Academe Article

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.

Don’t Know Much Biology

For a decade, I’ve used zoological metaphors to capture the complex relationship between archconservative foundations and higher education. At times, I may have stretched the metaphors to where they lost both illustrative power and accuracy. I said things about how barracudas reproduce, for example, that I’m not sure would have passed muster with my fisheries-biologist father. As end-of-grade testing approaches, I’ve resolved to tighten my metaphors, even if some are left behind. If you all could sharpen your number-two pencils?

Investigation in Louisiana

The past five years have witnessed the publication of three major reports on Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure investigations of Louisiana cases. The first of these, Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans Universities, was an investigation of apparent violations of principles of academic freedom and tenure at five of the city’s universities. The administrations of four of the universities were placed on censure by the AAUP’s 2007 annual meeting. The first was removed by the annual meeting in 2008, the second in 2009, and the final two in 2011.

New Faculty Union at University of Oregon

This spring, faculty members at the University of Oregon filed union authorization cards with the state Employment Relations Board and came to an agreement with the administration, clearing the way for union certification.

Opposition to Proposed Restructuring at Rutgers–Camden

Students, faculty, and staff at Rutgers University–Camden are protesting a planned move that would sever their campus from the statewide Rutgers system and merge it with Rowan University twenty miles to the south. Proponents of the change, including New Jersey’s governor, Chris Christie, say it is meant to help promote higher education opportunities in the southern part of the state. Opponents, including the Rutgers Council of AAUP Chapters, say the move may be meant only to enhance the image of Rowan’s medical school when it opens later this year.

In Memory of Robert K. Webb

Robert K. Webb, a preeminent authority on British history and an outstanding figure in the AAUP’s leadership, died on February 25 in his ninetieth year. Webb began his teaching career in 1951 at Wesleyan University, went on in 1953 to Columbia University, and in 1968 moved to Washington, DC, as chief editor of the American Historical Review. In 1975 he joined the faculty of the newly established University of Maryland Baltimore County as chair of its history department, retaining that position until his retirement.

Occupy Education

March 1 was a national day of action for the Occupy Education movement. At campuses across the country, students, faculty, and staff organized protests, marches, sit-ins, and other nonviolent actions to draw attention to funding cuts, student debt, and the growing corporatization of higher education.

University of California, San Diego

The San Diego Faculty Association (SDFA-AAUP) is the AAUP chapter at the University of California, San Diego. Founded in 1968, the chapter became a joint endeavor with the faculty association in the late 1990s and has recently begun to take an active role in campus policy issues. SDFA-AAUP has about 120 members, out of approximately two thousand faculty members at the university.

Here, chapter vice president Luis Martín-Cabrera and chapter president Ivan Evans respond to questions about the growth of SDFA-AAUP and the issues the chapter is addressing.

When Billionaires Become Educational Experts

“Venture philanthropists” push for the privatization of public education.

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