BY JUDY A. VAN WYK

Making t-shirts at the 2017 AAUP/AAUP-CBC Summer Institute at the University of Cincinnati.

I attended my first AAUP/AAUP-CBC Summer Institute in 2015. Even though I work just two floors below my colleague, Sandy Hicks, it was at this conference that she and I brainstormed our URI AAUP Membership Committee and developed our ambitious goals for the committee. Inspired by what we learned there, we followed through with our plans and instituted our committee in November 2016.

I also attended Summer Institute in 2016, where I attended a two-day workshop on organizing. Again, inspired by what I learned there, our Membership Committee developed a Steward’s Council; and recruited and trained 12 new stewards on our campus. We also developed a bi-annual membership drive that has increased our membership from 55% in 2016 to 67% in 2018!

I am excited about this year’s Summer Institute at the University of New Hampshire and all of the great things I will learn and be inspired to do to strengthen our mission. If you get the chance, come see our presentation titled “Creating a Culture of Organizing: We’re Doing It, and It Seems to Be Working” (5G, Saturday, July 21, 1:30-4:30 pm).

This workshop will be useful to members who are hoping to breathe a little life into organizing in their chapters and utilize member’s skills and expertise in ways that strengthen and expand collective action. Hear about our chapter’s journey through this process and learn from each other’s stories. We will examine common barriers to organizing and explore innovative ways to address them: Where do we start? How do we encourage volunteers? How do we respond to anti-union sentiments from colleagues? How do we create a collective vision and definition of “our union?” You’ll take home new ideas and useful strategies to try out in your chapter.

Register by June 29 for the AAUP/AAUP-CBC Summer Institute.

Guest blogger Judy A. Van Wyk is associate professor of sociology at the University of Rhode Island and vice president of the URI AAUP chapter.

This blog post is part of a series inviting AAUP members to write about their summer plans, challenges, and experiences. You can read about the series here.