The author's experience as the faculty senate chair at the University of Mississippi (UM) during a year of budget crises is likely typical of many other university senate leaders. He found that major challenges face senates trying to play a role in developing budget reduction recommendations. These include: (1) an absence of understanding on the…

The American Association of University Professors' (AAUP) new policy authorizing sanctions against colleges when investigation discloses serious departures from accepted governance norms is examined. Issues discussed include the existence and general relevance of governance norms, evidence of violation of those standards, and the AAUP's right to…

The chairman of the newly-formed Commission on College Retirement outlines the group's objectives, approaches, and anticipated projects and encourages and provides an address for correspondence. A list of commission members and their affiliations is also included. (MSE)

Anecdotes of interactions between college administrators and accreditation teams illustrate the value of informal interactions in communicating needed information and suggest that a large part of the team's function is mediatory and persuasive rather than merely evaluative. (MSE)

A statement of the AAUP committees on government relations and college and university government calls for state boards to consult with faculty about state policies and programs affecting higher education generally, and not only on narrowly faculty-related issues, through both formal and informal mechanisms. (MSE)

Portions of a July 1983 document describing the origins and possible functions of a commission on college faculty retirement, to be funded by the Carnegie Commission, are presented. The commission's major tasks would be to reexamine the purposes and goals of a pension fund, review the current plans, and structure a plan for the future. (MSE)

A speech made to an early meeting of the newly formed Commission on College Retirement recommends that the commission abandon the approach to retirement as an instrument of educational and social reform and concentrate instead on making the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund competitive and protecting…

Because of their membership structures, the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the Knight Commission have too much vested interest to reform college athletics. Only the faculty community, through action on campus and in national associations, can bring permanent reform to intercollegiate athletics. (MSE)

The American Association of University Professors' (AAUP) expanded participation on behalf of faculty in court litigation is outlined for seven areas: free speech and academic freedom, collective bargaining, use of AAUP standards, financial exigency, governance, employment discrimination, and confidentiality of tenure votes and evaluations. (MSE)

In response to anticipated federal intervention in higher education accreditation, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges has made recommendations that did not unite but alienated its members. Two current major debates concern diversity standards and the future of accrediting agencies in higher education. (MSE)

Intellectual property questions, as they concern college faculty, are composed of many issues and have substantial and far-reaching implications for the work of faculty and students and for administrative decision making. Both faculty and the American Association of University Professors must become involved to guard against incursions of academic…

Secretary of Education William Bennett's proposal to link the criteria for listing accrediting agencies to student achievement and relate them to federal funding eligibility has provoked concern about the degree and wisdom of federal regulation of colleges through accreditation. (MSE)

A discussion by endorsers of the American Association of University Professors' (AAUP) 1940 statement on academic freedom and tenure is summarized, including the topics of academic accuracy watchdogs, government constraints on academic freedom, irregular faculty appointments and periodic review, special issues at church-related colleges, and the…

As in other industries, expansion of part-time work has profoundly affected salaries and working conditions of full-time faculty and staff at many colleges. If public higher education is to survive the influences of privatization, vocationalization, and downsizing, faculty unions, having established a place in the academy, must become more heavily…