News

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    Preventing Teaching Faculty from becoming Second Class Citizens

    Byadmin

    An article in today’s Academe Blog by Kris Boudreau and Mark Richman discusses research from The Chronicle of Higher Education’s Becky Supiano about how creating a “teaching track” of faculty can elevate instruction and instruction focussed faculty, but also risks “cementing their second-class citizenship.” The article examines a new tenure track for teaching faculty program at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. “The tenure track institutionalizes the university’s respect for [teaching faculty] well beyond providing a set of formal academic titles and adds the critical component of guaranteed academic freedom that is difficult to secure with anything less than tenure… By extending, supporting,…

  • Education Gag Orders Attack Academic Freedom

    Byadmin

    Academe Blog has posted an article by Jennifer Ruth that describes how red state anti-Critical Race Theory laws are both an impingement of freedom of speech — and so will be challenged on First Amendment grounds — but also are direct attacks on academic freedom. “Despite all its old Cold War fear mongering and all its talk of freedom, the Republican Party now harbors a sizable contingent of politicians who are increasingly willing to use authoritarian tactics to get what they want. The legislative bills banning so-called divisive concepts are the biggest assault on academic freedom this country has ever…

  • Covid-19 Accelerated the Erosion of Academic Governance

    Byadmin

    The Chronicle of Higher Education has coverage of a recent AAUP report about the surge in unilateral decision-making by governing boards and administrations during the Covid-19 era. The full AAUP report is available online and states: “The COVID-19 pandemic has presented the most serious challenges to academic governance in the last fifty years.” And that faculty were forced to choose between participating “in ad hoc governance processes they knew to be flawed in the hope of shaping their outcomes or refusing on principle to participate at all, thereby allowing administrators and board members to move forward without them.”

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    Report from the National AAUP Convention

    Byadmin

    Council of UC Faculty Associations (CUCFA, of which UCLA-FA is the UCLA chapter) President Constance Penley attended the historic National AAUP convention on June 16-18 in Arlington, VA, as the CUCFA delegate, which meant that she had an opportunity to vote on the proposed alliance between the AAUP and the AFT (AFL-CIO) and to fill six open AAUP Council seats. Read her report from the Convention at the CUCFA website.

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    New 2022 AAUP Survey of Tenure Practices

    Byadmin

    Tenure practices vary among institutions, however systematic studies of these practices are rare. The 2022 AAUP Survey of Tenure Practices is the first survey of its kind since 2004. It “offers a snapshot of prevailing tenure practices and policies at four-year institutions with tenure systems. Among the findings, the survey found that tenure is highly prevalent throughout US higher education, with 87 percent of four-year institutions that have a Carnegie Classification of bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral institution reporting having a tenure system.” Available online.

  • AAUP Amicus with NLRB re: Collective Bargaining Unit of Faculty and Staff

    Byadmin

    AAUP’s summary: “The AAUP’s brief explains that, under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), where the union’s proposed unit is given deference: (1) bargaining units that include faculty and staff employed at institutions of higher education are not categorically barred, provided that faculty members are given a mechanism to express their desires on the issue; (2) AAUP policy statements concerning academic freedom and shared governance do not preclude faculty members from deciding to be included in a unit with staff; and (3) the exclusion of tenured and tenure-track faculty from a proposed bargaining unit comprised of contingent faculty and staff…

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    AAUP / AFT Affiliation Agreement

    Byadmin

    The AAUP and AFT have drafted a new affiliation agreement that will be voted on at the June AAUP meeting. Some details: “Under the terms of this affiliation agreement, all AAUP members, by virtue of their membership in the AAUP, will also be members of the AFT/AFL-CIO… AAUP members and AAUP chapters will have access to AFT support and services, including specific AFT member benefits… This affiliation will not result in an increase in national AAUP dues and, for current AAUP members, AFT per capita will be covered as part of the AAUP dues… The national AAUP and its chapters…

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    Spotlight on Speech Codes, 2022

    Byadmin

    Fire (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) has just released its yearly summary of the state of free speech at 481 public and private colleges and universities in the United States. FIRE defines free speech as “the overwhelming majority of speech protected by the First Amendment.” Few exceptions exist. The survey addresses a wide variety of issues with relevance to free speech, including: Free Speech Zone PoliciesPrior RestraintsSecurity Fee PoliciesPolicies Governing Speakers, Demonstrations, and RalliesPolicies on Bias and Hate SpeechInternet Usage PoliciesPolicies on Tolerance, Respect, and CivilityBullying PoliciesThreats and IntimidationHarassmentPolicies on Bias and Hate SpeechObscenityIncitement The report is both disappointing…

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    Open Letter: Senate faculty support UC-AFT strike, November 17-18

    Byhigbie

    UC-AFT and the UC reached a tentative agreement and the strike is cancelled. Read the details here: https://ucaft.org/content/uc-aft-teaching-faculty-reach-historic-agreement. Thanks to all who signed our letter of solidarity. To the UCLA Community: We the undersigned Senate faculty stand in solidarity with our fellow faculty represented by the University Council-American Federation of Teachers (UC-AFT). Lecturers across the UC system have been working without a contract for more than two years. They charge the university with bad faith bargaining, which is a violation of state law, and they plan to strike on November 17 and 18. This situation is intolerable and we call…

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    UC-AFT Strike: Nov 17-18

    Byhigbie

    Non-tenure faculty across the University of California voted for a two-day strike this week, November 17 and 18. UC-AFT lecturers have been working without a contract for more than two years, and they charge the university with several unfair labor practices including refusal to bargain on key issues. Lecturers teach as much as a third of courses across the University of California. They have little or no job security, and are paid much less than faculty on a per class basis. These conditions undermine faculty welfare and threaten the future of public higher education. The UCLA Faculty Association/AAUP stands in…