BY SHERRYL KLEINMAN When the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Board of Trustees chair David Boliek explained the trustees’ rationale for seeking to create a new School of Civic Life and Leadership, he cited an imaginary problem in search of a blatantly political solution. On January 28, on the Fox and Friends news…
BY THE NORTH DAKOTA UNIVERSITY SYSTEM COUNCIL OF COLLEGE FACULTIES Below is a letter from the Council of College Faculties Executive Committee to the chair, Austen Schauer, and members of the Government and Veterans Affairs Committee of the North Dakota state legislature regarding House Bill 1446, followed by the text of a resolution the council…
BY MICHAEL SCHWALBE Years ago, I was speaking with a colleague about one of the paradoxes of university life: tenured faculty enjoy more job security than almost any other occupational group in US society, yet they are often afraid to fight for their interests as a group. My colleague accounted for this lack of collective…
BY HANK REICHMAN At the biennial membership meeting last June the AAUP’s governing Council voted to condemn the University of North Carolina Board of Governors and System Office for multiple violations of widely accepted standards of shared governance and academic freedom and for a sustained climate of institutional racism. The vote came after publication of…
BY DAVE NALBONE On December 10, 2022, during a morning commencement exercise, Purdue University Northwest chancellor Tom Keon, in an apparent effort to dovetail on the humor of the commencement speaker who gave examples of the made-up language he used to entertain his grandchildren, offered his “Asian version” . . . to stunningly bad effect.…
BY TAYLOR SWAAK Hi, everyone! I’m a reporter with the Chronicle of Higher Education covering technology and innovation. I’m in the midst of a newsroom report (see past examples here) on how colleges can thoughtfully, safely, and effectively partner with outside companies for services related to academic and student support. The broad umbrella of contracted services may…
BY FRANÇOIS FURSTENBERG I have a small but persistent fantasy about academic life, about an alternate review and promotion system for university faculty. Here’s what I imagine . . . You were lucky to be hired as an assistant professor into a tenure-track job. Now six years later, you’re coming up for tenure. You’d like…
POSTED BY THE AAUP Fall 2022 | Vol. 108, No. 4 The fall 2022 issue of Academe calls on faculty to become actively engaged in budget and finance issues on their campuses and in their states. Contributors to the issue explore the power of coalitional organizing to push back against austerity measures, demand transparency, and hold institutions…
BY TIMOTHY V. KAUFMAN-OSBORN In a bold move, sixteen faculty, staff, students, and alumni recently filed a suit calling on Washington’s attorney general to remove from office six trustees, including the interim president, of Seattle Pacific University (SPU). Given the real risks involved, especially for those currently on SPU’s payroll, we should applaud these plaintiffs…
BY ALEX ZUKAS In the latest act in a continuing coup against the faculty at National University that started in spring 2020, the interim president and board of trustees just imposed a faculty handbook that defines academic freedom and shared governance in ways that are unrecognizable to AAUP members as it completely hollows out those…