Public Universities across the Garden State are rallying together to support funding for higher-education. Don't miss what's happening at Kean!
"We are forced to live in debt to afford this education. And they still want us to pay more, we dont have any more money, it is time we fought back." -Joel Salvino
Check it out on Facebook
Thursday, March 24, 2011
APRIL 5th National Teach-in!
(This is all taken right from the Teach-In flyers)
FIGHT BACK USA:
CORPORATE GREED, DEBT, AUSTERITY
APRIL 5th, 2011
Content Themes for Local Teach-in
If you are organizing a campus/local event on April 5th, you might considering the themes listed below. These themes form the core of the NYC live stream webcast Teach-in. The order is suggestive of the logic of the widespread crisis. All themes overlap of course, but this is a rubric for thinking about how to “connect the dots” for your audience.
Most importantly, the final theme “Into Action” is designed to get your group thinking about local action strategies that coordinate with existing campaigns around:
1) Anti-austerity
(union fight back on collective bargaining rights, teacher and other public sector union campaigns, protest of cuts to social services for the poor , war/war spending protests…)
2) Anti-bank protests
(anti-foreclosure movement, student loan/debt protests, bank bailout protests…)
Help make this the most memorable spring for US social justice movements in decades!
THEMES
CORPORATE GREED
Income Inequality ( the growing income inequality gap that characterizes the US and global economy)
Wealth Transfer (bailouts of banks and corporations) with tax dollars from working people people who slide deeper into crisis.
Corporate Tax Breaks and Rising Profits (tax policy and relief designed by and for a rich and tiny minority, while starving essential services --at all levels of government--for the majority)
DEBT
National Debt (war spending, bank bailouts, tax-breaks for the rich)
Predatory Lending by Banks
Mortgage Crisis
Student Loan Crisis
Consumer Debt Crisis
AUSTERITY
Manufactured Crisis, Manufactured Solution
Austerity as Myth (pretense for assault on civil society)
Assault on Collective Bargaining and Union Rights (impact on worker’s rights of all workers going forward)
Assault on Social Service Spending at all Levels of Government (impact on the poorest Americans)
Demonizing Public Employees (teachers, civil servants, higher education)
Sacraficing the Many for the Few
INTO ACTION!
Identify Existing Local/Regional Campaigns (anti-austerity; workers rights/union campaigns; anti-bank actions)
Include Representatives from these campaigns in your Teach-In (utilize local campaigners as speakers)
Focus on Campus-Community Connections (strategize as to how campus energy and bodies can be leveraged for existing efforts; think through how different sectors --state workers, students, homeowner…-- posses different points of institutional leverage. Consider how, where and when direct action can be most effectively used to maximize different tyes and points of leverage.
ACT ! (decide an action focus and start ORGANIZING!
Help make this the most memorable
spring for US social justice movements in decades!
FIGHT BACK USA:
CORPORATE GREED, DEBT, AUSTERITY
APRIL 5th, 2011
Content Themes for Local Teach-in
If you are organizing a campus/local event on April 5th, you might considering the themes listed below. These themes form the core of the NYC live stream webcast Teach-in. The order is suggestive of the logic of the widespread crisis. All themes overlap of course, but this is a rubric for thinking about how to “connect the dots” for your audience.
Most importantly, the final theme “Into Action” is designed to get your group thinking about local action strategies that coordinate with existing campaigns around:
1) Anti-austerity
(union fight back on collective bargaining rights, teacher and other public sector union campaigns, protest of cuts to social services for the poor , war/war spending protests…)
2) Anti-bank protests
(anti-foreclosure movement, student loan/debt protests, bank bailout protests…)
Help make this the most memorable spring for US social justice movements in decades!
THEMES
CORPORATE GREED
Income Inequality ( the growing income inequality gap that characterizes the US and global economy)
Wealth Transfer (bailouts of banks and corporations) with tax dollars from working people people who slide deeper into crisis.
Corporate Tax Breaks and Rising Profits (tax policy and relief designed by and for a rich and tiny minority, while starving essential services --at all levels of government--for the majority)
DEBT
National Debt (war spending, bank bailouts, tax-breaks for the rich)
Predatory Lending by Banks
Mortgage Crisis
Student Loan Crisis
Consumer Debt Crisis
AUSTERITY
Manufactured Crisis, Manufactured Solution
Austerity as Myth (pretense for assault on civil society)
Assault on Collective Bargaining and Union Rights (impact on worker’s rights of all workers going forward)
Assault on Social Service Spending at all Levels of Government (impact on the poorest Americans)
Demonizing Public Employees (teachers, civil servants, higher education)
Sacraficing the Many for the Few
INTO ACTION!
Identify Existing Local/Regional Campaigns (anti-austerity; workers rights/union campaigns; anti-bank actions)
Include Representatives from these campaigns in your Teach-In (utilize local campaigners as speakers)
Focus on Campus-Community Connections (strategize as to how campus energy and bodies can be leveraged for existing efforts; think through how different sectors --state workers, students, homeowner…-- posses different points of institutional leverage. Consider how, where and when direct action can be most effectively used to maximize different tyes and points of leverage.
ACT ! (decide an action focus and start ORGANIZING!
Help make this the most memorable
spring for US social justice movements in decades!
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
This one goes out to the Biology and Sciences students:
We have in our possession a letter addressed to Kean’s Faculty from Dr. Eric Boehm, whose name you may recognize from recent posts on this blog. Dr. Boehm has been a Professor in the Biology Department for the last four years and was recently informed that he will not be reappointed next year, at which point he would have received tenure. After two separate appeals for reappointment, it became clear that the decision about Dr. Boehm’s tenure was set in stone; he was no longer welcome at our University.
After realizing that he could “only be fired once,” Dr. Boehm wrote this letter to his colleagues to express his bewilderment at the restructuring of the Science Departments, and to warn them about Dr. Eaton, the new Director of the equally new School of Environmental and Life Sciences (SELS), whom Boehm believes was “hired with the express purpose of dissolving our department, and consolidating an "us against them" policy” within the ranks of its teaching staff.
“With the creation of the School of Environmental & Life Sciences (SELS), as a separate entity within the College, and the sudden administrative decision, without any prior faculty consultation, nor any effort to build faculty consensus, to physically relocate half of our faculty to another bldg separate from the Biology Dept., the Administration has effectively brought an end to our department,” Boehm wrote in his letter—a description that draws a stark parallel to the aftermath following the dissolution of our Philosophy Department where the staff, previously housed in Hutchinson Hall, have been moved out of their offices and split between Willis Hall and the Child Study Institute.
Boehm also mentions that, so far, SELS has failed to draw new majors into its programs. Apparently, SELS has begun a “Sustainability Initiative,” a plan to pay students to enter the program after “a year plus of ‘no-takers.’” It is hard to imagine that the Administration will continue the program if these enrollment trends continue, especially in light of the justification provided for the restructuring that has already occurred on campus: The ratio of Full-Time Enrolment to Faculty numbers.
You may recall the article we put up a few months back, “For the Record: A Defense of the Philosophy and Religion Program.” I know we keep referring to Philosophy as a comparison to this situation, but we only do so because this ‘restructuring’ happened to Philosophy first and, since the plan has already been in place for nearly a year, it is one of the only Departments where we are beginning to see the real ill effects of the Administration’s campaign to transform Kean.
However, it seems things could go rotten more quickly in Biology; symptoms of this disease are already manifesting themselves in ways the students can see: first on the list is “the relocation of Dr. Yu’s anatomy teaching rooms in a separate bldg. from where the lectures are held, with no prior consultation with [Dr.] Yu [or the students];” as well as forcing Dr. Boehm to teach BIO 3305 on the East Campus without a Lab; threatening professors with dismissal; calling on professors to author as many as “6 papers before tenure” instead of using their valuable time to meet with and advise students; the exile of Dr. Hayat who, according to the Biology Department’s Faculty page is the only ‘Distinguished Professor’ on the staff list, and who, according to Dr. Boehm, “Scientifically… put Kean on the map;” and lastly, the reduction teaching staff.
The Inside Higher Education article ‘Disappearing Departments’ also highlights the possibility of accreditation issues following the split-up of faculty between buildings as well as between schools in accordance with their involvement in either the B.A. or B.S. Majors.
Stripling explains that “bachelor of arts programs in science will be placed in one school, while bachelor of science programs in the same disciplines will be housed in another school. Since faculty frequently teach courses in both degree programs, there’s a practical concern about how to cover the teaching if faculty are divided between B.A. and B.S. programs…. The independent national accreditation for the B.S. program in chemistry, for instance, hinges in part on full-time faculty numbers. Those numbers would presumably be reduced if some chemistry professors were devoted purely to the B.A. program, as the plan appears to prescribe.”
What’s more is that we’re seeing similar Accreditation fears in Kean’s Graduate Program in Social Work where, after the undergraduate degree was deleted over the Summer and the undergrad staff were either released or given a graduate schedule, the program may not have enough full-time faculty to maintain itself in the eyes of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
In concluding his letter, Dr. Boehm displays emotions similar to those I’ve seen in several recent comments on this blog. “I now realize,” He says, “that leaving Kean has actually been a blessing in disguise…. I am glad to be free of it, and can only wish those of you who remain behind much success, and a fair amount of luck, as you will need it.”
I know that some of you have expressed to us that, if we give you definitive proof of this situation, you will leave the school—we urge you to consider that carefully. It is possible, as one of you commented after speaking with a Bio advisor, that nothing will realistically change for the program’s students or their degree expectations. It is more likely, as we’ve seen in the aftermath of other departments’ restructuring, that this is not the case. Either way, we also wish you luck; you all deserve your degrees and you all deserve to know the story—the best defense any of us have in such a sea of uncertainty is our ability to question. The more they know you know, the safer you and your Major Programs are.
After realizing that he could “only be fired once,” Dr. Boehm wrote this letter to his colleagues to express his bewilderment at the restructuring of the Science Departments, and to warn them about Dr. Eaton, the new Director of the equally new School of Environmental and Life Sciences (SELS), whom Boehm believes was “hired with the express purpose of dissolving our department, and consolidating an "us against them" policy” within the ranks of its teaching staff.
“With the creation of the School of Environmental & Life Sciences (SELS), as a separate entity within the College, and the sudden administrative decision, without any prior faculty consultation, nor any effort to build faculty consensus, to physically relocate half of our faculty to another bldg separate from the Biology Dept., the Administration has effectively brought an end to our department,” Boehm wrote in his letter—a description that draws a stark parallel to the aftermath following the dissolution of our Philosophy Department where the staff, previously housed in Hutchinson Hall, have been moved out of their offices and split between Willis Hall and the Child Study Institute.
Boehm also mentions that, so far, SELS has failed to draw new majors into its programs. Apparently, SELS has begun a “Sustainability Initiative,” a plan to pay students to enter the program after “a year plus of ‘no-takers.’” It is hard to imagine that the Administration will continue the program if these enrollment trends continue, especially in light of the justification provided for the restructuring that has already occurred on campus: The ratio of Full-Time Enrolment to Faculty numbers.
You may recall the article we put up a few months back, “For the Record: A Defense of the Philosophy and Religion Program.” I know we keep referring to Philosophy as a comparison to this situation, but we only do so because this ‘restructuring’ happened to Philosophy first and, since the plan has already been in place for nearly a year, it is one of the only Departments where we are beginning to see the real ill effects of the Administration’s campaign to transform Kean.
However, it seems things could go rotten more quickly in Biology; symptoms of this disease are already manifesting themselves in ways the students can see: first on the list is “the relocation of Dr. Yu’s anatomy teaching rooms in a separate bldg. from where the lectures are held, with no prior consultation with [Dr.] Yu [or the students];” as well as forcing Dr. Boehm to teach BIO 3305 on the East Campus without a Lab; threatening professors with dismissal; calling on professors to author as many as “6 papers before tenure” instead of using their valuable time to meet with and advise students; the exile of Dr. Hayat who, according to the Biology Department’s Faculty page is the only ‘Distinguished Professor’ on the staff list, and who, according to Dr. Boehm, “Scientifically… put Kean on the map;” and lastly, the reduction teaching staff.
The Inside Higher Education article ‘Disappearing Departments’ also highlights the possibility of accreditation issues following the split-up of faculty between buildings as well as between schools in accordance with their involvement in either the B.A. or B.S. Majors.
Stripling explains that “bachelor of arts programs in science will be placed in one school, while bachelor of science programs in the same disciplines will be housed in another school. Since faculty frequently teach courses in both degree programs, there’s a practical concern about how to cover the teaching if faculty are divided between B.A. and B.S. programs…. The independent national accreditation for the B.S. program in chemistry, for instance, hinges in part on full-time faculty numbers. Those numbers would presumably be reduced if some chemistry professors were devoted purely to the B.A. program, as the plan appears to prescribe.”
What’s more is that we’re seeing similar Accreditation fears in Kean’s Graduate Program in Social Work where, after the undergraduate degree was deleted over the Summer and the undergrad staff were either released or given a graduate schedule, the program may not have enough full-time faculty to maintain itself in the eyes of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
In concluding his letter, Dr. Boehm displays emotions similar to those I’ve seen in several recent comments on this blog. “I now realize,” He says, “that leaving Kean has actually been a blessing in disguise…. I am glad to be free of it, and can only wish those of you who remain behind much success, and a fair amount of luck, as you will need it.”
I know that some of you have expressed to us that, if we give you definitive proof of this situation, you will leave the school—we urge you to consider that carefully. It is possible, as one of you commented after speaking with a Bio advisor, that nothing will realistically change for the program’s students or their degree expectations. It is more likely, as we’ve seen in the aftermath of other departments’ restructuring, that this is not the case. Either way, we also wish you luck; you all deserve your degrees and you all deserve to know the story—the best defense any of us have in such a sea of uncertainty is our ability to question. The more they know you know, the safer you and your Major Programs are.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Disappearing Departments: An Inside Higher Ed Article on Kean's Restructuring, Accreditation, and Fiscal Concerns
To read the entire article by Jack Stripling, click here.
Here's an abstract:
The Document they're referring to is a draft proposal addressed to Dr. Farahi from Mark Lender, at the time the Interum Vice President for Academic Affairs, about a plan to restructure the University starting last June. We've been watching the plan unfold for a semester and a half so far—at the price of faculty and academic programs—so if you want to read the proposal, dated last April, download it HERE from InsideHigherEd.
Here's an abstract:
“The document you have is a Frankenstein’s monster with missing parts and no way to animate it,” Maria Montaperto, an assistant professor of English said.
Other departments that now exist are similarly concerned with the implications of being split apart. The plan stipulates, for instance, that bachelor of arts programs in science will be placed in one school, while bachelor of science programs in the same disciplines will be housed in another school. Since faculty frequently teach courses in both degree programs, there’s a practical concern about how to cover the teaching if faculty are divided between B.A. and B.S. programs.
Dividing faculty between degree programs also presents potential concerns for accreditation. The independent national accreditation for the B.S. program in chemistry, for instance, hinges in part on full-time faculty numbers. Those numbers would presumably be reduced if some chemistry professors were devoted purely to the B.A. program, as the plan appears to prescribe.
“How do you maintain accreditation if one part of your program is in one school and another part of your program is in another school? We’re absolutely aghast and we’re very concerned about accreditation and losing it,” said Lees, who helped the school secure accreditation with the American Chemical Society nearly 30 years ago.
The Document they're referring to is a draft proposal addressed to Dr. Farahi from Mark Lender, at the time the Interum Vice President for Academic Affairs, about a plan to restructure the University starting last June. We've been watching the plan unfold for a semester and a half so far—at the price of faculty and academic programs—so if you want to read the proposal, dated last April, download it HERE from InsideHigherEd.
Keep your eyes on the Tower
The Tower has an article up about Kean and Middle States right now—and they found out something we missed. If Kean is not reaccredited, then apparently State and Federal funding for the schools students disappears with it.
(Check out the article here)
(Check out the article here)
Friday, March 4, 2011
Dr. Boehm of the Bio Department was given notice but not given a reason...
In conjunction with the recent move to dissemble the Biology Department, Kean has begun firing the program's faculty: Dr Boehm, the only professor I've ever known to receive a perfect 5.0 out of 5.0 in every category on RateMyProfessor.com, has been given notice. Dr. Boehm is not yet tenured, and therefore can legally be released at any time—but the events surrounding his termination point to retribution as a motive for the action.
Dr. Boehm is apparently an active and outspoken Professor who expected the quality of his instruction and his dedication as a teacher would protect his position; he did not account for how little the Administration cares about the quality of its staff.
In other news, it appears that Kean may have expected the Accreditation for the Biology Program to lapse due to the condition of its laboratories and equipment, which are all significantly outdated. They may have made this move to strike the Bio Major because doing so would avoid the necessary cost of rennovating their labs. This is, of course, speculation—but it's an explanation that fits.
More to come soon, everyone...
Dr. Boehm is apparently an active and outspoken Professor who expected the quality of his instruction and his dedication as a teacher would protect his position; he did not account for how little the Administration cares about the quality of its staff.
In other news, it appears that Kean may have expected the Accreditation for the Biology Program to lapse due to the condition of its laboratories and equipment, which are all significantly outdated. They may have made this move to strike the Bio Major because doing so would avoid the necessary cost of rennovating their labs. This is, of course, speculation—but it's an explanation that fits.
More to come soon, everyone...
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
KEAN DISSOLVES BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT
This is an URGENT message to all 800 of Kean's BIOLOGY MAJORS:
Kean University is dissolving the Biology Department—This means that, just like the students in the Philosophy and Social Work Majors, you are going to have to switch your program of study!
Talk to your professors!
(More to come soon...)
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
The Middle States Petition
Hello again, everyone.
Here at TBK we are all incredibly impressed with your response to our petition so far. Not only are you becoming more aware of the perils we face at the loss of our accreditation each day, but hundreds of you have rallied to our cause by adding your signatures to our list.
Our ultimate goal was to get 1,000 names on our petition; given the near-unanimous response from everyone we've talked to, we have decided to up the ante and shoot for 1,400 signatures, 10% of Kean's student body. With numbers like that, the Administration and Board of Trustees will have no choice but to listen to the voice of Kean's students.
Over the last few days we've taken note of the questions you all have asked us about the petition, and I think it's pertinent that we take the time to address some of them here on the blog. So, without further suspense, here is the Middle-States FAQ!
Frequently Asked Questions about the Middle States Petition:
1) How is this petition going to save Kean's Accreditation?
The truth is simple: It can't. Only the Administration can save Kean's accreditation; the purpose of this petition is to show middles states that, first, Kean's students are neither stupid enough to deserve their accreditation being snatched away and, second, that Kean's students are in fact aware of this situation despite the Administration's attempt to keep it quiet.
The idea is that, since the Administration won't listen to their Student Body, it is more likely that Middle States will, and that the Administration will in turn listen to Middle States.
2) Some of us like Adjunct Professors... Why do we need to decrease their numbers on campus?
Our petition does not actually suggest that we decrease the number of Adjuncts on campus. We all recognize that, because of the size of our University, Adjuncts are a necessity in our modern economic climate; what we also recognize is that Middle States suggests a maximum of 40% Adjuncts on a campus and Kean's full-time faculty number less than 40%. The best solution, we think, is to hire those Adjuncts who truly deserve tenure as full-time professors. TBK would never suggest reducing the number of professors on our campus--to the contrary, we want more, and we want them to be tenured.
3) Where do we get our information?
All of our information comes from documents released by Kean University (many of which are on the Kean.edu website, some of which have been acquired through Open Public Records Act requests), interviews with Kean faculty, interviews with Student Org officers and representatives, and articles that have been published in newspapers or online through reputable sources. We link to EVERYTHING that we can here on our site, and frequently give you the opportunity to view documents right from our Blog without having to travel elsewhere. If you want more info, read up: you've got months worth of TBK reporting right at your fingertips!
4) What did Kean offer Student Org in exchange for their transition into a Department?
As far as we can tell, The administration offered SO the use of their copying and printing services at no cost, as well as the use of their Media and Publications department. The thought was that the cost reduction created by utilizing free office-services would allow SO to allocate more funding to students... That much is certain.
The rest of the deal still remains somewhat shrouded. Student Org signed away a lot of its power when it became a department, and has certainly lost any latitude it once had in putting items to vote. Why the officers agreed to this is uncertain, but our guess is that they were newly-placed in their offices and therefore unaware of what, exactly, they were doing. The Administration could not get SO to vote, initially, on becoming a department, and so they pushed for the next best thing: They compromised, allowing the Org to remain independent for one more year, and then forcing them to vote on the topic of Departmentalization after the next round of elections. Was it really a compromise? Or a quick bait-and-snatch trick? We can't tell you--but we'll sure as hell give you our opinion.
This ends the FAQ on our Middle-States Petition... if you have any additional questions, feel free to come to our meetings at 3PM in the Grand Study Hall (3rd Floor Library) on Wednesday afternoons, or email us at takebackkean@gmail.com.
Until next time,
Keep on Signing, Kean University!
Here at TBK we are all incredibly impressed with your response to our petition so far. Not only are you becoming more aware of the perils we face at the loss of our accreditation each day, but hundreds of you have rallied to our cause by adding your signatures to our list.
Our ultimate goal was to get 1,000 names on our petition; given the near-unanimous response from everyone we've talked to, we have decided to up the ante and shoot for 1,400 signatures, 10% of Kean's student body. With numbers like that, the Administration and Board of Trustees will have no choice but to listen to the voice of Kean's students.
Over the last few days we've taken note of the questions you all have asked us about the petition, and I think it's pertinent that we take the time to address some of them here on the blog. So, without further suspense, here is the Middle-States FAQ!
Frequently Asked Questions about the Middle States Petition:
1) How is this petition going to save Kean's Accreditation?
The truth is simple: It can't. Only the Administration can save Kean's accreditation; the purpose of this petition is to show middles states that, first, Kean's students are neither stupid enough to deserve their accreditation being snatched away and, second, that Kean's students are in fact aware of this situation despite the Administration's attempt to keep it quiet.
The idea is that, since the Administration won't listen to their Student Body, it is more likely that Middle States will, and that the Administration will in turn listen to Middle States.
2) Some of us like Adjunct Professors... Why do we need to decrease their numbers on campus?
Our petition does not actually suggest that we decrease the number of Adjuncts on campus. We all recognize that, because of the size of our University, Adjuncts are a necessity in our modern economic climate; what we also recognize is that Middle States suggests a maximum of 40% Adjuncts on a campus and Kean's full-time faculty number less than 40%. The best solution, we think, is to hire those Adjuncts who truly deserve tenure as full-time professors. TBK would never suggest reducing the number of professors on our campus--to the contrary, we want more, and we want them to be tenured.
3) Where do we get our information?
All of our information comes from documents released by Kean University (many of which are on the Kean.edu website, some of which have been acquired through Open Public Records Act requests), interviews with Kean faculty, interviews with Student Org officers and representatives, and articles that have been published in newspapers or online through reputable sources. We link to EVERYTHING that we can here on our site, and frequently give you the opportunity to view documents right from our Blog without having to travel elsewhere. If you want more info, read up: you've got months worth of TBK reporting right at your fingertips!
4) What did Kean offer Student Org in exchange for their transition into a Department?
As far as we can tell, The administration offered SO the use of their copying and printing services at no cost, as well as the use of their Media and Publications department. The thought was that the cost reduction created by utilizing free office-services would allow SO to allocate more funding to students... That much is certain.
The rest of the deal still remains somewhat shrouded. Student Org signed away a lot of its power when it became a department, and has certainly lost any latitude it once had in putting items to vote. Why the officers agreed to this is uncertain, but our guess is that they were newly-placed in their offices and therefore unaware of what, exactly, they were doing. The Administration could not get SO to vote, initially, on becoming a department, and so they pushed for the next best thing: They compromised, allowing the Org to remain independent for one more year, and then forcing them to vote on the topic of Departmentalization after the next round of elections. Was it really a compromise? Or a quick bait-and-snatch trick? We can't tell you--but we'll sure as hell give you our opinion.
This ends the FAQ on our Middle-States Petition... if you have any additional questions, feel free to come to our meetings at 3PM in the Grand Study Hall (3rd Floor Library) on Wednesday afternoons, or email us at takebackkean@gmail.com.
Until next time,
Keep on Signing, Kean University!
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