AFT Higher Education Professional Issues Conference 2024

Recognizing and Disrupting Antisemitism, Islamophobia and Bigotry on Campus
Exploration

Speaker/Facilitator: Amy Spitalnick, CEO, Jewish Council for Public Affairs

Since Oct. 7, we have seen an increase in antisemitism and Islamophobia on campus and in U.S. society at large. We have also seen the right wing use these incidents to further erode the public’s faith in higher education as a public good. Join Amy Spitalnick—CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs and former executive director of Integrity First for America, the civil rights nonprofit behind the federal lawsuit against the neo-Nazis, white supremacists and hate groups responsible for the violent 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va.—to learn about tools for recognizing and disrupting hate on campus.

Financial Analysis/Costing
Optimist A

Speakers/Facilitators: Sumner McRae, AFT research and strategic initiatives

Learn best practices for analyzing your public sector institution’s audited financial statements in order to understand its fiscal priorities and overall financial health. This information will serve as a useful guide as you conduct your own detailed institutional financial analyses and consider a path forward for contract negotiations.

Fighting Back Against State Legislative Threats
Illumination Room

Speakers/Facilitators: Maryanne Salm, AFT organization and field services; Sara Kilpatrick, executive director, Ohio Conference AAUP

Whether pursuing legislative victories or pushing back against attacks, leaders and activists have an important role in state government advocacy efforts. Using case studies and exploring legislative toolkits, this session will teach attendees the key elements of strong legislative programs, how to mount effective state legislative campaigns, and how to leverage those campaigns to engage members and build membership.

Faculty and Staff Rights in Program Elimination and Institutional Reorganization
Enlightenment

Speakers/Facilitators: Alissa Karl, vice president for academics, United University Professions; Bret Benjamin, chief negotiator and executive board member, United University Professions; Emily Ford, president, Portland State University-AAUP; Diana Vallera, president, Columbia College Faculty Union (CFAC)

We have seen an unprecedented number of program eliminations and institutional reorganizations during this academic year. Often these changes are forced upon faculty, staff and students without meaningful engagement. This workshop will focus on faculty and staff rights in program elimination and reorganization and will include examples of campaigns from campuses around the country.

AFT Higher Education Campaign Listening Session: Contingency
Opimist B

As the AFT rolls out a national higher education campaign, this listening session provides an opportunity to have your voice heard about how issues such as academic freedom and free speech, funding, and contingency are playing out on your campuses. This session will focus on contingency issues and provide members a chance to hear and learn from each other on ways to be successful in addressing these issues.

Internal Organizing in a Post-COVID, Post-Janus World
Optimist A

Speakers/Facilitators: Alissa Karl, vice president for academics, United University Professions; Danielle Judge-Freeman, regional membership organizer, United University Professions

Both Janus and COVID-19 have fundamentally changed the internal organizing landscape for our unions. While Janus has created a perpetual necessity to organize new members, COVID-19 created new modalities of work that demand different organizing approaches and strategies. Come and discuss resources, challenges and strategies for growing the membership of your local and bring back some concrete strategies to use.

Recognizing and Disrupting Antisemitism, Islamophobia and Bigotry on Campus
Exploration

Speakers/Facilitators: Amy Spitalnick, CEO, Jewish Council for Public Affairs

Since Oct. 7, we have seen an increase in antisemitism and Islamophobia on campus and in U.S. society at large. We have also seen the right wing use these incidents to further erode the public’s faith in higher education as a public good. Join Amy Spitalnick—CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs and former executive director of Integrity First for America, the civil rights nonprofit behind the federal lawsuit against the neo-Nazis, white supremacists and hate groups responsible for the violent 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va.—to learn about tools for recognizing and disrupting hate on campus.

Six-Month Review of the Affirmative Action Decision
Illumination

Speakers/Facilitators: Channing Cooper, deputy director, AFT legal; Risa Lieberwitz, AAUP general counsel

This workshop will look at the effects of the August 2023 Supreme Court decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions v. UNC and provide an overview of how this decision is affecting our members, our students and the communities we serve. We will look specifically at the effects of this decision on higher education as a public good and will focus on practical advice that leaders can take back to their campuses and states.

Academic Freedom and Campus Free Speech in Politically Charged Times
Enlightenment

Speakers/Facilitators: Katie Rodger, president, University Council-AFT; Nivedita Majumdar, delegate, Professional Staff Congress of CUNY-AFT/AAUP Delegate Assembly; Heather Steffen, assistant director, Faculty First Responders, and adjunct professor, Georgetown University

Academic freedom and campus free speech are the latest fronts in the campus culture wars. In recent months, we have seen an uptick in members facing workplace discipline for speech inside and outside the classroom. Join leaders from AFT/AAUP unions as they share how their unions have responded to this issue.

AFT Higher Education Campaign Listening Session: Funding
Optimist B

As the AFT rolls out a national higher education campaign, this listening session provides an opportunity to have your voice heard about how issues such as academic freedom and free speech, funding, and contingency are playing out on your campuses. This session will focus on issues related to funding and provide members a chance to hear and learn from each other on ways to be successful in addressing these issues.   

AFT Member Benefits for You and Your Local Union
Optimist A

Speakers/Facilitators: Mary Traeger Pascale, associate director, AFT Member Benefits

The AFT + Member Benefits programs add value to members in your local union. Whether it is free therapy in the aftermath of a traumatic incident or skilled guidance after ID theft, the AFT + benefits give you a reason to reach out and talk with your fellow members in a meaningful way. This workshop will give you concise information on the benefit programs, show you how to get additional information and spark ideas on how to use the benefits in your local.

Building Political Power in Your Local
Illumination

Speakers/Facilitators: Joseph Dennison, AFT political

The AFT is fighting to elect candidates who
are pro-worker and pro-public education, who stand up
for the right to organize, and who defend our democracy.
This workshop will introduce members and affiliates to the
AFT’s political program and share the knowledge and tools
necessary to build political power as a union. We will discuss
the AFT political department’s structure, and we’ll explain
the tools affiliates have access to, the partnerships within and
outside the labor movement, and the strategies and tactics
necessary to build a formidable political operation.

One Tier, One Faculty: Reimagining Solutions to Contingency and Academic Precarity
Enlightenment

Speakers/Facilitators: Geoff Johnson, Adjunct Representative, AFT 1931 (San Diego/Grossmont Cuyamaca); John Govsky, vice president, California Federation of Teachers

The over-reliance on and exploitation of adjunct faculty is widely acknowledged to be one of the biggest issues American higher education must confront. Although minor improvements to the working conditions of faculty have been made over time, this situation has remained essentially unchanged for decades. Moving beyond the failed strategy of simply continuing to call for more tenured positions, the California Federation of Teachers has been working on a plan to transition California community colleges into a onetier system for faculty. In this workshop, we will discuss our strategic planning process and offer practical approaches to these issues that members can take back to their locals.

Issue Campaigning
Optimist A

Speakers/Facilitators: Samaria Sullivan, AFT organization and field services; Lisa Laverty, AFT organization and field services

Unsafe conditions on campus, the lack of affordable housing, program cuts, and legislative proposals that ban teaching about race or gender are all problems that can serve as opportunities for unions to build issue campaigns that engage members and mobilize them for collective action. This workshop will explore how to bring workers together with issue campaigns that can win improvements at work and in the community, strengthen unions and build long-term power.

Bargaining Racial and Social Justice
Exploration

Speakers/Facilitators: Charles Toombs, president, California Faculty Association; Antonio Gallo, associate vice president, California Faculty Association

Join local leaders to learn how they have bargained real solutions to racial and social justice issues such as cultural taxation, gender pay equity and more.

Supporting Faculty Under Attack: Faculty First Responders
Illumination

Speakers/Facilitators: Isaac Kamola, founder and director, Faculty First Responders, and professor, Trinity College; Heather Steffen, assistant director, Faculty First Responders, and adjunct professor, Georgetown University

Faculty First Responders educates faculty and administrators about the causes and consequences of right-wing attacks on faculty, while providing resources and advice on how to effectively respond to targeted harassment. The AFT and Faculty First Responders have partnered to provide support to our members and our unions in these situations. Join Faculty First Responders’ Isaac Kamola and Heather Steffen to learn about resources available to faculty and administrations facing these attacks.

Negotiating Real Job Security for Faculty in Contingent Appointments
Enlightenment

Speakers/Facilitators: Mia McIver, president, California Federation of Teachers’ Universities Council; Patricia Navarra, Hofstra University AAUP-AFT Chapter

Addressing the instability and insecurity of teaching term to term is a top priority for our members and our unions. Hear about successful strategies and bargaining language for negotiating meaningful job security for faculty in contingent appointments and how you can carve a path forward for your own affiliate.

AFT Higher Education Campaign Listening Session: Academic Freedom/Free Speech

As the AFT rolls out a national higher education campaign, this listening session provides an opportunity to have your voice heard about how issues such as academic freedom and free speech, funding, and contingency are playing out on your campuses. This session focuses on academic freedom and free speech and provides members a chance to hear and learn from each other on ways to be successful in addressing these issues.