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Texas Conference of the American Association of University Professors is affiliated with Texas American Federation of Teachers -
Sep. 28, 2024, 9:00am-1:00pm CT, on Zoom and in Person.
Here’s a link to join AAUP and several additional reasons to join AAUP.
Follow us on X @TexasAaup and @aaup_utAustin for the latest updates.60th anniversary of Texas AAUP and 50th anniversary of Texas AFT
All presenters are speaking for themselves as private individuals.
They are not speaking on behalf of any institution of higher education.
Agenda
I. Welcome, faculty survival tips, affiliation with Texas AFT
Texas AAUP-AFT President Brian Evans introduced other union leaders
- Texas AFT: Attorney Sarai King Oza, from Deats, Durst, and Owen
- Texas AFT: Alejandro Pena, Government Relations (Texas House)
- Texas Association of College Teachers: Jim Klein, Past President
- Texas Faculty Association: Pat Heintzelman, President
Members voted and approved the following:
- Spring 2024 Meeting Minutes, Secretary, secretary-tx-aaup@proton.me
- Treasurer’s Report, Lynn Tatum, lynn_tatum@baylor.edu
Texas AAUP-AFT Office of Faculty Representation, Brian Evans and Tony Villanueva
- Email: txconfaaup-facultyrepresentation@proton.me
- For faculty facing investigations, discipline, or dismissal, you are not alone! We have your back. We’ll be available to
- go with you at any meeting to advocate for you
- give advice on navigating your situation
- provide a list of attorneys for information purposes
- In these settings, administrators and investigators are not on your side.
- As a tactic, administrators and investigators will
- call a meeting to “ambush” a faculty member with allegations, and many faculty will react to clear their name and overshare.
- choose to say things that are not true or misleading to see what information you would share.
- Record all meetings with administrators and investigators. Texas is a one-party recording state. You don’t have to notify others or obtain their permission. More info.
- Your work email account is not private because administrators can obtain access. Use private email accounts and secure messaging (e.g. WhatsApp or Signal) for non-work matters.
- Backup important email messages and files onto non-work accounts if permitted. A college or university can disable your access to work e-mail and other work platforms at any time.
New Member Benefits
- Due to the Texas AAUP-AFT affiliation with Texas AFT on March 30th
- Workplace protections and services through Texas AFT include
- $8M Professional Liability Coverage including $35k in Legal Action Trust to respond to criminal investigations
- Legal defense fund for employment matters. Legal costs split 1/3 Texas AAUP-AFT, 1/3 Texas AFT and 1/3 National AFT. Texas AAUP-AFT will need to build its legal defense fund.
- National AFT Benefits include
- Free Trauma Counseling
- Discounts on Therapy Sessions
- Among 40 Texas AFT staff, we’ll be working the closest with
- Higher Ed Organizers, Alvaro Chavez & Amanda Garcia, to help in organizing Texas AAUP-AFT chapters
- Higher Ed Field Rep, Kat Kupelian
- Government Relations & Policy Analyst, Alejandro Pena, lobbyist
- Labor Attorneys Martha Owen, JD; Manuel Quinto-Pozos, JD; and Sarai King Oza, JD; from Deats, Durst, and Owen
- Director of Political Organizing, Anthony Elmo
- Director of Public Affairs & Legislative Counsel, Patty Quinzi, JD
New Texas AAUP-AFT Dues Structure, Brian Evans
- Now that Texas AAUP-AFT is an AFT Local of Texas AFT, we’ll be updating our dues model to build our legal defense fund and help cover the cost of Texas AFT staff and productivity tools.
- New dues combine dues for Texas AFT, National AAUP, National AFT:
- $451/yr for academic income above $80k (AAUP bands 7-9)
- $305/yr for academic income between $50k-80K
- $155/yr for academic income $50k and under
- New Texas AAUP-AFT registration link launched Sept. 27, 2024. Payment is monthly through a bank draft. More manageable payments than the usual annual renewals for AAUP membership.
2. Political Interference, Legislative Advocacy & Political Action Panel
- Brian L. Evans, Texas AAUP-AFT President:
- results from the Faculty in the South Survey
- higher ed priorities for the Texas Legislature 2025
- Anthony Elmo, Texas AFT Director of Political Organizing, advocates for shared interests of K-12 and Higher Education expressed in the Texas AFT Educator’s Bill of Rights, and directs the Committee on Political Education (COPE) to give info about voter registration, voting, and candidate positions on public K-12 and higher ed
- Christina Das, NAACP Legal Defense Fund Civil Rights Attorney.
- Q: Ok to encourage students in the classroom to register to vote?
- A: Yes for all eligible voters. A QR code given to learn more.
- Teresa Klein, Texas AAUP-AFT VP, spoke about Project 2025.
3. David Rabban, Academic Freedom: From Professional Norm to First Amendment Right, Harvard University Press, Aug. 2024.
- Prof. David Rabban is at the UT Austin Law School. He served as AAUP General Counsel 1998-2006 and Chair of AAUP Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure from 2006-2012. “His teaching and research focus on free speech, higher education and the law, and American legal history.” [Ref]
- Professional norm for Academic Freedom established by the AAUP dating back to the 1915 Declaration of Principles on Academic Freedom and Academic Tenure:
- Academic Freedom is necessary for the function of a professor
- Peer review feature of academic freedom.
- What is the relationship between academic freedom and the general political expression outside their expertise
- A professor cannot do their job to have findings that offend someone leads to their firing
- Extending Academic Freedom to political speech
- The whole point of academic freedom is
- Professors should have the rights as anyone else
- Societal interest in the production and dissemination of knowledge
- Professors in Classics should be able to apply lessons to contemporary topics
- First five investigations by AAUP after 1915 involved protected speech
- 1917: Donor said they would give $10M to Harvard if a certain faculty member who opposed US involvement in World War I would be dismissed. The Harvard President separated academic freedom from political speech, and said both should be protected.
- Legal cases of academic freedom began in 1950’s.
- Sweezy v New Hampshire 1957 – Academic freedom is a First Amendment right, and differentiated First Amendment free speech from academic freedom
- Keyishian v Board of Regents – Academic freedom is a special concern of the 1st amendment – seminal case (cited many times)
- First amendment protections apply to state (government) actors, not private actors, but some private universities voluntarily give First Amendment protections
- Hundreds of lower court decisions say academic freedom is a First Amendment Right
- Generally – applies to the content of academic speech.
- Some rulings limit academic freedom to content.
- Academic freedom protects legitimate pedagogical decisions for your course
- Giving materials and instructions to the students in a classroom to register to vote is not likely protected by academic freedom.
- Discussion of intramural issues usually protected by academic speech.
- Outside speech and political speech not necessarily academic freedom, but have free speech rights.
- Rabban’s argues the following two statements should be incorporated into First Amendment Law
- Even though legal cases recognize academic freedom, courts do not always use academic freedom as a criterion to decide a case.
- Determining what is protected speech of the professor
- Employee Speech Juris Prudence – speech rights of public employees
- Garcetti v Ceballos – “speech of public employees not protected when in the course of normal job duties” – BUT does not apply decision on public employee speech to faculty academic speech
- Other Court of Appeals cases recognize Garcetti exception:
- Meriweather v. Hartop 2021
- Pickering standard – two-prong weight
- Professor’s speech rights outweighs right of institution for efficient operation.
- Issue is of Public Concern
- There is a public interest in the professor’s dissemination of knowledge.
- Questions
- Has 5th circuit recognized academic freedom as free speech?
- Ok to encourage students in the classroom to register to vote?
Not likely protected by academic freedom - How much speech related to university governance is protected? Conflicting decisions by the courts.
Common Themes in AAUP Campus Chapter Reports
- Issues mentioned by AAUP chapters at public campuses
- Texas Senate Higher Education Priorities for Spring 2025
- Increase diversity, equity, and inclusion restrictions in SB 17
- Regulate faculty senates
- Crackdown on weakened tenure protections in SB 18
- Update the public junior college state finance program in HB 8
- Evaluate state laws concerning free speech on public campuses
- Examine programs and certificates at higher ed institutions that maintain diversity, equity, and inclusion policies
- Texas SB 17 that bans DEI programs and practices
- Overcompliance infringing on academic freedom in teaching, curriculum, and communication of research results
- Overcompliance causing research grants to be returned and preventing research proposals from being submitted
- Faculty are self-censoring content in courses
- Texas Senate Higher Education Priorities for Spring 2025
- Issues mentioned by AAUP chapters at public and private campuses
- Shared governance and central administrations
- Administrators advance economic rather than academic values
- Administration bypasses faculty senate in making decisions
- Epidemic of Interim Administrators
- Priority by the Texas Senate to regulate “faculty senates’
- Salary
- Compression– faculty of a lower rank making higher salary
- Administrative bloat– exponential increase in number of administrative positions along with excessively high salaries and raises for administrators (20% raise vs. 2% for faculty)
- Low and high enrollments affecting campus budgets
- Faculty workload policies
- Increased expectations for research without appropriate administrative support or reduction in teaching load
- General counsel and compliance officers having unchecked power
- Collegiality. For faculty, AAUP recommends evaluating teaching, scholarship, and service. Collegiality should not be separate but can be included in the three categories. AAUP Statement.
- Dual Enrollment Courses
- must comply with higher ed laws and campus policies, but many K-12 students, parents, and principals are expecting compliance with K-12 laws and K-12 school policies
- faculty are being reassigned to serve dual credit against their will, and certain faculty are being excluded with due process
- Campus protests.
- Harsh penalties for protesters
- New policies limiting free speech. AAUP statement.
- Shared governance and central administrations
- Issues mentioned only by AAUP chapters at private universities
- Title VI complaints filed against faculty concerning what they are teaching. Opaque processes. Threatens academic freedom.
- Administrator interference in faculty searches
- interviewing and advancing candidates the faculty search committee did not recommend
- placing administrators in faculty search committees without the approval of the search committee chair.
AAUP Campus Chapters
- In Texas: AAUP chapters on 28 campuses and members on 75 campuses
- 12 new AAUP chapters have formed so far this year!
- Community Colleges
- Austin Community College AFT Local – David Albert (President)
- Dallas College AAUP Chapter (not present)
- Del Mar College AAUP Chapter – Teresa Klein (President)
- Lone Star AFT Local – John Burghduff (not present)
- Alamo College District – Tony Villanueva (Convener)
- Private Universities
- Hardin-Simmons AAUP Chapter (not present)
- Rice University AAUP Chapter – Don Morrison (VP)
- SMU AAUP Chapter (not present)
- Southwestern University AAUP Chapter – Maria Lowe (not present)
- TCU AAUP Chapter – Rebecca Sharpless (not present)
- Trinity University AAUP Chapter – Tahir Naqvi (President)
- University of Dallas AAUP Chapter – John Osoinach (President)
- Texas A&M System
- Prairie View A&M AAUP Chapter – David Rembert (President)
- Tarleton State AAUP Chapter – Reggie Hall (not present)
- Texas A&M AAUP Chapter – Tom Blasingame (President)
- Texas A&M Corpus Christi AAUP – Kelly Bezio (President)
- Texas A&M San Antonio AAUP Chapter – Martha Saywell (VP)
- West Texas A&M AAUP Chapter – Ryan Brooks (President)
- Texas Southern University – Cary Wintz (not present)
- Texas State System
- Texas State University AAUP Chapter – Patrick Smith (Convener)
- Sam Houston State University AAUP Chapter – Mike Vaughn (VP)
- Sul Ross University AAUP Chapter (not present)
- Lamar University AAUP Chapter – Pat Heintzelman (President)
- Texas Tech University AAUP Chapter – Andrew Martin (President)
- Texas Woman’s University AAUP Chapter – Diana Hynds (President)
- University of Houston AAUP Chapter – Daniel Morales (not present)
- University of North Texas – Todd Moye (not present)
- UT System
- UT Arlington AAUP Chapter – Penny Ingram (President)
- UT Austin AAUP Chapter – Polly Strong (President)
- UT Dallas AAUP Chapter – Simon Fass (President)
- UT MD Anderson AAUP Chapter – Bill Wierda (not present)
- UT Permian Basin – Derek Catsam (not present)
- UT Rio Grande Valley AAUP Chapter – Dora Saavedra (President)
- UT San Antonio AAUP Chapter – Alistair Welchman (not present)
Additional Information on Agenda Topics
About AAUP. AAUP advocates
- for free inquiry, free expression, and open dissent, which are critical for student learning and the advancement of knowledge
- against infringement on academic freedom and its safeguards of tenure, due process, and shared governance
Since 1915, AAUP has been the central organizing force in higher ed in its widely adopted principles on academic freedom and shared governance and its 42,000 members and 500 campus chapters championing these principles.
- Provides mentoring & professional development for network of scholars
- Mobilizes members on 75 public and private campuses for action
- Helps faculty navigate policies, investigations, and grievances
- Advocates at the Legislature – garnered bipartisan support to change tenure from one-year contracts to continuous employment last session
In March 2024, Texas AAUP affiliated with Texas American Federation of Teachers to amplify
- Campus and Legislative advocacy from its 66,000 members & 40 staff
- Workplace protections including liability coverage and legal aid
Texas Higher Ed ecosystem. Our public and private colleges and universities collaborate in teaching, research, and community outreach. Graduates of our private institutions become faculty members at our public institutions, and vice-versa. From our Texas AAUP survey in Fall 2024, faculty at public and private institutions reported the political climate in Texas was interfering significantly with recruiting and retaining faculty. We’re in this together!
SB 18. How do I fire thee? Let me count the ways… Although SB 18 defines 10 reasons for regular and summary dismissal for tenured faculty, public colleges and universities have been using SB 18 to dismiss non-tenure track and tenure-track faculty as well. Of the 10 reasons, seven are vague or undefined. All reasons can be weaponized by administrations. SB 18 is now in law as Texas Education Code 51.942.
SB 17 bans certain DEI programs and practices in public colleges and universities. Although SB 17 has exceptions for academic course instruction and research, it has a chilling effect on both. Certain discussions about DEI by faculty outside academic course instruction and research can be construed as training, which can lead to termination under SB 17. Several administrations are over-complying with SB 17. Texas AAUP provides guidance on anti-DEI SB17 and its exceptions for academic course instruction, scholarly research, and creative works.
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Texas AAUP-AFT Delegation – Brian Evans, Pat Heintzelman,
Jim Klein, Teresa Klein, Polly Strong, and Cary WintzSouth Carolina AAUP Delegation – Mark Blackwell, Dave Bruzina,
Carol Harrison, Adam Houle, Sharon O’Kelley, and Shawn Smolen-MortonJune 20, 2024
The Texas delegation at a reception after a good day of discussing collective action for higher education. From left to right, Jim Klein, Pauline Strong, Cary Wintz, Pat Heintzelman, Brian Evans, Teresa Klein, representing AAUP Members at Del Mar College, UT Austin, Texas Southern, and Lamar University. Brian, Jim, and Teresa are Texas AAUP Officers.
The 2024 AAUP Conference and Biennial Meeting, which is held every other year, offered seminars and panel discussions on academic freedom and shared governance as well as voting on constitutional amendments and resolutions. Every four years, including 2024, officer elections are held. About 200 people attended the June 13-16 meeting in Washington, DC. Polly Strong and Lauren Gutterman tweeted updates @TexasAAUP.
Here’s a quick summary from the seminars and panel discussions:
- Dr. Isaac Kamola, from the AAUP Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom, summarized “Manufacturing Backlash: Right-Wing Think Tanks and Legislative Attacks on Higher Education, 2021–2023” (May 2024). His presentation mirrored his article “State laws threaten to erode academic freedom in US higher education”.
- UCLA Law Professor Taifha Natalee Alexander presented their CRT Forward Project that tracks policies and laws for K-12 and higher ed to ban CRT and related issues such as banning DEI. They track Lexis and Westlaw legal databases as well as 4,000 newspapers, and publish info at an eighth grade level to reach a wide audience.
- Dr. Patricia Okker, President of New College in Florida until removed by board members appointed by Gov. DeSantis. New College is a public Liberal Arts College. Pres. Okker says attacks on academic freedom are political theater. Shift from “defend” to “champion” “academic freedom” and share positive outcomes of academic freedom grounded in student experiences. The reason for academic freedom is the search for truth. Let’s take back the phrase “search for truth”.
- Mark Bostic, Director AAUP Organizing and Services, led a discussion with state conferences. Conference agendas, efforts, and structures vary widely in reaction to state politics. The AFT-AAUP affiliation has benefited some conferences like Texas and distressed conferences like Oregon, but has had no effect on conferences like South Carolina. Many Collective Bargaining Chapters report redundancy of services, differences in mission, and increasing dues due to the AFT affiliation.
- Malori Musselman, AAUP Organizer, led a discussion with advocacy chapters. Members shared organizing struggles, conflicts with administration, and successes. Several chapters formed recently or are in the process of forming, and were seeking advice. Malori offered tips and directed chapters to training opportunities.
Here’s a quick summary of committee reports:
- Treasurer Rudy Fichtenbaum reported declining revenue, increasing expenses, and drawing from cash reserves to balance the budget. Please see the Appendix.
- AAUP Vice-President Paul Davis reported on organizing. With support from the AFT, 16 new AAUP Collective Bargaining Chapters have been founded in the last two years, representing 4,000 new members. AFT spent $12M in the effort, and AFT and AAUP will split the dues equally. Paul stressed the conversion of advocacy chapters to collective bargaining and the affiliation’s focus on large institutions.
- Committee T on College and University Governance. Two institutions, New College and Spartanburg Community College, were placed on the list of AAUP Sanctioned Institutions due to severe departures from AAUP principles of shared governance. Committee T Chair Afshan Jafar reported interference from both AFT and the AAUP Council in the committee’s work. Their work was delayed due to the staff shortage.
Here’s a quick summary from the Assembly of Delegates (94 delegates):
- Elected President Todd Wolfson (wolfsont@gmail.com), VP Rotua Lumbantobing (rltobing@gmail.com), Secretary-Treasurer Danielle Aubert, and At-Large Members Chenjerai Kumanyiki and Paul Davis. Here’s an interview with Todd & Rotua. Their four-year terms began June 16, 2024.
- Passed a Constitutional Amendment to allow the Association to compensate officers and Council members by compensating their institutions for release time from teaching or other assigned duties or by compensating them directly at an equivalent rate for their participation in Association matters. The Constitution continues to allow reimbursement “for reasonable expenses incurred in connection with the performance of their duties” for officers and Council members.
- Passed a resolution “Divest Pension Funds from Fossil Fuels and Reinvest in Renewable Energy”.
- Advocated with the AAUP Council to lift the staff hiring freeze ordered by Interim Director Nancy Long in January. At present, 30 of 60 staff positions remain unfilled. Hardest hit units are organizing, communications, membership, and government relations. This affects the work of the AAUP and impedes the ability of members and chapters to advance the mission of the AAUP.
After the above discussion of the impact of the staff hiring freeze, several AAUP members formed an ad-hoc committee. The committee’s first action was to ask the newly elected leaders to address the severe staff shortage on June 19, 2024. The committee is Jill Dumesnil, Brian Evans, Emily Ford, Johanna Foster, Nicole Gallagher, Afshan Jafar, Bethany Letiecq, Ernesto Longa, Harmon Oskar, Cristina Restad, and Saranna Thornton.
AAUP delegations from Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas met to discuss plans to organize together. All of our Legislatures will reconvene in January. We hope to hold virtual meetings as well as a hybrid biennial meeting starting Summer 2025 to alternate with the biennial National AAUP Meetings. Virginia AAUP will also be joining.
We would like to thank Irene Mulvey for her service as AAUP President 2020-2024. We are grateful for her leadership including:
- Affiliating with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
- Providing AAUP guidance during the pandemic
- Expanding Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure to include disciplinary expertise in racial equity
- Turning AAUP into a more nimble organization with faster responses to crises
- Securing $1.5M in funding from the Mellon Foundation for the Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom; and
- Issuing the Statement on Legislative Threats to Academic Freedom: Redefinitions of Antisemitism and Racism.
AAUP membership is about 42000, with 32000 in collective bargaining units and 10000 in advocacy chapters. In Texas and across the South, all of our chapters are advocacy chapters. States that allow collective bargaining units in the public sector might have collective bargaining and advocacy chapters. Ohio has both. Florida only has advocacy chapters.
Appendix: Treasurer’s Report
The fiscal year is the calendar year. Treasurer Rudy Fichtenbaum reported declining revenue and drawing from cash reserves to balance the budget.
Revenue 2023 2022 2023 vs. 2022 Coll. Barg. Dues 6,222,562 6,376,861 (154,299) Advocacy Dues 1,733,077 1,799,693 (66,616) AFT Support 1,807,127 1,522,917 284,210 Other Revenue 195,796 352,357 (156,561) TOTAL 9,958,562 10,051,828 (93,266) AFT Support was budgeted at $3,769,381 in 2023 per the AAUP affiliation agreement.
Expenses 2023 2022 2023 vs. 2022 Salaries & Benefits 5,497,811 5,246,762 251,049 Contracted Services 1,099,768 842,860 256,909 Joint Organizing 38,707 124,079 (85,373) Business 236,314 443,155 (206,841) Meetings & Travel 647,610 713,410 (65,800) AFT Per Capita 1,965,408 909,176 1,056,232 Other 1,116,409 1,038,389 128,020 TOTAL 10,652,027 9,317,831 1,334,196 In Fiscal Year 2023, AAUP had 17,112,114 in Assets and 6,366,405 in Liabilities, which gives 10,745,708 in Net Assets.
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Sponsored by the Texas AAUP Conference, AAUP, AFT
Co-sponsored by the Texas Association of College Teachers and
the Texas Faculty Association, TSTA, NEAAll presenters are speaking for themselves as private individuals
“Don’t do the censors’ work for them” — Jeremy C. Young, PEN America
Academic freedom is the freedom from censorship by the institution or the government. This freedom extends to teaching, research, and expression. Academic freedom allows professors to develop and disseminate new knowledge from all viewpoints, including conservative, moderate, liberal, and apolitical. Academic freedom also allows professors to help students develop the critical thinking, knowledge, training, and professional networks needed for successful careers.
We at the Texas Conference of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) are committed to assisting faculty, staff, and graduate students in understanding and navigating the implications of Senate Bill 17. SB 17 bans DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) employment practices and policies. Violations of SB 17 may result in severe penalties, including termination. Here is the Texas AAUP Analysis of SB 17. Please join Texas AAUP and here are several reasons to consider.
On Jan. 9, 2024, Texas AAUP hosted a panel discussion with Q&A concerning Texas Senate Bill 17 entitled “Guidance on anti-DEI SB17 and its exceptions for academic course instruction, scholarly research, and creative works”. Here are the slides.
At the panel discussion, faculty in the Texas AAUP Conference presented syllabus language to capture the exception under Texas Senate Bill 17 for academic course instruction:
Texas Senate Bill 17, the recent law that outlaws diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at public colleges and universities in Texas, does not in any way affect content, instruction or discussion in a course at public colleges and universities in Texas. Expectations and academic freedom for teaching and class discussion have not been altered post-SB 17, and students should not feel the need to censor their speech pertaining to topics including race and racism, structural inequality, LGBTQ+ issues, or diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Host, moderator, and panelists were:
- Host: Brian L. Evans is a faculty member and Interim President Texas AAUP Conference, aaup.texas@gmail.com. Slides.
- Moderator: Lauren Gutterman is a faculty member, Social Media Co-Coordinator for the Texas AAUP Conference, and Secretary for the UT Austin AAUP Chapter, ljg300@gmail.com
- Panelist: Antonio Ingram is a Civil Rights Attorney with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, aingram@naacpldf.org
- Panelist: Tabitha Morton, is a faculty member and member of the Texas AAUP Conference, Tabitham12@sbcglobal.net
- Panelist: Crystal Tran is a member of Texas Students for DEI, txstudentsfordei@gmail.com
For concerns related to the campus implementation of SB 17 or issues of compliance (or overcompliance), please contact one or all of the following:
- Dr. Karma Chavez at karmachavez@gmail.com
- Dr. Teresa Klein at terklein@gmail.com
- Texas Students for DEI at txstudentsfordei@gmail.com
- Antonio Ingram, who is a Civil Rights Attorney at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, at aingram@naacpldf.org
Research Study. Call for participation in a research study on effects of anti-DEI SB17 conducted by Prof. Angela Valenzuela.
SB 17 Guidance from University Systems: Texas A&M – Texas State – Texas Tech – Texas Woman’s University – University of Houston – University of North Texas – The University of Texas
AAUP. Founded in 1915 by faculty, AAUP jointly developed principles on academic freedom, tenure and shared governance with college and university administrations that have been widely adopted by US colleges and universities. AAUP has 500 campus chapters and 42,000 faculty members across the country championing these principles and organizing all faculty to promote economic security and quality education. AAUP affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) on August 1, 2022. AFT has 1.8M members with 300,000 in higher education. Texas AAUP affiliated with Texas AFT on March 30, 2024,
Joining Texas AAUP-AFT. Here’s the link to join Texas AAUP-AFT and several reasons to join. Dues are on a sliding scale, and membership is kept confidential except for officers. Membership is open is open to all tenure-track, tenured, and fixed-term faculty members; graduate students and postdoctoral researchers; and academic advisors and other professional staff. When joining Texas AAUP-AFT, one would automatically join Texas AFT, AAUP, and AFT at no extra charge. If there is an AAUP chapter on your campus, then you would automatically become a member as well. Here are the local chapters in Texas.
Advocacy by Texas AAUP-AFT. Texas AAUP-AFT has chapters on 29 campuses and members on 75 campuses, and its advocacy on campus and at the State Legislature is amplified by the 66,000 members and 40+ staff at Texas AFT. Here’s more information about our Legislative Advocacy from our blog site. Please follow us on X @TexasAaup and @aaup_utAustin for daily updates about our advocacy.
AAUP@UT 