What We Do

Overview

Since its foundation in 1915, the AAUP has fundamentally shaped American higher education by developing the standards and procedures that maintain the quality of teaching and research in this country's colleges and universities.  Central to these AAUP standards are the principle of academic freedom and the tenure protections that guarantee it as well as the norms of shared governance through which faculty exercise consultative and decision-making power for the purpose of advancing and defending the teaching and research mission.

AAUP defines fundamental professional values and standards for higher education, advances the rights of academics, particularly as those rights pertain to academic freedom and shared governance, and promotes the interests of higher education teaching and research.  

Our Relation to State and National AAUP Chapters

Our chapter is part of a national organization--the national AAUP--which provides extensive support to individual members and chapters. The national AAUP can intervene when university administrations violate the academic freedom and tenure rights of faculty members, in some cases placing the institution in question under investigation and censure. It also publishes an annual study of faculty salaries at the state and national levels. It provides a range of other resources, as well, to assist faculty in securing fair and equitable working conditions and in strengthening shared governance on their campuses. Notably, the Ohio University Faculty Handbook bases itself on the national AAUP’s academic freedom, tenure, and shared governance standards and procedures. The national AAUP can also provide legal advice to its chapters when necessary.

The Ohio Conference of the AAUP (OCAAUP)--our state-level organization--includes unionized campuses as well as advocacy chapters like our own. The state AAUP monitors budgetary decisions affecting higher education and academic freedom. For example, the OCAAUP lobbied against former Governor John Kasich’s “workload” policy, a top-down attempt to increase faculty workload arbitrarily and has consistently advocated with state legislators for increased state investment in Ohio’s public universities and community colleges.

With these shared resources in mind, neither the national nor state organizations can advocate for OU faculty, directly. That’s up to us. Our chapter of the AAUP collaborates with the state and national organizations to defend faculty interests on our campus. We are the frontlines in the defense of academic freedom, tenure, fair working conditions, and shared governance locally. But our work is a shared effort with our colleagues across the state and our nation.

Executive Committee Members

John O’Keefe: President
Kyle Butler: Vice President
Julie White: Secretary
Loren Lybarger: Treasurer
Open: Member At-Large
Open: Member At-Large
Sarah Webb: Instructional Faculty Coordinator
Mark Nevin: Regional Campus Coordinator
Joseph McLaughlin: Immediate Past President

Bylaws

A copy of our bylaws can be found here.