History & Accomplishments

History of PHENOM

Formed during a period of growing excitement for education reform after the election of Deval Patrick as Governor, PHENOM began as a small grassroots effort at UMass Amherst during the early winter of 2006 .

Winter of 2006 – The Beginning of a Great Idea   

On December 1st, 2006, a coalition of students, faculty and staff, based primarily at the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus, hosted a Higher Education Summit. At the summit the coalition released a policy report entitled “Advancing Public Higher Education: A Roadmap for Gov. Patrick” to a crowd of 800 people, including Governor-Elect Deval Patrick. The Roadmap and the Summit sparked productive conversations about important issues facing public higher education, including the affordability and accessibility of public higher education and under staffing and under-funding.  There was a consensus at workshops that day that a statewide organization was needed to pursue these goals.

PHENOM is formed – February 2007

Well-received by the press, the Governor’s office and key legislators, the coalition reached out across the 29-campus system to broaden the movement. On February 1st, 2007, organizers from across the state met to formally launch a new advocacy coalition, and named that group the Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts, or PHENOM. A draft of the organization’s principles was created and discussed, and an interim structure was proposed that would carry PHENOM until the Fall of 2007.  This structure consisted of an Interim Steering Committee, a General Assembly, and individual campus councils.

First Legislative Action – February 2007

The newly-formed coalition of students, staff and faculty from around the state channeled the grassroots enthusiasm for public higher education reform into a combined Founding Convention and legislative action.
Originally scheduled for February 14th, 2007, snow forced a postponement to February 22.  That day, representatives from many of our public colleges and universities came to the State House for briefings on higher education from the Co-Chairs of the Joint Committee on Higher Education and the Governor’s education advisor, a training session, and the election of PHENOM’s Interim Steering Committee (see attached).  PHENOM advocates pushed lawmakers that day to prioritize higher education during the budget process and educated them about the pressing needs in the higher education system. This event also served as the kickoff for PHENOM’s spring campaign, and advocates began collecting thousands of signatures on behalf of PHENOM’s 5 principles.

Developing PHENOM’s Organization Capabilities – Spring 2007

During January and February, PHENOM members sought to build the organization’s capacity by hiring student interns interested in higher education reform. Creating opportunities for students to get involved in running PHENOM has been a focus of the organization since its inception, and interns have played an important role in each campaign .
During the Spring of 2007, PHENOM members also focused on securing initial funding to assure the long-term viability of the organization. Groups with funds available to contribute, including student governments and higher education unions, covered the costs of PHENOM’s first spring campaign and events.
The Interim Steering Committee, in consultation with many others, developed a list of legislative priorities.  They focused on capital infrastructure improvements, closing the ‘funding gap’ in the higher education system, a loan forgiveness program, increasing transparency and lowering costs of textbooks, health insurance for part-time faculty, and in-state tuition for all Massachusetts high school graduates .
PHENOM also sought to improve the visibility of the organization by creating and maintaining a website, www.phenomonline.org.

Second Legislative Action – April 2007

On April 22, 2007, PHENOM advocates again descended on the State House to introduce legislators to PHENOM’s agenda, and to advocate for higher education legislation.  During the event, over 15,000 signed postcards supporting PHENOM’s principles were delivered to the Governor’s Office and House and Senate members.  Each legislator received the postcards from his or her constituents.  The event was well-received in the press, and drew attendees from around the state.

Planning for a Second Campaign – Summer 2007

During the summer of 2007, the PHENOM board continued to meet regularly.  A small staff consisting of the state-wide coordinator and one student intern managed PHENOM activities and administrative matters, as well as working to maintain solid connections with state legislators to continue to educate them on pressing needs.  PHENOM members met individually with a majority of State Senators to discuss issues and strategy.  At the end of the summer, attention shifted to an important PHENOM benchmark: the second annual higher education summit, to be held in the fall of 2007.

Second Annual Higher Education Summit – October 2007

PHENOM began the new school year by hiring three new interns and holding several meetings of the organizing committee.  Preparations began in earnest for PHENOM’s higher education summit, held on October 26 at Framingham State College. Attendees had productive conversations in caucuses, workshops, panel discussions and plenary sessions about potential ways to increase revenue for public higher education; leadership in the organization; organizing and outreach in the higher education reform movement; accessibility and affordability; legislative goals and the Readiness Project.  Panelists included legislators, representatives from the Board of Higher Education, the Mass. Budget and Policy Center, and others.  During a general assembly, the organization decided on campaign priorities. The group decided to focus on the higher education Capital bond bill, which would invest two billion dollars into badly-needed physical infrastructure improvements to our campuses; increasing need-based financial aid, specifically through an increase in the MASSGrant program, and increasing funding from the state in the next year’s budget.
Sixteen campuses, as well as over 10 organizations, were represented at the event.  The night before, students from around the state decided to form a partner organization, Massachusetts Students Uniting, which has continued working closely with PHENOM.

Report on the Affordability Crisis – October 2007

The summit coincided with the release of a white paper on the affordability crisis in Massachusetts public higher education, authored by PHENOM members.  The report concludes that “the rapidly increasing cost of public higher education, combined with the decreasing availability of financial aid grants has led to: less education access for our residents; increased debt for our graduates; fewer people going into vital fields; the undermining of economic development. It is indeed a crisis of major proportions – but a solvable one.” Copies of the report were distributed on campuses and to organizations across the state, as well as to every legislator at the State House.  The report outlined concrete steps Massachusetts could take to solve the affordability crisis in public higher education, including free two-year community college, debt relief for student loans, especially for those entering public interest employment; increasing and restructuring financial aid program; promoting educational parity for all Massachusetts’ residents; and unbundling text books to reduce prices. Copies of the report are available at www.phenomonline.org.

Planning for an Ambitious Spring Campaign Season – Winter 2007-08

Immediately following the successful October summit, intensive planning for the spring campaign began.  Postcards outlining PHENOM’s legislative goals were printed, and copies were later distributed around the state. Meetings were held with state legislators, union leaders, and students groups about PHENOM and the upcoming Spring campaign.  Small events were held at campuses across the state, bringing together students, staff and faculty together to discuss public higher education reform and PHENOM.
In January, a new Executive Committee (see attached) was elected to lead the organization. The group, alongside the rest of the PHENOM membership, immediately began organizing two legislative events, and a series of public hearings on Affordability and Access that would capture the attention of lawmakers, the media, and communities around the state.

PHENOM Asks Legislators to Show Their Love for Higher Education – February 2008

Over 100 members of the higher education community arrived at the Statehouse February 14th, 2008 to kick off PHENOM’s spring campaign, and listen to union leaders, PHENOM leaders, and state officials.
Dubbed the ‘Fix it! Fund It! Afford it!’ campaign, it would ask the state legislature to support three higher education initiatives: increase revenues for our higher education institution in the FY09 budget; pass the Capital Bond Bill, a landmark legislative initiative proposed by Governor Deval Patrick to fix and improve the infrastructure of our college campuses; and restore funding to the MASSGrant, the state’s principle needs-based financial aid program, which has suffered from significant budget cuts in the last 10 years. Postcards advocating for these legislative measures were distributed to attendees to get signed and brought back in April.
The Valentine’s Day events concluded with visits to every legislative office to discuss PHENOM’s legislative priorities and to deliver Higher Ed-themed M&Ms. Attendees left the State House energized and eager to take the campaign and the post cards back to their campuses.

Affordability Hearings Conducted Around the State – March/April 2008

As part of the spring campaign, hearings on the affordability crisis in higher education were held around the state.  At each hearing, a distinguished panel of community leaders, college presidents, and legislators listened to testimony from community members, college and high students, and parents about the challenges they faced when paying for the cost of public higher education.  Local print, radio and television media covered the hearings, which were held at Springfield Technical Community College, Fitchburg State College, UMass Dartmouth, and UMass Boston.

New Vehicle for Change in the Public Higher Education: The PHENOMobile – Spring 2008

As part of PHENOM’s spring campaign and to increase awareness of the organization and its goals, members of PHENOM kicked off a tour of public higher education campuses across the state. To facilitate the tour process, and to insure that PHENOM members without access to a car had the opportunity to participate in state-wide events, PHENOM invested in the repair and painting of a donated van, named the PHENOMobile.  At each stop on the tour, PHENOM members emerged from the brightly-painted van, distributed postcards for the spring campaign and other materials, and encouraged people to join PHENOM at an April  rally on the Boston Commons in support of the legislative program.

 Thousands of Post Cards to the State House – April 2008

After an ambitious two months of organizing, over 150 higher education advocates from all across the state came to Boston April  16th 2008. The event began with a spirited rally, skit and march on the Boston Common, which highlighted the spring campaign, the importance of the MASSGrant program, in-state tuition for all Massachusetts residents, and the importance of public higher education in the community.  Thousands of PHENOM postcards, signed by constituents from around the Commonwealth in support of PHENOM three legislative priorities, were delivered to lawmakers, as participants visited offices around the State House to discuss higher education priorities.  Like many other PHENOM events, the rally appeared in media publications around the Commonwealth, and was featured on the front page of Boston.com.
As a direct result of the sustained organizing throughout the fall and spring, the House Chair of the Joint Committee on Higher Education introduced an amendment to increase funding of the MASSGrant program, which would restore funding for the program to the highest levels achieved in the mid-nineties.  The final budget from the Conference Committee on the Budget, signed by the Governor, included an additional $3 million dollars for the MASSGrant program.  This was widely seen as an unlikely victory in a bad budget year, and testimony to both the dire need and to PHENOM’s powerful organizing.  PHENOM has also continued to advocate for the higher education capital bond bill and increased revenues for public higher education institutions.  Legislative and organizing efforts are ongoing, as is preparation for PHENOM’s third higher education summit, to be held in the fall of 2008.

Fall 2008: Election and Financial Crisis

PHENOM mobilized students around the state to run voter registration drives and to fight against Question 1, the ballot referendum that would have eliminated the Massachusetts state income tax.  The message to students was that tuition and fees would skyrocket, class sizes would increase, and course offerings would decline.  Students did presentations in classes, knocked on doors in dorms, set up tables, held rallies, made phone calls and were published in their student newspapers.  It was a successful campaign in that it helped defeat Question 1 and brought more students in contact with PHENOM.
At the same time, the financial crisis hit, and the Governor imposed unilateral 9C cuts on many parts of state government, including higher education.  PHENOM disseminated a position paper arguing that tuition and fees should not be cut, that financial aid should be preserved, that layoffs should be avoided, that reserves should be tapped, and that some of the more expensive capital projects that may not be central to the teaching and research mission should be delayed.

Third Annual Higher Education Summit – November 2008

Approximately 100 people attended, representing 15 campuses and numerous community organizations.  Workshops included:

•     Need-based financial aid
•     Free K-14: how to get there
•     Programs to improve access to public higher education
•     The state budget and public higher education
•     Involving alumni in PHENOM
•     An introduction to PHENOM for newcomers

Panelists included students, two college presidents, policy experts, a representative of the Department of Higher Education, PHENOM activists, and a school superintendent.

The 20 minute PHENOM film was premiered, after which participants gathered for a plenary session to debate proposals and make decisions about PHENOM’s work.  Priorities for the year will include a campaign to increase need-based financial aid, a campaign to expand/coordinate existing access programs, work for passage of the Education Parity Act, research and advocate for a pilot program for free community college as a 1st step toward free K-14.  PHENOM will also participate in finding a progressive way to raise revenue in the state, and will support a public transportation campaign begun at North Shore Community College.

There was a tremendous amount of energy coming out of the Summit, and work groups around Financial Aid, Free Community College, and Access immediately began work to bring proposals to the December 3 PHENOM meeting, the largest planning meeting since the Founding Convention.

PHENOM’s Accomplishments 2008-09

Major Events

Mobilizations and Campaigns

 Publications and Media

Visibility and Outreach

Capacity Building

 Meetings to Make Connections and Build Alliances

 Work that has been started

The 2010 fiscal year was a very difficult year for public higher education funding in Massachusetts, but PHENOM still managed to have a successful year, being able to influence the final budget allocation from the state as well as in other areas of our work. Some of the year’s highlights included:

PHENOM organized a large conference on Expanding Access to Public Higher Education that brought together a diversity of constituents to explore barriers to access, pathways to overcome the barriers, and short-term steps we can take. Following the conference, we redoubled our efforts to win in-state tuition for immigrants.  Our close collaboration with the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Association  and the Student Immigrant Movement strengthened us, despite our lack of success and the rise of anti-immigrant fervor among cowardly politicians.

PHENOM helped establish a Public Higher Education Caucus in the Massachusetts House.  Its presence will prove significant, and the known fact that PHENOM made it happen has added to our reputation.  We look forward to working closely with the Caucus in publicizing the crisis and advocating for legislation to alleviate it. We have suggested the Caucus go on a fact-finding tour of our campuses this year.

PHENOM launched its most ambitious campaign – For a Great State of Mind.  The demand to just “be average” has helped shine a spotlight on the sad state of affairs in Massachusetts and has resonated in many quarters. We have collected thousands of signatures, involved many people in the process, and begun to get legislative support.

We helped stimulate and form a coalition to demand increased revenues generated in a progressive manner, and incorporated progressive tax policy into PHENOM’s program.  At last year’s Annual Meeting, members said loudly and clearly that PHENOM has to say more than “here’s the problem, fix it”; we have to fight for increased revenues.

We amended our complaint with the Obama administration about Massachusetts’ use of federal stimulus funds and got quite a bit of publicity and, more important, over $50 million quietly added to the higher education budget by the Patrick administration.   Once again, we were the only ones willing to step out and fight for what others quietly grumbled about.  Respect for PHENOM increased as a result.

The March 8 rally, march, and Race to the Median on the Boston Common energized the couple hundred participants and was heard throughout the State House.  As always, it was as important for the increased campus activism and widespread publicity as for the immediate impact on the Legislature.

There was much more.

PHENOM partnered with Campus Camp Wellstone to host our first statewide organizing and leadership training for student leaders from public campuses across the state.

We were very visible, speaking at teach-ins, presenting at conferences, meeting with many higher education officials, unions, and student groups, organizing call-in and lobby days, sponsoring receptions with authors, joining coalitions, and testifying to the Legislature.

We produced and distributed two excellent newsletters, launched a new and improved website, cleaned up and expanded our database, received good press coverage, published a student organizing guide, and set up call-in days to the Legislature.

We launched a program of academic credit for student organizers on a few campuses and hope to expand this program next year.

PHENOM is developing closer relationships with college presidents, student governments and campus unions.

We doubled the amount of money we raised by diversifying our funding sources, which allowed us to hire a half-time organizer based in Boston.

10 NEW THINGS PHENOM DID DURING 2010-2011

1.        Candidate Forums

- Hoped to do one for gubernatorial candidates, but

- Did for two legislative races.  This was a great opportunity to force politicians to address higher ed issues in depth.

- Winner of the 2^nd Franklin House race was very impressed with us and has been a strong supporter since – she co-hosted a PHENOM house party.

2.        New Forms of Education/Agitation

- Walk Across the State

- A lot of publicity for PHENOM and for public higher ed

-  Had events and talked with a lot of people on the way.

- A bit of fanaticism goes a long way.

- We were able to use the Walk to engage with quite a few legislators.

- Flash Teach-Ins

- Part of bigger coalitions:

- Rally and Teach-In to Defend Public Sector

- Fight against anti-immigrant amendments

- Citizens for Public Schools conference

3.        Filed our own legislation

- Finish Line idea came from PHENOM students

- Has gotten lots of interest

4.        House Parties

- Fund raisers

- Great discussions

- Comfortable, friendly environment

5.        Higher Ed Summit

- First time ever getting all the major advocates together.  Only PHENOM could pull this off.

- Unity was thin and did not result in serious coordination

6.        Creation of Public Higher Ed Caucus

- recognition of PHENOM’s role

- and presentations by Max and Nancy Folbre

7.        Pro-Active Interaction with Media

- Channel 22 hour roundtable

- Editorial Boards

- Radio show WMUA

8.        Revenue Campaign

- Big step for PHENOM – came in large part out of last annual meeting

- Brought lots of people to hearing; are seen as the campus wing of campaign

9.        Major role in BHE Student Leadership Conference

- How we met some of you

- Lindsay as keynote

- PHENOM helped shape agenda

- Our workshop

- Potential for next conference – SSA

10.      More connection on national level

- Campaign for Future of Higher Education

- NEA Conference

ALEX’S OVERVIEW FOR PHENOM BOARD MEETING   6-4-11

The good news: This year was probably rock bottom. The state has passed very austere budgets for the past few years and higher ed has seen deep funding cuts, the worst of which was this year, the proverbial cliff many have been talking about, when stimulus funds finally ran out. From here, we will finally be talking about funding increases again rather than cuts. Meaningful, if small, legislative victories will be relatively easy to achieve. This will also help our organizing, as energy will be high and we will have forward momentum to keep people motivated. In many ways it will resemble the situation when we started this four years ago. Except that four years ago we did not have PHENOM.

The bad news: The recovery is still questionable, if not short-lived. No one is talking about dramatic reinvestment, only slight increases, which we know from experience will be wiped out in the next economic downturn. There is an emerging consensus among policy elites that this is the new normal, that serious reinvestment will not happen, and that higher ed must explore other funding avenues, i.e. privatization. Most of the serious thought and energy among government and campus administrations is in this direction.

A new dawn of higher ed activism: Despite, or perhaps because of, this hostile consensus, activism around higher ed affordability and access is only growing and the issues involved are becoming more mainstream. We see this mostly outside the U.S., but significant actions have happened in this country as well. On a large scale, this has yet to hit Massachusetts, but that is mostly up to us. At the same time, the polls and the editorials all show that our issues are increasingly on everyone’s minds, whereas they were virtually ignored just a few years ago. Now that student loan debt has surpassed credit card debt, higher education access, and the issues of shrinking opportunity connected to it, will be among the most important fights of the coming decades.

What PHENOM must do: Use the next few relatively good years to really organize the campuses. Make alliances with every possible campus-based, community-based, statewide, and national organization remotely connected to our issues and founding principles. Focus on increasing the breadth, but especially depth, of our organizing to increase grassroots capacity. Meetings with policymakers should be viewed in the context of educating them on the issues, not influence or alliance-building, as we are clearly losing the privatization argument and only growing our grassroots power will have a meaningful impact; hence most of our political energies should be directed at our base on the campuses and on the public. We must also continue to shape the way the issues are presented by the media by continuing to have meetings with editorial boards and running letter-to-the-editor campaigns, as well as more aggressively getting our message out through interviews, editorials, and public events. The purpose of this strategy, and our organizing and coalition-building, should be to promote the cause and the issues, not the organization (though that will be a side-effect). As such, the more organizations we can incorporate into our events, campaigns, and strategies, the better. This will be a difficult effort that will take a lot of work, the re-engagement of many activists who’ve become discouraged or otherwise disengaged, and the recruitment and training of many new ones.