Tag: town hall

#AFTvotes Town Hall with Senator Elizabeth Warren, 5/13

May 24, 2019

Yesterday, 15 TAUP members attended a town hall with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, candidate for the Democratic nomination for the presidency. Prior to the meeting, Steve Newman and Jennie Shanker, TAUP’s president and vice president, were able to meet with her briefly. She thanked TAUP for its work, and we thanked her for her strong support for labor unions and education, including her plans for free college and releasing students from the crushing burden of student debt.

Prior to the meeting, Steve Newman and Jennie Shanker, TAUP’s president and vice president, were able to meet with her briefly.

AFT President Randi Weingarten introduces TAUP President Steve Newman and Vice President Jennie Shanker to Senator Elizabeth Warren

During the town hall, she talked about how she would pay for her proposals and her commitment to appointing a public school teacher as Secretary of Education, a welcome change from Betty DeVos, the current head of the Department of Education. During the Q and A, Olena Mishchuk, a TAUP member and an adjunct in biology, asked Sen. Warren questions about her approach the Supreme Court as well as U.S. policy toward Ukraine.

This town hall was the fifth that AFT has held with those seeking the Democratic nomination for President, and it is part of of #AFTvotes 2020.You can view other town halls on the AFT Facebook page (@AFTunion), and for more information on our national union’s approach to the upcoming Presidential election, visit the website.

TAUP Student Debt Clinics: Become a Facilitator or Attendee

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Imagine being faced with the option of living without a college degree, or living for years with high levels of student debt.

Students and alumni struggle constantly with the debt they have acquired as they pursue their educations. This debt has a profound and lasting negative impact on their lives. Student debt–now at $1.5 trillion–also has a long-term negative effect on the economy as a whole, discouraging borrowers from making substantial purchases and starting businesses.

For our students, it increases their stress while in school, forcing them to make decisions about what classes to take, what major to pursue, what apartment to rent and what food to buy.  For many, it suppresses access to a college education and affects retention. Too many students are pressured to drop out of school, or never to attend in the first place. It has had a significant influence on universities–including Temple–as a place to study and as a place to work.

TAUP will be offering student debt clinics this semester for students, faculty, staff, alums, and members of the local community.

Learn How to Run a Student Debt Clinic: January 12th and 13th

January 12th, 10:30am-6pm and the 13th 9am-4pm

Paley Library Lecture Hall

Anyone who is interested in working on this issue and helping people with debt is welcome to attend a two-day training. After completing this training, you will be able to co-facilitate a TAUP student debt workshop. See the link below to register.

Attend a Student Debt Clinic

Saturday from 4:30 – 6pm

Paley Library Lecture Hall

If you don’t have an interest in facilitating future clinics but have debt and would like to learn about the options available to you, a Student Debt Clinic will be incorporated into the facilitators’ training, occurring on See the link below to register.

To Register for the Training or the Clinic

If you are interested in either option, click on this link. In response to the questions, if you are in the TAUP collective bargaining unit, your affiliate is the Temple Association of University Professionals, Local #4531. If you are not affiliated with an AFT union, type in NO AFFILIATE.

To train to become a facilitator, select “Philadelphia Train the Trainer” from the drop down menu.

To attend the student debt clinic on Saturday, select “Philadelphia Student Debt Clinic”.

The clinic is a prelude to a Town Hall on Student Debt on 1/16 from 6-8 p.m. hosted by Sara Goldrick-Rab (Education and CLA) and the Hope Center For College, Community, and Justice.

If you have questions, please contact the TAUP office taupaft@gmail.com