Due to concerns about COVID-19, AAUP office has transitioned to telework. Please contact staff by email.
The University of Akron has been added to the AAUP’s ongoing investigation of the crisis in academic governance that has occurred in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Association’s concerns regard actions taken by the University of Akron administration to terminate the appointments of ninety-six full-time faculty members in a manner that appears to have departed from normative standards of academic governance.
In this election, democracy as a concept is on the ballot. A well-functioning democracy requires respect for rules and standards, and respect for the rule of law. A vibrant democracy demands an educated citizenry and a free press. We need to vote for norms and standards, the rule of law, racial justice, social justice, and decision making with integrity based on reasoned arguments and expert knowledge. We need to vote for a living wage, for access to health care, for access to affordable high quality public higher education as a common good. To be silent now is to be complicit.
The report will reach findings on whether there have been departures from AAUP-supported principles and standards of academic governance, and may explore other issues, such as the effects of unilaterally imposed mass layoffs on academic freedom and tenure, the enrollment and financial challenges facing many institutions, and the impact of these challenges on higher education, especially the humanities and liberal arts.
AAUP president Irene Mulvey issued a statement on September 9 calling on faculty and administrations to condemn President Trump's attack on critical race theory and to actively support the work of critical race theorists and other academics who offer indispensable resources for understanding the past and present and for building a more racially just society.
The AAUP sent a letter to the president of Illinois Wesleyan University and to the chair of the university's board of trustees regarding action taken by the board to discontinue programs in anthropology, French, Italian, and religious studies and potential termination of tenured appointments.
The AAUP’s Committee on Contingency and the Profession has issued a statement with recommendations and resources for the higher education community.
AAUP president Irene Mulvey has issued a statement of solidarity with medical faculty who are on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. AAUP members and supporters can send a message of support and donate personal protective equipment.
In a mail ballot election, AAUP chapter and section delegates have elected Irene Mulvey of Fairfield University as the new president of the 105-year-old faculty-led organization. Paul Davis of Cincinnati State Technical and Community College was elected as vice president, and Christopher Sinclair of the University of Oregon was elected as secretary-treasurer. Chapter and section delegates also elected Nivedita Majumdar and Glinda Rawls as at-large Council members.
The administration of The New School has sought the services of a firm founded by alumni of Enron-affiliated Arthur Andersen is detailed in an article written, in part, by the AAUP-TNS Media Collective.
Andrew Ross, a professor of social and cultural analysis at NYU who organized the event in conjunction with the AAUP - NYU chapter, called the situation “absurdist.”
CSU-AAUP President Patty O’Neill said members of the school communities should be celebrating that they’ve made it to midterms. Instead, they met on the steps of Davidson Hall at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain because “the core mission of the four state universities is being threatened.”
Henry Reichman, chair of Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure explains that, "tenure has never been about rewarding achievement, but about protecting academic freedom." The new proposal "reflects the notion that business is a model for everything, including education," and the AAUP does not agree, he said.
The American Association of University Professors last month called on institutions to provide adjunct professors with paid sick leave, eligibility for unemployment benefits, paid training for online teaching, contract extensions, and other better working conditions during the pandemic, calling adjuncts “the tiny and invisible lines of connection between institutions and students” and warning that “the future of the profession is at stake.”
The Georgia Southern University AAUP chapter released an open letter asking its administration to take steps to demonstrate its commitment to prioritize the health and safety of its university, but also of the state's residents.
Glenn Colby, senior researcher for the AAUP, said that “at its worst,” remote instruction might resemble something like Skype. But that’s when professors take a "banking" approach and try to "deposit" facts into students. When remote instruction is working right, faculty members treat their students like “co-investigators” -- and use new technology to foster communication among everyone in the class.
AAUP Purdue Chapter Leader Alice Pawley, told the Washington Post that faculty instruction, “should be about student learning, and not about the optics of ‘teaching face to face no matter what."
The AAUP survey garnered 304 responses which indicated faculty felt discriminated against during the administration’s cost-saving measures: 78% said the university failed to provide the union with objective criteria used to identify which employees’ positions would be eliminated.
A meeting of the AAUP's national Council. The scheduled time for this online meeting is based on Eastern Standard Time.
A meeting of the AAUP's national Council. The scheduled time for this online meeting is based on Eastern Standard Time.
The AAUP 2020 biennial meeting was postponed due to the pandemic and has now been rescheduled as a digital event. Registration information will be posted soon.
Due to concerns about COVID-19, the AAUP office has transitioned to telework until further notice. The best way to reach staff members is to write to the appropriate email address for the staff member or department you need to contact. Please consult the AAUP staff page for guidance.
Did you know that the AAUP has an online career center to help colleges and universities connect with qualified applicants?
