NEA Higher EducationAdvocateVOL. 30, NO. 2 NOVEMBER 2012

Get their attention, now!+How staff are organizing for respect

Why the word “illegal” hurts some of your students

Time for office hours? Go outside!

Who is “Professor Staff?” And isn’t she awfully busy?

NEA HIGHER EDUCATION ADVOCATE2

GETTING ORGANIZED 3Staff members are unionizing forfairness, respect, and more.

THRIVING IN ACADEME 6In the land of distractions, howdo you keep their eyes on you?

WHY I AM A MEMBER 10The long arm of NEA lobbyists.

BY THE NUMBERS 11The view from the other side ofthe bargaining table.

THOUGHT & ACTION 12Innovation isn’t a business trait.

THE STATE OF HIGHER ED 13Help keep the DREAM alive.

CASE STUDIES 15The Supreme Court’s quiet blowto union rights.

OP-ED 16Take your office hours outside!

Advocate (ISSN: 1522-3183) is published five times a year, in September,November, January, March, and Juneby the National Education Associa-tion, 1201 16th St., N.W., Washington,D.C. 20036. Periodicals postage paid atWashington, D.C., and additional mail-ing offices. The Advocate is mailed toNEA Higher Education members as abenefit of membership. Postmaster:Send change of address to Advocate,1201 16th St., N.W., Washington, D.C.20036. Copyright © 2012 by theNational Education Assoc.

National Education Association

Dennis Van RoekelNEA PRESIDENT

Lily EskelsenVICE PRESIDENT

Rebecca S.PringleSECRETARY-TREASURER

John C. StocksEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

NEA Center forOrganizing

Jim TestermanSENIOR DIRECTOR

Secky FascioneDIRECTOR

Mary Ellen FlanneryEDITOR

Alice TruedPRODUCTION

Groff Creative GRAPHIC DESIGN

Prepared withthe assistance ofNEA staff:

Rachelle GrantNancy O’BrienSara RobertsonMark F. SmithBryant WarrenValerie Wilkand PhadraWilliams-Tuitt

Affirmative action in higher ed: NEAurges Supreme Court protection

THE CONSIDERATION OF RACE in collegeadmissions may be settled soon by theU.S. Supreme Court, which recentlyheard arguments in the case of Fisher v.University of Texas. The plaintiff, awhite Texan denied admission, arguesthat the university discriminated againsther because of her race. She lost beforea trial court and federal court of appeals,

both of which found that the use of race as part of “a holistic,multi-factor, individualized assessment of each applicant,”was constitutional. Now the U.S. Supreme Court will weighin—but not before NEA and its members have urged it to uphold practices that promote diversity in higher ed. In anamicus brief filed earlier this year, NEA specifically urges thejustices to consider that “ours is not a color-blind society andrace still matters. When it comes to public elementary andsecondary education, minority and nonminority students ofequal ability do not, in the aggregate, have equal opportuni-ties,” wrote NEA’s General Counsel. “In light of this in-escapable fact, the mission of public elementary, secondary,and higher education cannot be fulfilled without affirmativeefforts to achieve racially diverse classrooms.” It was NEA’ssixteenth brief to the Court on issues of affirmation actionand diversity in employment and educational settings.

Who is “Professor Staff?” And howdoes she teach so many classes?THE “JUST IN TIME” HIRING PRACTICES of too many colleges getsattention in a recent report from the Campaign for the Futureof Higher Education. Based on a survey of contingent facultyby the New Faculty Majority (NFM), the report points to twoaspects of contingent working conditions with potential to

hinder student learning. First, there’sthe common practice of hiring right be-fore classes start, which leaves facultywith no time to prepare to teach. Second, there’s the scant pedagogicalresources offered to contingent faculty.Those include include inadequate access to curriculum guidelines, libraryresources, and clerical support, as wellas offices, phones, computers, soft-

ware, etc. “Dedicated faculty members are able to overcomemany of the obstacles, but the point is they should not be encountering such obstacles at all,” said Maria Maisto, a report co-author and NFM executive director. “Students andfaculty should not be required to compensate for what col-leges refuse to provide. That is unfair to students and not inthe best interest of America’s future.” Read the full report at www.futureofhighered.org.

MISSED SOMETHING?READ PREVIOUS ARTICLES ONOUR WEBSITE

CALL FOR PAPERS The review panel ofThought & Action, NEA’sjournal of higher ed, hasissued a call for papers.It especially invites sub-missions on the theme,“Students, Faculty, andthe Common Good.”www.nea.org/thoughtandaction

TAKE ACTION! If Congress doesn’t actto stop across-the-boardbudget cuts on Jan. 2, alleducation programs willbe devastated. VisitNEA’s Legislative ActionCenter and tell them toact now.www.nea.org/lac

GRAD STUDENTS ANDTHEIR RIGHT TO UNIONSThe NLRB is expectedto rule on graduate stu-dents’ right to unionize. www.neatoday.org/2012/09/13/

UNIONS AND THE MIDDLE CLASSLearn how the decline ofunions has contributedto the growing gap ofwealth in this country.www.neatoday.org/2012/09/17/

JUDGE STRIKE DOWNWISCONSIN LAWA law that effectivelykilled collective bargain-ing rights for faculty inWisconsin was foundunconstitutional. Stateofficials are appealing. www.educationvotes.nea.org/2012/09/14/

Headline News

Not too long ago, a staff employee at the University

of Vermont, a woman who had worked there for 30 years, was handed a pink

slip and told to pack up. The reasons were vague: a department reorganization, which never happened, and unspecified budget issues. But the consequences were very specific. This woman

was six months and 15 days away from qualifying for pension benefits—and she would never get them. “It

was really an awful thing. We were all horrified,” said Helen Maciejewski, an administrative coordinator in

the university’s animal science department. Horrified, but not paralyzed: Maciejewski and her colleagues

knew they needed a union.

NEA HIGHER EDUCATION ADVOCATEIllustration: 3

HOW SUPPORT EMPLOYEES ARE UNIONIZING FOR FAIRNESS

GettingORGANIZED

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Without a union, youdon’t have a strongvoice. Important decisions that affectyour job, your wallet,your family, yourhealth, your life… are made withoutyou. And, as publiccolleges and universi-

ties become increasingly like privatecorporations, focused on glossy met-rics and profit measures, staff mem-bers and support employees needthat strong voice more than ever.

At the University of Vermont (UVM),faculty members are unionized. Soare campus security guards,groundskeepers and maintenanceworkers. In fact, the only group ofemployees that doesn’t enjoy a seatat the table and the protections of aunion are staff members, the peoplewho show up every day and keep theuniversity open for business.

And here’s a lesson: When adminis-trators are looking to cut corners onhealth and retirement plans andspend less on employee salaries, youdon’t want to be part of the only non-unionized group on campus. At UVM,while unionized faculty “were able to

address budget cuts and say, ‘hereare ways you can cut spending with-out cutting positions,’” notedMichele Patenaude, a circulationmanager in the university library,staff didn’t have that voice or power.Their colleagues lost their jobs. Theirbenefits were changed without theirinput.

“When hard financial times came, itwas on our back that the universitymade its cuts,” said Helen Maciejew-ski, an administrative coordinator inUVM’s animal science department.Maybe you thought you were goingto retire with a pension in five years?Turns out it might be fifteen, thanksto changes in the retirement systemthat the university recently put intoplace without warning—and withoutthe input of affected employees.Louise Lynch, a grants administratorin the College of Education and So-cial Services, will be nearly 70 before

she can retire, she said. “They’re bet-ting on people not staying that long,”she surmised.

At the same time, the university alsohas shifted an increasing cost ofhealth benefits onto its staff employ-ees. “I’m essentially making lessmoney than I was seven years ago,”Maciejewski figured. (And, at$31,500 a year, Louise Lynch is stillmaking less money than less-experi-enced colleagues with the exactsame job description.)

But, to be clear: what’s driving theseemployees to unionize isn’t money. “Idon’t make a lot of money, but I’mnot driven by money. I’m driven by aneed for fairness and process,” saidPatenaud. There is no process forstaff layoffs at UVM, she noted.There is no process to fairly andtransparently classify jobs, awardsalaries, or manage benefits. Let’ssay you have a bad boss: Well, goodluck to you, because there is nogrievance process either. “You justhave to lay low, keep your fingerscrossed, and hope for a way out,”she said.

The Way OutIn mid-September, nearly 800 UVMstaffers found a better way forward:a union. In the largest union electionever held by the Vermont Labor Rela-tions Board, a majority of non-ex-empt employees (those who canearn overtime pay) voted decisively

ob security, workplace conditions, fairness, and respect: At theUniversity of Vermont (UVM), and also at Mount Hood Commu-nity in Oregon, where classified staff have recently joined theNEA, employees are talking about these basic issues. Why doesmy less experienced colleague get paid $20,000 more than me?Who has my back when my boss verbally abuses me? Shouldn’tthere be a fair and consistent approach to staff layoffs? Whyaren’t employees involved in decisions to change their healthand retirement plans?J

“I’M NOT DRIVEN BYMONEY. I’M DRIVEN BYA NEED FOR FAIRNESS

AND PROCESS.”— MICHELE PATENAUDE

GettingORGANIZED

Helen Maciejewski,administrative coordinator,and Michele Patenaude,circulation manager, both ofthe University of Vermont.

NEA HIGHER EDUCATION ADVOCATEPhoto: WhiteHouse Flicker 5

crepancies just keep getting bigger, andbigger, and bigger.”

In Mount Hood, members considered afew options. “We talked to OEA, we alsotalked to a couple of private attorneys,”said Cathy Nicholas, MCHEE president.And then, after presenting the choices tothe local association’s members, Nicholsasked: Who would you rather have withyou at the bargaining table?

They voted decisively for OEA in June,

and then OEA approved their affiliationmore recently. “It’s a good move for us, Ibelieve,” said Nichols, as she looksahead to contract negotiations beginningin January. The Mount Hood unit includes about 200 employees, includinggroundskeepers, computer lab techni-cians, and people who work in financialoffices, like Nichols. “We are literally theones who keep the college running,” shesaid. But, she added, without a state andnational union at their back, it doesn’t al-ways seem like the hard work of staffhas been well recognized.

BY MARY ELLEN FLANNERYEditor, NEA Office of Higher Educationmflannery@nea.org

for union representation. In a follow-upelection to be scheduled sometime thisfall, staff employees next will choosewhether to affiliate with the UniversityStaff Union-NEA (USU-NEA), an affili-ate of Vermont-NEA. Patenaud, one ofUSU-NEA’s leaders, is hopeful. They’reorganized, they’re energetic, and theyhave the strength and resources of a na-tional union on their side.

“We are thrilled at being one step closerto having a union, having an equal voiceat the bargaining table…and (having)the ability to negotiate for our pay, ourbenefits, and our working conditions,”she said. If successful, the remainingnon-unionized UVM staff members, an-other 800 “exempt” employees, likelywill follow suit this spring with theirown union election.

Meanwhile, on the other side of thecountry, hundreds of other classifiedstaff employees at Mount Hood Com-munity College (MHCC) in Oregon al-ready have voted overwhelmingly toaffiliate with NEA. The MCHEE Classi-fied Employees Association, which hadpreviously operated as an independent,unaffiliated union, formally joined theOregon Education Association in Sep-tember after its leaders decided theyneeded a little more muscle during con-tract negotiations.

About 15 percent of NEA Higher Ed’smembers are support professionals, sothe Mount Hood classified employeesunit is joining a robust national union(as well as state union in the Oregon Ed-ucation Association) that offers supportin attaining professional pay and work-ing conditions, as well as access to pro-fessional development and leadershiptraining. Especially during economicallytroubled times, as jobs are lost andbudgets slashed on campuses across thecountry, an increasing number of staffmembers have found that a union and acollectively bargained contract can be avery good thing for employees.

“We needed backing,” said Paul Neves,president of the Lake Tahoe (California)Community College support unit, whichaffiliated with NEA last year. “The dis-

It’s a little-known fact, but Albert Einstein was a union member too! No doubt he understood thesimple equation: More voices equals more power. That’s a relationship that an increasing numberof higher-ed staff members are recognizing. These days, about 15 percent of NEA HIgher Ed’s mem-bers are support professionals.

“IT’S A GOOD MOVE FORUS, I BELIEVE.”

— CATHY NICHOLS

UE equation by Karen Livingston

NEA HIGHER EDUCATION ADVOCATE6

Your Attention, Please!

Have you ever faced unfocused, disengaged students? What can you do to re-set academically adrift students on a course forimproved learning?

Creating Student Focus in a World of DistractionsTo a caring teacher, it’s frustrating when students don’t fully listen or make only modest efforts to learn course content. If you can’t get their attention, or even half of it, how canyou expect students to experience authentic, hard-earned learning?

Today’s distractions are like honey to bees—powerful, irresistible, and seemingly natural.My teenage daughter has found five ways to “Facebook” (that I know of.) Like a junkieafter her next fix of virtual socializing, she scours the house for whatever device she canfind. It’s just not that healthy, whether socially, emotionally, or physically.

Distractions have multiplied exponentially over the last twenty years: the internet, cellphones to smart phones, more compelling video games, easier access to private music, andthe omnipresence of social media. Such technologies are both astonishing and accessible24/7, making the road to effective teaching and learning both exciting and daunting.

My premise is that while such distractions are prevalent and carry students away fromlearning, teachers can easily acquire and implement a short list of tools that help to regainstudents’ attention and refocus student learning. As a result, you can recapture that won-derful feeling when you see your students achieve significant new learning, and be able toshare with them that occasional “aha!” experience.

Thriving inAcademeREFLECTIONS ON HELPING STUDENTS LEARN

BY: JIM THERRELLCentral Michigan University

Thriving in Academe is a joint project of NEA and the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education(www.podnetwork.org). For more information, contact the editor, Douglas Robertson (drobert@fiu.edu) at

Florida International University or Mary Ellen Flannery (mflannery@nea.org) at NEA.

NEA HIGHER EDUCATION ADVOCATEIllustration: Steve McCracken 7

Focused Learning We know from brain research that learningis simply meaningful, hard work, and thatteachers can put forth maximum effortwithout gaining significant results. Here’sthe evidence (Meyers & Jones, 1993) thathaunts me and propels me to improve myteaching: Psychology students were testedfour months after course completion andcompared to students who had never takenthe class. They knew just 8 percent more!

If students are to have a chance at long-term learning, teachers must employ pow-erful ways to provide focus, to transform

student efforts into laser-like pathways oflearning. From the immediate to the long-term, here are my “Top 5 Ways to FocusStudent Learning”:

Focuser #1: Get their attention—and don’tproceed without it.

What does it matter if what you’re presentingis wonderful and state-of-the-art if studentsaren’t paying much attention? If studentsare looking at you with that glazed look intheir eyes—like they’ve been watching TVthe past three hours—then stop and gettheir attention. There are dozens of ways togain attention. Here are a couple ways toget you started:

I TALES FROM REAL LIFE > FROM TEACHING TO LEARNING

TEACHERS MUST EMPLOYPOWERFUL WAYS TOPROVIDE FOCUS, TO

TRANSFORM STUDENTEFFORTS INTO LASER-LIKEPATHWAYS OF LEARNING.

Meet Jim Therrell

After more than30 years ofteaching and

research, I know thechallenges of creating a focused, productivelearning environment.The following state-ment may soundcounter-intuitive, butI’ve learned that oneway is by not focusingon your teaching.

I’ve wandered by manya classroom, noting either the utter boredomand/or the multiple devices with thumbs or fingers flying for pur-poses other than that ofthe instructor. Wantingto illustrate the differ-ence between teachingand learning, I’ve oftentold the story of thewhistling teacher:

One day, while wander-ing the hallways of aclassroom (which I actually do as part ofmy workday), I heardthis beautiful whistlingfrom a teacher insidehis classroom, and Ipaused to listen for fewminutes. Soon the classfinished and studentsambled to their nextclass. Out of curiosity

I asked this teacher howit went and he replied,“Great!” I commentedon how beautiful hiswhistling was, thenasked: “How are yourstudents doing withwhistling?” He respondedwith a quizzical look,then exclaimed, “Well,they don’t really whistle,but I taught them quitewell!”

While some teachersteach well, studentsdon’t necessarily learn.Making the leap to afocus on learning wasn’teasy. I truly enjoyed the“sage on the stage”role, but eventually realized (I’m stubborn!)that my focus shouldbe on the end result—student learning.

Jim Therrell is thedirector of the FacultyCenter for InnovativeTeaching at CentralMichigan University.Having taught since1979, Jim under-

stands the challenges of teachingand the need to forgive oneselfand move on with new teachingpractices. He’s presented on FocusedLearning, as well as over 400 otherpresentations nationally and inter-nationally. In 2010, he won the PODInnovation Award with the “One-Hour Conference,” and currentlysits on the POD Board of Directorsas membership chair. When Jimisn’t parenting five daughters andenjoying seven grandkids, you canfind him in a racquetball court, onthe golf course or sledding hill, orcurled up in his favorite chair withthe latest book on teaching andfaculty development.

NEA HIGHER EDUCATION ADVOCATE Illustration: Steve McCracken8

• Adjust your voice: go from loud to quietor vice versa, or just stop talking;

• Choose a student at random to respond toa question;

• Change set: go from the middle of a PowerPoint to a small group discussion;

• If you’re trying to refocus from a smallgroup activity, ask three students to startclapping.

A great resource online for gaining yourstudent’s attention is “How to Get Atten-tion,” at www.shkaminski.com/Classes/Handouts/Attention.htm.

Focuser #2: “What’s the big idea?”

I don’t want this to sound harsh, but as Einstein stated: “If you can’t explain it simply,you don’t know it well enough.” Think ofyour course and restate the central idea ormain objective in one sentence, concretelyand/or metaphorically. I did this for acourse I taught four years ago (and sincethen), called “Multicultural Education,” andcame up with: “Walk with a smile in the shoesof the ‘other.’” Students from that class stillremember much of the course content viathis one focusing sentence. We know that

the brain craves a way to organize and relateinformation. This one sentence became thefoundation and focal point for how studentsattached and recalled information from thisclass years later.

Another focuser in this vein is how youstructure the learning objectives in yourcourse. I had one course with fourteen objectives and I wondered how the heckstudents would focus on this many, espe-

cially in conjunction with three or fourother courses. I decided to have smallgroups of students discuss the first sevenobjectives and agree upon their top twomost meaningful choices. By tallying theirchoices, I highlighted the top four objectivesand told the students that these would bethe learning focal points for the semester.The other objectives would be connected

to these top four. The students were em-powered in their own learning, and they understood what was going to be emphasizedand why, thus engaging in a meaningful, fo-cused way with the syllabus.

Focuser #3: Think and act visually.

Take advantage of the largest, most activepart of the brain: the visual cortex. Startwith the syllabus, the foundation for learningin your course. Make your syllabus moremeaningful and engaging through graphicdesign. Once you have a graphic templatefor one course, you have it for life, makingsmall tweaks as desired. Wonderful examplesof a visual syllabus are located at:http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/creative-approaches-to-the-syllabus/35621.

One of the best visual focusers is a conceptmap because it offers a relational way inwhich students may see big ideas mappedout and connected. Prezi, an online presen-tation tool, also has the same capacity to engage the brain in relational ways. For amore in-depth look at visual learning, seethe April 2010 issue of NEA’s Thriving inAcademe, “Seeing is Believing,” at

Do you afford yourstudents an oppor-tunity to see or

understand the big idea?Why what they’re about tolearn is meaningful, andwhat the possible outcomesmight be? The brain needssuch a context within whichto construct, attach, and re-late significant concepts or details. I’ve distilled this approach into a niftyacronym, AHOP.

Attention: As you thinkabout how to start eachclass, consider how to gettheir attention.

Hook: How will you set the

hook that holds their atten-tion and inspires their think-ing? Often, this amounts toexplaining the “why” of theupcoming content. Ask, “Whyis it vital to learn about theso-called causes of the CivilWar?” and then add, “Whycan’t we skip this content?Why is this meaningful?”Pause for an uncomfortablefive or 10 seconds, and repeatuntil you get a response ortwo. Other ways to set thehook include: • a controversial or chal-

lenging question on theboard before students arrive;

• a compelling or provoca-tive image or graphic on

the screen;• doing a simple, quick role-

play.

Objective: Make sure youmake crystal clear the 2-4main learning objective(s)for the class period. Listthese in the upper right corner of the whiteboard.Students who lapse withtheir attention can look atthis list and refocus quicklyon target. This “advancedorganizer” can also be agreat framework for thebrain and how it connectsdetails to these learning objectives.

Predictions: Finally, ask

your students to make aprediction or two about theupcoming content, results,or outcomes. Praise studentsfor trying. Making predic-tions, then testing them,gives the brain something toresolve. The brain dislikesany cognitive dissonance(so create it!), and it wantsto figure out the “right” answer. Course contentthen becomes a way tosolve the problem, adilemma, or a mystery.

THE STUDENTS WEREEMPOWERED IN THEIR

OWN LEARNING, AND THEYUNDERSTOOD WHAT WASGOING TO BE EMPHASIZED

I BEST PRACTICES > TAKE “AHOP,” BEFORE YOU LEAP INTO CONTENT

NEA HIGHER EDUCATION ADVOCATE

www.nea.org/assets/img/PubAdvocate/Advocate1004.pdf

Focuser #4: Explain why! (And do itconcretely).

Faculty are trained to know their discipli-nary content backwards and forwards,and they know it in a mostly abstract, com-plex way. But even as we know what toteach, we seldom address the why. Stu-dents, on the other hand, are motivated bywhat’s meaningful. It’s as if there’s a con-stant refrain in their heads: “Why is thiscontent important to me—why should Ilearn this—how is this meaningful to me?”

Figure out how to explain the why. Simplifyand make content concrete or metaphori-cal—it’s what the brain loves to digest. It’sthe way you get on the same page withyour students and create the road tomeaningful learning for them.

Focuser #5: Deliver clear expectations,including accountability.

The perennial challenge for faculty is tocommunicate expectations clearly via thesyllabus and rubrics, and through verbalexplanations, whether on the first day orduring office hours. If they don’t knowhow much and how well they have to perform in your class, many students willjust throw up their hands and say to theirfriends: “This looked like an interestingcourse to take, but the instructor has allthese rules and assignments, and I justdon’t get what’s expected. I asked, but Istill don’t get it.” For obvious reasons, youdon’t want this type of communication onFacebook.

Your students are not just learners. In college they are supposed to be scholars,so treat them that way. In fact, expect andcreate an active community of scholars byassigning a short, collaborative literaturereview the first day. Suppose the issue is“childhood safety.” Brainstorm with stu-dents the major areas of concern for thistopic. Create teams to review and writeabout the readings per each area withinthis topic. Now you’ve set the expectationof scholarship and collaboration, and thenexplain how this lit review leads to thenext step or the next assignment.

Have your students stand up that first dayof class and ask anyone to sit if he/she is(1) not smart, (2) not an adult, (3) not

responsible, and (4) not accountable.While dramatic, it makes your initial expectations clear. Because it’s dramatic,this exercise makes a firm impression.Students are now saying to themselves:“Hmmm, this class may take some effort. Ibetter get it in gear.” If you don’t somehowfocus upon and firmly set high expecta-tions, you’re in for a looong semester.

Setting the expectation of participation isalso critical for a semester of engagement,as opposed to weekly doldrums. For ex-ample, I always set a 90 percent bar for attendance. Or, during class when I ask a50/50 proposition (like true/false) I makesure every hand goes up. If one studentdoesn’t raise a hand, I gently ask why, orask for another vote. The semesters Ihaven’t followed through with such expec-tations of participation were times ofgreat lament for me.

REFERENCES:Barkley, E.F. 2010. Student engagement tech-niques: A handbook for college faculty, 2nded. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Davis, B.G. 2009. Tools for Teaching. SanFrancisco: Jossey-Bass.

Fink, Dee. 2003. Creating significant learningexperiences: An integrated approach to designing college courses. San Francisco:Jossey-Bass. (See www.finkconsulting.info/publications.html for an abridged version.)

Heath, C. & Heath, D. 2006. Made to Stick:Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. NewYork: Random House.

McKeachie, W.J. & Svinicki, M. 2006. Teach-ing tips: Strategies, research, and theory forcollege and university teachers. Boston:Houghton Mifflin.

Meyer, C., & Jones, T. B. 1993. Promoting active learning: Strategies for the collegeclassroom. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Nilson, L.B. 2003. Teaching at its best. SanFrancisco: Anker.

I ISSUES TO CONSIDER

Illustration: Steve McCracken 9

GETTING THEFOCUS JUSTRIGHT

MAKE FOCAL POINTSMEANINGFUL ANDMEMORABLE. Find out and truly under-stand who your studentsare: their stories, experi-ences, prior knowledge,frustrations, interests,and skills. If you’re tryingto convey a concept tostudents like “redistribu-tion of wealth,” bring insome chips for poker,play Pink Floyd’s“Money,” then debriefthe experience. Wasmoney redistributedfairly? By chance? Byvirtue of skill? Nowyou’re poised to developlearning from better understanding to evalua-tion and focus the mainissues behind this con-cept in memorable ways.

IT’S IMPORTANT TOKEEP FOCUS FRESH. Yes, develop a set ofpractices around focusers

and focal points for stu-dents, but don’t over-useor over-rely on the sameset of practices. Humanbeings, students in par-ticular, appreciate andrespond to fresh prac-tices, so continue to ex-pand your engagementtools. Even the best prac-tice will founder if usedtoo much. Small groupscan be a great way to in-crease student engage-ment and focus, butdon’t employ them everyclass period.

THE RIGHT FOCUS ATTHE RIGHT TIME. This aligns with themaxim of Aristotle toconduct practices “in theright manner at the rightmoment and for theright length of time.” If you don’t over-use asingle technique, studentswill end up listeningmore and with morefocus, and being moreengaged in their learn-ing. Focusers make Aristotle’s maxim morepossible in everydayteaching.

FOCUSED LEARNINGDOESN’T ALWAYSWORK. I’ve learned over thedecades that teaching iscomplex. Even the bestsolution doesn’t alwayswork. We try our best toeliminate uncertain orlackluster results, but reduction is a more rea-sonable expectation. Instructors have to re-member that students,the most salient variablein any learning equation,are the ones who ulti-mately decide how robustor engaging their learn-ing becomes. Thus, asyou try your hardest toimplement the practicesabove, allow yourselfroom for error and sub-par experiences. Giveyourself a break, thencome back the next daywith refinements andother new ideas to try.

NEA HIGHER EDUCATION ADVOCATE10

WHY I’M AMEMBER

MY UNIONWhat do you love aboutNEA Higher Ed?Our KNEA local has been instrumental in

preventing a host of con-tract violations over thepast two decades. With thehelp of our regional repre-sentatives, most cases havebeen decided in favor of

teachers. We are much better compen-sated and protected than we would be oth-erwise, and the entire college is better offas a result. ISAIAS MCCAFFERYIndependence Community College, Kansas

There is power in numbers. The morevoices we have, the better we will beheard on legislative matters as well as onour campus. We need unions. DIANE TOMKIELSpringfield Technical Community College, Mass.

I like the fact that a national organizationtakes interest in higher education, but the thing Ilike the best is the Thoughtand Action journal. THERESA MONTAÑOCal State, Northridge

I do not “love my union.” However, Istrongly believe unions are essential pro-tection from the flawed and biased deci-sions of management.. I firmly believethat Jesus of Nazareth would have been acard carrying member of the NEA. ANTHONY CLEVELANDJackson Community College, Michigan

What do you love aboutyour union? Join the discussion at http://public-groups.nea.org/discussion/topic/show/568220.

Adrienne ValdezUNIVERSITY OF HAWAI’I—WEST O’AHU

It’s a long way from the green island of O’ahu to the whitehalls of Congress—about 4,833 miles to be exact—but Adrienne Valdez and her colleagues in the University ofHawai’i Professional Assembly (UHPA) don’t need to shout tobe heard on Capitol Hill. “NEA provides all of its members,from kindergarten to graduate school, with lobbying and‘watchdogging’ services,” notes Valdez, UHPA president. “Ithink that’s so important. It’s a big reason I belong to NEA,and am proud to belong to NEA.” Even as the dust is still set-tling on the recent presidential elections, Congress already isreturning its attention to legislative issues, such as impend-ing across-the-board budget cuts, which could devastatehigher-ed programs ranging from grant-funded research toCollege Access Challenge programs. But, says Valdez, “I know(NEA) will be there advocating for us.”

NEA HIGHER EDUCATION ADVOCATE 11

The view from theother side

BY THE NUMBERS

WHO THINKS IT’S NIGH TIME FOR YOUR RETIREMENT PARTY? Not your students! It’s your institution’s human resources (HR) officer who might think it’s time for you to move on togreener pastures. In their recent survey of more than 300 HR professionals from two- andfour-year institutions, Inside Higher Ed’s editors uncovered a wealth of opinions and concerns from the other side of the bargaining table. (For example, it turns out most HR officers believe unions are effective at winning fair pay and benefits!)

(For more, visit www.insidehighered.com/news/survey.)

100 Thepercentage of

HR professionals at public B.A-degree institutionswho say unions havehelped to secure bettersalaries and benefitsthan mightotherwise beprovided.

50 The percentage of HR

professionals at publicB.A.-degree institutionswho say unions promotefairness in thetreatment ofemployees.

100 Thepercentage of

HR professionals at public B.A.-degree institutions whosay union agreements restrictmanagement’s ability tore-deploy people andre-define jobtasks.

“THE HR OFFICERS WHO REPORT HAVING ONE ORMORE CAMPUS UNIONS AT THEIR INSTITUTIONS ARE,AS A GROUP, NOT UPBEAT ABOUT THE BENEFITS OFREPRESENTATION...LESS THAN A QUARTER AGREETHAT ‘UNIONS PROVIDE FOR GOOD COMMUNICA-

TION BETWEEN MANAGEMENT AND LABOR.’”— Report authors Kenneth Green, Scott Jaschik and Doug Lederman

Source: The 2012 Inside Higher Ed Survey of College & University Human Resources Officers.

28%

42%

*

28%

37%

Move along, already!

! All Institutions! Doctoral Institutions

Too many faculty members are staying on past the traditional retirement age, not making room for the nextgeneration of professors.

*The percentage of HR professionals whosay this issue is of “great concern” to them.

Health care costs for retirees comprise a huge expense or balancesheet liability for my campus.

Halfof HR

professionalsat public

A.A-degree collegessay the same.

39 percentat public

A.A-degree collegessay the same.

80 percentat public

A.A-degree collegessay the same.

NEA HIGHER EDUCATION ADVOCATE12

Why Can’t a Firm Be MoreLike a College?

By Chad Hanson

Why can’t colleges act more like businesses? For the past century, legislators, boardsof trustees, and private sector leaders have been befuddled by academic traditions.The scions of law-making and industry have scratched their heads and wondered

why institutions of higher learning do not respond to the same prompts and incentives that work well in the marketplace.In response to the long-standing issue, Williams College economic Gordon C. Winston published the article “Why Can’t a

My goal is to extend the comparison betweenthe private sector and non-profit education.In what follows, I move the conversation toward an analysis of organizational culture:norms, roles, and values. You should alsonote that I do not apologize. On examination,it turns out, many of the features that makecolleges unlike businesses should serve as asource of pride. In fact, colleges and universi-ties possess traits the private sector woulddo well to imitate.

Higher education produces innovation

On the surface, firms in the private sector appear agile and inventive, but at the heart oftheir enterprise, they are averse to takingrisks. The reverse is true in education. Ourinstitutions appear staid and inflexible, but inpractice, they have produced the most impor-tant innovations of the past three centuries.Our most significant advances in physics, astronomy, mathematics, and biosciencewere not attained in business. They wereachieved in schools. There are at least tworeasons for the success of postsecondary re-searchers. The first is linked to organiza-tional goals, and the second relates to theterms of a professor’s employment.

Institutions of higher learning enjoy the luxury of pursuing the objectives associatedwith pure science. The aim is to ask big,basic questions about the nature of theworld, and answer them as best we can.

Business goals are different. Because theyfocus on profitability, business employeespractice applied science. Corporations takethe knowledge that we create in the academyand turn it into goods and services. The result is that product lines are advanced, incrementally, from one year to the next. Weall benefit from these efforts, but the level of innovation is lower than you find in educa-tion. The breakthroughs that change our understanding of the world and our place init occur in the not-for-profit sector.

One reason for the success of university-based scholars relates to the job security thatwe afford to faculty. In education, we granttenure, an institutional commitment to long-lasting employment. That practice contrib-utes to a culture of innovation. Tenure isliberating. We free professors to follow ques-tions wherever they lead. Albert Einstein enjoyed the benefit of tenure when he produced the theory of relativity.

Businesses do not grant tenure. To the con-trary, for the alleged purpose of increasingflexibility, businesses fight measures thatwould limit their ability to fire personnel. Insuch a setting, scientists are discouragedfrom taking risks. Private sector employeeshave an incentive to ask safe questions andundertake projects with predictable results.For all our talk about risk taking in the pri-vate sector, the truth is, businesses are riskaverse. The real breakthroughs occur in thelaboratories of stodgy old universities.

THE NEA HIGHER EDUCATION JOURNAL

EDITOR’S NOTE:This is an excerpt of a

new Thought & Actionarticle by Chad Hanson,chair of the Departmentof Sociology and SocialWork at Casper College

in Wyoming. To read thearticle in its entirety, andalso to view the journal’snew call for papers, visit

www.nea.org/thoughtandaction.

College Be More Like a Firm?” in 1997. In the years since, others havetaken up the same question.

NEA HIGHER EDUCATION ADVOCATE 13

MichiganThe governor’s ink wasn’t yet dry on a newpensions and retirement benefits law whenthe Michigan Education Association won atemporary restraining order that blocks thelaw from going to effect. The new law forces employees to contribute much more moneyto their pensions or face significantly reducedpensions. It also requires a 20 percent healthcare contribution from current retirees, whiledenying new hires any retiree health care. Arguments in MEA’s case against its constitu-tionality will be heard in late November.

MissouriThe U.S. Department of Education’s coast-to-coast Education Drives America bus tourmade a stop in September at Harris-StoweState University, a historically black college inSt. Louis. Their point? That Pell Grants, whichthe vast majority of HSSU students use topay for school, need to be protected from partisan attacks. “We have a lot of non-tradi-tional students. We have a lot of studentswith financial issues. WIthout Pell, they sim-ply wouldn’t be able to go to college,” said

Mark Abbott, HSSU professor of history. Thebus also stopped at Metropolitan CommunityCollege in Kansas, which also is an NEA-affili-ated campus.

New YorkHelp save jobs at SUNY Downstate MedicalCenter, an essential teaching hospital inBrooklyn where more than 400 layoff noticeswere issued in September—and more than1,000 more pink slips are expected. “Down-state is a beacon in Brooklyn,” said RowenaBlackman-Stroud, president of the NEA-affili-ated local union. “These job reductionswould weaken our ability to care for thecommunity, put thousands out of work, andshake Brooklyn’s weak economy to its core.”Join the 10,000-plus people who have signeda petition to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, asking himto save those jobs, at www.savejobsatsuny-downstate.org.

Washington D.C.If Congress doesn’t take quick action to stopacross-the-board budget cuts, known as se-questration, that take effect on Jan. 2, most

higher education programs will face 8.2 per-cent budget cuts. That includes federal grantprograms for university research, as well ascollege access programs like TRIO and collegeaffordability programs like work-study. PellGrants would not be affected. Visit NEA’sLegislative Action Center at nea.org/lac andurge your representative to do something!

WisconsinA county judge has thrown out key parts ofWisconsin’s anti-collective bargaining law,saying it violates workers’ constitutionalrights to free speech, free association andequal representation under the law. Thejudge noted in particular that the law capssalary raises for union workers but not fornon-union workers. Gov. Scott Walker’s attor-neys have filed for a stay, which would keepthe law in place until their appeal can beheard, most likely by the state SupremeCourt. The lawsuit leading to this ruling wasfiled by Madison Teachers Inc., and funded inpart by WEAC/NEA members.

THE STATE OF HIGHER ED

I TWO-MINUTE INTERVIEW > HARETH ANDRADE

When did you realize youwere undocumented?

When I was 15, I started re-searching what it means tohave an expired visa, and Ifound out I was undocu-mented. I really felt like Ididn’t have anywhere to go. Icouldn’t get a driver’s li-cense. I felt, like a lot ofDREAMers, that I wouldn’tbe able to go to college.

But you are a communitycollege student—how did

you make that happen?

My parents support me, butthey just can’t pay for col-lege. I am very privileged tohave three or four scholar-ships to pay my expenses.

Do people at your collegeknow you’re a DREAMer?I was really scared at first. Ithought, “I have to hidehere.” But one day I wascomplaining to my mentor—I am lucky to have a men-tor—about the school IDs.

You need an ID to do every-thing here—even get a sheetof paper printed at the li-brary. And to get that ID, youneed a government-issuedID, which I don’t have. I gotreally upset and I told her, “Ijust can’t do this!” The verynext day, my mentor intro-duced me to the provost andthey said, “We will work to-gether through this process.”

We’re trying to create a sys-tem where DREAMers cancome in -- and people under-stand their needs. Nobodysays, “First you need to go tothe financial aid office.”Weknow we can’t get any aid sowhy waste time? We need

specific help with majors. Iwanted to be an architect,until somebody told me thatyou need a Social Securitycard to take the architec-tural state licensing exam.

What else should yourprofessors know? To be sensitive to certainwords, like “illegal.” That’s ahurtful word. And also justto be aware that there aremany undocumented stu-dents and we’re not allLatino. People have said tome, “You don’t look undocu-mented! You look like astraight-A student.” There isno one look for an undocu-mented student.

HARETH ANDRADE is an undocumented immigrant,originally from Bolivia, now studying journalism atNorthern Virginia (NoVa) Community College. She isalso the co-founder of the DREAM Project (dream-project-va.com), a non-profit that helps undocu-mented students attend college.

NEA HIGHER EDUCATION ADVOCATE 15

Union RightsThe Supreme Court’s quiet blow to laborBY JASON WALTA

IN MY VERY FIRST COLUMN) for the Advocate, in September2011, I talked about how a 2006 Supreme Court decision,Garcetti v. Ceballos, virtually demolished most free-speech protections for public employees. But, as it turnsout, the Supreme Court—in a recent case that largely escaped notice amid the hubbub over the decisionlargely upholding of the Affordable Care Act—has indi-cated there is at least one area in which it is still willingto give robust protection to the free-speech rights of pub-lic employees. Unfortunately, that one area is the sup-posed right of public employees to enjoy the benefits of aunion’s collective-bargaining representation without pay-ing a share of the costs.

On the surface, Knox v. SEIU Local 100 involved a fairlyobscure dispute over the procedures a public sectorunion must follow when collecting “agency fees.” Theseare the fees that a union may collect in non-“Right toWork” states from non-member employees who receivethe benefits of a union’s representation by virtue of beingin a unit of employees on whose behalf the union negoti-ates. Charging an agency fee has long been recognized tobe constitutional because, as a Supreme Court explainedin Abood v. Detroit Board of Education (1977), it “dis-tribute[s] fairly the cost of [the union’s collective bargain-ing] activities among those who benefit[,] and itcounteracts the incentive that employees might other-wise have to become ‘free riders’—to refuse to con-tribute to the union while obtaining benefits of unionrepresentation that necessarily accrue to all employees.”

Yet, in the course of deciding the narrow case before it,the Knox Court did something remarkable. No party inthe case had questioned the constitutional legitimacy ofagency fee arrangements. Nor had any party asked theCourt to reconsider or overrule its prior cases involvingagency fees. Nevertheless, the Court’s majority deci-

sion—written by Justice Alito—declared that earlier decisions allowing unions to collect agency fees were "ananomaly" in the Court's First Amendment jurisprudence.The majority further noted that its decision "do[es] not revisit today whether the Court's former cases have givenadequate recognition to the critical First Amendmentrights at stake," thereby extending an open invitation forgroups like the National Right To Work Committee to askthat decades of settled precedent be thrown out in a future case.

Even more remarkably, the Court showed no apparentrecognition that vindicating such newfound rights forunion opponents would be in obvious tension with theCourt’s string of recent cases—including Garcetti—strip-ping away the constitutional rights of public employees.So, now, the Court seems poised to insert itself quite dramatically in the unfolding political battle over unionrights that has raged in the legislatures and ballot boxesaround the country. If that is the case, the bomb theCourt’s conservative majority could drop is a decisionholding that a national Right to Work law is effectivelyenshrined in the First Amendment.

Such a decision would not only deal a devastating—ifnot fatal—blow to the labor movement, it would alsodramatically shift the political landscape, tilting it evenfurther in favor of the interests of corporations andwealthy individuals. And, like the Court’s disastrous decision in Citizens United, the only way to undo thedamage would be to amend the Constitution or changethe composition of the Court.

Jason Walta isan attorney inthe NEA Office ofGeneral Counseland an adjunctfaculty member at American University’sWashington College of Law.

CASE STUDY

On-the-move office hoursIMAGINE THE FOLLOWING SCENARIO. Officehours are posted on a syllabus, a studentwalks the long, lonely hallway to your of-fice, and hesitantly knocks or awkwardlypaces, pretending to read flyers whilewaiting for their turn in the chair. Inside,there are four walls, possibly a window, adesk, chairs, and bookshelves, eliciting aclosed-in feeling.

Consider now an alternative. The fac-ulty member leaves the office and ven-tures outside with the student. Togetherthey walk. This “office” has seemingly unlimited square-footage, a 360-degreeview, and fresh air—how is that for a promotion! And how much more welcom-ing it is for the student.

While most faculty members and/or ad-visors are not therapists or counselors,they might consider learning somethingfrom “walk-and-talk” therapists, who intentionally meet their clients outside ofthe office and walk together in active dialogue. By incorporating walking-talk-ing meetings, the typical one-way, faculty-student relationship is altered: bothparties walk in the same direction to-gether. Furthermore, when physicallymoving forward, the concept of thinkingforward and making progress becomes inherent in the conversation.

On-the-move office hours also have intrinsic health benefits. And it may be aparticularly effective solution for adjunctfaculty, who may share offices.

The following are a few suggestionsfor making it work.

1. Offer walking-talking as an option,not a requirement. Think creatively toidentify routes that are sheltered fromweather, and avoid overly active areas ofcampus, where conversation could behindered.

2. Consider the resources needed tomeet the goals of the conference, andwhether those resources will be availableon the go. With smart phones, it’s easierthan ever to quickly access information,but sometimes a desktop computer is stillnecessary to process paperwork or ac-cess records. Starting or ending a meetingin the office may be an option.

3. Allow the goals of the meeting andthe needs of the student to set the paceand gait of the conversation, both ofwhich can be discussed before settingout. Allow distractions to support theconversation; avoid distractions that in-hibit it. While walking side-by-side doeslimit eye contact, body language and ac-tive listening techniques can still signalyour engagement.

Ultimately, the goals of the faculty-stu-dent meeting are based on the individualneeds of the two parties, which guidesthe decision to open or close the officedoor—and on which side of it to meet.

NEA’s Office of Higher Education isnow on Facebook. To keep up withcurrent news and discuss events

with your colleagues find us at www.facebook.com/neahighered.

Cathleen Morreale is program coordinator of thePublic Service Internship,Peer Mentor, and Experien-tial Learning Programs inCora P. Maloney College atthe University of Buffalo,SUNY.

NEA HIGHER EDUCATION ADVOCATE16

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