AFT New Hampshire News,Winter 2024
A statement from Plymouth State University - AAUP
Public Education, Public Good
January 23, 2023
PSU-AAUP advocates for access to the benefits of quality higher education for all New Hampshire citizens. We enthusiastically support requests to the legislature for specific additional budgeted funds to support public higher education through the University System of New Hampshire.
We affirm that:
Public Universities are a Public Good as well as an Individual Good
“Through volunteer work, leadership, and philanthropic contributions, public university graduates enrich the civic and economic life of their communities. They also contribute more in taxes and are less reliant on government services than their peers whose highest degree is a high school diploma.” (Association of Public & Land Grant Universities)
Regional public universities “may impact local economic outcomes, such as industrial composition, in ways that increase the return to education in the local community, and this may increase high school and college attainment. Regional universities may also affect other characteristics of the local community, such as the income distribution or family composition, which may affect mobility directly or indirectly, for example through affecting primary and secondary school quality.” (“Workhorses of Opportunity: Regional Universities Increase Local Social Mobility”, 2022, from the Institute of Labor Economics, p 34)
Public Universities are a Vital and Sensible Investment of Public Funds
College graduates “contribute hundreds of thousands of dollars more toward government services and social insurance programs and college graduates “rely much less on other taxpayers.” (Lumina Foundation)
Well-funded public universities encourage young adults to “stay, work, play” in New Hampshire rather than head elsewhere for less-expensive education, never to return.
“The relatively high cost of public higher education in New Hampshire is likely due in part to comparatively low levels of state support for institutions of higher education, and in turn may result in more Granite State high school students leaving New Hampshire for other educational opportunities than would have with the option of lower in-state tuition.” (New Hampshire Business Review, 2022)
“Given the demographic trends that are impacting and will continue to impact New Hampshire’s economy and labor force, retaining young workers in the state is key for the state’s economic vibrancy and the future prosperity of all Granite Staters.” (New Hampshire Business Review, 2022)
Increased and sustained funding to USNH at the state level will:
An equitably compensated, less-contingent, more secure workforce of staff and faculty is vital to supporting our students, to carrying out even our most simple plans, sustaining them over time, and evaluating measurable outcomes. And these faculty and staff want and need to be meaningfully involved in the structures of governance and decision-making that can enable or undermine our best efforts to realize our shared aspirations.
“Submitting public universities to private sector standards hasn’t increased their overall wealth and made their education more efficient. It has increased their costs and shifted resources from the educational core. I show how privatizing public colleges has made them more expensive for students and impaired students’ learning. Private sector “reforms” are not the cure for the college cost disease–they are the college cost disease. They set up a devolutionary cycle that shifts resources away from education while raising rather than containing costs.” (The Great Mistake, Christopher Newfield)
In affirming our shared belief that public higher education is a public good and therefore a sensible investment of public funds, we encourage New Hampshire residents to join us in urging the legislature and the governor to increase and sustain funding to the USNH.
These are difficult times for public higher education. But we remain optimistic when we imagine what would be possible if funding more accurately matched the high value of public higher education to all of us.
For more information about Plymouth State University - AAUP, go to: plymouth-aaup.org/
Public Education, Public Good
January 23, 2023
PSU-AAUP advocates for access to the benefits of quality higher education for all New Hampshire citizens. We enthusiastically support requests to the legislature for specific additional budgeted funds to support public higher education through the University System of New Hampshire.
We affirm that:
Public Universities are a Public Good as well as an Individual Good
- An educated citizenry is a key contributor to innovation, creativity, well-being and growth more broadly.
- An educated citizenry benefits school districts, towns, philanthropic organizations, and the whole state.
- An educated citizenry is a key contributor to an infrastructure supporting private and public industry and commerce.
“Through volunteer work, leadership, and philanthropic contributions, public university graduates enrich the civic and economic life of their communities. They also contribute more in taxes and are less reliant on government services than their peers whose highest degree is a high school diploma.” (Association of Public & Land Grant Universities)
Regional public universities “may impact local economic outcomes, such as industrial composition, in ways that increase the return to education in the local community, and this may increase high school and college attainment. Regional universities may also affect other characteristics of the local community, such as the income distribution or family composition, which may affect mobility directly or indirectly, for example through affecting primary and secondary school quality.” (“Workhorses of Opportunity: Regional Universities Increase Local Social Mobility”, 2022, from the Institute of Labor Economics, p 34)
Public Universities are a Vital and Sensible Investment of Public Funds
College graduates “contribute hundreds of thousands of dollars more toward government services and social insurance programs and college graduates “rely much less on other taxpayers.” (Lumina Foundation)
Well-funded public universities encourage young adults to “stay, work, play” in New Hampshire rather than head elsewhere for less-expensive education, never to return.
“The relatively high cost of public higher education in New Hampshire is likely due in part to comparatively low levels of state support for institutions of higher education, and in turn may result in more Granite State high school students leaving New Hampshire for other educational opportunities than would have with the option of lower in-state tuition.” (New Hampshire Business Review, 2022)
“Given the demographic trends that are impacting and will continue to impact New Hampshire’s economy and labor force, retaining young workers in the state is key for the state’s economic vibrancy and the future prosperity of all Granite Staters.” (New Hampshire Business Review, 2022)
Increased and sustained funding to USNH at the state level will:
- Allow universities to reduce tuition costs for New Hampshire students and their families
- Maintain/increase educational quality by attracting and retaining students, faculty and staff
- Support innovation without sacrificing overall access, quality, and diversity of educational opportunities
- Enable multi-year planning by faculty, staff, and administration who are currently consumed by juggling insufficient available resources just to stay afloat.
An equitably compensated, less-contingent, more secure workforce of staff and faculty is vital to supporting our students, to carrying out even our most simple plans, sustaining them over time, and evaluating measurable outcomes. And these faculty and staff want and need to be meaningfully involved in the structures of governance and decision-making that can enable or undermine our best efforts to realize our shared aspirations.
“Submitting public universities to private sector standards hasn’t increased their overall wealth and made their education more efficient. It has increased their costs and shifted resources from the educational core. I show how privatizing public colleges has made them more expensive for students and impaired students’ learning. Private sector “reforms” are not the cure for the college cost disease–they are the college cost disease. They set up a devolutionary cycle that shifts resources away from education while raising rather than containing costs.” (The Great Mistake, Christopher Newfield)
In affirming our shared belief that public higher education is a public good and therefore a sensible investment of public funds, we encourage New Hampshire residents to join us in urging the legislature and the governor to increase and sustain funding to the USNH.
These are difficult times for public higher education. But we remain optimistic when we imagine what would be possible if funding more accurately matched the high value of public higher education to all of us.
For more information about Plymouth State University - AAUP, go to: plymouth-aaup.org/
UNH Lecturers United- AAUP proudly support our Transgender students, faculty, and staff at UNH with whom we are lucky to work. We appreciate, value, and celebrate the great diversity of gender identities and gender expressions that exist among our community members. We believe that we are collectively stronger in our educational mission and common humanity when our differences are recognized, respected, and honored. It is our responsibility to support each other through difficult times. Know that UNHLU is here for every member of the UNH community.
Federal Proposal to Redefine Gender Throws College Policies Into Uncertainty
Federal Proposal to Redefine Gender Throws College Policies Into Uncertainty
Open Letter to COLA Dean Regarding Anticipated Lecturer Non-Renewals
January 25, 2018
Dear Dean Bostic,
The recently announced cuts of Lecturer faculty were dramatic and unanticipated. Many of us across the University have questions about this decision, and we write to you now to ask you to provide more information to the community about these cuts.
In particular, we request the Deans’ office address:
· The College financial situation. We call on you to provide specific details about the COLA finances. Detailed financial reports for the college would allow for the transparency needed to understand the context of recent cuts to the teaching faculty.
Sincerely,
UNHLU-AAUP Executive Committee
Dear Dean Bostic,
The recently announced cuts of Lecturer faculty were dramatic and unanticipated. Many of us across the University have questions about this decision, and we write to you now to ask you to provide more information to the community about these cuts.
In particular, we request the Deans’ office address:
· The College financial situation. We call on you to provide specific details about the COLA finances. Detailed financial reports for the college would allow for the transparency needed to understand the context of recent cuts to the teaching faculty.
- An articulated plan for how the more than 100 sections of courses taught by the non-renewed faculty members will be covered. We request you address the following questions: Will COLA be reducing the number of classes? Will upper-level classes be eliminated? Will faculty teaching those upper-level classes be moved into lower-level courses? Is the intention to renegotiate faculty workloads or to hire more faculty? Cuts to teaching faculty compromise programs, as well as students’ experiences and opportunities; therefore, your plan here is a matter of concern for all community stakeholders.
- The otherwise unannounced and unexplained new requirement for Lecturer Faculty to possess the terminal degree of a PhD. Your January 19 email stated that the affected faculty “were not renewed as the result of a desire to enhance program strength by ensuring that faculty members have the highest terminal degree in their field.” We request explanation for why this criterion is cited now, when it has never been a factor of the hiring, review or renewal of these faculty. As you are aware, many of these faculty members were repeatedly reappointed on the basis of their teaching experience and performance in the classroom. In addition, these lecturers have been reviewed by your office as meeting or exceeding your expectations annually. Further, seven of the affected faculty had been promoted to the ranks of Senior or Principal Lecturer, and their degrees did not play a role in these promotion decisions. How does your own recent assessment and promotion of these teachers connect with the notion that they are suddenly unqualified? We request explanation for the logic and soundness of this new criterion.
Sincerely,
UNHLU-AAUP Executive Committee
LECTURER UPDATE
January 18, 2018
As we begin the new semester, we have learned that at least 17 of our Lecturer Faculty colleagues have not been renewed for next academic year. This cut eliminates over 160 years of teaching experience at UNH. Critical elements of programs, affecting hundreds of students, will be significantly impacted, reduced, or eliminated. While these faculty cuts are concentrated in the College of Liberals Arts, the ripple effects on students, departments, and faculty will be felt across the campus.
At a time when we need to address the grand challenges associated with creating engaged, global citizens, we cannot afford to limit the academic experiences of our students. Now more than ever, our students deserve to be mentored by talented, experienced, teaching-focused faculty. To be prepared for careers in business, government service, public safety, health care, and beyond, our students need to have developed their fluency in languages, cultural, societal, and political awareness.
We are not yet even clear about the full extent of the cuts. At the time of this message, the Provost’s office has been unable to provide to the UNHLU-AAUP definitive details of the non-renewal actions. The precarious nature of non-tenure track, teaching-focused appointments at UNH has always been apparent to us, but never more so than now. The faculty who have been affected have demonstrated deep, long term commitments to the students of UNH. Several of these folks have been at UNH for decades.
Please be on the lookout for details of our upcoming membership meeting in early February. We will also be keeping you up to date as we learn more information. Now, more than ever, is the time for all of us to stand together in solidarity with our colleagues who have just received this shocking news, and to prepare for what is coming. Remember, we are stronger together.
At a time when we need to address the grand challenges associated with creating engaged, global citizens, we cannot afford to limit the academic experiences of our students. Now more than ever, our students deserve to be mentored by talented, experienced, teaching-focused faculty. To be prepared for careers in business, government service, public safety, health care, and beyond, our students need to have developed their fluency in languages, cultural, societal, and political awareness.
We are not yet even clear about the full extent of the cuts. At the time of this message, the Provost’s office has been unable to provide to the UNHLU-AAUP definitive details of the non-renewal actions. The precarious nature of non-tenure track, teaching-focused appointments at UNH has always been apparent to us, but never more so than now. The faculty who have been affected have demonstrated deep, long term commitments to the students of UNH. Several of these folks have been at UNH for decades.
Please be on the lookout for details of our upcoming membership meeting in early February. We will also be keeping you up to date as we learn more information. Now, more than ever, is the time for all of us to stand together in solidarity with our colleagues who have just received this shocking news, and to prepare for what is coming. Remember, we are stronger together.
Right to work fails in
NH House, 200-177
WHY RIGHT TO WORK
IS WRONG
Right-To-Work harms NH workers
Letter to the Editor:
True Representation
by LU President Sarah Hirsch
Nena Stracuzzi, Monique Couillard (UNHPA), Shelley Girdner,
and Peter Welch participate in the 2016 UNH Benefits Fair.
