Higher Education Summit October 26 to Release Report

             The Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts (PHENOM) is hosting the 2^nd Higher Education Summit on October 26 at Framingham State College.  Speakers will include Senators Robert O’Leary and Stanley Rosenberg, members of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Higher Education, Michael Widmer, President of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, Clantha McCurdy from the Board of Higher Education, and Patricia Deoliveira from the Student Immigrant Movement.  Hundreds of students, faculty, staff, and alumni of Massachusetts universities and colleges are expected to attend.  A press conference will be held at 3:00 PM just outside the College Center Forum at Framingham State College.

PHENOM’s new study -- The Affordability Crisis in Massachusetts Public Higher Education  -- will be released at the Summit.  The study documents a pattern of steadily rising tuition and fees at public universities over the last decade, together with a decline in financial aid.  “Skyrocketing costs are making our state universities out of reach for middle-class families,” said Framingham State student Jake Oliveira.  “We expect the legislature and the Governor’s task forces to grapple with the data in PHENOM’s report and respond with policy solutions.”                   

            PHENOM was founded in February 2007 following the first Higher Education Summit, attended by Governor-Elect Patrick on December 1, 2006.  The group has been active and visible at the State House since then, mobilizing and advocating for affordable, accessible, democratic, and well-funded public higher education.  In April, PHENOM delivered to legislators 16,000 signed post cards from their constituents all across the state.  The group continues to lobby for specific legislation to improve higher education.  “Massachusetts funds higher education at far lower levels than Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont, or most other states,” said Professor Max Page from UMass Amherst.  “PHENOM is working with the legislature to make sure that trend is reversed.  Governor Patrick has called himself a champion of public higher education and we are holding him accountable – we expect to see positive changes this year.”

PHENOM is the single advocacy organization that unites all constituencies of the public higher education system. The Summit will bring together students, faculty, staff, and activists from the 29 public college campuses in Massachusetts.  Through workshops, caucuses, panel discussions, and a general assembly, the Summit will set PHENOM’s agenda for the year to come.  The Summit will run from 10 AM to 4 PM at the College Center Forum at Framingham State College and is open to the press and the public.  Directions are attached. 

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For more information, contact:

Max Page, Professor of Architecture and History, UMass Amherst, and President, Massachusetts Society of Professors, 413-219-7633, mpage@art.umass.edu

Jake Oliveira, Student Representative to the Board of Trustees at Framingham State College, and Chair of the Student Advisory Council to the Board of Higher Ed., 413-426-4321, jake.oliveira@gmail.com