Active AAUP chapters serve the profession at hundreds of accredited colleges and universities. While all AAUP chapters promote basic academic freedom, quality education, and other core AAUP principles, additional chapter activities are determined by campus activities and needs.
Many AAUP chapters take an active role in campus politics, in conjunction with faculty senates or separately. Some work with other local AAUP chapters on state-level issues. Some serve as collective bargaining agents for faculty and other academic professionals on campus. Chapters often hold forums on topics such as salary equity or the tenure process, host social events, and bring in invited speakers. Many produce newsletters or websites.
More info:
- How an AAUP Chapter Can Transform Your Campus
- A Step-by-Step Guide to Starting an AAUP Chapter
- Sample Chapter Bylaws
- Establishing Advocacy Chapter Dues
If you are interested in creating a chapter on your campus, please email [email protected].
A Step-by-Step Guide to Starting an AAUP Chapter
AAUP members can establish a chapter at an institution that is either accredited or is a candidate for accreditation and that has at least seven active AAUP members.
Establishing Advocacy-Chapter Dues
Part of establishing a campus chapter of the AAUP is establishing dues rates. First, call a chapter meeting to discuss dues. The executive committee should prepare for the meeting by listing all of the things they would like to do as a chapter, and doing a little research to come up with estimated costs of each. You might get some volunteers out of this, too, especially if you can come up with trade-offs—e.g., volunteers to distribute newsletters in dept mailboxes = FREE vs. stamps to mail newsletters to home addresses = $__.
Forming a Union Chapter
The AAUP encourages unionization of all eligible higher education employees as the best way to secure professional standards and to ensure that effective instruction remains the core institutional focus.
Sample Chapter Bylaws
These sample bylaws are a distillation of what many AAUP chapters have found workable. They may not suit your chapter's needs precisely. For instance, in addition to the executive and membership committees, your chapter may wish to establish other committees, such as a committee on government relations; the sample bylaws makes that optional. Or you may want to make the chair of the membership committee a member ex officio of the chapter's executive committee. You may wish to further refine the duties of the chapter's officers.