Well … GEO settlements, finals preparation, latkes, fiscal cliffs, eggnogs, Mayan solutions to the pension crisis. Somewhere in here comes Our Weekly Reader. No obvious huge story. Quote of the week is taken from Ford Prefect of the Hitchhiker’s Guide:
“They can’t win against obsession. We care. They don’t. We win.”
— Bruce
1. Comments on the resolution of the GEO contract. (Article by Anna Kurhajec of GEO
http://labornotes.org/2012/12/building-solidarity-union
2. Pensions. First, a comment on the Nekritz-Biss plan of last week, then another proposal
http://www.thetelegraph.com/news/local/article_136557ac-41b3-11e2-b6a8-0019bb30f31a.html
3. Fun at the SEC. Read the comments at your own risk.
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/education/2012-12-12/ui-senate-discuss-faculty-unionization.html
http://www.dailyillini.com/news/campus/article_c87b4548-4348-11e2-8dd0-001a4bcf6878.html
4. AAUP draft polity against confidentiality agreements.
5. The University of California hits a pothole on the brand-wagon
6. The public doesn’t want education cuts if there’s a fiscal cliff dive.
7. This week in MOOCs, a call for “freelance professors”, and the movement arrives in Britain.
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/12/14/two-companies-give-faculty-more-control-online-courses
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=422137&c=1
8. Finally, the DI notices something remarkable. Next: Days get shorter during fall semester, longer during spring.
http://www.dailyillini.com/news/campus/article_881f1d78-44db-11e2-bf39-001a4bcf6878.html
From the E-Summary at http://www.uillinois.edu/our/news/summary.cfm
==============================
12/10 — p.4 (NG) — “GEO ratifies 5-year deal, see last week
12/10 — p.13 (Trib) — Editorial: “Still waiting. Taxpayers were supposed to get a break on retiree health care costs. It hasn’t happened.”
12/10 — p.14 (NG) — Editorial: “Another pension plan on table”
12/10 — p.15 (Sun-Times) — Well informed pension letter from exec. director of “Illinois Retired Teachers Association”
12/10 — p.29-32 (Various) — “U of California’s new logo sparks outrage”, see above
12/10 — p.41-44 (NYT) “To steer students towards jobs, Florida may cut tuition for select majors” (Yes, the free market in action.)
12/11 — p.3 (AP) — Pension proposal, see above.
12/11 — p.9 (NG) — Editorial “A deal is a deal”. About the AFSCME contract, but applies, mutatis mutandis, to pensions.
12/11 — p.11 (DI) — The DI misses the main story at the SEC meeting, see above
12/11 — p.20 (InsideHigherEd) “Study says many highly talented low-income students never apply to top colleges”
12/11 — pp.22-23 (various) — More on the UC logo.
12/11 — pp.32-35 (WSJ) “College football’s big-money big-risk business model”
12/12 — pp1-2 (NG) “Faculty unionization talk set for next semester”, see above
12/13 — p.5 (DI) — “Rise in out-of-state freshmen, revenue”, see above
12/13 — p.14 (InsideHighered) — “AAUP recommends against confidentiality agreements in shared governance”, see above
12/14 — pp.1-2 — (Chron) — “Board members say college costs too much, but not at their institution”
12/14 — pp.10-17 — (NYT) — “Building a showcase campus, using an I.O.U.” (front page story)
12/14 — pp.28-29 — (Trib) op-ed: “The GOP’s branding problem’ By Jonah Goldberg. An odd choice of E:summary since it is by a national conservative writer and has nothing to do with Illinois or with higher education. Perhaps some reader of OWR can explain to me why this is here.
Campus Faculty Association 