Talk to your Students – Teaching Toolkits

Talk to your students about the budget crisis at the University of Illinois.Here is how:

As you know, the Ad Hoc Committee for Public Education is planning a Joint Furlough Day on Monday, March 8, 2010. A variety of events are planned for that day: groups of faculty will be visiting their representatives; some will be participating in and attending the 2:00 p.m. “Putting the ‘Public’ Back in Public Higher Education” panel in room 302 SCE. Others may choose to continue with their scheduled classes.

We have designed these Teaching Toolkits to support all of the public actions being undertaken on March 8. We see these documents as resources for classroom discussions on the current budget situation, the broader crisis of public education, and the impact of diversity at UIC. We encourage faculty and instructors to use them in their classes at some point during the week of March 8^th, even if you do not plan to take a furlough day on Monday.

Access them here:

Teaching Toolkits, Final

Relevant Files (referenced in the Teaching Toolkits):

• The Bunsis Report, Jan 2010
  UIC Senate Response to Bunsis Report
  Bunsis Response to University Senate Response
• Lewin – College May Become Unaffordable for Most in US
• Fain – At Public Universities Less is More
• UIC Budget Data
• UIC – Centers for Diversity Review
• UI Budget FY 2010
• UI Budget FY 2009
• State Higher Education Finance FY09

Why Use Class Time Addressing the Budget Situation?

1. Current Events Discussions are Effective Teaching Tools. Research consistently shows that regardless of discipline, linking course content to current events increases student interest and makes coursework more relevant, thereby increasing retention.
2. It’s a Way to Educate Ourselves: While there are many discussions happening in the news, on listservs, and over email, it is hard to keep up with the all of them. Teaching others about the crisis is a way to get clarity about what’s happening for ourselves.
3. It’s Our Responsibility: Many students don’t have a full picture of the budget crisis. Others may want to know how the budget crisis will affect them and what they can do about it. It is part of our job as educators to bring our students’ attention to issues that will affect them.

Isn’t this “Political Organizing”? And Isn’t That a Violation of State Ethics Laws?

Teaching Toolkits are not designed to encourage or coerce students into action. Like any other course material, they do not require that students agree with the professor, but that they understand the general principles being communicated.  The Teaching Toolkits are designed to promote critical thinking and informed discussion of the budget situation while illustrating principles or concepts that are relevant in a wide variety of courses.

My Course Isn’t About “Social Issues”: How Will I Incorporate the Budget into Class?

We have developed  a number of options that can be used and adapted by disciplines across LAS. We also invite other faculty who may have already discussed these issues to contribute their own ideas and post them to this site.