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In 1981, the Association honored its thirty-seventh president, the distinguished biologist and teacher Henry T. Yost, by establishing a fund in his name to support faculty fellowships and student internships. In keeping with Henry Yost’s long interest in the relationships between academe and government, the Yost Fund supports the work of the Association in the research and analysis of policy issues affecting higher education. Recent concerns the Association has addressed include distance education and the incorporation of communications technology in higher education; changes in copyright laws affecting higher education faculty and administrations; affirmative action; college and university accreditation standards and processes; and homeland security, academic freedom, and privacy issues.
Yost fellows and interns provide research assistance in several areas, focusing especially on the congressional, regulatory, and legal issues that make up the Association’s government affairs and policy agendas. Participants in the Yost program have researched topics such as student financial aid, the Paycheck Fairness Act, and state “loyalty oath” requirements. One Yost intern created a valuable database of state governing boards for higher education detailing their authority over the funding of state and state-related institutions.
Future participants will continue to assist Association policy initiatives and help forward the Association’s research agenda. The Association is now working to initiate, support, and disseminate research on:
- Faculty status and compensation, including issues of contingency, tenure, workload, and the nature of academic work.
- Gender equity with regard to tenure, salary, and other aspects of faculty status.
- Institutional finances, analyzing trends in institutional expenditures on instruction and the consequences of changing sources of public and private revenue.
- Governance, focusing especially on variations in forms of higher education governance and the participation of faculty in governance processes.
Academic careers and family responsibilities, continuing the groundbreaking work carried out to develop the Association’s 2001 Statement of Principles on Family Responsibilities and Academic Work.
An enhanced endowment for the Yost Fund would give faculty fellows and student interns the opportunity to contribute to Association policy and research in these and future areas of concern to the higher education community. It would permit more fellows and interns to work with the professional staff of the AAUP to develop the skills and the knowledge necessary for crafting higher education policy in their own communities. Further, it would support faculty fellows who bring their own expertise and experience to the analysis of emerging policy areas and allow them to participate fully in the formulation of Association and national higher education policy. Finally, with additional resources, the endowment could provide funding for academic workshops, seminars, and conferences to disseminate research results on topics critical to higher education and stimulate discussion on emerging policy issues.
A contribution to the Henry T. Yost Fund is a sound investment in the future development of American higher education.
Contribute now.