AAUP Updates

The AAUP's Council has issued the following statement of support for the striking graduate student workers at the University of California at Santa Cruz.

The AAUP sent a letter today to the administration of Babson College regarding the case of Asheen Phansey, a part-time faculty member who was summarily dismissed on January 9 after posting a jocular comment on Facebook concerning President Trump’s tweeted threat to bomb Iranian cultural sites.

The AAUP released a report on the dismissal of Jane Harty, a part-time faculty member with forty years of service in the Department of Music at Pacific Lutheran University. The report found that the PLU administration had acted in violation of the 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure when it summarily dismissed her and then acted in bad faith by conducting a dismissal hearing the report calls a “sham exercise.” 

The AAUP submitted comments to the National Labor Relations Board opposing a proposed rule that would bar many graduate assistants from engaging in collective bargaining. The AAUP’s comments clearly demonstrate that graduate assistants have the right to unionize because they are employees under the National Labor Relations Act and that unionization advances their academic freedom. We urge the National Labor Relations Board to reject the proposed rule.

The American Association of University Professors joins scholars in India and around the world in condemning the violent assault on faculty and students January 5 at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. We support the right of students everywhere to peacefully protest injustice. Attempts to crush their protests with violence are nothing short of a blatant attack on academic freedom and democracy itself.

The AAUP grieves the loss of life resulting from the crash of Ukrainian International Airlines flight 752 soon after its departure from Tehran airport in Iran. These deaths are an international tragedy, affecting people across the globe and we offer our sincere condolences to the families and academic communities affected by this tragedy.

AAUP in the News

Fri, 02/21/2020  |  Columbus Dispatch

Ohio State University’s presidential search committee intends to keep the names of job finalists concealed until it has a final candidate. "We think it’s a terrible development,” said John McNay, president of the Ohio Conference of the AAUP. University boards have adopted a more corporate style of management favoring private searches, said McNay, but as public institutions, “we’re not corporations, we’re not producing widgets. We’re trying to educate students.”

Tue, 02/18/2020  |  Inside Higher Education

The University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee's University Relations department informed the UWM-AAUP chapter that an image promoting an upcoming sponsored talk, Academic Freedom in the Age of Trump, was too "partisan." But after being widely condemned by multiple groups and people on social media, the department reversed its decision a day later. 

 

Sat, 02/08/2020  |  Toledo Blade

The Ohio Conference of the AAUP has opposed the Open and Robust Minds Act, in testimony submitted to a Senate committee. “If legislation like this would be approved, thus taking these decisions out of the hands of the institutions, we would expect that the legislature would also provide funding to cover the costs of the crowds and necessary security that hosting controversial speakers would entail.” 

Wed, 02/05/2020  |  Inside Higher Education

Loyola University's AAUP chapter releases a report countering the university's justification for major cuts to its English Language Learning Program, writing that the cuts “have harmed our financial bottom line and fiscal vitality . . . and this dramatic reversal of course has taken place outside of the established channels for academic decision-making laid out in Loyola’s own procedures."

Sat, 01/25/2020  |  Daily Camera

Colorado AAUP leaders write in an op-ed about the financial dire straits faced by adjunct faculty who do most of the instruction in community colleges.

Fri, 01/17/2020  |  Kansas City Star

The editorial board of the Kansas City Star quotes the AAUP's 2014 report on Confucius Institutes including our warning that “occasionally university administrations have entered into partnerships that sacrificed the integrity of the university and its academic staff."

Thu, 01/16/2020  |  Politico

Politico's newsletter covers the AAUP's submitted comments to the National Labor Relations Board scrutinizing a proposed rule that would not allow many graduate assistants to form unions.

Fri, 01/10/2020  |  Inside Higher Education

Inside Higher Education writes about our statement, In Defense of Knowledge and Higher Education.

E-mail Updates

 

Upcoming Events

March 20, 2020

A meeting of the AAUP's Executive Committee.

March 21, 2020

A meeting of the AAUP's governing Council.

June 18, 2020 to June 21, 2020

Preliminary schedule for the 2020 AAUP Conference and Biennial Meeting.

July 23, 2020 to July 26, 2020

The 2020 AAUP Summer Institute is coming to Reno! We’re excited to announce that the University of Nevada, Reno, is the site of this year’s program, to be held July 23–26.

Announcements

The Association’s Nominating Committee seeks nominations for candidates for election as officers of the AAUP, and as members of the AAUP’s governing Council, at the June 2020 biennial Association meeting. Nominations are due by Sunday, March 15, 2020. Three officer positions—president, vice president, and secretary-treasurer—and two at-large Council positions are open for election. 

Did you know that the AAUP has an online career center to help colleges and universities connect with qualified applicants? 

See open positions and learn how to apply.