Campus Equity Week

Campus Equity Week is a national week of action to call attention to the unfair working conditions part-time/adjunct and other contingent faculty face in higher education. In alternating years since 2001, U.S., Canadian and Mexican faculty groups have used the week to educate the campus community, the public at large, and policymakers and legislators about the toll of exploiting underpaid and undersupported academics.

This year, the AFT locals tied Campus Equity Week activities, which fell during the week of Oct. 29-Nov. 2, to major ongoing initiatives:

■   The AFT Faculty and College Excellence (FACE) campaign. The FACE campaign is a national effort to promote fair and equitable treatment of contingent faculty, as well as to establish a better balance between the number of full-time, tenured faculty and contingent faculty. This year, legislation promoting the goals of FACE has been introduced in 11 states. AFT locals have participated in hearings exploring contingent-labor working conditions, have met with editorial boards and have written op-eds on the subject. Some of these activities took place during Campus Equity Week. More information is available at face.aft.org.

■    Academic Freedom Statement. The AFT released its first official statement on academic freedom (see page 14 for the full story) during Campus Equity Week. “Academic Freedom in the 21st-Century College and University” makes the critical argument that academic freedom protections should be the right of all faculty and instructors, even those without tenure.

■    Academic Freedom Forums. During this week, AFT locals began a discussion about the realities of academic freedom (or the lack thereof) for contingent faculty by holding Academic Freedom Forums. At Portland Community College, for example, the Faculty Federation/AFT held a roundtable to explore the dangers of handling controversial subject matter without the protections of academic freedom. The Faculty Association at Suffolk County Community College/AFT held a forum on Oct. 26, and the college designated the day Academic Freedom Day.

Visit www.aft.org/higher_ed, for more information on setting up forums on your campus in the coming year. To learn more about Campus Equity Week events around the continent, go to www.campusequityweek.org.