BY BETHANY LETIECQ, SAMANTHA PARSONS, AND GUS THOMSON We did it! We organized. We educated. We advocated. And with student activism, solidarity, and a collaborative spirit, we collectively achieved a huge victory for transparency at George Mason University (GMU). Last week, Provost Wu announced at our GMU Faculty Senate meeting that we will institute a…
POSTED BY KELLY HAND The new issue of Academe highlights the power of faculty to build strength on their campuses by organizing through AAUP advocacy and collective bargaining chapters. Articles focus on presidential searches, private donor influence, adjunct faculty activism, risks of gun violence, retirement, and other topics. Follow the links in the table of contents…
BY HANK REICHMAN Earlier this week I discussed The Future of Academic Freedom with Patricia Raskin, host of the Internet radio show “Positive Living” on voiceamerica.com. To listen to this interesting conversation go to https://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/114836/fiona-citkin-how-they-made-it-henry-reichman-academic-freedom/57810 You can also listen to the discussion as a podcast on iTunes here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/henry-reichman-academic-freedom/id421428770?i=1000437359914
BY GWENDOLYN BRADLEY The AAUP has released the Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession, 2018–19. This year’s report provides an overview of the results of the 2018–19 AAUP Faculty Compensation Survey, which compiled data on more than 380,000 full-time faculty members at 952 colleges and universities, as well as improved data on pay…
BY BRIAN C. MITCHELL “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” This adage, or some version of it, is widely attributed to Benjamin Franklin or Winston Churchill or 1970s self-help author Alan Lakein. Regardless of origin, the wisdom is applicable to many U.S. colleges and universities today. As institutions continue to face uphill challenges in their…
BY EMILY M.S. HOUH An investigation by the AAUP released today found unacceptable conditions for academic governance at Vermont Law School (VLS). The investigation was launched in response to the VLS administration’s action to “restructure” the faculty in order to address financial challenges. The “restructuring” included lowering salaries, radically reducing the number of full-time positions…
BY SAMANTHA PARSONS, DAVID RAPACH, AND BONNIE WILSON The Academic Capture Warning System (ACWS) is a repository of information on clear violations of well-accepted academic norms involving financial donations to institutions of higher education. Such violations jeopardize the independence and integrity of academic research. Key purposes of the ACWS are to: • raise awareness and…
BY MATTHEW DEAN HINDMAN AND RYAN SAYLOR Matthew Dean Hindman is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Tulsa. Ryan Saylor is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Tulsa. Since 1920, the AAUP has championed shared governance in higher education; you can even complete its questionnaire to gauge how your…
BY AARON R. HANLON Aaron R. Hanlon is Assistant Professor of English at Colby College The public is right to care about what kinds of values our institutions of higher education are (and are not) imparting to students. People are likely to disagree over which particular values they think colleges and universities ought to emphasize—in…
BY HANK REICHMAN Nestled in the Rocky Mountains north of Salt Lake City, Utah State University (USU) is known for its agriculture, education and space research programs. In 2008, the Charles Koch foundation gave USU $25,000 every year for one “Koch professor” and the same stipend for each of four “faculty junior professors.” The agreement…