FIRST PRINCIPLES

WHEREAS, AFT members who work as academic faculty, professional staff and classified staff at our nation's colleges and universities care deeply about the availability, cost and quality of higher education, as do most Americans; and

Whereas, there is reason to take great pride in American higher education. America is home to the finest colleges and universities in the world, offering a variety of education and training programs at community colleges, four-year colleges and universities that is unique in human history; government at all levels has provided billions of dollars to help students pay for their education and launched millions of citizens on the road to success; and American university-based research is the world leader; and

Whereas, despite this record of accomplishment, the news is not all good. The basic right to an affordable education and academic opportunity is eroded daily by cuts in government support and rising tuition; campuses across the nation face the crisis of the vanishing professor and an overreliance on part-time and temporary faculty; far too many students are coming to college unprepared to handle college-level work and there is a real danger of shortchanging educational quality as colleges rush to offer video or computer-based college courses; and

Whereas, AFT firmly believes that the public deserves opportunity, quality and accountability from higher education and from college faculty; and

Whereas, at the recommendation of AFT's higher education program and policy council, the AFT executive council in July 1997 approved a statement of First Principles, which outlines the union's plan to achieve wider opportunity, high quality and true accountability in higher education:

RESOLVED, that AFT endorses the First Principles program and will work to promote these Principles both in the public arena and on college campuses around the country.