Heightened commercialism on campus is pulling universities and their faculties away from higher education's core commitment to academic research, teaching, and the production of reliable public knowledge. Nearly a century ago, similar threats led to the birth of a new faculty organization--the American Association of University Professors…

This January, the Inter Faculty Organization, the union representing nearly 3,300 faculty members at the seven Minnesota state universities, took the unusual step of making an offer that broke dramatically with past practice and with typical union negotiating. The Minnesota faculty offered to accept a pay freeze while holding current contract…

In this article, the author discusses the issues surrounding contingent faculty. Contingent faculty members are central to academe's future because prevailing logics of the market can confuse accountability with accession to any and all "customer" demands; faculty organizations can instead take the opportunity to hold academic managers and…

Many observers of higher education have sharply criticized the application of corporate models of management to higher education. The best way to reverse the trend toward corporate-style management is to make issues concerning contingent faculty the center of the struggle. The California Faculty Association, an affiliate of the AAUP, has done just…

Offers a history of the American Association of University Professors' censure list and a reminder of the struggles over academic freedom that shaped the association and its role in the profession. (EV)

Since its founding, the American Association of University Professors has been concerned with infringements of academic freedom when colleges interfere with invited speakers. The first time the AAUP seems to have addressed the problem categorically, however, was through a resolution adopted fifty years ago by the annual meeting. The Association…

Quotes from founding members of the American Association of University Professors concerning the formation of an association of university professors are presented. (MLW)

The president of the American Association of University Professors examines the year's activities and asserts that one of the association's most important contributions has been helping to raise the alarm about the serious impact of contingent academic labor on higher education. (EV)

The movement toward collective bargaining stalled for half a century, until a changing climate in higher education required the AAUP to make a decision. Quotes concerning collective bargaining are presented. (Author/MLW)

Describes the experiences of a group of temporary faculty members at Northern Illinois University who worked to create a union, highlighting their issues related to pay and equity and looking at the response of university administrators to temporary faculty demands. (SM)

Explores negative effects on academic expertise and the academic freedom of faculty when governing boards and administrators look to the corporate world for organizational models. (EV)

Reprints of documents concerning the First Annual Meeting of the AAUP and the activities of the Committee on Academic Freedom and Academic Tenure are presented including the 1915 "Declaration of Principles." (MLW)

Over the last 75 years the AAUP has made progress in specifying its standards of governance and in reconciling traditional governance with collective bargaining. Excerpts from the "Joint Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities" and the "Statement on Academic Government for Institutions Engaged in Collective…

Analysis of documents from the McCarthy Era reveals a mixed pattern of AAUP response to the threats the movement posed to the principles of academic freedom. A secure policy stance in this area was achieved as a result of actions initiated when Ralph Fuchs became general secretary. (Author/MLW)

Discusses how, despite recent legislation that promises them a bigger role in the state's two-year colleges (often referred to as AB1725), California faculty continue to face obstacles to shared governance, such as the recent trend toward corporate models in college governance. (EV)