1. What can the faculty do to support proposals that have less severe consequences for our faculty, students, and academic programs than those being aired by the administration? Since we already have a faculty senate, what is the benefit of also having an AAUP chapter?
A primary objective of the AAUP chapter is to promote good governance. There are two dimensions to this. First, the chapter is the institutional manifestation of the AAUP and its policies and principles; as the direct link to the AAUP, the chapter can facilitate guidance for the senate on academic policy matters. Second, unlike the senate, which is organic to the institution, the AAUP chapter is an independent organization and can advocate for the positions and recommendations of the senate in ways the senate cannot.
For example, some administrations evade senate procedures and protocols, especially when the stakes are highest, in order to get desired results and get them quickly. Thus, we have seen an increase in the numbers of special and ad hoc committees and task forces whose charges involve matters that are properly within the purview of the senate. Frequently, the administration lards these committees with hand-picked faculty members and administrators.
Of course, senates can object to being displaced by administratively-created bodies, but they rarely do so and are not constituted to do much more than object. As an independent organization, the AAUP chapter can apply pressure on the administration in a variety of ways: by writing a letter to each member of the board, by placing a quarter-page advertisement in the student newspaper (civil and high-minded of course, but critical), and, depending on the issue, by enlisting support from other constituencies that might be directly affected.
In short, the senate is a deliberative and legislative body; the AAUP chapter is the advocate which can serve to fortify the senate and address faculty professional concerns beyond the senate’s jurisdiction, especially when the administration chooses not to heed the senate.
2. The information and advice provided on the AAUP website are extensive and, in part, technically complex. How best can I make use of this information?
It is usually the case that for the faculty to influence an administration or board on matters pertaining to the faculty’s professional interests and the students’ academic interests, information must be used systematically and tactically as part of a deliberate, purposeful campaign. Many faculty members sincerely believe that if the administration and the board have all the facts, free of distortion, gaps, and shadings, the right kinds of decisions will be made. But during hard times or on those occasions when the faculty is excluded from the table where the real decisions are made, the facts are simply not enough. Information must be managed and marshalled in a deliberate and purposeful way if it is to be a means of gaining and exerting power. Faculty members acting individually, independently, and in sporadic forums and modes—and with truth on their side—often have little influence on outcomes. However, when these same faculty members speak and act in a collective, coordinated, and organized way, they can achieve real influence.
The AAUP chapter, if it is well supported by engaged faculty members, will have within its membership a great deal of faculty expertise that can be brought to bear on technical complexities. Such a chapter will also include faculty members who have experience in public campaigns of many sorts and the organizational knowledge and skills that come with that experience. Moreover, there is a network of AAUP leaders and volunteers, as well as AAUP staff with wide and relevant experience, who can be called upon for advice and guidance.
3. What is the process for establishing an AAUP chapter?
The requirements for establishing an AAUP chapter are few and simple: a minimum of seven active members of the AAUP, a constitution/bylaws, and a minimum of three officers.
4. How can a new or existing chapter become an effective advocate for the faculty and for the academic health of the institution? Can the national AAUP help?
There is no template for success, but a few ingredients are essential. First, and bluntly, it takes time to establish and build an organization. At many institutions, too few faculty members are willing to take time away from their classrooms, their research, and the array of other responsibilities to do the work of organizing, planning, and implementing strategies by which the faculty, as a collective, can increase its influence.
Second, and no less bluntly, too few faculty members are willing to pay national AAUP membership dues, much less chapter dues, in order to provide the resources necessary to do what successful organizations must have the capacity to do: publish a newsletter and otherwise effectively communicate principled positions to their own colleagues, students, administrators, alumni, and others; foot the expense for forums on topics of pressing interest; and hire a financial analyst to provide an independent assessment of institutional finances, to cite a few examples.
Third, and this often goes a good distance in trumping one and two, the fulcrum for establishing or reviving an AAUP chapter is the faculty’s coming to the conclusion that a collective response is the only sensible approach to resisting the worst and advocating the best.
The national AAUP can help. The “national AAUP” is in fact the large number of AAUP members, leaders, activists, and volunteers who do the work of the Association and have done it for over one hundred years. Staff provide assistance and guidance, but the AAUP is a membership and member-driven organization. A relatively small group of determined faculty, in tandem with AAUP members and staff, can accomplish a great deal.
5. What can a chapter do to engage with other campus constituencies on issues relating to cutbacks and financial problems?
Where possible, find common ground with administrations (for example, on the need for adequate state appropriations), other academic workers (for example, on how decisions about layoffs or cutbacks are made), and students (for example, on how tuition revenue is raised and spent or on lack of capacity resulting from faculty cuts). See an example: a letter to students from the Council of University of California Faculty Associations on factors driving tuition rises and how tuition money is being spent.