AAUP Issues

For nearly a century the AAUP has been a presence in academia. Begun in 1915, the importance of the rights in professional academia became apparent in a case of academic freedom costing a professor his job. To this day the AAUP defends cases paralleling this incident, and is the leading proponent of academic freedom as the fundamental principle of the profession, representing the “Faculty Voice.”

The following issues are the most recent events involving our chapter's agenda:

On Collegiality as a Forth Criterion of Evaluation
What role should collegiality play in faculty evaluation. Perhaps more importantly, what is collegiality? Does being collegial require agreement and cooperation?

Professors Grade Gartner's Analysis
Des Moines Register, August 4th 2011
Former regent Gartner published a letter in the Des Moines Register where he, among other things, attacked tenure and shared governance. The members of the ISU AAUP Executive Board replied.

Statement on the LAS Blue Sky Taskforce
The LAS College formed the Blue Sky Taskforce in order to develop ideas on how to reorganize programs and departments in the college. Read the statement to see how the college's actions violate AAUP principles on shared governance.

Statement on Proposal for NTE Targets.
ISU has revisited the instruction targets for NTE faculty. The ISU AAUP chapter warned that the proposal might make it too easy to avoid the AAUP recommended targets.

Statement on Shared Governance in Budget Planning.
The new budget model that is being implemented at ISU moves power and decision making away from the Provost and to the Deans and their colleges. The Faculty Senate deals primarily with university issues and the Provost's/President's office. It is not meant to work at the college level. What kind of a change is needed to ensure shared governance in the new model?