Higher Education Conference
This biannual conference for higher education members will cover various topics to help prepare activists and leaders for the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead as well as provide space for participant-led collaboration and problem-solving.
Higher Education Conference
Saturday, March 1, 2025 | 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Make plans to participate in the MTA's biannual conference for higher education members. The daylong program will include a panel discussion with higher ed leaders from around the country sharing strategies and successes around their fights for strong contracts; workshops on living wage campaigns, legislation, academic freedom, federal funding issues and professional development; and a book club meeting to discuss Lend and Rule: Fighting the Shadow Financialization of Public Universities. There will also be time during the day for planning, connecting and collaborating.
NEW! Scholars, activists, organizers, and practitioners are invited to submit poster presentations for the conference.
Location: DCU Center, 50 Foster Street, Worcester
learn more and register child care reimbursement
The conference is offered at no charge to MTA higher ed members.
Call for Papers/Posters
Call for Poster Presentations: Current Issues in Public Higher Education
The biennial MTA Higher Education Conference invites scholars, activists, organizers, and practitioners to submit poster presentations for our upcoming conference. We seek to highlight research/scholarship, case studies, best/innovative practices, and creative strategies that address pressing issues in public higher education and/or public higher ed unions.
Read & Discuss "Lend & Rule" at Higher Ed Conference
Book Club Selection is available for MTA members to download
Many of the critical decisions made about the way public colleges and universities operate – what types of courses are offered, how much financial aid is provided to students, the range of staff salaries and benefits – are not made on campus; they are made on Wall Street.
A new book “Lend & Rule: Fighting the Shadow Financialization of Public Universities” examines the deep and troubling influence that the finance industry holds over public higher education.
Three MTA members — Rich Levy, Joanna Gonsalves and Barbara Madeloni —are among the authors of “Lend & Rule,” which looks at examples around the country of the ways in which institutional debt has become a driving force of what happens in public higher education.
Before you go to the Higher Ed Conference, check out "Lend & Rule" on the Libby app. The book is available to MTA members as part of the MTA Reads program. Instructions are available here.