2011 AAUP Updates

Update 4/12/11: At their recent meeting, the American Conference for Irish Studies passed a resolution supporting "the American Association of University Professors's efforts on behalf of academic freedom, shared governance, and tenure in Higher Education, and it endorses Chancellor Martin's affirmation of the value of academic freedom in her April 1 letter to the campus community."

Update 3/5/11: An investigation has been authorized by the AAUP general secretary and will proceed.

An AAUP committee will investigate the decision of administrators at SUNY Albany to discontinue four foreign-language degree programs plus the theater arts program in the College of Arts and Sciences at SUNY, Albany. 

Statement from AAUP President Cary Nelson regarding Wisconsin’s governor Scott Walker's attempts to "balance the budget."

SB 5 opponents, including some AAUP members, packed hearing and overflow rooms in Columbus, Ohio, at a committee hearing Wednesday. SB 5, a piece of legislation introduced last week, seeks to prohibit Ohio public employees, including faculty at state universities and colleges, from collective bargaining.

On February 3, AAUP General Secretary Gary Rhoades testified before the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity. The committee advises the Secretary of Education on matters of accreditation. 

Because faculty members have long contributed to democratic debate by expressing their views in the public sphere, it is especially notable and worrisome when they become targets of what nearly amount to an American Fatwa.

Update (2/1): Kristopher Petersen-Overton announced that he has been rehired. Cary Nelson called the rehiring "a victory for academic freedom and for the faculty."