just when you thought it was safe to stop talking about AACSB

So. As if we don’t have enough on our plate as it is.  President Cevallos is pursuing retrenchment, while remaining committed to funding the College of Business’s AACSB accreditation aspirations.  Or, should I say, President Cevallos’s aspirations for the College of Business. President Cevallos’s choice to continue to pursue AACSB accreditation in light of the [...]

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“Keep Our Educators Working Act of 2010″

At this past weekend’s APSCUF Legislative Assembly, Seth Kahn of West Chester introduced the following motion: WHEREAS, Senator Tom Harkin has introduced the Keep Our Educators Working Act of 2010, which would provide $23 billion of federal funding in order to keep both K-12 and public higher education budgets level through at least another year; THEREFORE be it [...]

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notes from 3/13/2010 meet and discuss

I’ve been saving up for a new laptop.  My old laptop is slowly dying and a pain to tote around.  I decided to get a netbook. You know, one of those little laptops with a 10.2″ screen.  So far, so good.  The best thing about it is that I can easily bring it to meetings [...]

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news from APSCUF legislative assembly

As you may know, this is election time for APSCUF statewide.  This morning APSCUF delegates from all 14 PASSHE universities cast ballots to determine who will lead us as we enter into a difficult negotiations year, face local and statewide retrenchment, and continue to mobilize our members on a range of key issues.  In short, [...]

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APSCUF-KU BBQ Poster

OK, this one is for you visual learners out there: Come to the 1st annual APSCUF-KU BBQ! Click here for details!

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APSCUF-KU’s 1st Annual BBQ!

Hey folks…for a change I’ve got some news that doesn’t include the words retrenchment, budget cuts, President Cevallos, or administrative mismanagement. It’s just about the end of the year and the APSCUF-KU Membership Committee has put together a BBQ!  I can’t think of a better way to end a rather difficult academic year.  So, for [...]

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subscribe to the xchange

Hey all, Well, we’ve got just about three weeks left until the semester comes to a close.  Yet, as you know, just because the semester is over, doesn’t mean that the issues facing Kutztown University, the PA State System of Higher Education, and higher education in general go away.  We still don’t know how retrenchment [...]

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Despite economy, State System schools still building | WITF

Once again, here’s the HUGE contradiction.  According the article below posted on Harrisburg’s WITF Public Radio web page, “this year’s state budget set aside $130 million for such [construction] projects [on State System Campuses]–twice as much as the year before” (emphasis added). It seems that other State System universities such as Shippensburg and Millersville are [...]

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News: An Invitation to Unionize – Inside Higher Ed

I know that this issue does not have an immediate impact on our conditions at Kutztown or faculty at PASSHE universities, but it is no less than momentous in the struggles of graduate teaching assistants at private universities. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Chair, Wilma Liebman, announced this week that unions could expect the NLRB [...]

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debate over retirement incentives continues

Here is the latest round of back-and-forth regarding the retirement incentives for APSCUF faculty.  You’ll recall that APSCUF was the only one of the PASSHE unions to not jump at PASSHE’s offer.  Here’s an article from yesterday’s Patriot News: State System of Higher Education refuses talks over retiree buyouts By JAN MURPHY, The Patriot-News April 11, [...]

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The Answer Sheet – Florida ed reform passes: Is it a model or disaster?

While I realize that this article is not about higher education per se, it’s a development that we need to keep an eye on.  If you recall, our former Chancellor, Judy Hample, came out of the Florida State system.  The mindset that you see in this article from the “Answer Sheet” blog from the Washington [...]

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Keystone: “Students Protest Dept Elimination”

From the KU Student Newspaper, The Keystone: Students Protest Department Elimination By Drew Simonovich With the future of academic programs — philosophy, electronic media, dance and others — at KU still undecided, students and faculty congregated at the MSU on Tuesday with homemade signs to participate in an organized demonstration prior to the weekly Student Government [...]

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power point from March 30th student-faculty meeting

As you’ll recall, last Tuesday (3/30/10) there was a Student-Faculty meeting to discuss President Cevallos’s decision to pursue retrenchment and the impact that decision may have on faculty and students. The following Power Point presentation was used as a key part of that meeting.  It was prepared by Amy Lynch-Biniek, John Riley, and Dan Spiegel. [...]

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Kutztown University undergrads: Save our studies

Ok, we do get to hear a little bit from the other side after all.  Here is an article just posted to the Reading Eagle website.  It covers the protest by KU students late Tuesday afternoon. Kutztown University undergrads: Save our studies. I can only hope that students begin to realize that they probably represent [...]

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Balancing the books: State university system challenged to preserve quality, value with less funding

Thanks to XChange fan Deborah Wells for sending this my way.  The link below will take you to the Reading Eagle story on the future of PA State System Universities.  Happy reading. Balancing the books: State university system challenged to preserve quality, value with less funding.

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how to divert your academic budget: breakage

Anyone who has been around Kutztown for the past five or so years has heard a familiar back and forth between APSCUF-KU leadership and President Cevallos.  Each time Cevallos cries “budget crisis” (there have been no fewer than three since I came to KU in 2002) members of the union and faculty members in general [...]

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some highlights of last week

As I am slowly going through the 800+ unread emails from this past week, I came across APSCUF-KU president Paul Quinn’s email to faculty, which I thought would be of interest to readers of the xchange. A couple key items in the email have to do with the March 17th, 2010 meeting with APSCUF-KU Meet [...]

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RESPECT THE VIRUS!

Hello all…I am sorry for the rather sudden halt in xchange postings.  I was taken down by one nasty virus.  First my son, then my wife, and then yours truly got hit by the “norovirus” early last week.  If anyone of you has ever had it, you are already cringing from the memories.  Apparently, this [...]

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