2014 AAUP Updates

We heartily congratulate AAUP collective bargaining chapters at the University of Cincinnati, Portland State University, and the University of Illinois at Chicago, who have reached agreements with their administrations in recent weeks, in each case following prolonged negotiations.

This spring, for the first time in its 35-year history, the Portland State University AAUP chapter voted to strike. Instead, on the scheduled strike date of April 16, chapter members found themselves celebrating a 97 percent ratification vote for a new contract.

Ballots for the 2014 national officer and council elections have been tallied. Wright State University professor Rudy Fichtenbaum has been elected to another term as president of the AAUP. See the complete results.

AAUP brief urges the NLRB to look closely at claims that private-college faculty have too much managerial power to have collective bargaining rights under the National Labor Relations Act.

Penalizing state educational institutions financially simply because members of the legislature disapprove of specific elements of the educational program is educationally unsound and constitutionally suspect: it threatens academic freedom and the quality of education.

The National Office is closed on March 17 due to another snow storm.

In a victory for academic freedom and tenure, the ABA has rejected proposals to eliminate or water down the tenure provisions in the accreditation standards for law schools. The AAUP vigorously opposed the removal of tenure from the accreditation standards.

The faculty at Portland State University voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike if an agreement can't be reached with the school administration on a new contract. A strike date has not been set.