BY HANK REICHMAN This month saw what the AAUP quickly labeled “A Concerted Attack on Academic Freedom” in Iowa and Missouri, as well as a boneheaded bill introduced in Arizona that would have banned discussions of “social justice” at the state’s public colleges and universities. But after faculty members and higher ed leaders pushed back,…
BY HARRY HELLENBRAND Harry Hellenbrand, who retired not long ago from his long-time position as provost at California State University (CSU), Northridge, remains one of the most respected and intelligent academic administrators in the CSU, who was revered — dare I say, even loved — by his faculty. Harry is also one of the most…
Writing for the Hartford Courant, Sally Jenkins provides a very acerbically satiric, first-person response ostensibly from University of Connecticut football coach Randy Edsell to the furor now surrounding his decision to rescind a scholarship offer to a player recruited by his predecessor: “Over the course of my long and distinctively insincere career, which includes…
POSTED BY HANK REICHMAN The following document was prepared and released jointly by the AAUP and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). It may be accessed in .pdf format at https://www.aaup.org/news/faqs-faculty-after-2016-election Recently, the United States has experienced an unprecedented spike in hate crimes and threats, both physical and verbal, on college and university campuses. These…
BY ZACHARY M. SCHRAG This is a cross-post of a blog post by Zachary M. Schrag, who published it on his Institutional Review Blog. Schrag, a professor of history at George Mason University, was one of the authors of a 2013 report by a subcommittee of the AAUP’s Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure, Regulation of…
BY BRIAN C. MITCHELL There is a basic, fundamental truth about the American college or university operating model: It doesn’t work. In the second half of the 20th century, America’s colleges and universities moved toward a similar operating model, depending upon their size, purpose, and funding source. Some scaled up to the research powerhouses that…
BY MARTHA T. McCLUSKEY This is a guest post by Martha T. McCluskey, a professor of law and William J. Magavern Faculty Scholar at the University of Buffalo. Her e-mail address is mcclusk@buffalo.edu. The views in this blog and related article do not represent any institution or group. As public funding for higher education has…
BY KELLY HAND With the inauguration of president-elect Donald Trump just two days away, and with legislators in several states targeting higher education—through efforts to eliminate tenure (Iowa and Missouri) and specific courses or programs (Wisconsin and Arizona)—there is an urgent need for faculty to take action to protect academic freedom and quality higher education. The…
BY HANK REICHMAN Remember that widely circulated map illustrating how in 39 of 50 states the highest-paid state employee is a public university football or basketball coach? If you don’t, here it is: According to USA Today‘s annual survey, in 2015-16 some 72 college football coaches were paid over a million dollars annually, not including…
BY JOERG TIEDE The recent creation of the Professor Watchlist was met by a number of responses. Among those is the open letter circulated by the AAUP, inviting faculty to stand in solidarity with their colleagues and add their names to the Professor Watchlist. As of this posting, almost 12,000 individuals have signed on. In addition to shows of…