New York Times
May 14th, 2015
Higher education has been defunded, and colleges have shifted resources away from instruction. Seventy-five percent of the faculty are essentially underpaid temps, have few rights and many (unpaid) responsibilities. Institutions and policymakers have emphasized college completion, but ignore the critical role of faculty in student success. Adjunct organizing may be the only defense against the devolution of college education into a credentialing system with little academic integrity or practical value.
Studies show a "union difference" leads to better faculty working conditions, student outcomes and economic efficiencies. Because faculty working conditions are student learning conditions, students benefit from bargained improvements, which can ensure, among other things, that teaching evaluations are rigorous and fair, and lead to the retention of the best educators.