Office Hours Higher Ed

Welcome to our first "Faculty Lounge" episode of Office Hours. David and Laura hang out in the faculty lounge, microwave a couple frozen burritos, look in all the empty drawers for forks but find only Splenda packets, and manage to track down some expired powdered non-dairy creamer for our vending machine coffee. Then we get cozy in our lounge chairs and chat about the state of higher ed. The main topics covered are the continuing grad worker strike at Temple and the attacks on higher ed, including access to trans health care on college campuses, being spearheaded by Governor DeSantis.

Here are links to the articles we mention in our discussion:

"Blow It Up" by Mathias Fuelling" on Verso blog

Jason Wingards' EdTech Griftopia by Matt Seybold on LARB 

"Opinion: A university’s sinister move is unfortunately part of a familiar story" by Heather Anne Thompson on CNN.com

A link to TUGSA's strike fund.

Links to other organizing groups mentioned:

Dream Defenders #CantBanUs 

Stand For Freedom petition

USF Trans+ Student Union

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David and Laura talk about the fall 2022 faculty strike at Eastern Michigan University with Matt Kirkpatrick. Matt is an associate professor of English and held various leadership positions in EMU’s faculty union, which is AAUP. During the contract campaign and strike Matt was on the union’s negotiating team. In the interview we cover a range of topics, including the complexity of striking in a right-to-work state, how faculty pushed back against a proposed increase in their healthcare costs, as well as what it means to be “strike ready” even when you think you’re not.

Matt can be reached at @MattKirkpatrick on Twitter or at his personal website, www.mattkirkpatrick.com.

Update on Temple grad worker strike (referenced in the podcast): as of this podcast release, a tentative agreement has been reached between Temple and TUGSA. It has not yet been ratified by the members. 

https://billypenn.com/2023/02/18/temple-graduate-student-strike-agreement/

Laura and David discuss the recent UC strike with Magally A. Miranda Alcázar, a graduate student in the Chicanx and Central American Studies Department at UCLA. Maga was a participant in the strike and active in the rank-and-file movement to push for a No vote against contract ratification.

Interviewee bio:

Magally A. Miranda Alcázar is a doctoral candidate at UCLA, and an activist working at the intersection of gender, race, labor, and technological disruptions.

Because of the length of our discussion with Maga, we’ve split the interview into two parts. This is Part Two.

In this part we get into more depth on the dynamics of the strike as it unfolded, the importance of non-economic demands such as Cops Off Campus and disability access, the political ideology of the union leadership versus that of rank and file activists, and the impact of the strike on future campus politics.

Laura and David discuss the recent UC strike with Magally A. Miranda Alcázar, a graduate student in the Chicanx and Central American Studies Department at UCLA. Maga was a participant in the strike and active in the rank-and-file movement to push for a No vote against contract ratification.

Interviewee bio:

Magally A. Miranda Alcázar is a doctoral candidate at UCLA, and an activist working at the intersection of gender, race, labor, and technological disruptions.

Because of the length of our discussion with Maga, we’ve split the interview into two parts. This is Part One.

In part one we focus on the pre-history of the strike: the working and living conditions that led up to it, the student activism from 2009 to the present that influenced the strike, and the importance of internal politics and political factions within the union, UAW 2865.

Articles referenced in the discussion:

As a UC Academic Worker, I Need a Contract That Addresses the Cost of Living by Maga Alcázar

No COLA, No Contract:

In this episode we talk with two faculty organizers at South Seattle College about building horizontal rank-and-file power within the faculty union.

Zahra Alavi teaches English Language and Adult Education at South Seattle College and is a member of AFT 1789.

Charlotte Brun is a faculty Librarian at South Seattle College and is also a member of AFT 1789.

Our discussion covers topics such as fighting for open negotiations, the dynamics of white supremacy on the union executive board, student and faculty solidarity, and the importance of joy and community in organizing.

Today we're looking at an ongoing organizing campaign by students and faculty at Salem State University, a Massachusetts public college, to expose campus debt and resist austerity measures being imposed by the school administration. We interview two faculty members, Joanna Gonsalves and Rich Levy, who have been involved with the Campus Debt Reveal Project.

Interviewee Bios:

Joanna Gonsalves is a Psychology Professor at Salem State University and Vice President of the Massachusetts State College Association.

Rich Levy is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Salem State University and a member of the Coalition against Campus Debt.

Note: Multiple times in the interview we reference Biden's student debt cancelation. Unfortunately the interview was recorded before the recent court ruling that blocked the cancelation, so our discussion is a little bit out of date. For more on the status of debt cancelation, you can read this article: https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-court-extends-block-bidens-student-loan-forgiveness-plan-2022-11-14/

Find more info about the project: www.theothercollegedebtcrisis.org

Artwork by Arthur K. Check out their work at: https://rotradio.tumblr.com