In Delaware, Dramatically Different Conceptions of the Current State and the Future Prospects of Higher Education

Earlier this month, Dr. Patrick T. Harker, President of the University of Delaware, wrote an op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer expressing his views of the American university and the faculty of the University of Delaware. His op-ed is available at: http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/inquirer/20150205_Universities_must_adapt_to_meet_student_needs.html After an open meeting of the membership of the University of Delaware chapter of AAUP,…

AAUP Statement on the Proposed Closure of the University of North Carolina Law School Poverty Center

The following statement was issued today, February 24,  by the American Association of University Professors.  A media release may be found here.  This statement from the national office of the American Association of University Professors is sent on behalf of the local AAUP chapters at University of North Carolina institutions and the statewide North Carolina…

Education As a Political Football: Just One More Example

Here’s a headline from today’s New York Times: “Wisconsin Sees Presidential Ploy in Walker’s Push for University Cuts.” Only to be expected, of course: to his critics, Mr. Walker, in both his proposed cuts and his aborted effort to overhaul the Wisconsin Idea, is trying to capitalize on a view that is popular among many conservatives: that…

Marquette to Fire John McAdams for His Blog

Marquette University Dean Richard Holz has written a letter to Professor John McAdams, announcing that university will revoke his tenure and fire him. The AAUP recently wrote a letter to Marquette objecting to the suspension of McAdams without adequate cause or hearing. This latest development is far more alarming. AAUP regulations, and Marquette’s own policies,…

UIUC AAUP Statements on Salaita Case

UPDATE: I’ll be speaking at a panel on “Shared Governance and Academic Freedom: Where Are We Now?” at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Weds. Feb. 11, 7:30pm @ University YMCA, 1001 S. Wright St., Champaign, sponsored by the Campus Faculty Association. On a related topic, the AAUP chapter at UIUC has issued these two statements on…

New Development in Salaita Case is at Hand

The Center for Constitutional Rights has been providing legal counsel to Professor Steven Salaita who returned a signed contract to teach in the American Indian Studies Program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Tomorrow this intrepid organization is announcing a press call to inform the public of a “new development” in the Salaita summary dismissal case. I presume…

Postscript to My Post on the McAdams Case

John Wilson’s post containing the letter from the national AAUP to the Marquette administration somewhat clarifies several of the issues with McAdams—that is, clarifies the issues without presuming to resolve them. The university’s position has become that McAdams has repeatedly referred to students by name in his personal blog or other public communications–not simply that…

AAUP Letter to Marquette on John McAdams

Last week, AcademeBlog posted a letter from Daniel Maguire about the John McAdams suspension by Marquette University, and an essay by Martin Kich about it. The following letter from Gregory Scholtz of the AAUP was sent today to Marquette and posted by McAdams on his blog. January 26, 2015 Dr. Michael R. Lovell President Marquette…