Grad students oppose potential University of Minnesota and Teach for America partnership

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As the University of Minnesota considers a partnership with Teach for America, a group of graduate students from the University’s College of Education and Human Development wrote a No TFA at the U statement. Asking for signatures from their fellow students and the general public, the students posted their statement June 25 on a newly-created blog of the same name.Erin Dyke, one of the eleven graduate students who wrote the statement, sees the University’s proposed partnership with TFA as a “major compromise of the mission and values” of the University’s College of Education and its teacher prep programs. She contrasted the five-week summer training TFA recruits get before becoming classroom teachers with the University’s one year student teacher residency program for their traditional students, and feels that TFA is part of “decimating” job opportunities for traditionally licensed teachers who graduate from programs like the University’s.By June 30, more than 150 students, teachers, and alumni from the University, the Twin Cities, and national education circles have signed the No TFA at the U statement (below). The full page statement ends by calling on the University to overlook any “short-term” financial gains a partnership with TFA could bring, and instead asks the University to say no to what the group calls the “opportunistic, trendy, and short-sighted education ‘reform’” efforts of TFA. Collective Statement Opposing TFA PartnershipWe are writing to collectively voice our concern and opposition to the proposed partnership between the University of Minnesota and Teach for America (TFA). We are surprised that the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) would consider partnering with TFA, given the lack of support on the part of Curriculum and Instruction faculty and many others in CEHD, its decreasing support from the State Board of Education (who denied providing the organization its 45 temporary teaching licenses), and the numerous teacher education scholars whodenounce TFA. With the lack of evidence that TFA actually improves the lives or learning environments of students most vulnerable to exploitation (e.g., urban children/youth of color/poverty), we can only guess that this partnership is primarily one of business.We believe that this partnership offers unearned legitimacy to a significantly flawed and powerful force in education, one which sends underprepared teachers into communities of students already often marginalized by the education system. Continue Reading

University of Minnesota students push for more sustainable, transparent food purchases from University Dining Services

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Students have pushed for more sustainable food and purchasing transparency at the University of Minnesota for two years. Conversations have increased, but some still aren’t satisfied.The student group U Students Like Good Food has increasingly worked with University Dining Services to bring more sustainable foods on campus in the last year, but the group is still hoping to implement the Real Food Challenge calculator.The RFC calculator would track UDS food purchasing and make the information available to the public.“There’s a huge interest in changing the food on our campus,” said Laura Dorle, president of the group and an environmental sciences, policy and management senior.UDS has been working with the student group more frequently in the last year, and they’re hoping to move forward with the food calculator this summer, Dorle said.UDS officials were unavailable for comment.In 2012, UDS purchased about 176,000 pounds of local produce, 26,000 pounds of local meat and 1.2 million pounds of local dairy products, according to their website. However, the website did not give an exact definition for “local.”Jason Hill, bioproducts and biosystems engineering assistant professor, said “local foods may be good in some ways and bad in others,” because it could be preferable to buy food from a sustainable company far away than from a large, local corporation.The University’s Andrew Boss Laboratory of Meat Science has maintained a “fairly regular order” with UDS, said Ryan Cox, assistant professor of meat science and faculty coordinator for the meat lab.UDS hasn’t purchased quite as regularly from Cornercopia, the University’s student organic farm.Last year, UDS purchased $50 worth of food from Cornercopia. The year before, it spent about $1,000. The student farm is trying to establish a better relationship with UDS, said Courtney Tchida, Cornercopia’s farm manager.Cornercopia and UDS planted about 80 pounds of potatoes last month, which Tchida said will go to dining centers in the fall.Executive Chef Thomas Boemer of Corner Table, a Minneapolis farm-to-food restaurant, said there are a lot of opportunities for the University to incorporate local foods.“You have to take small steps to head in the right direction,” Boemer said. Continue Reading

University of Minnesota student becomes seventh Black to serve on Board of Regents — The first, Josie Johnson, urges continuing the fight for diversity

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The 12-member University of Minnesota Board of Regents is the school’s governing body. Its members are elected by the Minnesota Legislature and serve without pay. Eight members represent the state’s eight congressional districts, and four members, including a current U of M student representative, are elected at large. Their six-year terms are staggered so that only four positions are available for appointment every two years.

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University of Minnesota looks to help City of Minneapolis fund 8th St. reconstruction

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The University of Minnesota is in talks with Minneapolis officials to reconstruct Eighth Street Southeast — with the University covering part of the cost.University officials decided to begin the project after the school’s baseball team began playing at the newly reconstructed Siebert Field off Eighth Street this spring. Officials don’t yet have an estimate for the project’s cost.Parking and Transportation Services would fund the project, said Sandy Cullen, University transportation systems design manager.If the Minneapolis City Council approves the redevelopment, it won’t be the first time the University has paid for city reconstruction. Last year, the University spent more than $550,000 to help redo sections of Talmage and Riverside avenues near University property.Right now, Cullen said, the University is working with the city to start designing the new road, which the city has to sign off on before the two parties can decide how much the University will spend.“We hope to have [the design] set this year,” she said.At this stage, it’s still unclear exactly how far along Eighth Street the new construction would go, said Bob Carlson, engineer for the city’s public works department. But he said it will definitely stretch past the three housing complexes on the north side of the street.The street may be closed a few times, like when new asphalt needs time to cool.Potholes line Eighth Street SE near Siebert Field. (Photo by Alexander Breyfogle)“We would try to keep access open for the majority of the time,” Carlson said. Continue Reading