National prof group lobbies for faculty rights

If there's one thing that the American Association of University Professors believe, it's that professors have rights, too. Founded in 1915, the organization works primarily to ensure academic freedom in the realm of higher education. While the role of AAUP is understated as far as faculty organizations are concerned at Penn, the background presence of the University's chapter is by no means ignored. Defending tenure, the role of faculty in academic governance and economic stability for the profession, the chapter tries to keep the University administration in check by developing procedures and guidelines ensuring due process. Law Professor Robert Gorman, who serves as a vice president for the national AAUP, says the organization provides an active voice for faculty. "Faculty don't want to be activists, and they don't have to," he said. Although Gorman pointed to the University's "good governance system," he did recognize that "the participatory process has been slipping recently." Mechanical Engineering Department Chairperson Ira Cohen, secretary of Penn's AAUP chapter and a member of the organization since 1963, gave a timely example of the University's failure to seek "a wide consultation to achieve a broad consensus" on important University decisions. "At our last meeting, the termination of 175 facilities [maintenance personnel] was discussed in the context of shared governance at Penn," he said, referring to the University's recent proposal to outsource facilities positions to Trammell Crow Co. "We regarded this action as a major decision made without consultation among the various University constituencies," Cohen added. Membership in the AAUP is open to faculty from two- and four-year public and private colleges and universities across the country. With more than 900 local campus chapters and 38 state organizations, national membership currently hovers around 44,000. Faculty Club President Elsa Ramsden, who chairs Penn's AAUP chapter, echoed Gorman's and Cohen's concerns over recent University breeches in "longstanding" practices of faculty consultation. Nevertheless, she compared Penn favorably to colleges and universities placed on the AAUP's "censure list." The list, published in Academe, the AAUP's newsletter, provides prospective faculty with a way of checking on the standing of an institution. It warns those interested in seeking employment at other schools which institutions have had noncompliance problems with the organization's guidelines. Citing the censure list as one possible means of recourse, Ramsden noted that serious ramifications could result if institutions ignore the principles endorsed by the AAUP. She added that the AAUP is a viable resource for professors who need legal help in dealing with college administrations when informal intervention or mediation is ineffective. "The time I spend on AAUP during any given month varies considerably," she said. "It is a function of the calls from faculty requesting assistance, meetings with them to find the best resources to deal with problems, legal consultations and so forth."

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