Residential Spread

This week, we are joined by Ben Bergholtz to talk student fees. Ben Bergholtz is a former Brittain Fellow who is now Assistant Professor in the School of Literature and Language at Louisiana Tech University. Ben received his PhD from Louisiana State, which has one of the highest student fees in the nation. Ben talks to us about the political climates and misplaced administrative priorities that encourage the ballooning of student fees and talks about his relationship to LSU's (in)famous lazy river, which was paid for in part with student fees! We also explain why you should never believe upper administrators when they tell you how much their institution pays their graduate student employees!

"LSU Graduate Student Fees Among Highest in the Nation" -- https://www.lsureveille.com/daily/lsu-graduate-student-fees-among-highest-in-the-nation/article_02d79ca0-661f-11e9-a7ff-9f0e0cfe6ea9.html

"New Fund Helps Graduates Finish Degrees" -- https://t.co/2NQUn5lu3p?amp=1

“The hidden cost of college: rising student fees” -- https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2017/08/24/the-hidden-cost-of-college-rising-student-fees/

Transcript -- https://docs.google.com/document/d/12pecNNkuMmcMAFy-NQnWE36AVzPDqHzD1-fu7Vx3ApA/edit?usp=sharing

Public-Private Partnerships (P3s) are arrangements between public institutions like colleges and universities and private, for-profit businesses. They've become increasingly popular in recent years, as public funding for higher ed dries up. This week, we look at how one recently retired provost imagines using the pandemic as an excuse to create more opportunities for private profit in a public institution.

"Executive-Level Administrator Salaries": https://www.higheredjobs.com/salary/salaryDisplay.cfm?SurveyID=48

"Looking at the Future of Georgia Tech Through the Lens of the Pandemic Experience": https://news.gatech.edu/2020/07/10/looking-future-georgia-tech-through-lens-pandemic-experience 

Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1F7DjhgGnjTNavseh5bIuwVqoHB7ywvVBUcvR75tn5wI/edit?usp=sharing

The NCAA calls its athletes "amateurs" to justify not paying them. But what if the real amateurs are the big-money donors who get to play GM with their multi-million dollar donations? This week, sports economist Andy Schwarz explains how schools benefit--and are re-shaped--by their relationships with these donors. 

We also cover the racial dynamics of these relationships, the exploitation of athletic labor by the NCAA and its member schools, and Atlanta strip clubs.

“Suspending the rules for Faculty Layoffs” https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/01/22/firing-professors-kansas-just-got-lot-easier

“KU AD explains vetting of Les Miles, says parting ways ‘absolutely the right decision’” https://www.kansascity.com/sports/college/big-12/university-of-kansas/article249803443.html

Transcript https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GcD9l4P_P9SxV6KGUqbHzl1bxCNm23xAhJCHOmk0RvQ/edit?usp=sharing

This week, we continue our investigation of higher ed budgets by talking endowments. Why aren't schools using them to address the budget crises brought on by the pandemic? None of us are money experts, so we welcome a special guest, Kelly Grotke (@kgrotke2), to explain endowments to us. Kelly Grotke is an independent scholar and researcher with over 15 years of experience in securities valuation. She is a boardmember overseeing the 1833 Just Transition Fund, which raises money to support union staff laid off by Oberlin College in favor of outsourced contract labor with lower pay, less job security, and fewer benefits.

Read Kelly's piece on endowments, "Are Endowments Damanging Colleges and Universities":  https://prospect.org/education/are-endowments-damaging-colleges-and-universities/#.YCgH_UFyEu8.twitter

Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hXYGlG5XMlnv6-fnrVcUpwTH9oKzu9Y5YXf6J3uTvgA/edit?usp=sharing

In this episode, we introduce a series of episodes that ask how money works in higher ed, and how the coming austerity cuts in the sector often reflect larger, existing administrative priorities rather than any coronavirus-based reality. This week, we look at those existing--and looming--cuts in light of Naomi Klein's concept of "disaster capitalism," which she defines it in her 2007 book The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism https://naomiklein.org/the-shock-doctrine/

"How Power Profits from Disaster" https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jul/06/naomi-klein-how-power-profits-from-disaster

"Job-Focused or Cheaper?" https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/confessions-community-college-dean/job-focused-or-cheaper

"Overview of Georgia's Fiscal Year 2022 Budget" https://gbpi.org/overview-of-georgias-2022-fiscal-year-budget/

Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RtSz8RmpUoJVi_LbzrnUqnHS3jg8-GGjknPMHXEyX4Q/edit?usp=sharing

Last week, we tried to make sense of Brian Kemp's public media campaign against teachers who want to be vaccinated. This week, we put that fight into context by tracing the longer history of conservative attacks on the very idea of teaching as a professional career.

“Governor: We Must Strengthen the Teacher Pipeline” (https://www.ajc.com/education/get-schooled-blog/governor-we-must-strengthen-teacher-pipeline/SLJJE7XBLVF5VH7TSEHFIRBAWY/)

“Strengthening the Teacher Pipeline Won’t Matter if the Destination is the Sewer” (https://www.ajc.com/education/get-schooled-blog/opinion-strengthening-teacher-pipeline-wont-matter-if-destination-is-a-sewer/HKTUADQ5OZBSTIBOABHWJZGJLU/)

Work Won't Love You Back (https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/work-wont-love-you-back/)

"What's at Stake in the Fight over Reopening Schools" (https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/whats-at-stake-in-the-fight-over-reopening-schools)

Transcript (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Jau5YmpmjOLSBMd1SO_UtJCjVy79-TeDiUNslNg7rfA/edit?usp=sharing)

Teachers in the state of Georgia are not being vaccinated yet, and the one county that tried to do so was raided by the GBI! Why does the governor seem so proud of the fact that the state is not protecting teachers? This week, we begin a two-part series on how Brian Kemp's fight with teachers over vaccines is part of and contributes to a larger pattern of working to de-emphasize the value of teaching as a profession in conservative conversations both in Georgia and across the United States.

"CDC expected to release new guidelines for reopening schools" https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/11/health/new-cdc-guidance-schools-anticipated/index.html

"Rural community in shock after Georgia raids clinic vaccinating teachers" https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/rural-community-shock-after-georgia-raids-clinic-vaccinating-teachers-n1256858?fbclid=IwAR0tLFAJRJn7JTtA1JRtXgBgEbtyzi8AJ7TaUSoSxwWMpdDJ6cgvKLfgRbs

"Anxiety Mounts As Georgia Educators Wait For COVID Vaccine" https://www.gpb.org/news/2021/01/29/anxiety-mounts-georgia-educators-wait-for-covid-vaccine

"Kemp says Atlanta’s teachers can’t move up the vaccine line" https://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta-news/kemp-says-atlantas-teachers-cant-move-up-the-vaccine-line/XSPU34SHZ5FZTJ6DVXIAREXHVY/

Episode Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a6LKb7MlKRi6UFVbRE1J7OurpjyC00DhMDUhWzNWWeU/edit?usp=sharing

This week, we welcome former Brittain fellow Jesse Stommel (@jessifer) to talk about the rise of ed tech in the age of COVID. Fair warning: this is a scary episode, because these companies are scary--for students and for faculty!

"Exam Anxiety: how remote test-proctoring is creeping students out" https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/29/21232777/examity-remote-test-proctoring-online-class-education

"How teachers are sacrificing student privacy to stop cheating" https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/recode/22175021/school-cheating-student-privacy-remote-learning

Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Hf2MTDDjeDjqX-ptyW0xtWAboOR8iPS0TT91KuXB5as/edit?usp=sharing

Joe Biden's COVID plan is out, and we are here to break down what it might mean for colleges and the people who live, work, and teach in them.

"National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness" (https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/National-Strategy-for-the-COVID-19-Response-and-Pandemic-Preparedness.pdf)

"Billions in Aid Head to Colleges" (https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/01/15/education-department-releases-billions-aid-colleges)

"COVID-19: The Biden-Harris Plan to Beat COVID"" (https://www.whitehouse.gov/priorities/covid-19/)

Episode Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nkP_RQGnFwzTqxXhOi0Ob_9T4xNAFIeL2vKCk3cywMQ/edit