Woman in white lab coat looking through microscope.

COVID-19 and the Faculty Role in Decision-Making

BY RUDY FICHTENBAUM AAUP president Rudy Fichtenbaum issued the following statement today on the coronavirus (COVID-19). As we are learning, COVID-19 (the coronavirus) has the potential to present a serious challenge to the health and safety of our campus communities. At this time, campuses in Washington State, New York State, California, Nebraska, and elsewhere have…

Students at SUNY

COVID-19: Bring the Faculty into the Decision Making

BY AARON BARLOW “All of my professors are talking about this,” commented the student, “but we’ve heard nothing from the administration.” Across the country, classroom teachers are hearing similar words as they prepare with their students for possible shut-downs sparked by COVID-19 (coronavirus) fears. We’re all doing what we can—which is a lot—with the limited…

Close-up of a map with a red pin in California

Suppression of Free Speech by the University of California

BY CAROLE H. BROWNER ET AL. A group of senior professors at the University of California was denied free speech and academic freedom by the administration and its nine student newspapers during the COVID-19 pandemic in furtherance of the university’s abominable policy of silencing all dissent, questioning, and criticisms of its draconian COVID policies. The…

Logo of the UNC Chapel Hill AAUP chapter

Unauthorized Recording of Classes at UNC

POSTED BY HASSAN MELEHY In response to reports in April and May of a colleague’s classes being secretly recorded by an associate dean, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s AAUP chapter has issued the following statement. Details on the recording incident involving Professor Larry Chavis of UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, may be found…

The Foundations of Academic Freedom

BY HANK REICHMAN The following is the text of my May 15, 2024, keynote address to the international symposium, “Academic Freedom in the Twenty-First Century,” sponsored by the Wenner-Gren Foundations and the Academia Europaea HERCuLES in Stockholm, Sweden.  A slightly expanded version will be published next year, along with other symposium presentations, in European Review. …

Image of the cover of the winter 2024 issue of Academe magazine, "The Higher Ed Data Juggernaut." Ocean waves are overlaid with data points. The words "The Higher Ed" are in white font, and "Data Juggernaut" is in yellow.

From the Guest Editor: The Higher Ed Data Juggernaut

BY SIOBHAN SENIER Following is the guest editor’s introduction to the winter 2024 issue of Academe, out this week. The full table of contents for the issue is available here.  In memoriam David Golumbia* In December 2020, a group of leading scholars of educational technology, including Jesse Stommel—a contributor to this special issue—held a landmark teach-in #AgainstSurveillance. The…

Another College Murdered

BY HANK REICHMAN On Thursday, the Board of Trustees of the College of Saint Rose in Albany, N.Y., voted to close the school at the end of the current academic year.  Saint Rose President Marcia White confirmed the decision in a letter to the campus community.   Between 500 and 600 college employees will lose their…

Three election booths with American flags and the word VOTE in blue letters on their sides are arranged a few feet apart against the exterior brick wall of a building.

An Election about the Right to Learn History

BY BENJAMIN N. LAWRANCE This past election cycle many, if not most, eyes were on Ohio. Would it be the seventh state in a row to recognize a woman’s bodily integrity as a constitutional right? In the excitement (or disappointment) last Tuesday, however, the ongoing national struggle over history education received short shrift. Buried in…

Columbia Faculty Union banner declaring "I'm ready to fight for a fair contract."

Education as a Public Good: The Columbia College Faculty Union’s Strike

BY COLUMBIA FACULTY UNION, COLUMBIA COLLEGE CHICAGO This statement was submitted by the Columbia Faculty Union, Local 6602 IFT/AFT, representing part-time faculty at Columbia College Chicago, on Monday, October 30, as they began a strike.  In the heart of Chicago, the Columbia Faculty Union (CFAC) represents a diverse group of faculty members, many of whom…

Wide shot of Medaille University

This College Didn’t Just Die; It Was Murdered

BY HANK REICHMAN On May 15, Medaille University in Buffalo, New York (until last summer, Medaille College) announced that it will cease operations and close after 148 years on August 31. The announcement came less than a week after neighboring Trocaire College informed Medaille it would pull out of an agreement to purchase the school,…