We want to take one more look back at the 81^st AFT Convention in Seattle, WA to take stock of important higher education resolutions that passed the full convention.  We already reported that the convention took up a Special Order of Business denouncing the anti-union actions of the East-West University administration.  You can read the full resolution here.

In addition, three other higher education resolutions came to the floor and were approved.  The first resolution dealt with Advancing Student Success in Higher Education which you can read more about over at our sister site What Should Count?  The convention also gave its full support to the resolution to Promote AFT's Report on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Higher Education which is, in part, an effort to:

"encourage local higher education affiliates to engage in activities that promote the hiring and retention of faculty from underrepresented groups on their campuses [including] utilizing the AFT Faculty and College Excellence (FACE) campaign to promote better faculty jobs on campus through political advocacy and collective bargaining."

And last but not least, the convention unanimously supported the resolution on the Academic Staffing and the FACE Campaign: Maintaining Momentum.  This resolution sets forth the current conditions we face and then goes on to resolve that:

"the American Federation of Teachers recognize that strengthening investment in all aspects of academic staffing including improvements in salaries, benefits and job security for contingent faculty is more important than ever in a time when enrollments are growing and the importance of a college education is increasingly accepted."

This resolve is followed by a series of detailed actions AFT will pursue, and we hope FACE Talk readers will join us in these efforts.