By Matt Clyburn
Leaders of the CSU American Association of University Professors have spent a great deal of time and resources this semester coordinating mobilization efforts and public information campaigns.
They are doing so in the face of austerity measures proposed by Governor Dannel Malloy.
Now, a bill that would substantially reorganize the state’s higher education system will travel to the Appropriations Committee after a favorable report from the Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee.
The bill seeks to implement pieces of Malloy’s plan to create a Board of Regents overseeing the CSUS, 12 community colleges, Charter Oak State College, and the Department of Higher Education.
The most current form of the bill includes amendments originally proposed by leaders and members of the AAUP. Among them is a requirement for two voting students and various alumni to sit on the proposed Board of Regents. The change follows concerns that each institution’s mission may not be wholly understood by a gubernatorial appointee.
“Our voice on this issue has mattered,” said the CSU-AAUP in a statement. “However, despite some positive changes, [we remain] opposed to the proposed reorganization.”
The AAUP has focused much of its efforts on union members. They are hoping that they will take up the union’s banner and influence state legislators to make new policies more education-friendly. Each communication sent to AAUP members has encouraged the recipient to contact state legislators in an attempt to influence the legislation that may arrive on the governor’s desk in the coming months.
Citing a lack of sufficient involvement from “appropriate stakeholders,” Vijay Nair, president of the CSU-AAUP, said that the reorganization may undercut the identities of each college or university during testimony at the state capitol last month.
The CSU-AAUP also believes that performance-based funding for higher education does not always work as intended. “The present proposal puts the cart before the horse,” the statement said. This statement, which was sent to members on April 13, stressed the need for a strategic plan for higher education “in order to address the emerging demands of the twenty-first century.”
However, the Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee had already added a strategic plan requirement to the legislation. On March 17 reported favorably on a bill that outlines the creation thereof.
The bill contains some of the recommendations made by CCSU professor and AAUP representative Dr. Susan A. Holt of the Psychology Department. In a written testimony presented on March 10, Holt recommended greater representation from students, faculty, and administration in the strategic planning process. She asked the committee to consider preserving institutional identities at system schools.
“The central goal of any plan is to improve student education,” Holt said. “Any reorganization that threatens the integrity of the education offered at present should be rejected.”
A statement from the CSU-AAUP said that they can only support a plan that reduces upper management costs, does not include outcome or performance-based funding, “guarantees continued dedication” to institution’s respective missions and provides more funding for teaching and student services.
Republican Rep. Lawrence F. Cafero, Jr. generally supports Malloy’s plans. In a statement before committee last month, Cafero said that any attempt to consolidate government services is a good one.
“Each year, the budgets of every constituent unit of the [CSUS] and the community-technical college system have increased,” Cafero said. “Now more than ever, it is critical to review what has caused these increases and whether savings in governance and administrative efficiencies could be put towards our budget deficit.”
The AAUP has voiced their collective opinion on other state funding issues as well.
In a message to members on April 3, the CSU-AAUP’s communication and research assistant evoked a message of the civil rights era in a call to action.
“Honor Dr. Martin Luther King’s legacy,” the message said in all capital letters. “Just a day following the anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination, the Appropriations Committee is holding a hearing on bills proposing to restrict collective bargaining rights, break state and municipal contracts, [and] freeze all state and municipal wages.”
The bill, brought to committee by Republican State Rep. Craig A. Miner from Litchfield, would freeze wages of all non-exempt state employees until Connecticut’s unemployment rate drops below recession level for at least six months.
The umbrella AAUP organization sent a message to members on April 11. It contained a statement from the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition expressing distaste for policies that fail to raise taxes on the wealthy.
“[The] notion of ‘shared sacrifice’ makes sense,” the message said, “but true shared sacrifice means a budget which does not ask so little from the very rich and the biggest corporations, and so much from struggling middle class families.”
The CSU-AAUP made news in February for transporting system students to the State Capitol for a public hearing on the higher education and budget bills. Students were provided bussing, t-shirts and food free of charge.
The AAUP negotiates wages and working conditions for all full and part-time faculty, counselors, librarians, and coaches at the Connecticut State Universities. The organization also advocates for issues in higher education in the United States and maintains a ‘Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure.’
The AAUP has more than 48,000 members, 300 local campus chapters, and approximately 30 state organizations.
