Academic Freedom, Tenure, and Due Process

This report concerns the actions taken against Dr. Maura Finkelstein by the administration of Muhlenberg College, namely her termination without cause following allegations of anti-Zionism and discrimination based on her social media presence. The committee found that the Muhlenberg administration wrongly utilized the college's equal opportunity and nondiscrimination policy and violated Professor Finkelstein's right to academic due process, and that the existing policies do not adequately protect academic freedom or due process according to AAUP standards.

Report examining the costs to academic freedom incurred by the current trend toward overreliance on part- and full-time non-tenure-track faculty. The report recommends that for the good of institutions, of the educational experiences of students, and of the quality of education, the proportion of tenured and tenure-track faculty should be increased.

The 2022 AAUP Survey of Tenure Practices, the first survey of its kind since 2004, offers a snapshot of prevailing tenure practices and policies at four-year institutions with tenure systems. Among the findings, the survey found that tenure is highly prevalent throughout US higher education, with 87 percent of four-year institutions that have a Carnegie Classification of bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral institution reporting having a tenure system.

This report provides a statistical analysis of the presence of AAUP-recommended policies on academic freedom, dismissal for cause, financial exigency, and program discontinuance in faculty handbooks and collective bargaining agreements. In the best of times, analysis of their prevalence could usefully inform the work of AAUP chapters, faculty governance bodies, and higher education unions, but given the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on campuses around the coun­try, these data are now even more important to the advancement of the AAUP’s principles and policies. Statistical evidence of the...

The Trump administration’s alarming hostility to science has exacerbated already troubling threats to academic freedom in the physical and natural sciences in two different areas. In the area of international scientific exchange, Chinese or Chinese American scientists have been targeted and charged with espionage. The second area, the field of climate science, has been subjected to vicious attempts to discredit its validity, which have intensified significantly since Donald Trump took office.

This report, released for comment in March 2016 and issued in its final version in June 2016, evaluates the history and current uses of Title IX and identifies tensions between current interpretations of Title IX and the academic freedom essential for campus life to thrive. The report makes recommendations for how best to address the problem of campus sexual assault and harassment while also protecting academic freedom, free speech, and due process.

This revised report brings up to date and expands upon the Association’s 2004 report on the same topic, while affirming the earlier report’s basic principles. Academic freedom, free inquiry, and freedom of expression within the academic community may be limited to no greater extent in electronic format than they are in print, save for the most unusual situation where the very nature of the medium itself might warrant unusual restrictions,

The AAUP clarifies that the group "Students for Academic Freedom," which purports to rely on AAUP principles concerning controversial subject matter, in fact goes well beyond the AAUP's statements and is inimical to academic freedom and the very idea of liberal education.

This report is being issued in the midst of fundamental changes in the character of faculty rights and academic freedom. The purpose of the report is to put the dialog on intellectual property on a new foundation, one that leads to a principle-based restoration of faculty leadership in setting policy in this increasingly important area of university activity. Administration efforts to control the fruits of faculty scholarship augur a sea change in faculty employment conditions, one too often imposed without negotiation or consent.

A report discussing academic boycotts and relevant AAUP policies, and making recommendations.