All AAUP Policies & Reports

This 2010 report concerns the actions taken by the administration of the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, after a declaration of financial exigency, to terminate the appointments of more than 120 faculty members, approximately one-third of them tenured. The actions followed a suspension of operations at the medical branch and its affected hospital as a result of the devastation inflicted on September 13, 2008, by Hurricane Ike.

This 2011 report discusses the declaration of an enrollment emergency by the administration of Clark Atlanta University and its subsequent action to terminate the appointments of approximately one-fourth of the total faculty, with no notice and four weeks of unconditional severance salary.

This 2009 report examines the potential impact on academic governance of the Supreme Court Garcetti v. Ceballos decision concerning free speech protections for government employees. It recommends actions to be taken in both public and private colleges and universities to preserve academic freedom in governance even in the face of judicial hostility or indifference.

This 2009 report was superseded by a 2024 Statement on Academic Boycotts. This report discusses academic boycotts and relevant AAUP policies, and makes recommendations to affirm a 2005 Committee A statement condemning academic boycotts.

This 2011 report on Antioch University and the closing of Antioch College after the board declared a state of financial exigency in 2007 and then suspended operations a year later, without faculty consultation or participation.

This 2009 report concerns the suspension and subsequent dismissal of a faculty member by the administration of Stillman College on grounds of “malicious gossip or public verbal abuse" without due process. The investigating committee found that the administration at Stillman College had created a "climate that is inimical to the exercise of academic freedom and to principles of shared academic governance."

This 2009 report concerns the action taken by the administration of Cedarville University to dismiss a professor in the Department of Biblical Education from his tenured faculty position with thirty days' notice, without first demonstrated cause for its action in an adjudicative hearing before faculty peers.

This 2009 report concerns action taken by the administration of Olivet Nazarene University to remove a tenured professor from his usual teaching responsibilities and to prohibit the use of his book in all university courses. The president took this action after a controversy arose within the university’s denominational constituency over the professor’s views on evolution.

This 2009 report concerns the actions taken by the administration at North Idaho College, where part-time instructors lack basic protections of academic due process, therefore, making them vulnerable.

This 2008 report concerns the termination of a full-time faculty member at Nicholls State University without academic due process and in violation of her academic freedom. The report addresses tenure and de facto tenure, due process, adequacy of notice and the ramifications of grading issues and academic freedom.

This 2008 report analyzes AAUP policy on and historical experience with the suspension of faculty members from teaching or research. It concludes that classical academic freedom issues are not always at play in a suspension and some involve emergency mattes.

This 2008 report concerns the case of Marianna Vieira, a nontenure-track faculty member at the University of New Haven who was dismissed without adequate cause and while she was being recommended for promotion. The report deals with issues of the status of non-tenured faculty, due process, and the adequacy of the procedural standards in assessing student complaints.