Teach-In

Event Summary

Aside from very strong attendance from 11:00 to 2:00, and some

really great speakers, we also had reporters from five different

media outlets (two radio stations, two newspapers, and TV20) --

three of which spent hours at the teach-in. The Alligator will run

their story on Monday, and we had the local section headline in

the Sun today. Hopefully the Sun will post this article online

after the holiday because Jack Stripling's piece made us look good

and demonstrated a clear disconnect between what we saw on the

ground yesterday and what the administration is saying about the

plan (though he cut our attendance numbers almost in half).

Schedule(links go to speakers' lecture notes)

10:30 - 11:30 Speaking about Labor Perspectives: Deeb Kitchen and Todd Reynolds of GAU; Mark Piotrowski from the Labor Party

11:30 - 12:30 Speaking about Departmental Perspectives: Nora Alter, professor in department of German Slavic Studies; Angelique Nixon, graduate student in English and president of the Black Student Organization, presenting also a letter from the African-American Studies Program

12:30 - 1:00 Faculty and Administrative response: Danaya Wright, Faculty Senate Chair

1:00 - 1:30 Speaking about lack of transparency in the University Budget: Charlie Grapski, Political Science graduate student.

1:30 - 2:30 Where do we go from here?: Chris emphasized the university-wide nature of funding problems citing that music students are required to play in ticketed events rather than opening up the events to the public. In order to show the administration that the unhappiness with budget cuts and increasing tuition won't go away, Skeet brought up the idea of a walkout; we tentatively discussed holding a meeting Wednesday at 6:30pm to discuss future actions.

3:00 - 5:00 Screening of Declining by Degrees

Thanks to all the speakers and organizers that made this event a success!

In order to demonstrate the ideal of an education where administrative action is transparent and accessible, we will be organizing a Teach-In. Download a Teach In flyer to hang in your workspace or anywhere. Or download flyer for the film, Declining by Degrees.

1) Thursday (11/9) at 10:30am to 2:30pm at the Plaza of the Americas there will be a teach in/open conference. Distinguished guests speaking from a labor, academic, and administrative perspective will be present. At 3pm “Declining by Degrees“, a PBS documentary on the quality of higher education in America, will be screened at the Reitz Union Auditorium. 2) We will teach classes outdoors (called "teach-outs") beginning Monday in order to promote and create an atmosphere that builds up to the later event. To get press and attention for the event, those of us who are teaching can pledge to teach their classes outside. Your students probably won't mind -- in fact, many will appreciate it -- and it would help build momentum. This might involve some materials like signs and a list of desirable locations to take your students, but I really think flyers could help explain to the general student population why you are outside with your class. A small group/committee dedicated to spreading awareness about these actions might be helpful. 3) We will mention the teach-in and our new demands in letters to editors, try to get the Chronicle interested, begin media blitz, etc.

Look at the University of Michigan's Brochure and Organizing Model for an idea of what our teach-in might look like. For more information, contact Mike Vastola.

Below are faculty and grads who have pledged to hold class outside. Please add your names by editing this page and creating another row in the table, or just submit a comment with your Name, Department, Course you teach or area that you would be willing to speak about, and days/periods.