Contents by
Section: October 1998
Front
Page
Lead Story
They're talking on campus...
On the Road
ActionLine NEA
In the Know
From Capital to Campus
NEA Affilitates in Action
Higher Education News
Money Savvy
The Dialogue
Thriving in Academe
Speaking Out
with
Rachel Hendrickson
Recently, I went with Dan Yakes, president of the Michigan Association for Higher Education and a NEA Director, to bring some encouragement to the Hagerstown Community College faculty, a group newly-affiliated with the Maryland State Teachers Association and NEA.
The folks at Hagerstown are weathering one of the more ominous national trends in higher education. This one is driven by administrators and trustees who view higher education as a cut-throat business, focusing on the bottom line rather than the delivery of a quality education.
To fuel a lean and mean, just-in-time, educational delivery system, these administrators attempt to do away with pesky governance bodies---those deliberative groups that are concerned about the value of an education, rather than just its cost.
Facing such a challenge, faculty at Hagerstown Community College mean to ensure their governance rights and the integrity of the education they provide. So they've formed a faculty association and are working politically to overcome some tough legal obstacles and gain bargaining rights.This faculty knows the value, not just the price, of the education they've been delivering.
Rachel Hendrickson is an NEA higher education coordinator.
