The Adjunct Advocate

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ARCHIVE: July 2008

July 29th 2008

Sometimes, You Gotta Play Hardball

Well, election day is drawing near, and my bid for a City Council seat on my small town of Ann Arbor, Michigan is drawing to a close. I am knocking on doors, and doing all of the things a good candidate should do, including my homework. It turns out, ironically, that one of the major issues in my City Ward (I live in the First Ward of Ann Arbor, Michigan) is the relationship between the city, our Ward and the University of Michigan. At my First Ward "Meet the Candidate" event last night, all the Ann Arbor City Council "stars" came out. There was the Mayor, John Hieftje, who teaches in the School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan as an adjunct when he's not busy with his duties as Mayor. There were four other City Council members in attendance, Council members whom our local newspaper has dubbed "the majority." They are a tight bunch, and one spent the entire time in the back of the room whispering like a school girl to, well, another school girl. My two sons who are 8 and 11 demonstrated better manners and decorum than Councilmember X and his politico gal pal. Then again, this guy does the same thing during City Council meetings while his colleagues are talking. If you had him in your English Comp class, you'd be sorely tempted to post something snappy about his behavior to RateYourStudents. Then again, why bother, right? You could just give him a C- and be done with him.

Back to Michigan: Lecturers are unionized at Michigan, you may remember. The dynamic and effective Bonnie Halloran, whom we profiled here, is a part-time lecturer on the University of Michigan's Dearborn campus, leads the 1,200 member LEO local, which is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers. This is where life gets totally mixed up and strange. At the candidate event yesterday, I asked the close to 50 people who'd come if anyone taught at the University of Michigan, and the Mayor of Ann Arbor raised his hand. It's very likely that only two people in the room knew the full meaning of his relationship to the University, he and I. Michigan's lecturers' union has established salary and per course minima for lecturers on Michigan's three campuses. Needless to say, our Mayor is earning far and above that minimum. It happens all the time at unionized institutions. It just usually doesn't impact me personally in such a roundabout way.

There are many people in Ann Arbor, including elected officials, who are under the impression that the University of Michigan is not obligated to respect Ann Arbor's ordinances, including zoning ordinances. My opponent said it, in fact. However, nothing could be further from the truth. I pointed out that in Michigan the law hasn't been tested yet that would grant the University this blanket exemption. Then, I pointed out that in Santa Cruz, the City Council there had gotten a ballot initiative passed that allowed the city to withhold water and sewer services to University of California-Santa Cruz buildings constructed which did not adhere to Santa Cruz's Master Plan for the city. In Berkeley, California, the City Council has sued the University of California at Berkeley several times to force officials there to respond to citizen concerns about building projects. Handled properly, I believe the City's relationship with the University could be an excellent and respectful one. It's not now for an obvious reason or two.

Sometimes, people who have little or no experience working in higher education can get "dazzled" or intimidated by titles and rank. After 16 years of publishing the magazine, and working within higher education, of course, I look upon the titles and rank very differently. I know what it means that our Mayor is an adjunct with an undergraduate degree, and so does everyone whom he deals with at the University of Michigan. I can only imagine the reaction when, recently, he co-sponsored a "Resolution of Cooperation" between the University of Michigan and our City, and had it delivered to Michigan's president, Dr. Mary Sue Coleman. While those of you who've delivered resolutions and petitions to your university leaders are chuckling, have some sympathy and keep in mind that this is a politician up for re-election.

Dr. Coleman is an upstanding citizen within higher education. She recognized her university's lecturer faculty union immediately, and didn't fight its formation. However, not surprisingly, the Mayor and the 10 City Council members who voted for the Resolution haven't heard right back from Dr. Mary Sue Coleman. She'll have someone get back to them with a nice thank you. Maybe there will be a committee. Perhaps the right Dean to whom Dr. Coleman may pass the text of the Resolution will even refer the matter to the institution's Committee on Governmental Relations. I think you get the picture.

Dr. Mary Sue Coleman plays serious hardball and why shouldn't she? She did during the negotiation of LEO's first contract. She has with the State of Michigan over extending benefits to the partners of same-sex employees. She is the first female president of the University of Michigan, and one of ten highest paid public university presidents in the United States. She is one of just a handful of women who lead at institutions the size of Michigan. Dr. Coleman didn't get there by cooperating by resolution, or bowing to supplicant petitions such as the one co-sponsored by Mr. Hieftje and our City Council. Mayor John Hieftje is one of her 1,200 adjunct faculty members. He serves at her pleasure, and enjoys a salary five times larger than that negotiated minimum paid to other adjuncts thanks to the Dean of the School of Public Policy who answers to the Provost who answers to Dr. Coleman. Dr. Coleman plays hardball, and anyone who deals with the University of Michigan in any capacity that requires negotiation knows this, except it appears, the Mayor and many of the City Council members of the city in which I live.

When our Mayor was elected for the first time in 2000, the University of Michigan student newspaper, the Michigan Daily, ran a piece about the big win. In it, there are is interesting quote: "He's [Hieftje] said for a long time now that there needs to be better cooperation between the University and the city, said Bill Hamson [sic], Hieftje's communications manager. For instance, he has said many times the University needs to build more student housing. I bet as mayor, if he champions that issue, it will be hard for the University not to listen."

Bill "Hamson," and his candidate were heady from stumping and their win over a Republican candidate (who, interestingly, now sits on City Council as a Democrat.) It is some eight years later, and it has, in fact, been very easy for officials in the University of Michigan's Housing Department to ignore John Hieftje. The last residence hall built was finished in 1968, and the one currently under construction wasn't begun at Hieftje's insistence by any means.

Meanwhile, Ann Arbor's homeowners are frenetic about immense private student housing developments throughout Ann Arbor's neighborhoods. This is a link to a story in the local newspaper concerning one of the proposed projects. Not only did the University of Michigan ignore John Hieftje, it has found a pro-development urbanist who is facilitating the construction of student housing all over the city, just not on the land owned by the University of Michigan. This is nothing new, of course. The only difference is that in other cities, leaders are not as patently intimidated and dazzled in dealing with their universities. Nor have those city leaders attempted to lead residents to believe that the local university is an 800 pound gorilla who can do whatever it likes. Read this piece about a student off-campus housing tussle over in Georgetown. Here's another story about some Hoosiers in South Bend doing the same thing. It's an issue not confined to towns within the United States, either. Check this piece out about residents in a Canadian town who are fighting a student housing project built in their town.

In the meantime, I hope I get elected and can actually convince these people that unless you come prepared to play hardball, you'll get hit out of the park every time when negotiating with the University of Michigan. It doesn't mean you have to; it means you have to be prepared to do it, and have the political will to follow through and to represent the interests of the citizens.

I'm telling you, the only scary thing about looking out and seeing members of our small town City Council "majority" in the audience of a gathering of 50 voters, is supposing they thought I might be dazzled. Like Dr. Coleman, I have learned to play hardball, because it's what it takes to get my job done in higher education.

In the meantime, wish me luck! The local Primary is August 5th. I'll let you know how it goes. If you like, check out my candidate web site.

Posted By Patricia L. at 9:55 AM

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July 15th 2008

The Candidate

On June 23rd, I was asked to run for City Council in the town where I live, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Needless to say, I have been busy. However, I have to tell you that this somewhat quixotic run for city office has been immense fun. It has also made me realize that the work I've been doing on Adjunct Advocate and on issues that impact part-time faculty have prepared me well for this opportunity.

Our incumbent Council member was forced to withdraw from the race, and local democratic officials, as well as other City Council members and neighbors asked if would like to take a stab at a write-in campaign. I had one day to decide. I spoke to my family, and thought carefully about the time commitment. I would have to spend a solid month working to pass out literature, meet some of the 1,500 voters who typically cast ballots in the August primary, and run a campaign in one month while the other candidate has had six months to prepare.

Fortunately, there have been people to help, including the incumbent, as well as people who have done this sort of thing before. When asked by a local newspaper reporter recently who was closed out of the process of running for city government, I replied that it was, of course, people who didn't have the money to do so, but also people who didn't have the expertise. One quick example, in my Ward there are over 400 absentee voters. First of all, I had no idea there were so many. Second of all, I had no idea that you could easily get a list of them from the City Clerk's office, and then send along a letter to them. Someone did this for me while I was in California on vacation.

Next, we have money. Well, I don't have a lot of money. I have never contributed a dollar to any candidate's political campaign. If campaign financing laws are changed in our country, I would consider donating, but as it stands now, individuals are solicited, but it's the corporate donors who end up with the access to the candidate. So, I decided to take money I'd earned from freelance writing to pay for campaign materials, such as postcards, signs, etc...Then, I announced that I would not fundraise, but rather live on a budget, just like everyone else in my part of the city.

I went away to California for vacation, and came back to several campaign donations. It seems not asking people for money is the best way to inspire their generosity.

I have spoken to, literally, hundreds of my neighbors, and I am having great fun doing it. If I am elected, I will get a $15,000 stipend for the part-time job, and have the chance to serve the people who live around me.

In the meantime, I am getting an opportunity to test out my theory that the political system actually does work.

Posted By Patricia L. at 12:45 PM

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July 1st 2008

California Dreamin'

For the past week, I have been on holiday with my family in California. Family from Italy is visiting, and we all decided to take a trip to California together. It has been exhausting, exciting, incredible and wonderful. We started in San Francisco, and drove down Highway 1, which borders the Pacific, until we got to Big Sur. Well, we almost got to Big Sur. There are currently out of control wildfires in the area. So, we drove down the coast as far as we could get, then turned around and stayed in Carmel. In the morning, the car was covered with fine ash.

Aside from the scenery, choosing food for the Italians (they loved the burger with green chilis, and onion rings in the small cafe in Pismo Beach, and have become Mexican food addicts) friendly people, and oceans views, while driving on the highways, we came across many of the colleges with which we do business. Either the college library subscribes to the Adjunct Advocate, or has purchased books from the Part-Time Press. It has been a terrific reminder just how far and wide our reach is across the United States.

It's an awesome responsibility to publish Adjunct Advocate, and one I take very seriously. To all of my California readers, I send out a hearty, "Thanks!" I have thoroughly enjoyed visiting your state, and seeing where you live, and the campuses of the colleges where you teach part-time.

Posted By Patricia L. at 8:00 AM