On the Road
with Valerie Wilk

On a weekend in May, a cadre of NEA higher education members from campuses large and small came to Washington to participate in NEA's 2002 Critical Issues Seminar: "The New Academic Citizen."

Seminar participants wrestled with how to effectively induct new members into the academy and how to recruit persons of color so faculty and staff more closely mirror their diverse student population. The group also exchanged ideas on how to nurture the next generation of union leaders and shape the academic workplace.

Mike Kupilik, president of the University Faculty Association at the University of Montana and a member of the board of directors of the newly merged Montana Education Association and Montana Federation of Teachers, spoke on the experiences of research faculty who don't teach compared to those faculty who do.

Adrienne Tryon, who teaches ethnic studies at San Francisco State University, described the challenges of encouraging her graduate students to pursue academic careers when they see the difficulties that faculty members of color face.

Mary Quinnette Cuene, president of the Northeast Wisconsin Technical College Faculty Association, noted that the union was able to recapture budgetary, scheduling, and hiring decisions for faculty in its latest contract.

The group articulated a vision for higher education, where campuses serve as "intentional cultural centers for society," educators control the whole education process, and the union promotes and delivers "quality principles in education."

— Valerie Wilk coordinates NEA higher Ed activities.