Standing Committee and Subcommittee Reports

Results of the AAUP's annual survey of full-time faculty compensation.

The proportion of faculty appointments that are “contingent”—lacking the benefits and protections of tenure and a planned long-term relationship with an institution—has increased dramatically over the past few decades. The structures of faculty governance, however, as well as AAUP policies on the subject, tend to assume a faculty that is primarily full time and on the tenure track. This report examines the issues and makes recommendations on how contingent faculty should be included in institutional governance.

Statement arguing that because the scope and character of library resources should be taken into account in such important academic decisions as curricular planning and faculty appointments, librarians should have a voice in the development of the institution’s educational policy

Statement reviewing the scope of the sexual harassment on campus, the frequently disappointing evidence about current campus practices and preparedness, the legal issues at stake, and giving special attention to faculty responsibilities.

An overview of the history and current state of engagement between industry and the academy regarding sponsored research and makes recommendations regarding the principles that colleges and universities should adopt.  Public comment is invited.

Report on practical and legal issues involving faculty members with disabilities; it reaffirms faculty members' entitlement to due process.

Results of the AAUP's annual survey of full-time faculty compensation.
 

Report making recommendations on developing sound partner-accommodation policies, which can benefit significantly from attention to AAUP faculty governance policies, especially those pertaining to faculty appointments.

Report examining the potential impact on academic governance of the Supreme Court Garcetti v. Ceballos decision. It recommends actions to be taken in both public and private colleges and universities to preserve academic freedom in governance even in the face of judicial hostility or indifference.

Results of the AAUP's annual survey of full-time faculty compensation. 

Results of the AAUP's annual survey of full-time faculty compensation. 

Report providing encouragement and practical information to faculty members who might wish to serve on regional accreditation teams.

A report calling for greater faculty involvement in the accreditation of colleges and universities.

Report assessing arguments made in support of recent legislative efforts to regulate classroom instruction.

Report discussing recent trends regarding Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

2006 report addressing aspects of the federal government’s regulations for research on human subjects that constitute a threat to academic freedom.

Observations by the Association’s Committee on Teaching, Research, and Publication in light of important changes to higher education in the thirty years since the Statement on Teaching Evaluation was published. Topics covered include non-tenure-track faculty appointments, the role of student evaluations in faculty personnel decisions, new technologies, and corporate forms of governance. 

Report addressing a category of full-time non-tenure-track faculty appointments known as “professors of practice.”  It recommends, in accordance with Association principles, that these faculty members be accorded tenure's protections.

Report setting forth standards that should guide academic institutions in performing background checks of prospective faculty members.

Statement by the Committee on Professional Ethics that addresses the practice of professors assigning their own texts to students.  Related institutional and organizational policies are also addressed.

Results of the AAUP's annual survey of full-time faculty compensation.

Report examing the costs to academic freedom incurred by the current trend toward overreliance on part and full-time non-tenure-track faculty.  The report recommends that for the good of institutions, of the educational experiences of students, and of the quality of education, the proportion of tenured and tenure-track faculty should be increased.

Results of the AAUP's annual survey of full-time faculty compensation. 

Report concerning the continuing preferential treatment of athletes with regard to admissions and scholarship aid, disappointing graduation records for athletes, and ethical breaches of academic standards by coaches, students, administrators, and faculty.

Statement addressing some of the current issues facing faculty members as they seek to integrate family obligations and academic work.  It recommends principles and guidelines for formulating appropriate policies and practices regarding family leaves, modified teaching schedules, "stopping the tenure clock," and institutional assistance for family responsibilities.

Statement recommending standards that will foster sound academic policies, at universities with graduate programs, that protect graduate students’ freedom to learn and to teach. These standards have been developed to ensure that graduate education fulfills its responsibilities to students, faculty, and society.

Results of the AAUP's annual survey of full-time faculty compensation. 

Report discussing academic freedom in medical schools and why it is necessary.

Statement that identifies problems specific to distance education and sets forth the applicable principles and procedural standards for distance education programs, including areas of responsibility, appointments, selection of materials, technical considerations, and proprietary rights.

Report addressing “state-mandated” assessment of higher education, including attempts to measure learning outcomes; recommendations on standards that should be observed when developing an assessment plan.

A  brief overview of the principles and the law shaping faculty and student claims to academic freedom and free speech in the college and university classroom and a consideration of issues of so-called “political discrimination” in the judicial and legislative fora, such as those asserted in the Academic Bill of Rights. Originally delivered as a conference presentation.

Report concerning the right of an instructor to assign grades and the procedures for student appeals.

Statement discussing professional expectations and responsibilities with respect to consensual sexual relationships between professor and student.

Report discussing the protections of academic due process in sexual harassment cases

Report linking the 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure and the Association's 1966 Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities. 

Statement setting standards that are intended to apply to the recruitment and appointment of faculty members in colleges and universities. They are directed to administrators and faculty members in the belief that they will promote the identification and selection of qualified candidates through a process that promotes candor and effective communication among those who are engaged in recruitment.

Report addressing collective bargaining as an effective instrument for achieving the basic AAUP objectives of protecting academic freedom, establishing and strengthening institutions of faculty governance, providing fair procedures for resolving grievances, promoting the economic well-being of faculty and other academic professionals, and advancing the interests of higher education.

Report examining evidentiary issues of proof of discrimination and providing guidance to faculty, administrators, and the Association’s staff on handling complaints raising claims of discrimination. While the report was drafted specifically to address allegations of discrimination on the basis of sex, it has over the years proven useful for complaints of improper discrimination based on other attributes as well.

Statement urging reform of intercollegiate athletics. All colleges and universities would benefit from the adoption of a national set of standards that would protect athletes from exploitation and would place expenditures on and administration of athletic programs under the regular governance procedures of the institution.

Report discussing professional ethics and plagiarism.

Statement on issues that arise when multiple authors contribute to a work.

Statement addressing procedures bearing on the renewal or nonrenewal of probationary appointments.

Report concerning collective bargaining and faculty governance

Report recommending that colleges and universities “consider creating a class of regular part-time faculty members, consisting of individuals who, as their professional career, share the teaching, research, and administrative duties customary for faculty at their institution, but who for whatever reason do so less than full time.”

Report discussing the development of arbitral practices in higher education, with particular emphasis on the question of arbitration of dismissal cases.

Report concerning equal opportunity and the use affirmative action plans. These affirmative-action plans should include a wide range of lawful and academically sound corrective policies and procedures employed to overcome the effects of past or present barriers to equal employment opportunity.

Statement asserting  the expectation that faculty members will have a significant role in the selection of academic administrators, including the president, academic deans, department heads, and chairs.¹ As a corollary, it is equally important that faculty members contribute significantly to judgments and decisions regarding the retention or nonretention of the administrators whom they have helped select.

Statement discussing allowing prior service to count toward probationary period 

Report discussing why tenure quotas are generally unwise.

Statement defining the role of the faculty in decisions as to the allocation of financial resources according to the principle of shared authority set forth in the 1966 Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities, and to offer some principles and derivative guidelines for faculty participation in this area

Statement urging the discontinuance of anti-nepotism policies and practices, and the rescinding of laws and institutional regulations that perpetuate them.

Statement addressing the ethical responsibilities that go along with academic freedom.

Statement defining rights and obligations of faculty regarding the institutional regulations of many colleges and universitiesthat govern the participation of professors in political activity and public office holding.

Joint statement enumerating the essential provisions for students’ freedom to learn, including guidelines related to access to higher education, rights in the classroom, student records, student affairs, and procedural standards in disciplinary proceedings.

Statement outlining general standards that serve as a reminder of the variety of ethical responsibilities assumed by all members of the profession.

Statement clarifing those sections of the 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure relating to the faculty member’s exercise of freedom of speech as a citizen.

Statement recommending standards for the recruitment and the resignation of faculty for administrations and faculties, predicated on the assumption that proper provision has been made by employing institutions for timely notice to probationary faculty members and those on term appointments, with respect to their subsequent status.

Regulations outlining recommended institutional processes that enable institutions to protect academic freedom, tenure, and to ensure academic due process.