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Plight of graduate students: Labor Day edition

In 1894, Congress passed legislation making the first Monday in September a holiday celebrating the social and economic achievements of the American workforce. Each Labor Day, I celebrate by describing an aspect of academic work in American higher education. Previously, I’ve examined adjunct professors and tenure. In this year’s edition, I consider the plight of graduate students. The National Labor Relations Board has declared that graduate students are employees with a right to unionize. This post will describe the plight of graduate students by considering the implications of the 3-1 NLRB ruling in the case from Columbia University which gives graduate students employment rights.

Photo credit: GWC-UAW

The National Labor Relations Board ruled 3-2 in 2004 that research and teaching assistants at Brown University did not have the right to unionize. The board ruled that graduate students were primarily students and not workers. As a result, graduate students did not have the right the negotiate conditions of employment, wages, and benefits.

The Columbia ruling overturns the Brown precedent.

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A review of Bowen and McPherson’s Lesson Plan

Reforming higher education increasingly appears on the public agenda. Politicians from both parties have decried tuition increases and the need for a better educated workforce. The problems facing higher education today are complex, interconnected, and difficult to fix. However, the constant complaints often focus on problems that aren’t as serious or are simply not the major areas that we need to address. Recently, William G. Bowen and Michael S. McPherson have joined this conversation with their new book, Lesson Plan:  An Agenda for Change in American Higher Education.

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Selling the college experience

In a difficult financial environment, institutions look to any advantage to recruit students. The revenue challenges facing public universities have caused those institutions to look to alternative revenue streams. In particular, many public universities have started to seek nonresident students to increase enrollment and revenue. Recently, I published a paper exploring this in College & University coauthored with a former student, Marybeth Smith. In today’s post, I want to share an excerpt from this work covering one of the key findings we found.

Selling the college experience

Photo credit: USA Today

Public institutions have begun mimicking the recruiting practices of private universities. This is one of many factors leading to the privatization of public universities. 

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10 tips for teaching your first college class

Teaching your first college class can be exhilarating, but also intimidating. Like most faculty, I didn’t receive much training in graduate school in how to teach or design effective college courses. Over the years, I learned how to get better and also took advantage of the great resources that are available to help college instructors. No matter how well you know the content you’re teaching, teaching your first class can be tough for anyone. In today’s post, I will share 10 tips for teaching your first college class.

Teaching your first college class

Graduate school does a wonderful job developing disciplinary content knowledge, but a lousy job preparing you to teach your first college class.

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Texas campus carry is about politics

August 1st is a tragic day in the history of the University of Texas at Austin.  On August 1, 1966, Charles Whitman opened fire from atop the iconic tower at the University of Texas killing 14, wounding 46 others. In a cruel twist of fate, August 1, 2016, the fiftieth anniversary of the attack coincided with the implementation of the new campus carry law. The contentious new law allows concealed handgun permit holders to carry guns into most public college campus buildings. In today’s post, I will discuss the new law and why I see it as bad precedent—but maybe not for the reason you’d expect.

Texas campus carry is about politics

Photo credit: Leann Mueller

Before discussing the campus carry law, I should identify my own bias on this issue. Like most Americans, I believe there is a right to own guns. I also believe reasonable regulations are necessary, desperately needed, and allowed by the U.S. Constitution.

Texas isn’t the first state to allow guns to be carried into campus buildings, but it is the largest. Given the current debate over gun control, it has also been the most controversial.