Overhauling Our Boards of Trustees

John Zipp, the president of the AAUP chapter at the University of Akron, recently contributed an op-ed, titled “University Board Selection Process Needs Shake-Up,” to the Columbus Dispatch. After opening with a range of examples of how the Boards of Trustees of Ohio’s public universities have recently made ill-considered decisions–often despite very vocal concerns expressed…

The Miami University AAUP Chapter Has a Website—and Major Changes Are Being Imposed on the University’s Regional Campuses

This relatively new but rapidly growing chapter in Ohio now has a nice website at http://www.miamiaaup.org/. The chapter news also can be followed on Facebook and Twitter. The website includes a link to an article in The Miami Student [http://miamistudent.net/] by Megan Zahneis, reporting on the major administrative restructuring occurring at Miami’s regional campuses: “Miami’s…

Canadian Faculty Defend Academic Freedom

Last weekend I had the honor and privilege of attending the annual Council meeting of the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) in Ottawa, where I spoke on academic freedom issues in the U.S. and the work of AAUP’s Committee A. Canadian law is far more favorable to higher education faculty collective bargaining rights than…

“It’s the End of the University as We Know It”

The following piece was published originally on the website of the AAUP chapter at the University of Akron. Although it addresses issues at their institution, none of those issues are specific to their institution alone. ________________________ {The title of this post] was, quite literally, the take-home message from President Scarborough’s State of the University address.…

The Ohio Conference of AAUP Unanimously Endorses a Resolution Expressing Support for Wisconsin Faculty

This resolution is the second of four presented and unanimously endorsed at The Ohio Conference annual meeting on November 7. Whereas members of the Ohio Conference AAUP harbor a grave concern that our colleagues in Wisconsin have lost tenure protections and collective bargaining rights; Whereas the members of the Ohio Conference AAUP believe that for…

Campus Faculty Association at University of Illinois on Salaita Settlement

This is the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Campus Faculty Association statement on the Steven Salaita settlement with the University of Illinois. The CFA, which has pursued with vigor and determination the right to organise the entire University of Illinois faculty into a union, has previously commented on the AAUP investigation and censure. The following statement on the…

The Steven G. Salaita-University of Illinois Settlement Mediator

Former United States District Judge Wayne Andersen was the mediator in the Steven Salaita settlement dispute with his former employer and tormentor: the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Having been deadlocked for over a year, in October the disputing parties agreed to retain the services of Judge Andersen. Since this was not a case that required mandatory…

Missouri and the Corporate University

Bruce Joshua Miller and Ned Stuckey-French have written a splendid piece in the Chronicle of Higher Education that provides further perspective on the recent events at the University of Missouri, most specifically their connection with broader disturbing trends in higher education.  The entire piece deserves a reading, but here are some pertinent excerpts: Timothy Wolfe…