Due to concerns about COVID-19, the AAUP office has transitioned to telework. Please contact staff by email.
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 AAUP released today a new research report, Policies on Academic Freedom, Dismissal for Cause, Financial Exigency, and Program Discontinuance, that examines the prevalence of AAUP-supported policies in faculty handbooks and collective bargaining agreements at four-year institutions that have a tenure system.
The AAUP joined over seventy other higher education organizations yesterday in submitting an amicus brief, prepared by the American Council on Education (ACE), in support of a legal challenge filed by Harvard University and MIT against the US Department of Homeland Security in the US District Court in Massachusetts to prevent DHS’s July 6 directive, which rescinds a prior COVID-19 exemption for international students participating in online education, from taking effect.
The AAUP joins many other higher education organizations and colleagues in the labor movement in calling on the Trump administration to allow all international students to obtain or retain visas to continue their education at US institutions, regardless of whether they participate remotely, in person, or through a hybrid model and regardless of whether they are studying inside or outside the United States, during this unprecedented global health crisis.
The COVID-19 pandemic must not become the occasion for administrations or governing boards to jettison normative principles of academic governance.
We call on our chapters, our members, and campus administrations to stand firm in their support of members of the campus community who speak out in the name of anti-racism and racial justice.
The governing Council of the AAUP voted to add Pacific Lutheran University to the AAUP’s list of censured administrations. The Council also voted to remove Clarkson College of Nebraska. Since 1938 the AAUP has censured administrations of higher education institutions for failing to observe generally recognized principles of academic freedom and tenure.
AAUP president Rudy Fichtenbaum has issued a statement on the protests in response to the murder of George Floyd.
The AAUP chapter of Virginia Commonwealth University called on President Michael Rao to “immediately declare that classes for the Fall 2020 semester should be held exclusively online, except in cases where in-person education is deemed absolutely necessary."
The faculty letter originated from the Chapel Hill AAUP, which, along with the Faculty Council, also has expressed serious misgivings about UNC’s plans to reopen. “The belief that we can safely return to campus together with 30,000 students is quickly eroding,” said the letter from the chair of the Faculty Council to the UNC Board of Governors.
“For years, the university has disinvested in academics while simultaneously losing millions on its athletics programs," Akron University's AAUP chapter wrote in a position paper about proposed cuts earlier this month. “In the spirit of shared sacrifice, we believe that it’s time to move to a responsible and sustainable model of funding for athletics.”
Purdue University president Mitch Daniels told CNN that Alice Pawley, associate professor of engineering education and president of the main Purdue campus’s AAUP represented a “very tiny minority” of the Purdue faculty and that she was “frankly, not from the most scientifically credible corner of our very STEM-based campus.”
In a statement the University of Chicago's AAUP chapter said it was concerned about staff who can’t work remotely — such as those in libraries, dining halls and maintenance — who might not be allowed to stay at home. They also wanted to ensure that adjunct or tenure-track faculty don’t feel pressured into offering in-person classes.
“We’re very excited about having this removed,” said Aubray Orduña, interim president of Clarkson College. “Having that censure was not in alignment with our mission ... values and the legacy that the college has here.”
The Washington Post speaks to three AAUP chapters, Wright State University, Purdue University and the University of Tulsa, for their perspectives on safely reopening campuses.
Inside Higher Education covers the AAUP's Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession.
"Suspending or ending OPT makes no practical sense — it solves no problem, it reduces the quality of America's higher education system, and it threatens the international exchange of ideas so vital to academic freedom," said Julie Schmid, executive director of the AAUP.
A budget planning retreat of the AAUP's national Council.
A meeting of the AAUP's national Council.
A meeting of the AAUP's national Council.
The AAUP 2020 biennial meeting was postponed due to the pandemic and has now been rescheduled.
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.
The AAUP election for three national officers and two at-large Council members closed on July 17, and results were announced on July 21.
Did you know that the AAUP has an online career center to help colleges and universities connect with qualified applicants?
