Bill...could you put this on the blog (i'm still learning), not general email. It is a newsletter that comes to me as member of AAUP chapter--the relationship that many of us have had experience with rather than the union or collective bargaining side of AAUP. I heard about AAUP chapters as a PhD student at Yale a million years ago and have belonged on and off--when remember to pay my dues--since i see it as source of useful information on what is going on at other institutions. Of course, as a member of the "contingent" faculty group (ie, in-resident) who can be fired at will (6-mo notice) for no reason (literally--if you give a reason, may get in trouble), this article attracted my attention...have no idea what "due process" is...like the idea of some process rather than simple decision to fire. Don't get me wrong...i am not for not being able to fire me or anyone else--must be able to replace--just think some process can be good thing. True...it can also be a bear...but maybe there is some compromise between nothing and too much.
carol
From: Cary Nelson and Gary Rhoades [mailto:aaupnewsletters@aaup.org]
Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2009 10:59 AM
To: Pilbeam,Carol
Subject: Working to end at-whim employment of contingent faculty
 Most of the academic workforce is employed in full and part-time contingent positions. Although there are exceptions, particularly in unionized settings, many contingent faculty members work under the threat of administrators acting to dismiss them without notice, with no review by fellow academics, no stated reasons, and no process for appeal. They work at the whim of administrators. Such conditions undermine educational quality and effectiveness. The AAUP serves notice that we are working to end “at-whim” employment for contingent faculty. At its June 2009 annual meeting the AAUP put Nicholls State University and North Idaho College on censure for terminating the services of contingent faculty members who had been teaching in good standing for many years: one had taught as a full-time contingent faculty member for twelve years; the other had taught for thirteen consecutive semesters as a part-time faculty member. The North Idaho College case was the first in which the AAUP has censured an administration for violating Regulation 13 of the Recommended Institutional Regulations on Academic Freedom and Tenure (“Part-time Faculty Appointments”), which draws on some procedural safeguards embedded in tenure to extend stronger due process rights for contingent faculty in part-time positions. At the 2009 annual meeting the delegates also voted to remove the University of New Haven from the censure list. Sanctioned for its dismissal of a full-time contingent faculty member, the university has now adopted procedures that provide full-time non-tenure-track faculty members after seven years of service with protections against involuntary nonretention that accrue with faculty tenure. Again, the fulcrum for these efforts on behalf of contingent faculty is the due- process rights established for tenure track faculty. The University of New Haven case points to the feasibility of institutions adopting policies for contingent faculty consistent with AAUP principles, to the benefit of their students’ education and the institution's effectiveness. The rationale for these recent actions is clearly articulated by a 2005 investigating committee’s report on the University of the Cumberlands, which had this to say about “at-will” employment practices: “Employment-at-will contracts are by definition inimical to academic freedom and academic due process, because their contractual provisions permit infringements on what academic freedom is designed to protect. Since faculty members under at-will contracts serve at the administration's pleasure, their services can be terminated at any point because an administrator objects to any aspect of their academic performance, communications as a citizen, or positions on academic governance-or simply to their personalities. Should this happen, these faculty members have no recourse, since the conditions of their appointment leave them without the procedural safeguards of academic due process. Moreover, the mere presence of at-will conditions has a chilling effect on the exercise of academic freedom. Faculty members placed at constant risk of losing their position by incurring the displeasure of the administration must always be on guard against doing so.” The AAUP is working to end “at-whim” employment of faculty, and to extend substantially the due-process rights of contingent faculty members, in the interests of our students and society. For the working conditions of these faculty members directly affect the learning outcomes of students. We encourage you to support our fight for contingent faculty rights by joining the AAUP. Cary Nelson, AAUP President Gary Rhoades, General Secretary |
The AAUP Online is an electronic newsletter of the American Association of University Professors. Learn more about the AAUP. You are currently subscribed to aaup as: pilbeam@nso.uchc.edu.. To unsubscribe click here |
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