The AAUP office reopened on September 7, 2021. Contact information for all staff, including those working remotely or on a hybrid schedule, is available here.
The AAUP submitted joint comments with the American Federation of Teachers to the US Department of Education on Tuesday in support of the proposed changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program and to encourage the department to do far better in providing access to this program for all those who do public service work but are currently excluded from accessing the program based on existing regulations.
The conference took place June 16 to 19, and featured remarks by AFT president Randi Weingarten, US Department of Education under secretary for higher education James Kvaal, and secretary of education Miguel Cardona. Delegates to the Biennial Association Meeting voted in new members of the AAUP's governing Council and voted overwhelmingly to affiliate with the American Federation of Teachers.
The AAUP's 2021–22 Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession, released today, finds that real wages for full-time faculty members decreased 5.0 percent after adjusting for inflation, the largest one-year decrease on record since the AAUP began tracking this measure in 1972.
The historic partnership will strengthen both organizations and advance American higher education. The AFT and AAUP have a history of collaboration and joint organizing, including dual AAUP/AFT affiliates currently representing more than 20,000 faculty and staff.
Delegates to the AAUP's Biennial Association Meeting voted today for one at-large and five regional members of Council. A warm welcome to the incoming members!
The governing Council of the AAUP voted unanimously today to pass a joint resolution condemning the University of North Carolina Board of Governors and System Office for multiple violations of widely accepted standards of shared governance and academic freedom and for a sustained climate of institutional racism. It also censured Linfield University and removed St. Edward’s University from the Association’s list of censured administrations.
"It's not just the wallet that hurts," Colby explained. "Actually, working conditions have been a problem as well, and ultimately we worry about the morale of faculty who have, for the last couple of years, been in constant crisis mode putting out one fire after another."
In one example of how this may be contributing to faculty departures, Vickie Shields, provost at Nevada State College, recently told The Nevada Independent that while faculty searches at the ever-growing college used attract 40 to 50 applicants, now, depending the discipline, some attract “maybe one applicant.” Several faculty members reportedly attributed this trend to inflation, especially rising housing costs, outpacing faculty pay.
The 2022 report shows that 53.5 percent of higher education institutions have replaced tenure-eligible positions with contingent faculty appointments, compared with only 17.2 percent of colleges in 2004. In 2019, just 10.5 percent of faculty positions in the U.S. were tenure-track and 26.5 percent were tenured, according to the AAUP. Nearly 45 percent were contingent part-time, or adjunct, roles. One in five were full-time, non-tenure-track positions.
Taking 40-year-high inflation into account, real wages for full-time faculty members fell 5 percent. This is the largest one-year decrease on record since the AAUP began tracking this measure in 1972.
In a statement released Monday, three Purdue chapters of the American Association of University Professors criticized the selection process. West Lafayette chapter president Leigh Raymond said his first reaction to the announcement was complete surprise.
“The additional reaction is a sense of alarm about the lack of any public engagement with the faculty or campus community about how such an important leadership decision was made,” he said.
Raymond said the board and Daniels should have conducted an open presidential search that allowed an opportunity for faculty input.
“Normally you would have a search committee, one that is externally and internally recognized,” he said. “The members of whom are public to the campus community, and includes representation usually of students, faculty, and other key stakeholders. There’s no evidence of that committee being formed here.”
A meeting of the Association's governing Council.
The AAUP held elections for candidates for members of the AAUP’s governing Council at the June 2022 Biennial Association Meeting. One at-large Council member position and five regional Council member positions were open for election.
Did you know that the AAUP has an online career center to help colleges and universities connect with qualified applicants?
