Letter to Students

February 22, 2010

Dear Students:

I write to inform you that on March 8 many (not all) of your professors at UIC will engage in a joint work action (a university-mandated furlough day), which in some cases will involve the cancellation of classes.  I have decided to support this effort and will not teach any regularly scheduled classes on that day. UIC has told faculty we must take one day off without pay for the next several months but has not said when it should be taken. We are choosing to take that day together.  Here is why.

We have all made education our life’s work and it breaks our hearts to cancel even one day of class.  But we do so for a larger purpose, which is to underscore the crisis faced by UIC and similar institutions throughout the state and nation. We want to underscore that quality accessible higher education for the young people of Illinois, today and in the future, has to be a top priority for our elected officials and others in positions of power.  Cuts in resources to education at all levels represent disinvestment in your individual and collective future. The University has taken some drastic and unprecedented steps in response to the budget crisis, including: layoffs and terminations for many campus workers, tuition increases, reductions in student services, mandatory unpaid furlough days off for teachers and staff, increases in minimum class sizes and more a limited range of course offerings.

One of the most visible ways that we, as faculty, can make our voices heard on this critically important issue to take action together. Therefore on Monday, March 8, some 300+ UIC faculty will cancel regular classes and take a joint furlough day.  Most of us will not be staying home, however.  We will, on our own time, engage in advocacy for our students and host alternative educational events for students, staff, faculty, alumni, campus workers and community members.  More specifically, we will send delegations to meet with media and elected officials to make our case about the value of public universities and their importance to the young people of Illinois.  We are also inviting the campus and larger community to a public forum entitled, Putting the ‘Public’ Back in Public Education: Broadening our Lens, Advocating for Change on March 8, 2:00 – 5:00 p.m. in Student Center East on 750 S. Halsted in Room 302.   Please come. Invite your parents, and any alumni that you know.  The forum will offer concrete information and analysis about the budget crisis here and elsewhere. We are pleased to have a special guest speaker, Professor Nelson Maldonado-Torres, from UC Berkeley, who will talk about the situation in California university system.

Finally, we understand this is not just about us, and empathize with other Illinois families and institutions that have been negatively affected by the State’s budget crisis.  We are, at the same time, urging our elected officials to take whatever steps necessary to pay its bills, ensure the continuation of essential services and activities.  We insist, with great passion and conviction, that education has to be one of the State’s top priorities.

Rest assured that you will not be penalized in any way for the class time that you miss.  The essential content from cancelled classes will be incorporated into other parts of the course.  You also will not be judged or graded on whether you participate in, or support, any of the activities on March 8.  For more information on what faculty and staff are doing around this issue, however, you can visit the Ad-hoc Public Education Committee website at: http://uicjointfurlough.wordpress.com/

Sincerely,

Your Professor