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Union calls proposed CSCU faculty contract Draconian. State says union is being whiny.
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Shouting their demands for a fair contract, students and faculty from Connecticut State Universities demonstrate outside the Connecticut Board of Regents board room Thursday, Dec. 3, 2015, as Board of Regents/CSCU System President Mark E. Ojakian enters the building for a meeting of the regents.Mark Mirko / Associated PressShow MoreShow Less
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University faculty speak out at Central Connecticut State University. Oct. 21, 2020. New Britain.contributed /Show MoreShow Less
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In-person classes started in September at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, Conn.H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut MediaShow MoreShow Less
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Contract negotiations between faculty members and administrations are supposed to happen quietly, out of the public eye. But the faculty union for four state universities in Connecticut says its talks have started out so poorly that it must speak out against the university system’s “draconian” proposals.
A draft contract put forth by the university eliminates procedural protections regarding academic freedom, terminations and retrenchment; faculty ownership of original online course materials and the right to teach them; conference, travel and research funds; universitywide tenure committees; and privacy and grievance policies for personnel files.
The university system also wants to increase teaching loads from 12 credit hours per semester to 15 and pilot changing the academic calendar from two to three terms, with faculty members required to teach for two such terms annually.
Colleagues’ claims are ‘so false as to seem downright psychotic’
A New York University professor is suing several colleagues for alleged defamation in relation to his unpopular views on COVID-19 interventions, including the efficacy of masks and particular treatments.
The private university opened an investigation against Mark Crispin Miller, a tenured professor in the Department of Media, Culture, and Communications, after 25 faculty called on the department to respond to his “ongoing harm to our students.”
Their letter refers to a September incident in Miller’s class “Mass Persuasion and Propaganda.” A female student, who has since dropped out of the course, accused him of promoting right-wing conspiracy theories about COVID-19, and the department chair quickly responded that MCC was considering “next steps.”
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The College of Saint Rose, located in Albany, N.Y., is cutting 16 majors and six master’s degrees, including programs in chemistry, math and music.
The University of Evansville, in Indiana, has proposed eliminating 17 majors and three departments: philosophy and religion, music, and electrical engineering and computer science.
Finally, Marquette University, in Milwaukee, is planning to terminate 225 faculty and staff positions this year.
The three religiously affiliated institutions are just the latest to take a paring knife to their academic programs. An unsparing approach to cuts, administrators have said, is necessary to survive acute financial challenges.