EPRA Educational Policy Forum
EDUCATION POLITICS IN MASSACHUSETTS: HOW CAN FACULTY MAKE A DIFFERENCE?
A Discussion with Dr. Max Page, President of the Massachusetts Society of Professors and active leader of PHENOM.
The 500,000 people who make up the Massachusetts public higher education community are the sleeping giant of Massachusetts politics. By mobilizing a large and engaged grassroots network, PHENOM is waking up this sleeping giant so we can get the resources to create the public higher education system we and our children deserve. For the first time, all the constituencies in Massachusetts public higher education can speak with one powerful voice. PHENOM unites students, faculty, staff, alumni, and others from community and state colleges, the UMass campuses, and the broader community.
PHENOM was founded in February 2007 around five key principles:
1. Fund public higher education so it can serve the Commonwealth.
2. Make higher education affordable.
3. Make higher education accessible to all.
4. Hire more teachers, researchers, and staff.
5. Honor and expand democratic institutions of governance for public higher education.