Panel of faculty to discuss campus-related issues
A panel of USC Aiken faculty will be discussing issues in the university that may be unclear or unknown to students. This event will be held on Wednesday Oct. 30 at 4 p.m in Penland room 106.
The event is a part of a statewide initiative that is sponsored by the South Carolina conference of the Association of American University Professors.
This specific group protects professors’ teaching and their research from “political interference,” according to Dr. David Bruzina, an English professor at USCA.
“When academics’ teaching and research can be influenced by politics, the free exploration, discovery, exchange of ideas in universities is compromised,” Bruzina wrote.
“…Students don’t get the quality education they deserve, and important research is undermined and censored.”
The last week in October is used to raise awareness for issues such as these.
Of the topics to be addressed, Bruzina wrote that “connections between money, education, the kinds of faculty the university employees, and the political dangers that can confront universities” are to be spoken about.
The goal of this panel is to “help students see their own experiences here at USCA in a larger context, as part of a bigger political and social struggle,” he stated.
For students unable to attend the event, Dr. Bruzina provided quick facts that are imperative for students to take into consideration:
State funding for universities in South Carolina is at an all-time low…That means universities, like USCA, are dependent on tuition and vulnerable to economic pressures. We have to do what will keep the university running, even if it’s not necessarily in the best interests of students, faculty, the citizens of South Carolina. Even though we’re dedicated to keeping tuition low and keeping a USCA education accessible to as many students as possible, to keep running we have to find money—if not by raising tuition then by doing whatever will bring money into the institution. That is a consequence of our state’s leaders continuing decision to underfund education.
Image by Noelle Kriegel
