AAUP Council

Redefining Hard Times as our Times

The AAUP’s Ninety-fifth Annual Meeting, held June 11–14 in Washington, D.C., combined plenary addresses by distinguished speakers, business meetings, lobbying visits, and award presentations. An academic conference, titled “Globalization, Shared Governance, and Academic Freedom,” ran concurrently with the annual meeting.

AAUP Election Results

Cary Nelson has been elected president of the AAUP for a third two-year term. Nelson is professor of English and Jubilee Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a well-known scholar and academic activist. An author or editor of twenty-five books and the author of 150 articles, he has served on the AAUP’s national Council for ten years, six as second vice president and the last four as president.

From the President: Will Any Good Come of It?

At its June meeting, the AAUP’s national Council opted for a one-year experiment in open nominations for the 2011 Council races. As in the recent rerun of the election for the chair of the Assembly of State Conferences, any member in good standing will be able to run for a Council position, either in his or her own district or for a nationwide seat. The only additional requirement is that each candidate submit a petition signed by at least six current AAUP members.

Nominating Committee Report Available

The report of the Nominating Committee for the 2012 AAUP election is available on the web at www.aaup.org/aaup/about/bus/nomrep.

Rudy Fichtenbaum Elected AAUP President

Rudy Fichtenbaum, professor of economics at Wright State University, has been elected AAUP president. Fichtenbaum has authored more than forty-five articles and book chapters on topics such as discrimination, income distribution, and the impact of unions on wages and benefits. He is a strong faculty unionist who helped lead the fight against Ohio SB 5, which would have stripped public-sector workers of union rights.

Council Adopts Revised Statement on Librarians

At its November meeting, the AAUP’s Council adopted as policy an updated version of the joint Statement on Faculty Status of College and University Librarians. Members of the AAUP’s Special Committee on the Status of Librarians in the Academy and the Association of College and Research Libraries revised the statement, which was originally issued in 1973.

The revised statement is posted at http://www.aaup.org/report/librarians.

 

Council Resolution in the Wake of the Elections

At its November meeting, the AAUP’s national Council approved a resolution on the campus climate in the wake of Donald Trump’s election as president. Noting that “the free exchange of ideas is incompatible with an atmosphere of fear,” the resolution condemned the wave of hate crimes that followed the election. The Council called on college and university administrators to take action against those who have threatened the safety of campus community members and asked AAUP members to speak out against assaults and support efforts to ensure that campuses are inclusive.

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