Permanent Austerity and Health Risks for Fall 2020

BY JACOB A. BENNETT  Results from a survey of University of New Hampshire undergraduate students were discussed at the April 2020 meetings of the University System of New Hampshire Board of Trustees, indicating that only “30% of students felt they continue[d] to learn effectively” after the abrupt and necessary shift to remote learning this past…

A Fundamental Change That Police Unions Need to Make

BY MARTIN KICH It is woefully obvious that individual police officers, police departments, and the municipal governments that fund law enforcement and define its responsibilities have a whole host of changes that they need to consider and to make. But the unions that represent police officers need to make at least one very fundamental change.…

Ohio Conference of AAUP Statement on Returning to Campus

BY THE OHIO AAUP CONFERENCE The COVID-19 pandemic has created a tumultuous time in Ohio higher education. The emergency shutdown of our colleges and universities has drastically changed the nature of instruction, as well as the financial situations of our institutions. This past semester, faculty across Ohio rose to the challenge of moving courses online,…

Indiana Conference of AAUP Statement on Re-Opening

BY THE INDIANA AAUP CONFERENCE The COVID-19 virus pandemic has upended higher education, as all educational institutions quickly scrambled to protect students by making all instruction virtual, and otherwise keeping social distancing, often by sending residential students home for the rest of the year. Now, as colleges and universities must plan for how the fall…

Academics for Black Survival and Wellness Week

POSTED BY MARTIN KICH A week-long series of events from Juneteenth, Friday, June 19, to Thursday, June 25, 2020    A weeklong personal and professional development initiative for academics to honor the toll of racial trauma on Black people, resist anti-Blackness and white supremacy, and facilitate accountability and collective action. Registration is encouraged. Academics for Black…

Wittenberg AAUP Sends Open Letter to University President

POSTED BY MARTIN KICH The following is an open letter sent by the members of the Wittenberg AAUP chapter to their university president. The Ohio Conference AAUP fully supports the chapter and their efforts to promote and enforce standards of shared governance.   June 9, 2020 An Open Letter to the President, Provost, Board of…

doctor wearing scrubs and protective mask

University of South Florida Pandemic Principles

BY BRIAN CONNOLLY As universities across the country responded to COVID-19 with various austerity measures, including mass layoffs and furloughs, coupled with an insistence on returning faculty, staff, and students to campus, a group of faculty at the University of South Florida drafted a set of principles and submitted them to the administration. The aim…

In This Pandemic, Ohio’s Colleges and Universities Are Serving the Public Good

BY MARTIN KICH Ohio’s colleges and universities are contributing in uncountable ways to the state’s efforts to contend with the coronavirus pandemic. Our faculty have provided expertise that has helped our state to meet a wide range of challenges, from conducting ground-breaking bio-medical research to resolving unprecedented logistical and technological issues. Our institutions have opened…