ActionLine NEA

NEA is preparing a resource list of faculty mentoring programs as a follow-up to a higher ed leadership conference last spring on the importance of mentoring new faculty.

Conference participants determined that, as NEA higher education members and leaders reach retirement age, it's important to introduce the next generation of faculty to the Association.

Mentoring new faculty through tenure, conference participants noted, is one way to help build understanding of what the Association can do.

David Leon at California State University-Sacramento is coordinating the project. If you have a program on your campus, please send a description and the name of a contact person to: David Leon, 6000 J. Street. Sacramento, CA 95819 or E-mail: leondm@saclink.scus.edu.

A team of 11 NEA members, including statewide higher education leaders from California, Massachusetts, and Florida, attended an Education Trust conference on urban K-16 education here in D.C. in November.

Also attending: NEA activists from elementary and secondary education. The conference, "Breaking the Silence: Overcoming Myths About Student Achievement, Kindergarten Through College," is part of a program to create a seamless web of education projects in urban areas that involve higher education campuses and K-12 schools.

Alternative approaches to pension programs and plans to restore TIAA-CREF's tax-exempt status were among the major issues at last month's NEA's annual retirement and benefits forum.

Higher ed participants at the conference met with staff from NEA's Research, Government Relations, and Higher Ed departments, as well as a representative from TIAA-CREF, to discuss lobbying for restoration of the group's tax-exempt status.

The discussion of alternative pension plans, TIAA-CREF, and other pension and benefits issues will continue at the NEA Higher Education Conference in March.

Three new titles in the NEA Higher Education Research Center Update series are now available.

First Amendment Rights and the Internet analyzes a recent, historic U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning the Communications Decency Act of 1996.

Characteristics of College and University Staff examines the often overlooked two-thirds of higher education employees who are not teaching faculty.

Full-Time Non-Tenure-Track Faculty: Gender Differences looks at the changes in full-time faculty employment over the past two decades, especially the increase in non-tenure track positions.

These Updates are available from NEA Office of Higher Education, 1201 16th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036. To view Update back issues, go to heupdate.