Funny thing about pebbles dropped and the ripples they create. The pebble the author dropped years ago was agreeing to serve as a student liaison to the department in her graduate program at the University of Texas at Austin. That position, which normally meant little more than attendance at regularly scheduled graduate student and department…

Big or small, established or fledgling, an AAUP chapter on a campus can accomplish a surprising number of things that even the most committed faculty member can't do alone. In this article, the author discusses how an AAUP chapter can transform a campus.

As universities more aggressively embrace corporate values, corporate management practices, corporate labor-relations policies, and corporate money, faculty associations face troubling challenges. The new reality is particularly hostile to academic freedom, and people see that hostility in the actions of corporate funders and university…

In June 2010, the Association of American Medical Colleges issued the third and final portion of its conflict-of-interest policy initiatives. The task force on "Conflicts of Interest in Clinical Care" did not mince words when it described the impetus for these initiatives: "It is imperative that the possibility or perception of [financial conflict…

Beginning in 1934, representatives of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and the Association of American Colleges (AAC) met and drafted the definitive statement on academic freedom and tenure. Like the U.S. Constitution, the 1940 "Statement on Principles of Academic Freedom and Tenure" was a commendable, if deficient, product…

In this brief article, the author discusses the question of the relationship between a professional academic association (in this case, the American Economic Association [AEA]) and members who teach at sectarian colleges. As a member of the American Economic Association and a faculty member at a Christian school (Wheaton College, Illinois), this…

Presents a sheaf of statements from three different professional bodies (American Library Association, American Studies Association, and Journal Editors and Authors Group) in response to current pressures on academic freedom. The sheaf is intended to be informational, but also didactic--each statement is a model of thoughtful negotiation between…

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

A statement by the American Association of University Professors' committee on tenure and academic freedom is presented concerning the consideration that can properly be given to a candidate's ideology when making faculty appointments. (MSE)

Alternative research and scholarly opportunities for scholars outside academe are discussed, including communitites of scholars and university outreach to unaffiliated scholars. A list of organizations of independent scholars is included. (MSE)

A report of Committee A of the American Association of University Professors is presented with four recommendations for imposition of censure. Three accounts to illustrate the mediative work of the AAUP are described. Recommendations deferred and removal of censure are reported. (MLW)

The position paper of a subcommittee of the American Association of University Professors' Committee W on the Status of Women in the Academic Profession gives a brief history of the intellectual origins and organization of women's studies and discusses the implications for faculty of the discipline's structural and political issues. (MSE)

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)

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 American Association of University Professors' revision of a 1966 statement concerning the role and responsibility of college faculty as teachers, colleagues, members of an institution, and members of a community is presented. (MSE)