The Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts recognizes the painful cuts in many areas of Governor Patrick’s budget proposal and thanks the Governor for mostly holding the line on higher education after several years of catastrophic cuts. At the same time, we urge the state to make the real long term investments in public higher […]
This concise but comprehensive compilation is meant to be helpful to individuals and organizations advocating for improved state funding for our campuses. They are being distributed to all legislators, one at a time, during the 10 days leading up to the March 8, 2012 Lobby Day for Public Higher Education. Please disseminate them on your […]
By Nicole Ouimette Students for Affordable, Accessible and Valuable Education (SAVE) is a club at Holyoke Commu-nity College (HCC). It was formed in September 2011 out of a need for a more involved student body to address the overwhelming concerns of the inaccessibility and unaffordability of public higher education. SAVE addressed the national and statewide […]
An Interview with Hollywood Aman Student leaders from around the state have begun talking about forming a Statewide Student Association (SSA) of the sort found in many other states. Typically organized as a federation of student governments, the SSA allows students to pool resources to have more power as they work on common issues. Hollywood […]
by Alex Kulenovic, PHENOM Organizing Director These are very interesting and challenging times for public higher education, dominated by scarcity in funding and “solutions” that do not fit the problems. In Massachusetts, we’ve been hit by horrific cuts in the last two recessions. Since 2001 we have lost about 40% of our public funding. Cuts […]
by Ken Haar, Westfield State University What began in January 2011 as an attempt to get all the advocates of public higher education in the same room to support the FY 2012 higher education budget evolved into regular meetings with those same advocates working together to fight for public higher education on a number of […]
This newsletter has news of our growing coalition, interviews and commentary by a range of student activists, insightful analysis by PHENOM’s Organizing Director, photos of PHENOM in the streets, and more. Please write to us at massphenom@gmail.com if you would like copies to use in your organizing. […]
This article from the Springfield Republican summarizes the major trends at UMass Amherst, including funding, construction, student costs, a shift to a market mentality, and student debt.