Recently in Higher Education Category

Source:By Pamela M. Prah, Stateline.org, June 26, 2007

……. States leery of tax increases increasingly are looking at raising revenue by selling assets — from Indiana’s lease of its turnpike last year to California’s proposal to sell control of its state lottery — but Missouri’s bitter battle could serve as a cautionary tale.

...... Sujit CanagaRetna, a tax and budget expert at the Council of State Governments, predicts that despite the prospect of political fights, governors will continue to push leasing and privatization plans because states need the money for new projects and don’t want to raise taxes. “It’s definitely a trend that’s here to stay,” he said.

Source: By Phillip Reese, Sacramento Bee (CA), Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Roughly 100 students and workers blocked access to UC Davis' main administration building most of Wednesday, demanding that the university ditch its food service contractor and employ their workers directly.

…… The protesters are asking Vanderhoef to cancel the university's contract with Sodexho, a private company that they contend pays low wages and provides insufficient benefits.

Source: Bo Hee Kim, California Aggie (CA), 5/1/07

Editor's note: Today, the UC Davis food-service workers will participate in planned civil disobedience on campus in an effort to raise awareness about their desire to be directly employed by the university instead of being subcontracted out to Sodexho, the company that provides UC Davis' food services. The California Aggie sat down with one of the food-service workers to discuss why she is participating in today's actions.

Source: By Robert Kuttner, Boston Globe, April 21, 2007

THE DEEPENING college loan scandal is a classic case of what can happen when government uses private companies as middlemen to carry out public goals. Lately, investigations by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, US Senator Edward Kennedy, and others have revealed a number of problems:

.........The private student loan industry adds nothing of value. The policy of subsidizing private lenders to serve public purposes (and to corrupt our colleges and universities) should be scrapped in favor of the direct federal loan program.

If this saga sounds familiar, it exactly parallels the privatized Medicare drug program and the efforts by the insurance industry to turn the rest of Medicare into a taxpayer subsidy for private industry. Though three decades of government-bashing have left many politicians reluctant to draw the obvious conclusion, it is often more efficient and less corrupting for government to do the public's business directly.

Source: Associated Press (IN), February 4, 2007

A private company will take over portions of the Indiana University campus' motor pool under a plan officials say allows all school employees to keep their jobs. IU President Adam Herbert said Friday the school will contract with Enterprise Rent-A-Car for the daily rental fleet that employees use for university-related travel.

……. IU union leaders and a group of community and faculty supporters met Friday with three members of IU's Board of Trustees, delivering petitions signed by 3,455 people opposed to the school's outsourcing plans. "I think they heard us, but I'm not sure it will change their opinion," said Dallas Murphy, president of Local 832 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents service and maintenance workers.

Source: by Brian Spegele, Indiana Daily Student (IN), Monday, January 29, 2007

Signs that read, "What would Herman Do?" abounded outside Assembly Hall on Saturday as union workers and their supporters rallied against outsourcing University services by invoking the name of former IU President Herman B Wells. About 50 protestors braved the cold and collected signatures for a petition calling on the IU board of trustees to "end all efforts to outsource IU jobs," according to the petition's text. Several trustees have said during the past few weeks that although nothing is certain yet, they believe contracting some University services could help cut nonacademic costs. Dave Warrick, executive director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 62, disagrees with the trustees' entire premise that contracting will save money.

Source: BY ETHAN ROUEN, New York DAILY NEWS, Nov 3, 2006

..... The Health Department shut down Vanderclute Hall on Oct. 27 because the school had been serving food without a permit since January......... The Maritime College, in the Throgs Neck neighborhood, scored 50 violation points during last week's inspection. ........ Besides evidence of roaches, "harborage or conditions conducive to vermin exist," the department's Web site stated. Food was not cooled properly, either. ...... The cafeteria, which is run by a contractor, Sodexho, reopened almost immediately in violation of the department's orders, and was again shut down Wednesday.

Source: by Dallas Frey, Indiana Daily Student, Thursday, October 19, 2006

Current staffers of two University services could be jobless or under new management as early as the 2007-2008 academic year. Last Friday, University administrators issued a request for proposals about the management of the IU motor pool, IU Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer Terry Clapacs said. The request invites companies to make a bid to run the service. Many IU employees still oppose the idea of outsourcing. ….. Dallas Murphy, an IU employee of 27 years and president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Local 832, said the threat of additional outsourcing is clearly growing. "Our rank and file are very concerned," Murphy said.

Source: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (WA), Friday, July 7, 2006 · Last updated 12:00 p.m. PT

SPOKANE, Wash. -- The Community Colleges of Spokane engaged in unfair labor practices by hiring private workers for some jobs and making it difficult for union members to get information needed for negotiations, a state labor panel has found.

On June 30, the Public Employment Relations Commission ordered the colleges to stop subcontracting out several jobs and to stop "obstructing" union requests for information. "I think it's a strong statement that the state at all levels needs to negotiate about contracting out" labor, said Tim Welch, director of public affairs for the Washington Federation of State Employees.

Source: By Ed Enoch, Hattiesburg American (MS), June 7, 2006

Aramark hopes to begin operations at the University of Southern Mississippi's physical plant on July 1, and meetings are scheduled this month to help ease the transition.

...... Plant employees met with Aramark representatives on campus Monday to learn how their jobs and benefits would change with the proposed outsourcing. Some employees were unhappy with what they heard, especially about retirement plans.

"The security blanket we've got with the state is being taken away," carpenter Keith Mitchell said "We're very disgusted with it." Mitchell, 49, said he has concerns about losing a state retirement plan, which would be replaced by a proposed 401(k) plan. He said he feared the 401(k) is less stable than the pension.