Actionline NEA

Getting a Handle on Distance Ed

The 2001 NEA Representative Assembly endorses formal, joint activities by nation's largest educators' unions.

Three NEA higher education members have been appointed by President Bob Chase to the NEA Special Committee on Distance Education.

Nancy Fletcher, a University of Maine—Presque Isle librarian, Roger Knutsen, a chemistry professor at Green River Community College in Washington, and Mary Tiles, a University of Hawaii philosophy professor, will work with K-12 teachers and support professionals and NEA staff to tackle some of the thornier issues confronting the Association in this era of rapid growth in distance education.

The special committee is on a fast-track timeline, charged with reporting to the February 2002 NEA Board of Directors meeting on a number of issues. The committee is expected to make recommendations on possible changes in NEA governance policies and NEA programs involving distance learning.

Issues of globalization and commercialization in higher education were high on the agenda of the Third World Congress of Education International, which met in Jomtien, Thailand this summer.

More than 1,200 participants from around the world, including 84 from NEA, tackled issues ranging from the plight of educators across the globe to universal access to the impact of technology.

While basic issues of how to ensure education for all children and fundamental human and employment rights for educators received major attention, delegates did not overlook important economic developments in higher education.

Among the dilemmas facing educators: globalization and commercialization. "A for-profit higher education institution in one country can offer courses taught by a faculty member in a different country to students in an entirely different country or countries," noted one speaker. "In such a situation, how to you protect the quality of the offering or represent the instructor?"

The 2002 NEA Higher Education Conference, "The Academy in Transition: Patterns of Change in Higher Education," is slated for March 1-3, 2002 in Austin, Texas.

Conference organizers hope to arm attendees with the insight and analysis they and their Associations need to thrive in this era of constant change in academia.

The early registration fee is $115. Deadline for early registration: December 14. Visit the conference Web site at www.nea.org/he or E-mail HigherEd@nea.org for registration information and materials.