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Campus Sexual Assault: Suggested Policies and Procedures

The AAUP’s Committee on Women in the Academic Profession has issued a statement about the serious and continuing problem of sexual assault on campus.  The statement, adopted by the Association’s Council at its November 2012 meeting, represents the work of a subcommittee on sexual assault formed to research the issue thoroughly; meanwhile, recent events have highlighted its importance and perhaps underlined the need for its wide distribution and careful consideration. The statement, Campus Sexual Assault: Suggested Policies and Procedures, reviews the scope of the problem, cites the frequently disappointing evidence about current campus practices and preparedness, analyzes the legal issues at stake, and gives special attention to faculty responsibilities.

Regulation of Research on Human Subjects: Academic Freedom and the Institutional Review Board

Local institutional review boards, which make decisions about the permissibility of research, often have no special competence; the AAUP recommends improvements. Read the report.

Recommended Principles to Guide Academy-Industry Relationships

This book-length report offers general advice on basic faculty intellectual property rights; mechanisms to ensure academic freedom in publishing; handling faculty and administrator conflicts of interest; and grievance procedures for faculty members, academic professionals, and students. An appendix provides language appropriate for inclusion in faculty handbooks and collective bargaining agreements.

Tenure and Teaching-Intensive Appointments

Recommendations on stabilizing the faculty infrastructure by converting contingent faculty positions to the tenure track.

Academic Freedom and Tenure: University of Texas Medical Branch

The report of the investigating committee concerns the actions taken by the administration of the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, after a declaration of financial exigency at that institution by the University of Texas Board of Regents, to terminate the appointments of more than 120 faculty members, approximately one-third of them tenured. The actions followed a suspension of operations at the medical branch and its affected hospital as a result of the devastation inflicted on September 13, 2008, by Hurricane Ike. Faculty members received between six and nine months of notice, depending on their tenure status and length of service.

Academic Freedom and Tenure: Clark Atlanta University

Report discussing the declaration of an enrollment emergency by the administration of Clark Atlanta University and its subsequent action to terminate the appointments of approximately one-fourth of the total faculty, with no notice and four weeks of unconditional severance salary.

Protecting an Independent Faculty Voice: Academic Freedom after Garcetti v. Ceballos

Report examining the potential impact on academic governance of the Supreme Court Garcetti v. Ceballos decision. It recommends actions to be taken in both public and private colleges and universities to preserve academic freedom in governance even in the face of judicial hostility or indifference.

Academic Freedom and Tenure: Stillman College

Report concerning the suspension and subsequent dismissal of a faculty member by the administration of Stillman College on grounds of “malicious gossip or public verbal abuse" without due process.

Academic Freedom and Tenure: Cedarville University

The report of the investigating committee concerns the action taken by the administration of Cedarville University to dismiss a professor in the Department of Biblical Education from his tenured faculty position with thirty days' notice, without first demonstrated cause for its action in an adjudicative hearing before faculty peers.

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