The Howard University (District of Columbia) policy on tenure, as defined in the new faculty handbook, allows the board of trustees exceptional power in removing faculty. At a time when Howard University faculty are enjoying greater participation than ever in governance, this and other policy issues are creating faculty dissatisfaction. (MSE)

Reports on initiatives of the American Association of University Professors to reach out to graduate students and part-time professors and the association's increasing involvement in unionization battles. Notes plans to form partnerships with various groups, including the American Conference of Academic Deans and teaching assistant unions. The…

Reviews trends in union organization at private colleges following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision 20 years ago denying bargaining rights to faculty at Yeshiva University (New York). Focuses on a recent decision by a labor official granting bargaining rights to faculty at Manhattan College (New York) and efforts by faculty organizers at Seton…

The American Association of University Professors has censured the administrations of five colleges (Chowan College, Dean Junior College, Wesley College, New Community College of Baltimore, and Loma Linda University) for breaches of faculty rights. Censure was lifted for the Colorado School of Mines, the University of Northern Colorado, Sonoma…

Increasingly, college faculty members accused of sexual harassment say their rights have been breached and are suing their institutions. Some observers see the trend as a backlash to new expectations about appropriate faculty behavior. Others worry that administrative definitions of harassment are too broad, and faculty due process is violated.…

A federal judge has ordered the University of New Hampshire to end a professor's suspension, after ruling that his classroom comments did not amount to sexual harassment. The university had claimed the teacher violated institutional sexual-harassment policy by creating a classroom environment hostile to women. (MSE)

Conflicts in many states between administrators and disgruntled college employees have led to a surge of labor activism in academe, including strikes and protests, votes to unionize, disputes over evaluation and compensation, and court litigation. Conflicts involve teaching assistants, adjunct faculty, and tenured faculty alike. (MSE)