The Academy under Siege: An Outline of Problems and Strategies

Abstract

This special issue of Sociological Perspectives has focused attention on a series of difficulties the academy has experienced in the 1990s. What can be done? Among other strategies, the faculty can form alliances with professional organizations, students, and the legislature. This article details the various ways these three groups can assist the faculty in addressing common problems of all four groups. The professional organizations can assist, for example, by helping publicize problems such as attacks on tenure and departmental eliminations, as well as issue official reports and provide legal aid when necessary; students can help by organizing voter registration campaigns to support legislators favorable to higher education, as well as indicate the students' public support for proper funding for higher education; and the legislature can help by passing laws strengthening higher education against the serious challenges well documented in these pages, as well as provide proper funding for higher education.

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