Testimony Given at Government Hearing

Academe, Mar/Apr 2006 by Bradley, Gwendolyn

Galya Dinient, professor of Slavic languages and literatures at the University of Washington and a member of the AAUP's Committee on Government Relations, testified in February at a Seattle meeting of the Department of Education's Commission on the Future of Higher Education. The nineteen-member commission was established in September and has held hearings around the country to identify ways to increase access to higher education and to explore how well institutions are preparing their students for the workforce (see "Government to Set Goals for Higher Education" on pages 6-7 of the January-February issue).

Diment's testimony, which was given on behalf of the AAUP, emphasized the importance of increasing access to higher education, sustaining its quality, promoting diversity among students and faculty as well as among types of institutions, and supporting the openness of the academic community. Diment pointed out that access to higher education currently is being undermined by federal student-aid cuts. The Pell Grant maximum award, a critical benchmark, has not been raised in years, and the federal government recently proposed large cuts to student financial aid.

"Higher education is a public good, not a commercial enterprise," Diment remarked. "Its benefits accrue to both the individual and society at large, and the funding system should take that into account."

Diment also commented on faculty concerns about government intrusion into the academy, including the increased use by various departments of the federal government of restrictive regulations that hamper research. In 2005, both the Department of Commerce and the Department of Defense proposed regulations affecting the ability of international students and scholars to participate in university-based research in this country.

"As an immigrant to this country myself," Diment said, "I find these regulations offensive, since they restrict access for students and scholars who have already gone through individualized security screening by the departments of State and Homeland security. I would also remind the commissioners that such restrictions in the early twentieth century would have prevented such notable researchers as Enrico Fermi and Albert Einstein from participating in university-based research because of their status as immigrants from Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany."

The AAUP has also submitted written comments to the commission, whose members include corporate executives, former government officials, university presidents, and higher education leaders, including three faculty members. Both Diment's testimony and the Association's earlier letter to commissioners are available on the AAUP Web site at http://www.aaup.org/govrel/index.htm.

-G.B.