RFP: Officer Election Provider

Organizer

Legal Internships and Externships

RFP: Officer Election Provider

The American Association of University Professors (hereinafter the “AAUP”) invites providers to submit proposals to assist the AAUP in conducting elections and other votes at the Association’s 2020 Biennial Meeting.

Project Objective

The AAUP is a national membership organization made up of AAUP chapters. The AAUP is holding its Biennial Meeting on June 19 and 20 in Arlington, Virginia. The AAUP Biennial Meeting will be attended by delegates from AAUP chapters and sections. (Sections are aggregated groups of small chapters that elect delegates to the meeting. Chapter and Section delegates have the same voting rights and are referred to jointly as “delegates.”) The delegate check-in for the election will occur on June 19. The AAUP will hold an election for certain AAUP Officers at the Biennial Meeting on June 20. The election of AAUP officers must comply with the federal Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA.) The election would be held by secret ballot among delegates attending the Biennial Meeting, with delegates casting votes equal to the number of members in their chapters. In the event a chapter or section has more than one delegate attending the meeting, the votes of the chapter or section would be split equally between the delegates. In addition, there may be other weighted votes of the delegates at the Biennial Meeting. The AAUP’s Election Rules and Weighted Voting and Delegate Credentialing Procedures that govern these votes will be provided to interested providers.

Anticipated Scope of Work

The purpose of this RFP is to retain a provider to assist the AAUP in conducting the election of AAUP officers, and in conducting any other weighted votes at the Biennial Meeting. The provider will be primarily responsible for, inter alia, checking in delegates for election and voting purposes, distributing any election badges or voting material, conducting the election, tabulating the results, and providing the AAUP all necessary documentation regarding the conduct of the election. The AAUP will make staff available to assist the election provider so long as the provider gives adequate training and direction to AAUP staff. The provider will be responsible for ensuring that election and voting process complies with the requirements of the LMRDA. There may also be other weighted votes held at the Biennial Meeting which may be by secret ballot. The provider will deliver similar assistance to the AAUP in the conducting these votes. The final scope of work will be negotiated with the provider.  

Schedule

Proposals will be reviewed beginning on December 18, 2019.

Proposal Submission Requirements

To receive consideration, proposals must be submitted as follows:

1. Proposals should include a cover letter to the attention of AAUP Senior Counsel Aaron Nisenson, representing the AAUP. The cover letter must include the name of the proposing individual/firm, the name(s) of any professional(s) proposed to provide direct service for the project, e-mail address, postal address, and telephone and fax numbers.
2. Proposals should include a narrative that speaks to the qualifications in the Evaluation Criteria outlined below, including a timeline with benchmarks and cost to accomplish the Scope of Work outlined above.
3. Proposals must clearly outline the responsibilities both of the AAUP and the selected firm. ALL costs payable by the AAUP for these services must be clearly defined.
4. Emailed proposals must be a single PDF file with electronic signatures as applicable. They should be sent to anisenson@aaup.org. If submitting a printed proposal, deliver six (6) copies to Aaron Nisenson, Senior Counsel, on behalf of AAUP, 1133 19^th Street, NW, Suite 200, Washington DC 20036 ATTN: Officer Election Provider.

By submitting a proposal, the consultant authorizes the AAUP to contact references to evaluate consultant’s qualifications for this project.

Evaluation Criteria

All proposals will be evaluated based on the following key criteria:

• Performance capability—the extent to which the proposal demonstrates ability to provide the depth and breadth of experience, skills, knowledge, and creativity generally required by this project
• Experience with similar membership organizations and election methods, and particularly with elections held under the LMRDA
• Completeness and quality of response—the thoroughness and concern for quality in your response
• Budget

References

Please list the organization name, contact person, title, telephone number, and email addresses of three (3) references for similar projects, as well as a brief description of each project.

Interviews

Top-rated candidates may be invited to interview with the AAUP Executive Director.

Contract Award

The AAUP plans to select and award a contract to the best qualified provider. The selected firm and the AAUP will then mutually discuss and refine the scope of work for the project and shall negotiate final conditions, compensation, and performance schedule for the subsequent contract to be executed.

For More Information

For questions about this RFP, please contact Aaron Nisenson at anisenson@aaup.org or 202-594-3629.

AAUP is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, sex, disability, race, color, religion, national origin, marital status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, personal appearance, family responsibilities, genetic information, matriculation, political affiliation, or other characteristics unrelated to professional performance.

Organizer

The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) is pleased to announce a professional position for an organizer, to be filled as soon as possible. The Organizer will be central to implementing AAUP’s national strategy for building AAUP’s non-collective bargaining membership and local organizations. A successful candidate will be a skilled organizer, an effective strategist, and capable of operating independently and using good judgment. This is an exciting opportunity at a critically important time in the AAUP, the academy, and the labor movement. The Organizer will travel widely and will work under the direction of AAUP’s Director of Organizing. We invite you to join us in our vital work organizing academic workers to defend and advance the academic freedom, shared governance, due process rights, and economic security of the profession.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Developing and implementing issue or strategic campaigns for our chapters. This includes on-the-ground work to recruit and train organizing committees, as well as working on-site with members to plan and execute campaign objectives.
• Fostering leadership development and membership growth in our chapters and state conferences, including helping to develop new advocacy chapters on campuses where faculty and/or other academic workers do not have collective bargaining rights.
• Assisting AAUP chapters with building membership and engagement, including assisting our chapters with developing and implementing campus organizing plans.
• Advancing the Association’s collective bargaining program by staffing solo AAUP organizing drives as needed, as well as organizing drives where the AAUP partners with another union.
• Representing the Association before other higher education organizations, college and university bodies, and other unions and professional associations.
• Coordinating with Association leaders and staff on particular projects and long-range planning, including responsibility for planning content for campus, regional, and national training events.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Three years’ experience as an organizer required. (Union organizer experience preferred, but we will also consider candidates with political and community organizing experience).
• Experience with membership development, leadership identification, and grassroots organizing required.
• Knowledge of labor relations and professional issues relating to higher education preferred.
• Experience and demonstrated ability to work with professional groups and individuals required.
• Superior written and oral communication skills and computer proficiency skills—including working familiarity with MS Office suite required. Experience with cloud-based organizing databases preferred.
• Associate’s degree required; BA or advanced degree and experience teaching and/or conducting research in higher education preferred.
• This position requires a valid driver’s license and the willingness and ability to travel extensively throughout the United States, to work long, irregular hours and weekends as needed, and to accept lengthy field assignments and possible relocation. This is a national position and requires an ability to travel and work throughout the region. A willingness to live in the Washington, DC, area is preferred.

Compensation
Salary range: $65,000 for minimum qualifications; more for preferred qualifications and experience. Generous benefits package.

Position Classification
This position is categorized as a probationary senior program officer in the Department of Organizing and is part of the staff union bargaining unit. This is an exempt position and not eligible for overtime pay.

To Apply
To apply, please submit a resume and cover letter. You can email them to podos@aaup.org.  Please include “Organizer-YOUR NAME” in the subject line. You may also mail your resume and cover letter to AAUP, 1133 Nineteenth Street, NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC  20036, ATTN: Organizer Search. No phone calls please. Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until position is filled. 

The AAUP is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, sex, disability, race, color, religion, national origin, marital status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, personal appearance, family responsibilities, genetic information, matriculation, political affiliation, or other characteristics unrelated to professional performance. 

Women and minorities are encouraged to apply. 

Legal Internships and Externships

The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) is seeking qualified interns or externs for summer or the academic year.  

The intern and extern positions will be in a legal department currently staffed with two lawyers and one paralegal and involves significant in-house legal and other support work for the Association. The legal office files amicus briefs in higher education cases of national significance, provides legal information on a wide range of issues to staff and members all over the country, and acts as a resource on higher education issues.  Staff and volunteer lawyers are experts in such areas as academic freedom, discrimination, affirmative action, intellectual property, and employment.  Interns and externs can expect to be asked to research and write on a variety of legal issues including First Amendment, higher education, collective bargaining, election, tax, labor, personnel, financial, and contract issues.

Past legal interns have helped research and write amicus briefs in the federal court system, updated a multi-state survey on faculty handbooks as employment contracts, and researched and written legal outlines and fact sheets on topics such as “Faculty and Defamation Suits,” “Faculty and Family Leave Issues,” and “Academic Freedom and the First Amendment.” Externs should be in their second or third year of law school and be available to work approximately fifteen hours per week.  Summer internships are available to students who have completed their second year of law school.  AAUP legal staff will work with interested applicants to arrange for public interest stipends, academic credit or pro bono credit from their law school.

Qualified applicants will possess excellent analytical skills

• strong writing and research skills
• interest in higher education issues
• enthusiasm and initiative

To apply for an externship or internship position, please send a cover letter, resume, official transcript and writing sample to:

AAUP – Legal Department
ATTN:  DC Internship Program
1133 19th St. NW, Suite 200
Washington, D.C.  20036
legal.dept@aaup.org (If applying by email, please address the Subject line as: “DC Internship + Your Name”)

For more information, please see AAUP’s Legal Program.