Here’s one major thing you can do to help build the voice and power of the AAUP in 2019: talk to your nonmember colleagues about the importance of joining the AAUP. Tell them why you’re a member and what you’re fighting for.
So what’s ahead in 2019?
We’ll be releasing the report of an investigation into the abrupt nonreappointment of a faculty member at Nunez Community College. The investigating committee concluded that the action was taken in apparent violation of his academic freedom and without a dismissal hearing to which he was entitled as the result of having obtained de facto tenure at the institution after twenty-two years of service. We’ll also release a report of an investigation at Maricopa Community College, examining the governing board's termination of a “meet-and-confer” provision of the faculty policy manual and its move to severely limit the participation of the faculty in institutional governance. We’ll share those reports later this winter. To get up-to-the-minute updates on our work and join lively discussions, you can follow us on Facebook or Twitter.
Our next volume of the Journal of Academic Freedom is scheduled for publication in fall 2019 -- add your voice. We’re seeking original, scholarly articles that consider how “bullying” is implicated in conflicts taking place around discourses of civility and academic freedom. We are especially interested in essays related to how discourses of civility operate in terms of precarity, identity, and labor; globalization; social media and communication, campus discourse and more. See the complete call for papers, due March 1.
If your state has an active AAUP conference, you may be interested in getting more closely involved with the AAUP’s Assembly of State Conferences (ASC) or know someone who is. The ASC, which works to promote the general objectives of the AAUP and supports the development of state conferences and the member chapters, is seeking nominations for the following positions on its executive committee: treasurer and two at-large members. Visit https://www.aaup.org/2019-asc-election for more information. Nominations are due by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, January 18.
Save the date for the AAUP annual conference! It will be held June 12–16 just outside of Washington, DC. Highlights include a plenary session on the state of academic freedom, a Friday night reception, and an awards and recognition luncheon. In lieu of paper panels this year, we will organize peer-to-peer sessions in which chapters, staff, and members can share information about topics such as state-level legislation and lobbying; shared governance challenges; organizing locally around contingency; what’s coming up at the bargaining table; and organizing and member recruitment. We will also discuss proposed changes to the AAUP’s organizational structure.
Register now for the 16th Annual Meeting of the California Conference of the AAUP, Are Shared Governance and Academic Freedom One and the Same? to be held March 2 at Cal Maritime in Vallejo. Highlights include a keynote address, The Future of Academic Freedom, by Henry Reichman and 4 timely workshops on topics ranging from Creating Just Spaces on Campus to Fair Use for Academics.
If there is a leader or someone you want to recognize for outstanding service to the profession or chapter- or conference-level work, nominate them for an award. The deadline for all awards is March 15. Learn more here. Awards are presented at the Annual Conference.
Last but not least: in case you missed it, we highlighted some of our most significant wins in fall 2018 on our Academe Blog. From a victory for academic freedom at Rutgers to an important win for faculty of Purdue Global where our work exposed Purdue Global’s attempt to stifle individual faculty’s rights and undermine shared governance, it was a busy year. Read more and share the news.
Thank you for being a member of the AAUP.