academic freedom

UCLA-FA Statement on the Anniversary of the April 30 Attack on Our Students

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Statement of the UCLA Faculty Association on the Anniversary of the Violent Dissolution of the Palestine Solidarity Encampment Just over one year ago, a group of student anti-war activists erected a Palestine Solidarity Encampment (PSE) on Royce Quad, with the goal of bringing attention to the role of UCLA in the ongoing genocide in Gaza. In the style of previous, storied protests, students demanded divestment of UC funds from the war and war profiteers. A few days later on April 30, 2024, UCLA posted signs declaring the PSE unlawful; a few hours later, outside agitators began an attack on the…

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Faculty File Historic Academic Freedom Unfair Labor Practice Charges Against UC

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Faculty from across the UC system — long synonymous with the Free Speech Movement — have organized to fight a systematic, illegal campaign to repress academic freedom  via cucfa.org Los Angeles, CA – Today, the Council of University of California Faculty Associations (CUCFA) and faculty associations from seven University of California (UC) campuses filed an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charge against the UC administration with the California Public Employee Relations Board (PERB). This systemwide ULP filing builds on a filing by the UCLA Faculty Association this spring. It asserts that UC violated the law, its own policies, and both the…

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UCLA Faculty Association Condemns UC Sidestepping Labor Board, Ongoing Rights Violations on Campus 

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Last week, the University of California (UC) circumvented acceptable labor dispute practices to pause the UAW 4811 unfair labor practice (ULP) strike. The strike was twice allowed to proceed by the Public Employee Relations Board (PERB), the labor body which will ultimately determine the strike’s legality. This extreme approach by the UC is deeply concerning because it undermines labor laws and the right of PERB to adjudicate labor disputes. We should all be concerned when our administration sidesteps best processes and “venue shops” until they find a court likely to decide in their favor. Such repressive, anti-labor tactics are typical…

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UCLA-FA files Unfair Labor Practices charge against UC

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LOS ANGELES, CA (June 5, 2024) – On June 3rd, the UCLA Faculty Association (UCLAFA) filed unfair labor practice (ULP) charges against the University of California (UC) to vindicate faculty rights to protest, organize, and exercise academic freedom. The ULP charges the UC for UCLA’s failure to uphold, and their choice to interfere with, faculty’s legally protected rights during and after the recent UCLA Palestine Solidarity Encampment. This is the fourth organization to file a ULP against the UC in the wake of its actions at UCLA in late April and early May, following charges by UAW, UC-AFT and AFSCME….

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Faculty statements on campus protest crackdown

Byhigbie

We will update this page as more statements come in… Departmental Statements Chicana/o and Central American Studies Faculty Statement Asian American Studies Department Solidarity Statement Statement of Members of the Department of History in Response to Clearing the Encampment, 2 May 2024 Statement of Members of the Department of Classics on the University’s Failure to Protect Student Protestors Statement by Members of the Department of English, Comparative Literature, and Writing Programs in response to the forcible removal of the Student Encampment  Statement of Members of the UCLA Department of History Faculty in Response to the Attack on the Encampment on…

Education Gag Orders Attack Academic Freedom

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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…

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Report from the National AAUP Convention

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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

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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.

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AAUP / AFT Affiliation Agreement

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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

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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…