The State Universities Annuitants Association
 isn’t just for Retirees!      
If you have a STAKE in Illinois pensions, you need a STAKE in SUAA!. Current employees need SUAA.

Check it out: The 10 Most Awesomely Bad Moments of the Bush Presidency -- There are entirely too many of them; almost too painful to remember, and entirely too hard to forget. But history demands that we at least make the effort. So, here is a short version of our long national nightmare. (AlterNet, July 1)

Read the July 2 edition of the IFT Legislative Update

>> See also: IFT Legislative Tracker for news of interest to higher education

Read the IBHE's The Friday Memo for June 27: Governor requests House’s assistance in balancing fiscal 2009 budget

Read the IBHE's News Digest

Read the June 13 Update -- State Labor Federation Makes Endorsements Despite Mounting Frustration with Political Gridlock

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Read the July 3 Friday Alert from the Alliance for Retired Americans: Senate to Vote Again on H.R. 6331, Medicare Bill That Fell Short by One Vote (Alliance for Retired Americans, July 3)

Read the June 27 Friday Alert from the Alliance for Retired Americans: Medicare Bill to Help Seniors Falls One Vote Short in Senate

AAUP Releases Annual Report on Faculty Salaries “Where Are the Priorities?” — After a short-lived recovery in 2006–07, faculty salaries are lagging behind inflation again this year. Yet the salaries paid to head football coaches, presidents, and other top administrators do not seem to reflect an economic downturn. See the American Association of University Professors info.

Walk the Walk: Be an activist

• Use union hotels Get listings of union hotels and job actions at the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union (HERE) web site. JUST CLICK

• Buy a union-made car, at the UAW web site. JUST CLICK

• Look for all kinds of other services and products, like a union printer, musician or contractor, among others check on the Chicago Federation of Labor web sit. JUST CLICK

Free Exchange on Campus; Fighting for the free exchange of ideas on campus

ILschools

U. of C. cuts ties with state lender amid market flux -- Thousands of University of Chicago graduate students will have to scramble for new federal and private loans after the university alerted them that it will no longer work with the state's loan agency. (Chicago Tribune, July 2)

Illinois receives additional flexibility to help schools meet federal NCLB requirements  One of 6 states accepted into new U.S. Dept. of Education pilot program; flexibility targets low-performing schools earlier with tailored resources Springfield (Illinois State Board of Education, July 1)

WIU-QC Library Receives Grant for Holocaust Collection (WIU News Release, July 1)

Quincy nearly gets swept away -- As floodwaters slowly recede in some Illinois counties along the Mississippi River, they can't move fast enough for officials keeping a weary eye on damaged crops and strained levees. (Western Courier, June 25)

ECC offers early start to freshmen who need help -- Aiming to give incoming students a better chance at success, Elgin Community College's Alliance for College Readiness will launch a pilot summer bridge program July 15. (Daily Herald, July 2)

Governor wants our help with flood assessment -- While faculty, staff and students at Western Illinois University have helped with sandbagging in area communities along the Mississippi River, a new initiative requested by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich ensures the university will be assisting with recovery efforts long after the floodwaters recede. (Western Courier, July 2)

City teachers union to try vice president -- The Chicago Teachers Union executive board voted to go forward with proceedings to remove the vice president after allegations surfaced that he may have misspent more than $6,200 on meals and liquor. (Chicago Tribune, June 30)

Scientists a hair closer to making container invisible | U. OF I. | Their research is out of sight -- Cloaks to render a person invisible are still a thing of fantasy, but researchers could be closer to creating that effect than Harry Potter-philes realize. (Chicaho Sun-Times, June 30)

New Tune on Campus: Take Me Out to the Ballgame, and Bring My Lawyer -- In Evanston the great American pastime of baseball is being displaced by the threat of another popular American sport — litigation. (Chronicle of Higher Education, June 26)

SIUC scores high with diverse efforts -- The magazine "Diverse: Issues in Higher Education" contained its Top 100 colleges and universities in awarding minority undergraduate degrees in an issue released this month. SIUC again scored well. (The Southern, June 25)

>> See 10th ranked Chicago State University

>> Governors State, 46th ranked

>> Northeastern Illinois University, 15th ranked

>> Northern Ilinois University, ranked 23rd, 32nd, 33rd, 98 and 99th, in various races and majors

>> See all Illinois universities

Chicago schools make gains in hiring better grade of teachers -- (Chicago Tribune, June 26)

SEE COMMENT FROM WIU's BILL THOMPSON Teacher quality study shows Chicago narrowing the gap -- When it comes to hiring teachers, experience shouldn't automatically trump academics. That's the conclusion of a new study that looks at the quality of public school teachers in Illinois. (Crain's Chicago Business, June 26)

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ILnews

Cook Co. commissioners pass same-sex measure -- Cook County commissioners just approved a measure that changes a county ordinance to benefit same-sex couples that get married in another state. (Windy City Times, July 1)

Feud still roils Springfield -- Three of the state's governors have served prison time. Scores of legislators and aldermen have gotten into legal trouble over the years. But Illinois politicians haven't seriously considered impeaching one of their own -- until now. Gov. Rod Blagojevich finds his enemies these days boldly considering impeachment. The enemies? His fellow Democrats. (The Times of Northwest Indiana, July 3)

Blagojevich calls legislators back, halts construction work -- Despite few signs that the political logjam is loosening, Gov. Rod Blagojevich Wednesday called on lawmakers to return to the Capitol next week for another go-around on the state budget. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 3)

Blagojevich calls special session to deal with budget (Springfield State Journal-Register, July 2)

State lacks budget, but it’s not out of money — yet Fiscal year starts today; what governor will do is a question (Springfield State Journal-Register, July 2)

State stops work on 39 projects Blagojevich administration says budget legislation requires halt (Springfield State Journal-Register, July 1)

Area Republican lawmakers say they can’t do much about budget

Heartland workers end strike, carry on their fight for fairness --. Almost a year to the day after they walked off the job in their effort to gain fair treatment, Heartland Human Services employees voted to end their strike and return to work. In doing so, they chose to continue their fight in a different arena. (AFSCME31.org, June 27)

LETTER: On AFSCME Negotiations --"I am a state employee who is a member of the Illinois Federation of Teachers. I cannot speak for the Teamsters, Laborers or SEIU unions, but as a union representative I find it deplorable that AFSCME could be allowed to negotiate health benefits that end up being applied to all our other local unions in state government." (Springfield State Journal-Register, June 26)

AFSCME mediator search may take time Union, state will continue to operate under current contract (Springfield State Journal-Register, June 26)

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Safety

Increase in Stolen Laptops Endangers Data Security (Chronicle of Higher Education, July 4)

Supreme Court Decision Shoots Down a Gun Ban and Raises Questions for College Campuses -- The Supreme Court's landmark ruling overturning the city of Washington's ban on the individual possession of handguns could have broad implications for colleges and universities that bar students from having guns on campus. (Chronicle of Higher Education, June 27)

Massachusetts Public Colleges Are Slow to Enhance Security, Report Says (Chronicle of Higher Education, June 26)

Colleges Wade Into Survival Training for Campus Shootings -- Many colleges are using video and taking other steps to train students for the unlikely event of a campus shooting. (Chronicle of Higher Education, June 27)

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Money

Lender Jeered as It Departs Federal Student-Loan Program -- MyRichUncle, which specializes in direct-to-consumer loans, stopped offering government-backed loans last Friday, and the response from college aid administrators appears to be barely restrained glee. (Chronicle of HIgher Education, July 2)

Lower Rates Kick In for Student Loans -- Congressional Democrats touted lower interest rates that kicked in Tuesday on certain federally subsidized student loans, a day after President Bush signed the latest extension of the law governing federal support for higher education. (CQ Politics, July 1)

Community college smart way to save -- An Auirora mother said the smartest decision her family made about saving money is sending her son to community college. (Chicago Sun-Times, June 30)

Report calls for $20 billion for adult literacy -- The United States needs a major overhaul in adult education and work force training if it hopes to reverse a decline in adult literacy, said a report by the National Commission on Adult Literacy. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 27)

Penn State Living Wage Calculator -- The Poverty in America Project at Penn State has developed a calculator to estimate the living wage in your community. Enter your location, and you’ll see living wages for various family sizes in your community, how your local living wage compares to the minimum wage and the federal poverty wage, as well as typical wages for a number of jobs in your community

States Spend More on Student Aid Need-based grants lag behind loans   -- State spending on loans and grants increased in the 2006-7 academic year after growth had slowed the year before, according to an annual report. (Chronicle of Higher Education, June 27)

OPINION: America's Damaging Lack of Investment in Higher Education (Chronicle of HIgher Education, June 27)

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Schools Nationally

Poll: Schools not properly preparing kids -- Half of Americans say U.S. schools are doing only a fair to poor job preparing kids for college and the work force. (USA Today, June 30)

Firing tenured teachers isn't just difficult, it costs you (USA Today, June 30)

Former FCC Leader Says Colleges Must Aggressively Compete With Online Education (Chronicle of Higher Education, July 4)

Foreseeing the Future of Accreditation This spring, in the wake of nearly two years of conflict in which the U.S. Education Department was widely perceived as trying to transform higher education accreditors into enforcers in its campaign to prod colleges to produce better student learning outcomes, an alarmist view of the future of accreditation seemed entirely in order. (Inside Higher Ed, June 30)

Bill seeks lower cost of college -- Congress is trying to take the mystery out of the forever rising costs of higher education by mandating that colleges provide students and their parents more information about how much the average student pays for school, what kind of tuition help they might be able to secure and which universities offer the best bang for the buck. Congress is also calling for an annual "blacklist" of schools with the steepest cost increases. (Chicago Tribune, July 2)

>> Tuition: The high 5 and the low 5 (Chicago Tribune, July 2)

Free-college programs multiply -- A scholarship program that offers free college tuition as a reward for attending public schools in a Michigan city is catching on in other communities seeking to revitalize their urban centers. (USA Today, July 2)

Profit at Apollo Group -- The Apollo Group, an education company that owns the University of Phoenix, says it earned $139.1 million in the third quarter as enrollment grew by 11 percent. (New York Times, July 2)

California's Oversight of For-Profit Colleges Lapses as State Law Expires -- California’s oversight of for-profit colleges expired on Monday as a state law expired while state legislators battled over how to regulate the industry, which enrolls 400,000 students a year there. (Chronicle of Higher Education, July 1)

Reading First program could be on its last legs -- Is the federal government getting out of the reading business? The Senate Appropriations Committee voted last week to eliminate funding for Reading First, the groundbreaking but controversial Bush administration program that has given states $1 billion a year since 2002 to teach low-income elementary schoolers to read. (USA Today, July 2)

Education secretary touts 'No Child' renewal -- Education in the United States has "reached a really important crossroads," U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said. (San Antonio Express-News, July 2)

Gas Prices Afford Adjuncts Tough Choices -- Part-time professors are feeling the pinch at the pump -- which could foreshadow a larger problem as academe increasingly depends on part-time labor. (Chronicle of Higher Education, July 2)

America's Universities Are Living a Diversity Lie -- There is no evidence that racial preferences improve education. Thirty years ago this past week, Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. condemned our nation's selective colleges and universities to live a lie. Writing the deciding opinion in the case Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, he prompted these institutions to justify their use of racial preferences in admissions with a rationale most had never considered and still do not believe - a desire to offer a better education to all students. (Wall Street Journal, June 28)

Law School Pays the Price in ‘Don’t Ask’ Rule Protest -- The Vermont Law School has been denied some federal research money because of its policy barring military recruiters. (New York Times, June 30)

Rise in Tornadoes, Floods Poses Risk to Colleges Insurance companies see danger from extreme weather (Chronicle of Higher Education. Week of July 4)

Higher-Education Bills Are Among Congress's Unfinished Business -- A raft of legislation that affects higher education awaits action in Congress as a holiday weekend and nominating conventions turn attention elsewhere. (Chronicle of Higher Education. June 30)

What Would Jesus Do (in College)? -- Some Christian and Catholic colleges want to identify themselves as explicitly progressive, on their own terms -- and to make clear that the religious right in higher ed doesn't speak for them.  (Inside Higher Ed, June 30)

Liberal Arts Undervalued by Education Department, Official Says After Quitting -- The Education Department is controlled by advisers who have insufficient regard for the liberal arts and instead are intent on judging colleges largely by their ability to provide economically measurable talent for industry, a recently departed top official said an assistant secretary for postsecondary education. (Chronicle of Higher Education, June 27)

POINT OF VIEW Colleges Should Go Beyond the Rhetoric of Accountability -- Richard Vedder of the Spellings Commission, says: "Providing more information would subject colleges to competitive pressures and lead to better allocations of resources. Transparency can help colleges, too, by raising public confidence and dissipating unfounded rumors about financial or other improprieties." (Chronicle of Higher Education, June 27)

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College Administration

'Bakke' Set a New Path to Diversity for Colleges 30 years after the ruling, academe still grapples with race in admissions (Chronicle of Higher Education, June 20)

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Curriculum & Instruction

Former state science director sues over intelligent design e-mail -- A former state science curriculum director filed suit against the Texas Education Agency and the education commissioner, alleging she was illegally fired for forwarding an e-mail about a lecture that was critical of the teaching of intelligent design in science classes. (Dallas Morning News, July 2)

State frees teachers to criticize evolution -- Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal signed into law the Louisiana Science Education Act, which allows school districts to permit teachers to present evidence, analysis and critique of evolution and other prevalent scientific theories in public school classrooms. (WorldNet Daily, June 28)

Teacher-Prep Programs' Fuzzy Math (Chronicle of Higher Education, June 26)

Career Programs Stress College, Too, and Give Students a Leg Up, Study Says -- Forget the old-fashioned “vocational ed” classes that sent students on a decidedly noncollege track. Over the last quarter-century, a new kind of high school program known as a career academy has proliferated, especially in low-income districts, that combines job placement, college preparation and classes beyond the vocational trades, from accounting to health care. (New York Times, June 26)

Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts -- While some German programs fight for survival, professors at Duke and Chapel Hill celebrate merged graduate program that could be model for Ph.D. education in the humanities. (Inside Higher Ed, June 25)

Philadelphia Set to Honor Darwin and Evolution In the long-running culture war between evolution and creationism, Philadelphia is firing the latest shot. (The New York Times, June 23)

Philanthropist Giving Millions to Two Schools of Journalism -- Leonard Tow is pledging $5 million to Columbia University and the City University of New York to examine how the troubled newspaper business can succeed online. (The New York Times, June 23)

EDITORIAL Louisiana’s Latest Assault on Darwin (The New York Times, June 21)

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Academic Freedom

New Haven Censured; 2 Colleges Have Sanction Lifted -- AAUP also weighs in on campus guns (con), teaching evolution (pro), and loyalty oaths (con), and tables measure to criticize Israel. (inside Higher Ed, June 16)

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Faculty

The ’60s Begin to Fade as Liberal Professors Retire -- Hired during an expansion in higher education, baby boomers are being replaced by a new generation. (New York Times, July 3)

New on Data on Demand: [Milwaukee Area Technical College] faculty boost pay by picking up extra courses (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July 2)

Universities cutting back on tenure for teachers Faculty: Students pay price for cost savings (Arizona Central, June 29)

Numbers to Help Tell the Story -- Research and data has been consistently collected on how many full-time vs. part-time faculty teach in our colleges and universities. More recently, the area of academic staffing in our colleges and universities has become a more active and diverse area for research, particularly with regard to the correlation between faculty working conditions and student learning conditions. (AFT's FACE blog, Faculty & College Excellence)

Syracuse Adjuncts Hit Their Stride -- Health and leave benefits, professional development support, seniority, binding arbitration, a boost in pay: these are the high notes of the first contract part-time/adjunct faculty at Syracuse University ratified by a six-to-one margin in a vote counted June 23. (AFT's FACE blog, Faculty & College Excellence)

Gas Prices Afford Adjuncts Tough Choices -- The cost of gasoline has made the art of juggling two or more teaching jobs at different institutions all the more difficult for many adjunct faculty members, as extreme price increases at the pumps cut into salaries that often don't cover living expenses to begin with. (Chronicle of Higher Education, July 1)

Subject Experts Need Not Apply Recent job postings and hires suggest that many academic libraries are losing interest in hiring humanities Ph.D.'s (Chronicle of Higher Education, July 1)

Stanley Fish to Profs: Stick to teaching -- Should we be worried about politics creeping into the classroom? Professor and columnist Stanley Fish enters the fray with a new book. (Inside Higher Ed, Junly 1)

Houston Affiliate Secures $250 in Gas Money for School Workers -- The AFT local representing school support workers in Houston is leading the country in obtaining relief from spiking gas prices. Houston's school board approved a plan to give employees who make less than $30,000 a year a one-time stipend of $250 to help pay for gas. The relief will cost $2.85 million and cover 10,000 of the district's 30,000 employees. The lowest salary for teachers in Houston is $42,000, so they won't be eligible for the bonus. (AFT Leadernet, July 2)

Spying on Faculty and Staff Computer Use -- Some pornographic downloads by North Carolina Central University staff members have prompted the university to install monitoring software on faculty and staff members’ computers. It’s also prompted concern from the university professors that the institution is going to be spying upon them. (Chronicle of Higher Education, June 26)

Study: Teachers not being taught math properly -- For kids to do better in math, their teachers might have to go back to school. Elementary-school teachers are poorly prepared by education schools to teach math, finds a study by the National Council on Teacher Quality. AP, June 26)

The Disadvantages of an Elite Education Our best universities have forgotten that the reason they exist is to make minds, not careers (The American Scholar, Summer 2008)

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Students

3 New Studies Question the Value of Remedial College Courses (Chronicle of Higher Education, July 1)

America Needs 'Call to Service,' Says Obama -- In a speech today at the University of Colorado, Sen. Barack Obama touted his plans to increase opportunities for national service, saying that the Fourth of July offered an occasion to look beyond the “bustle and busyness” of everyday concerns. (Chronicle of Higher Education, July 4)

Hard Times for Student Borrowers— "What good are well-educated kids who, right out of the cradle, have major financial obligations before most own a house, a car or know where the nearest grocery store is?" (In These Times, June 30)

Club Ed: This University Is at Your Service -- Lots of colleges treat students like customers. But how many have an ice-cream truck? And valet parking? And a concierge desk? And an enormous hot tub in the middle of the campus? (Chronicle of Higher Education, July 4)

To Avoid High Price of Textbooks, Students Turn to Renting (Chronicle of Higher Education, June 30)

A Better Measure Than the SAT -- The College Board amended its policy on reporting SAT scores this month in an effort to ease stress on student test takers. (Washington Post, June 29)

Might Obama's success undercut affirmative action? -- Barack Obama's political success might claim an unintended victim: affirmative action, a much-debated policy he supports. (AP, June 29)

Poll: Half say schools aren't preparing kids -- It's not much of a report card. Half of Americans say U.S. schools are doing only a fair to poor job preparing kids for college and the work force. Even more feel that way about the skills kids need to survive as adults. (USA Today, June 28)

Poll: Math, Yes; Standardized Tests, Maybe Poll: Schools Place Too Much Emphasis On Wrong Subjects, Don't Prepare Kids For Work And Life (CBS News, June 27)

Supreme Court Decision Shoots Down a Gun Ban and Raises Questions for College Campuses -- The Supreme Court's landmark ruling overturning the city of Washington's ban on the individual possession of handguns could have broad implications for colleges and universities that bar students from having guns on campus. (Chronicle of Higher Education, June 27)

[Mass. Gov. Deval] Patrick: Time to play catch-up Governor addresses education gaps -- The hope of closing two educational achievement gaps — a historic one that has left lower-income and minority students behind, and an emerging one that has American students falling behind those of many other countries — are at the center of the governor’s education reform proposals unveiled yesterday. (Worcester [MA] Telegram, June 26)

University status doesn't diminish quality of teaching -- America has a very diverse system of higher education. Students can choose from among community colleges, liberal arts colleges or universities. Those classifications include a rich mosaic of opportunities rooted in a history of change. (Baltimore Sun, June 26)

Spending Bill for Student Aid and NIH Hits Partisan Roadblock in House (Chronicle of Higher Education, June 26)

Career Programs Stress College, Too, and Give Students a Leg Up, Study Says -- An evaluation of nine career academies has found that eight years after graduation, participants had significantly higher employment and earnings than similar students in a control group. (New York Times, June 26)

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The labor movement

Wal-Mart Loses Lawsuit Over Work Breaks Minnesota Judge Rules Superstore Forced Employees To Work Off The Clock (CBS News, July 1)

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney on Sen. John McCain’s Trip to Colombia and Mexico -- Sen. John McCain’s trip to Colombia and Mexico is yet one more example of how out of touch he is with working families, and how close he is to corporate special interests. Working people have seen bad trade deals send their jobs overseas and decimate their communities, yet McCain enthusiastically supports the proposed U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement and celebrates the effects of NAFTA.

Nurses Win Ban on Mandatory Overtime in New York (AFT Leadernet, June 27)

AFL-CIO Votes to Endorse Senator Barack Obama for President Endorsement Triggers Largest Ever Mobilization of Working Families AFL-CIO Program to Reach Union Voters Nationwide, 13 Million in 24 Priority States

Why They (And You) Need A Union (Huffington Post)

NEA Higher Education Almanac -- Salaries, liberal education, bargaining, funding and much more. (National Education Association)

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Health care & pensions

EDITORIAL: Pension reform needed -- starting with legislators -- For another example of politicians being out of touch with taxpayers, we give you former state Sen. Carol Ronen, who was able to bolster her state pension by almost an additional $38,000 per year. SUAA blogger John Terwilliger comments: "To put this in perspective, 73 percent of all SURS Defined Benefit beneficiaries receive annual payments of less than $38,000 per year! (Bloomington Pantagraph, June 19)

Caregivers' Resources -- Find help providing care, government benefits, legal matters and end-of-life issues. (USA.gov)

Medicare Rights Center -- Ask Marci: (Medicare Rights Center)

Health Care and Elections -- This Kaiser Public Opinion Spotlight on Health Care and Elections examines recent public opinion data and historical trends to give insight into the potential role health care might play as an election issue.

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AFTnews

Professional Staff Congress and CUNY Reach Tentative Agreement -- More than nine months after the expiration of its previous contract, the Professional Staff Congress has reached a tentative agreement with the City University of New York. The agreement is "a principled, creative settlement," says PSC president and AFT vice president Barbara Bowen in a letter to members. (AFT Leadernet, June 25)

AFT Executive Council Recommends Endorsement of Barack Obama (AFT Leadernet, June 24; registration required)

Professional Staff Congress and CUNY Reach Tentative Agreement (AFT Leadernet, June 25; registration required)

Maybe He Can't -- Associate Professor of Cultural Studies and author Mark Bousquet blogs about AFT's Face Talk. (Chronicle of HIgher Education, June 23)

Teachers’ Union on Reform: Letter to the Editor from AFT President Ed McElroy: "Blaming “ineffective teachers” and union contracts may be ideologically satisfying, but at the end of the day it does little to solve the problems facing our schools. If our problems did lie here, states without collective bargaining should not lie at the bottom of the educational achievement scale, and charter schools should by now have produced some greater returns. Yet the lack of evidence does not stop the “reformists” from assailing unions, or any public servant who may agree with our solutions." (The New York Times, June 20)

AFT members speak out -- Why is Affirmative Action Important for higher education? Tell AFT what you think.

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Take Action

One Million Strong for the Employee Free Cgoice Act -- America's workers are putting in more hours than ever and still struggling to make ends meet. Meanwhile, corporate CEOs enjoy salaries 180 times higher than their average employees. (Free Choice)

Kick Bolthouse Farms Out Of Your Refrigerator -- Founder of Bolthouse Farms, which provides organic juices, lemonades, and smoothies to places like Whole Foods and other organic market places, has just recently given a donation of $100,000 to proponents of a campaign to strip California couples of the right to marry.  Take Action

Tell McMaster to Kick Killer Coke! -- Coke is guilty of labor and environmental abuses around the world, including complicity in the deaths of 10 SINALTRINAL members in Colombia alone. (United Students Against Sweatshops)

Join the Million-Member Mobilization Campaign The Employee Free Choice Act can help reclaim the American Dream by restoring workers' freedom to form unions and bargain for a better life. Our goal is to gather signatures in support of this bill-1 million voices calling for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. But 1 million people is a lot of people. We won't reach our goal without your help and the help of your friends and family. (AFL-CIO)

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