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IN THIS ISSUE

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• Susan Titus organized 900 part-timers at Wayne State. It was a dream come true. Getting a first contract may be a nightmare.
• Feeling isolated? Try blogging like these adjuncts did.
• Distance educators should check out these 11 programs that make online teaching go more smoothly.
• Dealing with student complaints is never easy. These tips may ease your pain.
• and more...

FEATURES

PROFILE
At Detroit's Wayne State University, part-time faculty member Susan Titus led the charge to organize Wayne State University's 900 part-time faculty, the last remaining group of non-unionized workers on the campus. For Titus, a two-decade veteran of social activism in and around Detroit, it was a life-long dream come true.

THE TRENDS
For many part-time faculty, connecting with colleagues presents a major challenge. Some adjuncts, however, rather than remain alone in their careers and isolated from others in their profession, have taken up blogging. Our writer finds out what Michael Rubenstein and Greg Zobel gain from their blogging, and what they offer to the many colleagues who read their daily posts.

INTERVIEW
According to the group’s web page, the Oregon Coalition of Contingent Academic Labor (Oregon COCAL) is “a group of contingent higher education faculty in Oregon that seek equity with their full-time faculty brothers and sisters in wage, benefits, working conditions, and job security.” Can four part-timers bring equity to thousands of their colleagues?

NEWS

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
It’s election season at AAUP, and the ballot for president is populated by two “contingents.”

GOING THE DISTANCE
Distance education faculty are living in interesting times. The right software can make life even more interesting. Writer Steven J. Pyser has an armful of programs for you to sample.

SHOPTALK
In Florida, tenured faculty threaten to leave the state, and legislators oppose tuition increases. Meanwhile, adjuncts continue to carry the teaching load.

DESK DRAWER

• Lectors and Lecturers Get a Voting Voice
• Boise State Looks to Improve Conditions for Part-time Teachers
• 366 Part-time Faculty at Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada Walk Off the Job
• Part-time Faculty Settle Pay Dispute
• What is the Plan for Academe in Israel?
• Part-time Concordia Faculty Threaten to Walk Off the Job
• OPSEU Fights for Part-time Employees at Durham College

ANALYSIS

PSUFA Celebrates 30 Years—and Teaches Us Some Lessons...
It has been 30 years since part-time faculty at Portland State University formed a faculty union affiliated with the AFT. What the group has gained (and what it hasn’t) over three decades should serve as a lesson to us all.

IN THE CLASSROOM

Six Tips for Handling Grade Complaints
Dealing with student complaints is never fun. Here are six tips to make it easier.

REVIEWS

Educating for Democracy: Preparing Undergraduates for Responsible Political Engagement
For administrators or department curriculum designers, Educating for Democracy offers a solid theoretical underpinning, but adjuncts looking for examples of lesson plans they can incorporate immediately, the book lacks specifics.

Inside Greek U.: Fraternities, Soroities, and the Pursuit of Pleasure, Power, and Prestige
In Inside Greek U. Alan D. DeSantis provides readers with a valuable guidebook to an often alien and confusing reality: the Greek system. Anyone who teaches at a college where fraternities and sororities are active should read it.

OPINION

IVORY TOWER

Here in the U.S., part-time faculty are now the 800 pound gorilla of 21st century higher education. What’s say we look north and get some inspiration from our unionist colleagues along the Loyalist Highway?

FIRST PERSON

Can adjunct activists step forward to lead their own movement toward equality? Perhaps, if union leaders stop throwing darts at them.