AAUP in the News

The Price of Good Intentions from Inside Higher Education
(July 9, 2007)
By SCOTT JASCHIK
Becky Lee Meadows was responsible last semester for supervising the work of 16 adjunct instructors at Ivy Tech Community College’s campus in Madison, Ind. When two of them — working without any health insurance from the college — had health emergencies, Meadows got to thinking about what could be done to help out...
Not only has the college not created the fund and pressured her to call off the concert, but Meadows is now out of a job, and she believes it is because of anger over her efforts on behalf of adjuncts. A committee of the American Philosophical Association and the Indiana conference of the American Association of University Professors, having reviewed documents in the case, agree — and are saying that the Meadows case raises troubling questions about academic freedom and shows the vulnerability of those without tenure.

The AAUP, 92 and Ailing (Chronicle of Higher Education, subscription only)
(June 8, 2007) Mismanagement, declining membership, and a schizophrenic mission threaten the premier faculty association
By ROBIN WILSON
Ernst Benjamin has already retired once from the American Association of University Professors. He has a white beard and receding white hair. He just turned 70.
(Editor's note: Why have we put an essentially negative story about AAUP up on our website? Because it's fascinating, partially correct, and also systematically distorted -- read it with a critical eye).

Intellectual Diversity or Intellectual Insult? from Inside Higher Education
(April 16, 2007) The Missouri House of Representatives passed a bill last week that would require public colleges to report regularly on how they promote and protect “intellectual diversity.” While the bill still must be approved by the Senate and the governor to become law, House passage was a major victory for groups seeking legislative help to change campus climates they view as hostile to conservative ideas. (Editor's note: The bill died in Senate in Missouri in mid-May for lack of action)

Basic Benefits
(Dec. 20, 2006) It's a dirty not-so-secret reality of the academy - the extensive use of contingent faculty members, including contract lecturers and adjunct professors to educate undergraduates.

Kicked Out from Inside Higher Education
(Dec. 22, 2006) AAUP President Cary Nelson writes about a day he was ordered out of a classroom — and the reminder that day provided about the value of academic freedom.

Whatever Happened to the Faculty? from Inside Higher Education
(Nov. 20, 2006) Mary Burgan, former general secretary of the American Association of University Professors, is not happy about the trends she sees with regard to faculty rights. Traditional governance models are being replaced with strict hierarchies, and too many faculty members have too little influence in crucial decisions, she writes, in What Ever Happened to the Faculty? Drift and Decision in Higher Education, just published by Johns Hopkins University Press. Burgan recently responded to questions about the themes of her book.