Events in Wisconsin and elsewhere have already had impact on the University of California. In this regard, the message in an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education is worth noting:
http://chronicle.com/article/Hands-Off-Higher-Ed-in-the/126511/
Proposals are being made in other states that include curtailing sabbaticals, or eliminating tenure. Fortunately, many of these issues are not on the table at UC in part because of the past efforts of CUCFA, AAUP and others to educate the legislature. However, as many of you are aware, there are aggressive moves to privatization of certain sectors of the University along with changes in research funding procedures (e.g. flow of overhead funds) that may have important and unintended consequences. Take a look at the article – some notable quotes from it are:
In this economic environment, measures to rein in the faculty are a reflection of lawmakers’ notion that higher education has not done its part to control its own spending or limit tuition increases, says Frederick M. Hess, a higher-education expert with the libertarian-leaning American Enterprise Institute.
Cary R. Nelson, president of the American Association of University Professors, believes higher education will see more legislative attacks on matters that colleges themselves should regulate, and questions whether lawmakers are right to micromanage campus policies: “Do we really need legislators deciding if Sally should get a sabbatical next year?”
But he put part of the blame on professors, saying faculty members have worked for too long in isolation and done a poor job of communicating how many hours they actually put in.