BY RUDY FICHTENBAUM AND PAUL DAVIS

As we shared with members in December 2018,  the AAUP Council and the AAUP Collective Bargaining Congress Executive Committee voted in November to move forward with changes that will streamline our shared organizational structure. Following that vote, these governing bodies directed that detailed revisions to governing documents and other policies that would implement the approved changes be drafted for their review. The Council and the AAUP-CBC Executive Committee met on March 29 and 30 to consider these detailed draft revisions. They voted overwhelmingly to recommend a package of changes to the June 2019 AAUP annual meeting and AAUP-CBC regular meeting.

To reiterate what we said in our December communication, the shared direction approved by Council and the AAUP-CBC Executive Committee in November included the following proposals.

• Combine the programs and operations of the AAUP-CBC and AAUP into the AAUP effective January 1, 2020.
• Replace the AAUP’s annual meeting with a biennial delegate convention.
• Move from mail ballots to secret ballot election of officers and Council members at the biennial meeting.
• Create a governing board (Council) composed of three officers (president, vice president, and secretary-treasurer), five regional members, and three at-large members, elected by the delegates on two-year staggers at the biennial meetings.
• Create a national at-large chapter for members who are not currently affiliated with a chapter.
• Create a procedure for small chapters (under 250 members) in a given state to band together to form a section for purposes of representation at the biennial meeting.

At their meeting last weekend, the AAUP Council and the AAUP-CBC Executive Committee voted to forward the following items to their respective June meetings for approval.

• A joint resolution tying the different elements of the transition together and requiring that the specific elements be passed by the relevant bodies as proposed in order for any changes to go into effect.
• A motion dissolving the AAUP-CBC and transferring its assets and liabilities to the AAUP (see page two of the joint resolution).
• A recommendation to roll CBC dues into AAUP collective bargaining dues, effective January 1, 2020. This would result in a one-time increase of $23 for the full-time, entrant, and associate categories of AAUP collective bargaining dues and a one-time increase of $10 for part-time and graduate student AAUP collective bargaining dues. CBC dues would no longer be collected. This recommendation has been reviewed by AAUP’s Committee on Membership (see page two of the joint resolution).
• Proposed amendments to the AAUP Constitution codifying the changes directed by the AAUP Council and the AAUP-CBC Executive Committee in November 2018. These proposed changes have been reviewed by the AAUP’s Committee on Organization of the Association and have been vetted by outside labor and tax attorneys to ensure compliance with our internal policies, as well as compliance with various regulations.
• A proposed Combined AAUP Leadership Transition Plan establishing the transitional leadership structure. Under the proposed transition plan, the elected AAUP Council and AAUP-CBC Executive Committee members in office as of December 31, 2019, would complete their terms as members of a combined Council. In June 2022, the structure and membership of Council would be the one outlined in the proposed amendments to the AAUP Constitution.

These recommendations grow out of the shared priorities and organizational vision of the AAUP and the AAUP-CBC. We are one profession, regardless of institution type, tenure status, rank, job title, or collective bargaining status. We are strongest when we focus on building and supporting chapters and empowering our members to effect change at the campus level. At the same time, we recognize that higher education and other public goods are under attack as never before in our lifetimes. We need governance and organizational structures that allow us to support our chapters in their defense of higher education as a common good. We are excited about these changes and believe that these proposed changes will result in a stronger AAUP, one that is best situated to thrive for another hundred years.

Elements of the above proposed changes will be voted on at the June 2019 AAUP annual meeting and AAUP-CBC regular meeting. A formal notice about the meeting will be sent out within the next few weeks. We are continuing outreach to chapters and conferences ahead of the meeting and the meeting itself will include opportunities to discuss the proposals, as well as additional business sessions regarding these changes. We are also planning to hold tele-town halls and webinars both prior to the June meeting and, assuming passage of these changes, after the meeting.

You can find additional information about proposed restructuring here.

In the meantime, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to direct them to executivedirector@aaup.org. We are happy to discuss these proposed changes.

Rudy Fichtenbaum is the president of the national AAUP and Paul Davis is the chair of the AAUP Collective Bargaining Congress.