Legislators Take Aim at Higher Ed

It has been only two weeks into the legislative session, but members of the Ohio General Assembly have wasted no time putting forth bills that would impact higher education.

Here are the ones on our radar along with a short description:
HB 1 (Schuring, Manning): The bill would establish the Workforce Grant Program, under which students who choose degree programs in “in-demand” fields could be awarded a grant of up to $5,000 per year. Upon graduating and finding employment in their field, the students could claim an income tax credit equal to 25% of the student loan payments they make each year.
HB 27 (Ramos): The bill would create the Finish Fund and the Finish Reserve Fund to provide grants to students who are nearing completion of their associate or bachelor’s degrees and display financial need or hardship.

HB 48 (Maag): The bill would extend to handguns affirmative defenses to a charge of carrying a concealed weapon or having or transporting a firearm in a motor vehicle, and would modify the prohibition against carrying a concealed handgun onto institutions of higher education, places of worship, day-care facilities, aircraft, certain government facilities, public areas of airport terminals and police stations, and school safety zones.

HB 64 (Smith): This is the biennial budget bill. It contains all of the pieces of Gov. Kasich’s executive budget, including the higher education ones mentioned in our last communication.

SB 4 (Faber): The bill would require each state institution of higher education to develop a plan to reduce in-state student cost of attendance by five per cent for the 2016-2017 academic year.

SB 6 (Jones, Eklund): The bill would increase the maximum income tax deduction for college savings contributions to $10,000 annually for each beneficiary and create the Joint Committee on Ohio College Affordability.

SB 12 (Hottinger): The bill would grant an income tax credit to individuals who earn degrees in science, technology, engineering, or math-based fields of study.

SB 19 (Sawyer): The bill would make changes to the Ohio College Opportunity Grant and limit state university over load fees.

SB 24 (Williams): The bill would qualify students in noncredit community college programs for Ohio College Opportunity Grants and require the awarding of academic credit for community colleges’ career certification programs.

You can find more information about these bills 
on the Ohio General Assembly’s website. We will keep you posted on developments as they unfold.

Guest Column by Marty Kich: Early Thoughts on President Obama’s Proposal for Free Education at U.S. Community Colleges

I should begin by stating that I am in favor of any proposal that provides free higher education at public colleges and universities. In fact, I am in favor of any proposal that reduces the cost to students without compromising the students’ learning environment.

I think that the president’s proposal will help community colleges because their funding has generally been hurt in two waves: first by the loss of federal stimulus dollars in 2011 and then by the introduction of performance-based funding in many states.

Completion rates for associates degrees are generally lower than those for baccalaureate degrees, and that reality should not surprise anyone who gives it any thought. Many students enrolling at community colleges are seeking technical training due to volatility in the job market, and so their reason for enrolling may disappear with some change in the job market. Moreover, many of those students have issues with academic preparedness for any level of postsecondary education.

Most performance funding also does not take into account many of the types of education that community colleges provide-various types of training that do not lead to associate degrees or even certificates.

So, on the whole, I think that both students and community colleges will largely benefit from the President’s proposal because it does link the maintenance of a decent GPA to the federal funding.

My major concern about the proposal is that it does not seem to make a distinction between technical and pre-baccalaureate programs. In effect, I have the same concerns here as I do with proposals for allowing community colleges to offer baccalaureate programs.

A quarter of a century ago, when I was entering the academic job market, we were advised to consider full-time positions at community colleges because of the contraction in the number of positions available at universities. But that boom in full-time hiring at community colleges was very short-lived. Today, the proportion of full-time to part-time or adjunct faculty at most community colleges is very lopsided to the part-time side. On average in my state, full-time faculty account for 15% to 25% of the total faculty at community colleges. In addition to teaching more courses and courses with higher class sizes than full-time faculty at universities, those full-time faculty are typically responsible for directing or coordinating programs-that is, for supervising all of the adjunct faculty teaching in those programs.

In short, they are already grossly over-worked, and I don’t see how adding many more pre-baccalaureate courses and sections of courses, never mind two full years of baccalaureate courses, is tenable.

So, to be very clear, I am not saying that most community-college faculty or adjunct faculty are not qualified to teach pre-baccalaureate or baccalaureate-level courses. In fact, I know that many community-college faculty and many adjunct faculty have Ph.D.’s, have substantial professional experience inside and outside of academia, and are excellent teachers.

What I am saying is that I don’t see how substantially increasing the enrollment of pre-baccalaureate students at community colleges will do anything but increase the demands on those faculty who are already the most over-extended, the most over-worked, and the least compensated for their work. I worry that the enrollment increases that will almost certainly result from the President’s proposal will simply amplify the exploitation of faculty who deserve full-time positions or who deserve full-time positions with much more reasonable workloads.

So, unless there are financial incentives or requirements for community colleges to hire many more full-time faculty, I don’t see how the quality of instruction for pre-baccalaureate students is not going to suffer and then be reflected in lower completion rates as those students transfer into universities. 

There is, after all, truth in the axiom that faculty working conditions are student learning conditions.

As I have argued in other posts to the Academe Blog, increased completion rates are meaningful only if the same standards and the same quality of student learning environments are maintained. 

I suspect that what may work better for students in technical programs may turn out to be inadequate for pre-baccalaureate students.

And since this proposal from the President is an almost singular effort against the long, ongoing trend of making students bear more and more of the cost of post-secondary education, I think that it is extremely important that it succeed-that it be thought out carefully so that some successes are not lost in the inevitable, politicized attention to some salient failures.

And if baccalaureate completion rates fall, those numbers will almost certainly outweigh any increases in the numbers of associates degrees being awarded.

 February 25 is “Adjunct Dignity Day“

Wednesday, February 25 in Ohio is “Adjunct Dignity Day,” during which OCAAUP and the Ohio Higher Education Coalition (OHEC) are raising awareness of adjunct issues and promoting the AAUP’s One Faculty Campaign.

You may have heard that adjunct groups are planning a “National Walkout Day” on February 25, and in the spirit of supporting all part-time and non-tenure eligible faculty, we are asking our Ohio members and chapters to take action on your campuses in some way.

National AAUP has One Faculty tabling materials here on their website. Please consider setting up an information table on your campus or participating in another way.

AAUP / AAUP-CBC Announce 2015 Summer Institute Details

The AAUP and AAUP-CBC have announced that this year’s Summer Institute will be held at the University of Denver from July 23 to 26.

The Summer Institute is a four-day series of workshops and seminars designed to train and educate AAUP members on a wide range of topics such as organizing, advocacy, and academic freedom.

More information about this event can be found by clicking here.

Each year the Ohio Conference offers scholarships to Ohio members who want to build a new chapter, strengthen an existing one, or simply learn how to be a more effective advocate of AAUP principles. Be on the lookout for more information about scholarship availability in the coming months.

OCAAUP Produces Higher Ed Report

The Ohio Conference AAUP has produced an “Ohio Higher Education Report” entitled The Real Problems Deserve Real Solutions.

The purpose of the report is to influence public policy around higher education issues, especially in light of HB 64, the state budget bill, as well as Gov. Kasich’s Task Force on Affordability and Efficiency.
It is also a response to “solutions” that have been proposed in recent years, such as faculty workload mandates, which fail to address the real problems and cost drivers at our public colleges and universities.

Certainly, this report does not cover every issue that is worthy of attention and discussion; but we included the problems we believe to be the most pressing, including the decline of state funding, administrative bloat, and athletic spending.

The full report can be found by clicking here.

Guest Column by Marty Kich: “Right-to-Work” Provides Workers With Many “Rights”

“Right to work” provides workers who voted against a union with a means to undermine the democratic process.

“Right to work” provides workers with the right to benefit from unions to which they do not pay any dues.

“Right to work” provides workers in a unionized workplace with the right to receive the same negotiated wage increases and benefits as their colleagues who are paying union dues.

“Right to work” provides workers in a unionized workplace with the right to receive the same protections, grievance rights, and union representation as their colleagues who are paying union dues.

“Right to work” provides workers in a unionized workplace with the right to sue the union for inadequate representation even if they have refused to pay dues to that union.

“Right to work” provides individual workers with the right to undermine the union that is required to represent them.

When the union becomes unsustainable, “right to work” then provides every worker with the right to bargain individually with management in a manner that is not legally binding in any way.

“Right to work” then provides every worker with the right to accept whatever reductions in salary and benefits that the company management deems necessary and whenever they deem them necessary.

“Right to work” then provides every worker with the right to work without any standard breaks, including a truncated or eliminated lunch break.

“Right to work” then provides every worker with the right to work more than forty hours per week for standard, rather than overtime, wages-and sometimes for no additional wages whatsoever.

“Right to work” then provides every worker with the right to work without paid sick time and without paid vacation.

“Right to work” then provides every worker with the right to endure oppressive working conditions without complaint.

“Right to work” then provides every worker with the right to risk injury in an unsafe workplace without complaint.

“Right to work” then provides every worker who is injured on the job with the right to file a personal lawsuit against the company if that worker has sufficient savings to pay a lawyer for however many years it will take for the case to come to trial.

“Right to work” then provides every worker with the right to complain to management or to other workers about anything that concerns them and then to be terminated for creating dissension in the workplace.

“Right to work” then provides every worker who is unjustly terminated from a job with the right to file a personal lawsuit against the company if that worker has sufficient savings to pay a lawyer for however many years it will take for the case to come to trial.

“Right to work” then provides every disabled worker with the right to apply for workers’ compensation benefits, which are much more minimal and difficult to get in “right to work” states than in pro-labor states.

“Right to work” then provides every worker with the right to be denied employment for all sorts of discriminatory reasons-some of which are illegal, others of which remain legal, all of which are unethical, and most of which are difficult to prove and almost impossible for the average worker seeking employment to litigate.

“Right to work” provides every worker with the right to allow corporations to dominate the electoral process and thereby influence what is written into law.

“Right to work” provides every worker with the right to petition his or her elected representatives for redress, with the knowledge that those elected officials have received unlimited contributions from the very corporations from which the worker is seeking redress.

Nonetheless, “right to work” does provide every worker with the right to leave a poorly paid, unsatisfying, and dangerous position and to seek employment with another company that is under no legal requirement to treat its workers any better.

Note: Currently, there is no “right-to-work” legislation in the new Ohio General Assembly session. There is a continued effort, albeit a weak one, to gather signatures to place “right-to-work” on the state ballot. Gov. Kasich has said it’s not on his agenda.

The Kasich Budget, FY 2016-17

Earlier today, Gov. Kasich unveiled his $72.3 billion biennial budget for Fiscal Years 2016-17. Below are the highlights.

More Income Tax Cuts  As expected, the major focus of the governor’s budget is further erosion of the state income tax. The proposal asks for a 23% across-the-board personal income tax (PIT) reduction over the biennium, and elimination of the PIT for small businesses who have less than $2 million in annual gross receipts.  

The governor proposes to make up much of the lost income tax revenue by increasing sales and use taxes 22.8% and increasing the commercial activity tax (CAT tax) by 88% over the biennium.

Generally speaking, the Ohio Conference AAUP has been leery of income tax cuts because they have done little to help the average Ohioan, and they eliminate revenue that could be invested in things like public higher education.

Additionally, increasing the sales tax tends to put a greater burden on lower income earners. 

Higher Education Appropriations  Higher education funding under Kasich’s proposed budget accounts for 6.8% of total general revenue spending.

Kasich’s plan would appropriate a total of about $2.4 billion to higher education in FY 2016, representing a 2% increase over appropriations during FY 2015.

For FY 2017, the governor would appropriate about $2.5 billion, which would be a 2.5% increase from the previous year.

While we applaud the funding increases, it must be noted that these allocations don’t restore higher education funding to where it was before Kasich took office. In FY 2011, under Gov. Strickland’s last budget, higher ed spending was $20.5 million higher than it will be in FY 2017. 

Addressing Costs & Student Debt
As far as tuition caps, Kasich would allow a 2% tuition increase at public colleges and universities in FY 2016 but no increase in FY 2017.

Additionally, the governor has proposed a $120 million “debt relief fund.” The details of how this money would be awarded are unclear, but the goal is to prioritize low-income, in-demand jobs and those who work in Ohio for five years.

Moreover, Kasich has called for the creation of a nine-member Task Force on Affordability and Efficiency that will be charged with finding efficiencies and ways to reduce costs at colleges and universities.

Community College Bachelor’s Degrees
Outside of the funding pieces, Kasich introduced language that would allow community colleges to offer four-year degrees when local job creators express a need for workers with advanced training and only if there is not a public university or its regional campus within 30 miles that has such a program. Expansion of OCOG Eligibility, College Credit Plus Funding

Additionally, the Kasich administration, as well as leaders of the Ohio Association of Community Colleges and Inter-University Council, are touting that the best way to reduce college costs is to reduce time to degree completion.

In that vein, the governor has proposed offering the need-based Ohio College Opportunity Grant (OCOG) to community college students during the summer.

OCOG has not been available to community college students because of a “Pell first” rule that requires those students to use federal Pell Grant funds before accessing OCOG. The Pell money tends to cover the full educational costs for those students but currently is not available for summer session.

Moreover, the governor is making a push to get more high school students enrolled in College Credit Plus and Advanced Placement courses by asking for $6.5 million in new funding for those programs in FY 2017.

Funds for “College-Level Teachers”

Kasich also wants $18.5 million over the biennium to hire and train more “college-level teachers” to teach in economically-disadvantaged high schools. 

While we appreciate the intent, we have concerns about qualification standards and quality assurances and will need to see more details.
  

Awarding Competency-Based Credit

The governor is asking Ohio’s public colleges and universities to develop a plan to give competency-based credit for certain courses. He also has set aside $500,000 to develop a competency-based training program to train Ohioans in skills for “in-demand jobs.” 

No Workload Edict

Rejoice! This is the first budgetary bill that Gov. Kasich has introduced that does not contain a mandate to arbitrarily increase faculty workload.

Links to Executive Budget Information

Gov. Kasich FY 2016-17 Budget

Higher Education Fact Sheet

Ohio House, Senate Leaders Have Their Own Higher Education Plans

Separate from Gov. Kasich’s executive budget, Ohio House and Senate Republicans have their own plans for public higher education.
House Proposal

House leaders have called for providing $100 million in grants over two years for students who are working to earn degrees in “high-demand” jobs in Ohio. 

Under House Bill 1, introduced by Rep. Kirk Schuring (R-Canton) and Rep. Nathan Manning (R-North Ridgeville), a student could get up to $5,000 a year to pay for higher education as long as they meet certain requirements, such as spending three months in a workplace setting to “get a feel for whether they want to continue along that path.” 

Once a student graduates and gets a job in their field, they could take a 25% tax credit on their student loans.

We plan to reach out to Reps. Schuring and Manning to discuss ways in which we might make college more affordable, and student debt less crippling, for everyone.
Senate Proposal
Senate leaders have their own ideas for tackling higher educations costs.
Sen. President Keith Faber (R-Celina) has introduced Senate Bill 4, which would require each board of trustees at state institutions of higher education to submit to the Chancellor a plan to reduce in-state student cost of attendance by 5% for the 2016-2017 academic year.

While we commend Sen. Faber for his goal of decreasing costs – a goal we share – we believe a better approach would be to ask institutions to form task forces to come up with a plan. The task forces should be representative of the university community, including students and faculty, so that there is a balance of interests.

Candidates Announced for Ohio Conference Board Positions

The Nominating Committee of the Ohio Conference AAUP is pleased to put forth the following candidates for this year’s elections:  

-Vice President: Martin Kich, Wright State University – Lake Campus

-Treasurer: Heather Howley, University of Akron – Wayne College 

-At-Large Member – Public Institution with <100 or Private Institution: Anita Waters, Denison University

This year’s elections again will be conducted electronically. Each current Ohio AAUP member will be e-mailed a ballot no later than March 15 and will have two weeks to vote.

AAUP / AAUP-CBC Announce 2015 Summer Institute Details

The AAUP and AAUP-CBC have announced that this year’s Summer Institute will be held at the University of Denver from July 23 to 26.

The Summer Institute is a four-day series of workshops and seminars designed to train and educate AAUP members on a wide range of topics such as organizing, advocacy, and academic freedom.

More information about this event can be found by clicking here.

Each year the Ohio Conference offers scholarships to Ohio members who want to build a new chapter, strengthen an existing one, or simply learn how to be a more effective advocate of AAUP principles. Be on the lookout for more information about scholarship availability in the coming months.

Save the Date for the 2015 OCAAUP Annual Meeting

The next Ohio Conference AAUP Annual Meeting will be held Friday, November 6 – Saturday, November 7, 2015 at the Renaissance Columbus Downtown. 

We will have a registration form and hotel reservation information available in the coming months.

Spring Semester Speaker Series

Co-Sponsored by AAUP-WSU & The Wright State Administration

To celebrate the centennial of AAUP and the contributions of all those who have served in leadership positions within the Chapter, but especially Rudy Fichtenbaum and Jim Vance, who have served since the founding of the Chapter.

Risa Lieberwitz

“‘Corporatization vs. Academic Freedom: Can Faculty Shared Governance Be Saved?”

Wednesday, January 14, 1:00 p.m.

Discovery A (163A SU)
 

 John McNay

“The Defeat of SB 5: Building for the Future on a Historic Victory”

Monday, January 26, 1:00 p.m.

Discovery A (163A SU)

 Howard Bunsis

“Higher Education and State Legislatures Have All Lost Their Way”

Thursday, February 5, 1:00 p.m.

Rathskeller (008) SU

 

 Joerg Tiede

“University Reform: The Founding of the AAUP”

Thursday, February 26, 1:00 p.m.

Discovery A (163A SU)


 

 Miranda Merklein

“Higher Ed Fail: Combating Contingency and Corporatization with Adjunct Activism”

Monday, March 16, 1:00 p.m.

Discovery A (163A SU)

 Hank Reichman

“Can I Tweet That? Academic Freedom and the New Social Media”

Monday, March 30, 1:00 p.m.Discovery A (163A SU)

 John Wilson

“Forbidden Tweets: Academic Freedom and the Case of Steven Salaita”

Monday, April 13, 1:00 p.m.

Discovery A (163A SU)

Cancellations due to inclement weather or for other reasons will be announced on the chapter website at http://www.wright.edu/administration/aaup/aaup.html. Inquiries about the series should be directed to Marty Kich at martinkich@gmail.com.

End-of-the-Year Statehouse Updates

“Right-to-Work”

Earlier this year, the Ohio House of Representatives’  Manufacturing and Workforce Development Committee held hearings on House Bill 151 and House Joint Resolution 5.
HB 151 would enact a “right-to-work” law for the private sector, while HJR 5 would place the issue on the statewide ballot for voters to decide.  HJR 5 would impact the private and public sectors. There was a third “right-to-work” bill introduced during this General Assembly, HB 152, that had not received a hearing; however, the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Ron Maag, waived his right to give sponsor testimony. As a result, there was no movement on Rep. Maag’s bill or the other “right-to-work” legislation during the “lame duck” session. Nevertheless, we expect that similar legislation will be introduced next year in the new, 131st Ohio General Assembly.  Election Results
All incumbent Republican statewide officeholders (Governor, Auditor, Attorney General, and Secretary of State) were re-elected to their positions. In the Ohio Senate, there was no shift in the balance of power – Republicans will maintain their 23 seats while Democrats retain their 10 seats. Sen. Keith Faber (R-Celina) will remain President of the Ohio Senate. However, in the Ohio House, Republicans gained five additional seats. Next year, Republicans will hold 65 seats, while Democrats drop to 34. Rep. Cliff Rosenberger (R-Clarksville) will be the new House Speaker, succeeding long-time Republican legislator Bill Batchelder of Medina.  House Bill 616In September, Rep. Anthony DeVitis (R-Green)  introduced HB 616, legislation that would prohibit a faculty member of a state institution of higher education from requiring a student to purchase a proprietary textbook or a customized textbook for use in that faculty member’s course of instruction unless the course of instruction is exclusively offered by the institution.
It would also would forbid colleges and universities from producing or requiring a student to purchase a custom textbook for any course that can be transferred to another institution. There was no movement on this legislation during the remainder of the legislative session. However, DeVitis has indicated that he will reintroduce the legislation next year.  Redistricting ReformOver the last two weeks, the Ohio Senate and House each approved HJR 12, which would create a new process for drawing Ohio’s state legislative districts. The resolution, which must be approved by voters in November 2015 in order to take effect, had broad bipartisan support in both chambers. HJR 12 is a big step in the right direction with apportionment reform, as it creates a bipartisan commission in which minority members of the commission would have to support the maps in order for them to take effect. If HJR 12 is approved next November, Ohioans should expect to see maps that keep communities together and do not favor one party over the other. As a result, we should see more competitive Statehouse races after the year 2020. This proposal only impacts state legislative maps and not congressional ones.
On the Horizon

Republican leaders already have begun talking about the next state budget and other legislative goals. 

Specifically, Sen. President Keith Faber (R-Celina) has said it is one of his caucus’ priorities to cut the cost of a college education by five percent (5%). He said that he wants colleges and universities to tell the legislature how they will reduce their costs.

Moreover, Gov. Kasich’s team has indicated that additional state income tax cuts likely will be a component of the governor’s proposed budget.

In addition to closely monitoring these developments, OCAAUP will be pursuing its own legislative agenda aimed at addressing issues such as: administrative bloat, working conditions and salary of part-time faculty, and faculty and student representation on Boards of Trustees.

Final Call for Nominations for 2015 OCAAUP Board of Trustees Elections  

To our members in the Ohio Conference AAUP:  We are seeking nominations for the 2015 Ohio Conference elections.  In accordance with our governing documents, you must have been a member for two years and current on your dues to be eligible for a Trustee position.

Nominations should be sent to Executive Director Sara Kilpatrick at sara@ocaaup.org and must be received by January 30, 2015.  Below is the list of positions that will be elected directly through the Conference elections next year. Those who are elected to these positions will serve a two-year term beginning on September 1, 2015.  

–Vice President 

–Treasurer 

–At-Large Member – Public or Private (nominees may be members of chapters at private institutions or of chapters at public institutions with fewer than 100 members)

The Vice President presides in the absence of the President and serves as a delegate to the AAUP Annual Conference and the Assembly of State Conferences Annual Meeting.

The Treasurer serves as a delegate to the Assembly of State Conferences Annual Meeting and is responsible for overseeing the Conference’s budget.

Serving on the OCAAUP Board of Trustees is a rewarding way to engage in statewide AAUP issues and state government advocacy. If you have any questions, contact Sara Kilpatrick at sara@ocaaup.org.