Equity in Public Higher Education: a Community Conversation

This event provides students, staff, maintainers, librarians, faculty and university leadership to converse with area legislators about the recent advances in making public higher education more affordable and accessible. Additionally, the Salem State community will be invited to learn about the CHERISH Act and advocate for additional state higher ed support.  

At the beginning of the program, members of the campus community will highlight accomplishments that we have achieved through our civically-engaged efforts, and we will show assembled legislators our appreciation for the work they have done to improve the lives of those in our campus community. Next, we will ask the arranged groups to discuss how the CHERISH Act’s four planks could help our students achieve their academic, career and civic goals. These four planks include increasing student financial assistance, expanding funding to build out our university system's academic support and health services, expanding state monies to ensure competitive salaries and providing a significant state commitment to offset state universities' and community colleges' deferred maintenance and capital costs.  

In the last part of the program, attendees will be invited to participate in additional civic engagement activities to advocate for additional Massachusetts public higher education support.