tear in thick brown paper reveals the word "governance" in block letters on a white background

2021 AAUP Shared Governance Conference

BY MICHAEL DECESARE The 2021 AAUP Shared Governance Conference is in June, and there’s just one week left to submit a proposal for a paper presentation on a topic relating to academic governance. Authors are encouraged to explore connections between their institutions and other institutions, and to consider the application of AAUP governance policies. Possible areas of focus…

Call for Proposals: 2021 AAUP Shared Governance Conference

BY MICHAEL DECESARE Please mark your calendars: the AAUP will hold its shared governance conference online June 14 through June 18, 2021, and we are now accepting proposals for paper presentations on topics relating to academic governance. In addition to paper presentations, the conference will include panels, plenary presentations, and workshops for current and future…

AAUP’s Governance Committee Denounces Remarks by UW System President

BY MICHAEL DECESARE Yesterday the AAUP’s Committee on College and University Governance released the following statement: In October 2017, news broke of University of Wisconsin system president Ray Cross’s decision to propose a merger of the system’s two- and four-year institutions. It was the latest in a number of unilateral and secretive actions taken by system…

Saint Rose Leadership in Turmoil

BY MICHAEL DECESARE In 2016, the AAUP’s annual meeting voted to add The College of Saint Rose to the censure list. The most egregious of the administration’s and governing board’s many transgressions had been the termination of 23 tenured and tenure-track faculty appointments as part of a top-down “academic prioritization” process that eliminated a number of…

Iowa City Old Capitol building with lawn in front and pedestrians on a path

AP: Iowa Regents “Secretly Recruited” Bruce Harreld

BY MICHAEL DECESARE One of the primary findings of the AAUP’s investigative report regarding the University of Iowa’s 2015 presidential search was that “the search was structured and engineered by the regents’ leadership from the outset to identify a figure from the business world congenial to its image of ‘transformative leadership.’” An AP story out yesterday confirms this conclusion.…

New Academe Calls on Faculty to Reclaim Governance Role

BY MICHAEL DECESARE Administrative encroachment. Governing board overreach. Political interference. In light of these and other ominous trends, the need has never been more urgent for faculty to reclaim a central role in the government of our colleges and universities. The May–June issue of Academe, now available on the AAUP website, is devoted to academic…

Academic Governance (and Protest) at Fordham

BY MICHAEL DECESARE In discussions of academic governance, administrators like to emphasize the need for trust. Trouble is, they’re usually the ones to betray it. The latest case in point comes from Fordham University. As reported in a February 1 article in the Fordham Ram, the administration announced in June 2016 that “it would impose a…

"Change is Here to Stay" at Union County College

BY MICHAEL DECESARE In June, delegates to the AAUP’s 102nd annual meeting voted to add Union County College (NJ) to the Association’s list of institutions sanctioned for “substantial noncompliance with standards of academic government.” The unanimous vote was based on a scorching report by Robert A. Gorman, former AAUP president and emeritus professor of labor law at…