Faculty at the New Jersey-based Kean University’s campus in China will soon lose their union representation and face threats to their academic freedom when their official employer becomes the Chinese government. Kean officials say the school will continue to oversee academic programming and faculty hiring, but there is no guarantee that the arrangement will continue, and faculty are concerned their work will ultimately be governed by Chinese officials. “There should be a monitor,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten. “There should be protections for American citizens and for people who are employees of Kean on the Wenzhou campus. And if those protections cannot happen, then the question is, why is Kean in China?” The AFT is calling for an investigation.
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