How does the role of a local AAUP chapter compare or contrast with the role of the formal faculty governance body (“faculty senate”) on a given campus? What kind of relationship should exist between these two bodies? In situations where the senate functions effectively, is there even a need for a local AAUP chapter?
It is important to acknowledge at the outset that a properly constituted senate, i.e., one that either includes all faculty or is chaired and controlled by faculty elected by their peers, can speak more authoritatively as the representative voice of a particular institution’s faculty than can an AAUP chapter whose membership is, in virtually all cases, less inclusive. However, no matter how effective an institution’s senate may be, there are still important tasks that an AAUP chapter is better positioned to perform; and in those instances in which a senate is ineffective or has been subverted by an administration, an AAUP chapter is needed to work to empower the formal governance structure.
Although an AAUP chapter may not have the same claim as the senate to be representative of the faculty’s views at a particular institution, the AAUP can lay claim to being the only voice of the profession as a whole. The local chapter should serve as the guardian and interpreter of AAUP Redbook policies regarding professional standards and institutional regulations. It is crucial that at least some members of the leadership of a local chapter develop expertise in the policies and procedures outlined in the Redbook and forge contacts with professional staff in the national office who can help interpret those standards. Administrators and senate leaders may acknowledge the need to adhere to the professional standards established over the years by the AAUP. Nevertheless, they may find it useful to consult with local AAUP officers who have familiarized themselves thoroughly with the key policies of the Redbook, or who, in difficult cases, can be an effective conduit for directing questions, including requests for information about precedents at other institutions, to national staff in Washington. In the event that administrators or senate leaders show a disregard for AAUP standards, the presence of a local chapter to act as the guardian of those standards is even more important.
The expertise of chapter leaders should make them an important resource not only in the establishment of broad institutional policies, but also in the handling of problem cases involving individual faculty. A campus chapter “Committee A” can be a useful source of advice to faculty who have problems or questions relating to matters of academic freedom and tenure. Even on a campus in which shared governance is alive and well, a local AAUP chapter may be a more appropriate source than the senate for providing neutral observers at grievance hearings or at other sensitive meetings between faculty and administrators.
In addition to its role as a repository of knowledge and expertise about AAUP standards, a local chapter does have a “political” role to play. Even when relations between a chapter and senate leaders are cordial and collaborative, there may be issues senate officers are reluctant to take the initiative on, but that they would be happy to see raised by the local AAUP chapter. As in any political realm, an outside pressure group may often be able to help those on the inside of the system function more effectively. Such outside pressure may come in the form of bringing resolutions and proposals to the floor of the senate or holding forums and producing newsletters that bring attention to issues that might otherwise be difficult for senate leaders to be the first to take up. If the senate is the representative body of the faculty, the AAUP chapter may, in some sense, perform the useful function of a “political party,” serving as a training ground for future senate leaders and helping to formulate the agenda the governance body ought to address.
Unfortunately, many AAUP members are at institutions without functioning chapters. These individual members are crucial to the national organization, and many may be at institutions that have reasonably sound governance and generally follow AAUP guidelines. However, it is safe to say that there is no college or university, whatever its current state of governance, that would not benefit from the presence of an active and well informed AAUP chapter.
Larry G. Gerber
AAUP First Vice President