Information about the AAUP
The American
Association of University Professors (AAUP) is the only national organization
exclusively representing the interests of all college and university faculty
members. Founded in 1915, the AAUP
- establishes and maintains
standards for academic due process and faculty participation in academic
decision making
- participates in precedent
setting court cases involving academic freedom and tenure issues
- represents faculty interests
in state and federal legislatures
- provides comprehensive data on
the economic status of the profession
- offers professional liability
insurance and other membership benefits and services
The mission of the AAUP 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.
The AAUP has helped to shape American higher education by developing the
standards and procedures that maintain quality in education and academic
freedom in this country's colleges and universities.
The AAUP's 1940 Statement
of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure is the definitive
articulation of these principles and practices, and is widely accepted
throughout the academic community. Our procedures ensuring academic due
process remain the model for professional employment practices on campuses
throughout the country. The AAUP's amicus briefs before the U.S. Supreme
Court and federal and state appellate courts address significant issues of
academic freedom, and our policy statements are frequently cited in court
decisions. As a non-profit [501(c)(3)] organization,
we serve the profession, rather than individual members, and our services are
available to all members of the profession, regardless of membership status.
More than a thousand faculty members call on the AAUP each year
for advice and assistance. We are best known for assisting individual faculty
members when there is the probability that academic
freedom or due process rights have been violated. In addition to this
"case work," the Association works with Congress and state
legislators to promote effective higher education legislation, and promotes the
profession and the purposes of higher education in the public eye. College
presidents and administrators rely on Association-developed policy statements
and procedural guidelines. The Association has recently issued statements on
topics such as distance
education, intellectual
property, graduate
student education, and work and
family policies.
The AAUP annually publishes a nationally acclaimed faculty
compensation survey that includes a comprehensive analysis of faculty
salaries and benefits. In addition to our regular programs, we issue
reports each year on subjects of special interest. Recent initiatives include
reports on the use of part-time and non-tenure-track faculty, faculty workloads
and state intervention, the future of Historically Black Colleges and
Universities, and tenure in medical schools.
Membership in the national organization is open to all
faculty, librarians, and academic professionals at two- and four-year
accredited public and private colleges and universities. Membership
categories also include Active entrant, a reduced dues membership offered to
non tenured faculty for up to seven years; Active part-time, Graduate Student,
and Public member. Current membership is about
45,000, with over 500 local campus chapters and 39 state organizations.
Leadership is provided by bi-annually elected national officers drawn from
colleges and universities throughout the country. The Association is governed
by an elected national Council that meets twice a year, and by an Executive Committee
that meets four times a year.