The Ph.D. Glut, the Adjunct Crisis and the Budget Deficit
by Doug Singsen
I want to kick off the first post of this blog by talking about an issue that every graduate student is probably concerned about, the dearth of job openings for tenure-track faculty, and how it’s connected to CUNY’s widespread use of adjuncts and the state’s budget deficit. We’ve all heard the horror stories about how […]
CUNY News-In-Brief (February, 2010)
by Advocate Staff
Paterson to CUNY: “Take a Hike…A Tuition Hike!”
The money used to fatten Mathew Goldstein’s wallet isn’t going to grow on trees, people, so get ready to pony up some cash! As if David Paterson hasn’t already caused the students at CUNY and SUNY enough grief with his statewide cuts to higher education, Governor Justice is now looking to help the struggling university systems recoup some of those losses by proposing legislation that would allow the Boards of Trustees at SUNY and CUNY to increase and/or adjust tuition rates at will. Paterson’s new bill (euphemistically titled the Higher Education Empowerment and Innovation Act) would neither empower students nor provide for any greater innovation
Book Review: Pictures of an Institution
by Lavelle Porter
The Marketplace of Ideas by Louis Menand. W. W. Norton and Company (2010).
The Great American University: Its Rise to Preeminence, Its Indispensable National Role, Why It Must Be Protected by Jonathan R. Cole. Public Affairs (2010).
In The Marketplace of Ideas, Menand narrows his emphasis to a set of particular issues, but in the process provides a useful overview of American higher education. The book is organized into three essays examining three particular issues in higher education: 1) the history of the general education curriculum, 2) the logic of academic disciplines and the allure of “interdisciplinarity” as a buzzword in academia, and 3) the politics of professors and the academic labor market.
Teacher Pay Around the World
by Alison Powell
Just a week ago, the New York Times featured an article in their “Economix” blog: “Teacher Pay around the World” (Sept. 9, 2009, http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/09/teacher-pay-around-the-world/). The article presents a mass of statistics collected by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) about education around the world, focusing on how the United States measures up. As it turns […]
CUNY News In Brief (May, 2009)
by Advocate Staff
As the economic crisis continues to deepen, many New Yorkers are choosing to return to school, and are looking to do so as cheaply as possible. CUNY has enjoyed a sharp 12 percent increase in applications over the past year, which will likely lead to CUNY’s highest enrollment ever next semester. According to CUNY overlord Matthew […]
Grad Students, Job Security, and Health Care
by Jessie Goldstein and Renee Mcgarry
Entering this new school year, it may seem like we got everything we asked for last year. After writing letters, calling the Chancellor, the President, legislators, and a large rally, the latest communications from the PSC and CUNY indicate that soon health insurance for doctoral student CUNY employees will be in our hands. Of course, the […]
