American Association of University Professors Totally Explained

Everything about The American Association Of University Professors totally explained

The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) is an organization of professors and other academics in the United States. As of 1997, less than 5 percent of faculty members in the United States belong to the AAUP. The AAUP isn't an accrediting body. Its stated mission is to advance academic freedom and shared governance, to define fundamental professional values and standards for higher education, and to ensure higher education's contribution to the common good. Founded in 1915 by Arthur O. Lovejoy and John Dewey, the AAUP has helped to shape American higher education by developing the standards and procedures that maintain quality in education and academic freedom in the country's colleges and universities. Cary Nelson is the current president.
Among the events that led to its founding was the dismissal of economics professor and sociologist Edward A. Ross from Stanford University. Ross investigated the problems of immigrant workers, including the Chinese who worked for Southern Pacific, the railroad run by Stanford founder Leland Stanford. Leland's widow Jane Stanford intervened and, over the objections of the president and the faculty, succeeded in getting Ross dismissed. (External Link

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Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure

As the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) details the history of their policy on academic freedom and tenure, the association maintains that there “are still people who want to control what professors teach and write.” The AAUP's "Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure"(External Link

) is the definitive articulation of these principles and practices, and is widely accepted throughout the academic community. The association's procedures ensuring academic due process remain the model for professional employment practices on campuses throughout the country.
   The association suggests that "The principles of Academic Freedom and Tenure" date back to a 1925 conference. Also providing a history, O’Neil (2005) suggests that the formal origins of the statement of academic freedom in the United States begins with an earlier 1915 “declaration of principles,” when the “fledgling” AAUP first convened (p. 92). While it seems commonsense that academic freedom aligns with the values of democratic rights and free speech, O'Neil (2005) also notes the ideas of academic freedom at the time were not entirely well received, where even the New York Times criticized the declaration, but that today the statement remains “almost as nearly inviolate as the U.S. Constitution” (p. 92-94). The AAUP notes that following a series of conferences beginning in 1934, the association officially adopted the "1925 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure," which then started to become institutionalized in universities only since the 1940s.
   The AAUP offers the original principles, including the 1940 interpretations of the statement and a 1970 interpretation, which codified evaluation of the principles since the time they were adopted. The statement is straightforward, based on three principles of academic freedom. Briefly summarized, the first principle states that teachers are entitled to “full freedom in research and in publication of the results," and that the issue of financial gains from research depends on the relationship with the institution. The second principle of academic freedom is that teachers should have the same freedom in the classroom. The third asserts that college and university professors are citizens and should be free to speak and write as citizens “free from institutional censorship.” (American Association of University Professors, 1970)
   Based upon five principles, the statement on academic tenure is equally simple and to the point. The first principle maintains that the terms of appointment are to be stated in writing. The second details the conditions and length of time professors are given to attain tenure. The third notes that during the probationary period before attaining tenure, the teacher "should have all the academic freedom that all other members of the faculty have." Detailing terms for appeal of the decision to deny tenure, the fourth point notes that both faculty and the institution’s governing board should judge whether tenure is to be granted or denied. The final point suggests that if the faculty member isn't granted tenure appointment for reasons of financial restraint upon the university, the "financial exigency should be demonstrably bona fide."
   Noting the Supreme Court Case Keyishian v. The Board of Regents (1967) which established the constitutionality and legal basis for the AAUP's principles of academic freedom, the 1970 interpretations believes that the statement isn't a "static code but a fundamental document to set a framework of norms to guide adaptations to changing times and circumstances." The commentary iterates key points of the 1940 interpretations. The statement doesn't discourage controversy but emphasizes professionalism, believing that professors should be careful "not to introduce into their teaching controversial matter which has no relation to their subject." The interpretive statement also maintains that while professors have the rights of citizens, both scholars and educational officers "should remember that the public may judge their profession and their institution by their utterances," noting that every effort should be made "to indicate they're not speaking for the institution." The comments provide for further insights into the evaluation for tenure appointment and direct to the "1968 Recommended Institutional Regulations on Academic Freedom and Tenure," which recommends policy based upon the 1940 statement and a later documents on standards for faculty dismissal.

Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities

The American Association of University Professors published its first "Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities" in 1920, “emphasizing the importance of faculty involvement in personnel decisions, selection of administrators, preparation of the budget, and determination of educational policies. Refinements to the statement were introduced in subsequent years, culminating in the 1966 Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities” (American Association of University Professors, 1966). The document doesn't provide for a “blueprint” to the governance of higher education. Nor was the purpose of the statement to provide principles for relations with industry and government (though it establishes direction on “the correction of existing weaknesses”). Rather, the statement aimed to establish a shared vision for the internal governance of institutions. Student involvement isn't addressed in detail. The statement concerns general education policy and internal operations with an overview of the formal roles for governing structures in the organization and management of higher education.

Conflict with Religious Institutions

Some scholars have criticized the AAUP's "antipathy toward religious colleges and universities." And the AAUP has censured numerous religious institutions, including the Brigham Young University and the Catholic University of America. Others have criticized the AAUP's current stance regarding academic freedom in religious institutions as contradicting its 1940 statement on academic freedom, which permits religious institutions to place limits on academic freedom if those limitations are clearly stated. In 1970, the AAUP criticized its 1940 statement, positing that most religious institutions "no longer need or desire" to place limits on academic freedom. In 1988, the AAUP offered up another interpretation, stating that the "1970 de-endorsement clause" requires a religious institution to forfeit its "right to represent itself as an 'authentic seat of higher learning.'" But the AAUP's Committee A didn't endorse it, thus the issue on whether a religious institution can place limits on academic freedom if those limitations are clearly stated appears to be unresolved.

Attempt at Collective Bargaining

The AAUP attempted to establish itself as a collective bargaining agent for college and university faculty in the 1970s and early '80s. In 1979, the Boston University faculty went out on strike to gain recognition for the AAUP as its trade union. B.U. simultaneously was hit by a strike of clerical and custodial personnel seeking union recognition. Eventually, the administration of B.U. President John Silber settled with the AAUP, which went back to work while the clerical and custodial personnel continued their strikes. Five B.U. professors, including Murray Levin and Howard Zinn of the political science department, refused to cross the picket lines and were targeted for dismissal by Silber. The plight of the "B.U. 5" became a local cause celebre in the Boston-area academic community, and eventually Silber backed down. B.U. eventually sued the National Labor Relations Board (N.L.R.B.) to stop recognition of the AAUP as the collective bargaining agent of B.U.'s academic faculty.
The AAUP's role as a trade union was obviated by the Supreme Court's 1980 N.L.R.B. v. Yeshiva decision, which ruled that professors were not employees but were a kind of supervisory personnel, and thus, not privileged to conduct collective bargaining. Many AAUP chapters became dormant until they were used by graduate students to push for collective bargaining rights. The struggle for on-campus unionization shifted from professors to graduate students-cum-teaching assistants, who won their first battle at New York University in 2001.

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