Due to concerns about COVID-19, the AAUP office has transitioned to telework. Please contact staff by email.
Due to concerns about COVID-19, the AAUP office has transitioned to telework. Please contact staff by email.
The AAUP's Department of Academic Freedom, Tenure, and Governance sent a letter today to the president of Illinois Wesleyan University (IWU), S. Georgia Nugent, and to the chair of the university's board of trustees, Timothy Szerlong, regarding action taken by the board on July 16 to discontinue programs in anthropology, French, Italian, and religious studies. The letter also addresses the administration's announcement that it would issue terminal appointments on August 31 to up to six tenured faculty members who teach in these programs.
The letter outlines faculty concerns that the decision-making process that preceded this action departed from normative standards of academic governance, noting reports that the administration and board "either ignored or minimized the faculty's stated concerns" about the process.The AAUP's interest in the situation at Illinois Wesleyan stems from its longstanding commitment to principles and standards of academic governance and of academic freedom and tenure.
The AAUP requests a timely response from the administration and board and urges them to address the issues raised in the letter by