ordinary fac, says @MariaMaistoNFM..#mla13 #s112Rosemary G. Feal Get involved in debates that involve definitions. Names matter (misclassification) #mla13 #s112Lee Skallerup Robert Samuels is next. #mla13 #s112Roger Whitson Changing Universities Robert Samuels is going to present a comprehensive plan for solving everything. #s112 #mla13Brian Croxall Samuels: Education is a universal public right. #mla13 #s112Roger Whitson Samuels: We already have enough money to do it. #mla13 #s112Roger Whitson Samuels: Students often flock to majors that they think will potentially pay off their debt. #mla13 #s112Roger Whitson Samuels: That's per student, so the total cost was $128 billion. #mla13 #s112Brian Croxall Samuels: UCLA in-state tuition is 12k, but cost per year to student average is $32k. Need to lower these other things. #mla13 #s112Brian Croxall Government is now funding private debt collectors for student loans. #mla13 #s112Lee Skallerup Samuels: #mla13 #s112 $180 billion in college savings plans. Much of these act as tax shelters. 529 plans in 48 states. Gift plans, etc.Roger Whitson Samuels: #mla13 #s112 Only people profiting from college savings plans are wealthiest people.Roger Whitson #mla13 #s112 | The session is a "happening" not just another panel | @MichaelBerube1RCB Samuels: #mla13 #s112 Only people profiting from college savings plans are wealthiest people.Roger Whitson Samuels: In 2010, the federal govt spent #35b on Pell grants and $104b on student loans. States spent a total of $90b. #mla13 #s112Brian Croxall Government is now funding private debt collectors for student loans. #mla13 #s112Lee Skallerup Yeah, sure. RT @rgfeal: This Pres Forum is ultimate occupy MLA act. All adjuncts at the podium. Where are YOU right now? #mla13 #s112Trent M Kays Samuels: #mla13 #s112 How much would it actually cost to teach every student in classes of 25 or less?Roger Whitson Question: What role do perspective students and parents have in this discussion? #mla13 #s112Roger Whitson Time for questions! #mla13 #s112Lee Skallerup #mla13 #s112 Wage recommendations? How about enforcement? Accreditors and legislators and the people (students, families) please wake upRCB Following the #s112 panel at #mla13 on Twitter--fascinating as they post on the panel concerning adjunct and ntt faculty issues.Benjamin Vogt Need to get adjunct faculty on accreditation teams. Really makes a difference. Awesome. But need help of tenured faculty #mla12 #s112Lee Skallerup #mla13 #s112 Final tweet 4 Prez Session | All the strategy you need is found in this story | http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/12/31/college_tuition_on_the_rise_laura_brod/Blessings from VTRCB Reviewing and sorting tweets, a natural shape emerged, from adjuncts' number telling stories, to taking control of telling our stories and the words used to tell them, and then back to numbers ~ this time from the student perspective ~ college costs and debt. Numbers knit together by words, telling our stories, which are the learners stories too. Inseparable.

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Right Leaders of Wrong & other ed-revs

…as told in tweets by @Jessifer (Hybrid Pedagogy) on Storify. Jesse Stommel (IRL) writes...

A short conversation on Twitter about the oncoming revolution in Higher Education.

It started innocently enough with a few sentences I threw out to the Twitterverse in the weekly hours on a Thursday. Had been thinking about friends and colleagues that are brilliant teachers and wondering why they keep getting pushed out of academia. And why some of them have come to the conclusion that academia is not hospitable to them. It's a weird contradiction -- that in many institutions of higher learning, the folks most passionate about teaching and learning often get overlooked or even aggressively pushed out.

Read the rest at Right Leaders of Wrong (with tweets) by Jessifer on Storify. Want more, related?

Storifying CC Allegheny County

…cutting course loads to duck covering adjuncts because it is the most effective tool for comprehensive coverage and to do justice an important story with its many voices and implications for the future of adjunct labor.

View the story "So it begins: cutting course loads" on Storify So it begins: cutting course loads …to keep #adjuncts below eligibility level for Affordable Health Care Act coverage. Not just faculty either: all part time employee groups are affected. Higher ed joins the Papa John / Applebee's club. Storified by · Tue, Nov 20 2012 22:13:02 College Cutting Faculty Hours To Avoid Obamacare RequirementCommunity College Of Allegheny County will cut the hours some instructors to avoid paying for their health insurance coverage under new A... College cuts adjuncts' hours to avoid Affordable Care Act costs | Inside Higher Ed Another #CCAC #eduslasher post…keep'em coming& RT all you get & mention @CCAC too…Cutting Hours to Save Money http://www.apt11d.com/2012/11/cutting-hours-to-save-money-.htmlNew Faculty Majority College cuts adjuncts' hours to avoid costs from Affordable Care Act: http://bit.ly/10mejhHInside Higher Ed ...breaking the story locally, The Post Gazette Health care law brings double dose of trouble for CCAC part-time profsTo Community College of Allegheny County's president, Alex Johnson, cutting hours for some 400 temporary part-time workers to avoid provi... In what we hope will be just the first in a series of adjuncts speaking in their own voices and not as media sound bites, Robin J. Sowards, Pittsburgh adjunct organizer comments:

...it's important to bust the myth that adjuncts only work when they are in class, especially since that's often the adminisphere's justification for institutional segregation between adjuncts and tenure-stream faculty ("adjuncts don't have research or service responsibilities" blah blah blah). Unfortunately, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act places us in a real dilemma.
If we prove to the adminisphere that we teach more than 30 hours, then we've handed them an excuse to reduce our maximum course load, thus reducing our pay (and they can do so without any fear of an unfair labor practice charge where that might otherwise have been a concern). But if we try to protect our maximum course load by insisting that we work fewer than 30 hours, we misrepresent the reality of our labor (which is that every "part-time" faculty member I know actually works "full-time" hours or more, even at a single school).
In my view, this is all the more reason why adjuncts should organize and push for normalization (e.g., along the lines proposed by Jack Longmate and Frank Cosco in their "Program for Change") rather than simply pushing for an increase in per-course pay or benefits at the cost of retaining "part-time" status. When I say "organize," I do not mean only organizing a formal labor union through the NLRB process; those legal mechanisms can have tactical utility, but they are a means, not an end. The PPACA is, I think, an excellent example of how reformist tactics often make things worse. Such are my tuppence, anyway. In solidarity, .R. CCAC to cut workloads, avoid paying staffers' health carePublished: Tuesday, November 20, 2012, 12:01 a.m. Updated 19 hours ago Clay Morgan is among about 200 part-time instructors at Community ... #CCAC cuts adjuncts' hours to save on health care costs. #edu #obamacare http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/health-care-law-brings-double-dose-of-trouble-for-ccac-part-time-profs-662697/Eleanor Chute …and a few words from the "consultants" advising businesses on how to duck Part-timers On The Edge for BenefitsAs we mentioned in our post on CCAC, employers are examining the pros and cons of dropping part-time employee hours down so that they are... CCAC Cuts Hours Back Due to PPACAThe fallout from PPACA begins. PPACA does not require making benefits available to part-time employees and certain employers will be maki... Re-election fallout: Reduced hours, reduced payrolls and increased pricesAlthough it's tough to trace the saying's origins back to a single politician, many lawmakers at one time or another have said, "Election... Back story...blog post June 2012 about potential positive implications of ACA for adjuncts…obviously, not these. Plus comments the New Faculty Majority blog: 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....

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Lost in cyberspace, Nov13: 2

… catching the rest of the way up with a quick Twitter collection, including RTs & recent Facebook shares. From here on, no than one a day, if that many, will be my limit. Look for occasional themed renditions and other experiments. PS the "Ed. note" caveat at the end of part 1 still applies. Feedback invited.

View the story "Lost in cyberspace, Nov13: 2" on Storify Lost in cyberspace, Nov13: 2 A quick Twitter collection, including recent Facebook shares. This project is still in personal beta,. Don't expect consistency in style or content just yet Storified by · Tue, Nov 13 2012 20:22:01 : Workplace #21 Launched: “In/stability, In/security & In/visibility: Tensions at Work for Tenured & Tenure Stre... http://on.fb.me/SlWwl1VCVaileNFM Join us at the 4th Annual CAL Conference - "Contingent Academic Labor Confronting Inequalities in Higher Education"http://www.seiu500.org/2012/11/cal4-conference-contingent-academic-labor-confronting-inequalities-in-higher-education/SEIU Local 500 Adjunct faculty at St. Joseph's University take steps toward organizingRYAN S. GREENBERG / Staff Photographer They're not quite a union - not yet, and maybe not ever, but the adjunct faculty at St. Joseph's U... The NFM Daily is out! http://paper.li/vcvailenfm ▸ Top stories today via @NewFacMajorityVCVaileNFM Inside Higher Ed's new faculty reporter, here. Send me your thoughts on colleges and universities as employers.Colleen Flaherty ACE will assess #MOOCs & make recommendations about which ones could warrant credit from 1,800 member colleges: http://bit.ly/UAEeTaInside Higher Ed We❤ @AdriannaKezar & @DanMaxey…Deans' ideas abt hiring #adjuncts≠reality @USCPullias #DelphiProject survey http://bit.ly/PSGsdX @ChronicleNew Faculty Majority "Think of first-generation students as pioneers, not problems." http://chroni.cl/UmN80wChronicle Share this photo with your friends for a little Monday morning inspiration. — with <a href="https://www.facebook.com/diana.inlow.1" class="">Diana Inlow</a>.ASU Online #PriorLearningAssessment_WhatSideAreYouOn? http://fb.me/2tr3MueAyNew Faculty Majority Yes. RT @hsanrj: "people trying to change higher education should actually know something about higher education" http://bit.ly/XD1ArRTrent M Kays The Big Reveal http://bit.ly/ZkST4LMatt Reed Got questions? Important @USCPullias/Delphi Project. We ❤ @AdriannaKezar & @DanMaxey Read... http://fb.me/vBlVTaWgNew Faculty Majority So You Want to Get a PhD in the #Humanities: Nine Years Later | @scoopit http://sco.lt/6gRpiL #highered #adjunct #faculty@xtranormal #videoVCVaileNFM News from United Campus Workers in Tennessee. http://fb.me/1oXzYMvukNew Faculty Majority Democratizingeducation Take note…#DEN calls #students, #faculty, campus workers, parents & community to unite for #highered http://fb.me/214TS2YFlNew Faculty Majority

Lost in cyberspace, Nov13: 1

…found by Storify on the New Faculty Majority Facebook page & Twitter stream, with pit stops at New Faculty Majority and NFM Foundation Web 1.0 hideouts, YouTube flyby and more. This inaugural issue opens with selected stories and discussions currently unfolding on Facebook: CFP deadlines, conferences and a pay wall. More to come. Join the discussion.

View the story "Lost in cyberspace, Nov13: 1" on Storify Lost in cyberspace, Nov13: 1 This issue features stories currently on the New Faculty Majority Facebook page. Later issues will cover Twitter streams, YouTube, pit stops at NewFac & NFM Foundation's Web1.0 hideouts & more Storified by · Tue, Nov 13 2012 13:50:13 Stories unfolding on Facebook: CFP deadlines, conferences and a pay wall. More to come. Join the discussion! #CallForPapers Deadline…Nov16 for #SWTX PCA/ACA 2013 conference, February 13-16, #ABQ NM…de-acronymized, Southwest/Texas Popular Culture & American Culture Association…a small p popular, fun conference to attend SWTX PCA/ACASWTX PCA/ACA Conference Contacts: For Organizational Questions/Presenter Database/Future Conferences: Lynnea Chapman King, PhD Executive ... Don't worry about postmarks: you can submit online ~ but get cracking on it. Today is the 13th ~ the deadline is this coming Friday.New Faculty Majority Coalition Deadline past but if you can, don't miss this outstanding free forum (with lunch to boot). Speakers and Panelists include: Gary Rhoades, Professor and Director, Center for the Study of Higher Education College of Education University of Arizona; Pablo Eisenberg, Senior Fellow, Georgetown Public Policy Institute; Wayne Langley, Director, Higher Education Division, SEIU Local 615; Esther Merves, Research Director, New Faculty Majority; Dan Maxey, Dean’s Fellow in Urban Education Policy, Pullias Center for Higher Education, University of Southern California; Maria Maisto, President, New Faculty Majority; Ethan Miller, American University Student Worker Alliance; Marisa Allison, George Mason University Graduate Student Sociological Association
Please RSVP to Anne McLeer at mcleera@seiu500.org
CAL4 Conference - Contingent Academic Labor Confronting Inequalities in Higher EducationCaste and Classes: Contingent Academic Labor Confronting Inequalities in Higher Education Date: Saturday, December 1st, 2012 Time: 9am to... More time for this next one ~ December 31 for a June 2013 conference. Learn more about Katherine's exciting ideas for adjunct advocacy in a state where unionizing is not an option. Check out the Facebook page too Hi all. I'm pursuing becoming part of the Strategic Planning Committee here at Kent State (or at least raising adjunct issues with the committee). Any advice or thoughts you have about your experiences with this? <br> Also, I would like to pursue launching Legislative Theatre sessions at universities to help us (contingent faculty, students, administrators, everybody) find policy solutions to adjunct-related issues. Something we would need to do is to have a mass training in Legislative Theatre, which I am happy to lead. Would people be interested in this? It's incredibly effective (Legislative Theatre is a branch of Theatre of the Oppressed, created by Augusto Boal). The annual Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed conference is being held in Oxford, Ohio in June 2013. I encourage everyone to attend! Katherine Burke Sounds neat and an innovative approach ~ something to learn and post more about, http://ptoweb.wordpress.com/conference/ Thanks for the conference notice too. I notice that PTO has a Facebook too.New Faculty Majority Coalition Yes! Please join our Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/ptoincKatherine Burke Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed, Inc.Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed, Inc. 2,392 likes · 12 talking about this. Thanks, Katherine. We did ~ and added to our page favorites! So should the rest of you!
But now onto another chapter of the story... the rise of the adjunct and the Chronicle pay wall which keeps so many adjuncts out Imgur #AnotherPayWallAdjunctArticle_Enough! <a href="http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fchronicle.com%2Farticle%2FUnlucky-Jim-the-Rise-of-the%2F135606%2F%3Fcid%3Dcc%26utm_source%3Dcc%26utm_medium%3Den&h=5AQEp0gK6&s=1" class="">http://chronicle.com/article/Unlucky-Jim-the-Rise-of-the/135606/?cid=cc&utm_source=cc&utm_medium=en</a> Ugh.Karen Zgoda I don't understand why all the articles about adjuncts are behind paywalls. Sort of defeats the purpose, it seems. Who do we need to talk to about this?!Melissa Bruninga-Matteau Is there a way we can reroute this to their Chronicle page now to have them see our discontent?Ana Maria Fores Tamayo Not unless The Chronicle of Higher Education page is tagged in the original post, although tagging in comments as I've done here should show up on their news feed. If tended by a human (why am I now thinking of the Brautigan poem?), someone might take note ~ tended by bot or algorithm, that would another matter. I'll post this separately and tag the Chronicle, http://i.imgur.com/JRhuF.jpg ~ so what do you think of doing this regularly?Vanessa Vaile Too bad I cant read it as it is only Chronicle subscribers only.Diana Ramseyer

Ed note: this Storify, created by Vanessa Vaile, collates shared links and visitor comments from NFM's public Facebook page and does not necessarily reflect NFM policy or opinions of other board members.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

#Junct at #LeftForum

The continuing adventures of intrepid filmmakers, Chris the Nomad and Debra the Homeless Adjunct, as they traverse the wilds of campuses, conferences and other treacherous corners of the uncharted adjunctiverse...

Storified by · Vanessa, Mon, Mar 19 2012 01:24:16

Video will be posted sometime this week: #LeftForum #OccupyColleges #Junct http://t.co/3yRk7rld
— Chris · Mon, Mar 19 2012 00:12:42

My friend Scott shot some footage of the OccupyColleges panel at the @LeftForum yesterday. Currently rendering it out. Post will follow.
— Chris · Mon, Mar 19 2012 00:08:05

Liberal Scholars and Activists Take On the Corporatization of Academe - The Chronicle of Higher Education

In the shadow of marches and small pockets of Occupy Wall Street activities that have continued despite the protestors' eviction from Zuc...

2255 FILMS: It’s good to be a panelist

This year's panel went much better than last's. I should have known it was going to be a good day between the impeccable weather...

2255 FILMS: It’s good to be a panelist http://t.co/Onw2QqBI #LeftForum
— Chris · Sat, Mar 17 2012 23:17:48

But back to the beginning...

Left Forum

A unique phenomenon in the U.S. and the world, Left Forum convenes the largest annual conference of a broad spectrum of left and progress...

Last Call: @LeftForum #OccupyColleges: Rescuing #HigherEd from Corporatized Uni. Mar17, 12PM Room E323. http://t.co/uLqq1V1V #Junct
— Chris · Sat, Mar 17 2012 10:23:47

Waiting on my partner in crime @DebraLeighScott to review the 30 minutes I have of #junct. Need to trim down to 10 for the #LeftForum
— Chris · Mon, Mar 12 2012 23:57:42