Real Solutions for Higher Education

WHEREAS, our system of higher education—from community colleges and land grant institutions to research universities, from historically Black colleges and universities to other minority-serving institutions—is a public good that supports the future of society, by knowledge creation, economic prosperity of the communities and states it serves, strengthens civic and democratic institutions, and results in individual growth and prosperity; and

WHEREAS, there has been a huge assault on higher education, starting with its defunding which has increased the costs of college, including the long-term costs associated with student loan debt, creating barriers to accessing higher education and to completing programs of study; and

WHEREAS, even with the high cost to students and their families, the money flowing into higher education is not directed enough toward teaching, research and student support but rather toward a proliferation of executive positions and initiatives that prioritize generating revenue over education; and

WHEREAS, this focus on higher education as a commodity rather than as a public good has resulted in institutional closures, program discontinuance, the rampant casualization of the academic workforce, and faculty and staff layoffs; and

WHEREAS, the attack on knowledge creation and on universities and colleges as sites of free and open debate and protest are part of a larger effort to undermine our colleges and universities and to weaken the very institutions that prepare students to engage in a robust, vibrant, multicultural, pluralistic democracy; and

WHEREAS, these attacks show up as targeting faculty, staff and students with racist, misogynistic, homophobic, transphobic and ableist harassment for their academic work and public stands, often based on bad-faith accusations of academic misconduct or purposeful misrepresentations of their work; and

WHEREAS, these same extremist activists are fighting to limit students’ right to learn, circumventing the academic freedom and shared governance rights of faculty, and limiting the professional autonomy of academic staff by attempting to outlaw academic disciplines that center on the lives and experiences of marginalized communities, and by banning diversity, equity and inclusion programs that support academic and professional success; and

WHEREAS, more than 70 percent of the instructional workforce are faculty in contingent positions who lack protection for academic freedoms, workplace voice and professional autonomy and the job security that are foundational to high-quality research and education and who, because of employment status, are more vulnerable to violations of their academic freedom and repression of their free speech rights and more often face discipline and termination of employment for exercising these rights:

RESOLVED, that the AFT will reaffirm its commitment to combating these attacks on colleges and universities, and advancing real solutions that support and strengthen the public mission of all institutions of higher education; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT will continue its work to increase investment and public funding for higher education so that the cost of college is not a barrier to accessing higher education and a barrier to the mission of these universities and colleges, and to further ensure that resources are directed to instruction and support for students; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT will protect the right of students to learn and faculty to teach and research by vigorously defending academia from political interference and faculty from political harassment, and by advocating for programs and support staff that support academic opportunity and success for students from all backgrounds; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT will continue to fight for full-time college and university jobs with meaningful job security for all members of the higher education workforce, so that they have the economic security, professional autonomy and resources necessary to provide and support a high-quality higher education experience for all students; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT will continue to organize the higher education workforce both inside and outside of the collective bargaining context, and use the power of the union to help our affiliates defend knowledge creation and faculty and staff rights, achieve real solutions for sustainable higher education careers for all members of the higher education workforce, and to work with state legislatures and the federal government to secure the funding necessary for higher education to truly serve the public good.