Taking a Stand

I guess I let January slip by without any updates! My apologies to anyone who has been eagerly awaiting some news. As you can imagine, the last 4.5 weeks have been busy as I settle into a routine for the new semester. I'm teaching 3 different classes, and it feels like at any given moment, I'm on top of my prep/grading for at least one, and behind on prep/grading for at least one. I keep thinking, "by next week, surely I'll have it all under control!" Overall, though, my teaching is going well this semester.

In contrast, as some of you know, this semester has been a turbulent one at BGSU in terms of faculty-administration relations. Not long after I started teaching here, the faculty voted in favor of collective bargaining, and since then, the union has been trying to negotiate a contract. In the meantime, on January 18, the administration announced a plan to cut 100 full-time faculty jobs. As you can imagine, this has stirred things up. Today, the union organized a march to deliver a petition signed by over 5,200 people asking that these cuts not be made. I won't get into more details here, but if you're interested, here is some coverage of today's event:

http://vimeo.com/59099631
http://www.toledonewsnow.com/story/21014021/bgsu-faculty-protest-job-cuts
http://www.bgnews.com/gallery/news/march-on-mcfall/collection_58457e6e-708a-11e2-bd56-001a4bcf887a.html

We've been told that the cuts will come from retirements, attrition, and the expiration of one-year contracts. I've never been much of a protester or petition-signer, but I have to admit that the administration's plan seems seriously flawed, and I was glad to participate in today's event. I'm very interested to see if this protest and media coverage will have any impact on how/if the cuts are implemented.