Current Focus
At present we are focusing our efforts on three areas that impact shared governance and academic freedom on campus. These areas are described below. Included is contact information if you would like to contribute to the cause, make a suggestion, or avail yourself of a service.
Faculty Grievance Support – The faculty grievance process is described in the faculty handbook. While grievances are filed by individual faculty, AAUP offers a great deal of guidance in support of faculty rights that could be useful in this process. We are happy to help you locate these resources and go over the roadmap of the grievance process. If you are a UT faculty member looking for assistance, send us a note by clicking here .
Handbook Amendments – Our faculty handbook namechecks AAUP more than a dozen times and cites several AAUP documents as guiding principles. There is a great body of AAUP policy advice, however, that is uncited. The Handbook Amendments Committee, on a rolling basis, considers AAUP policy positions and looks for ways to sure up shared governance and academic freedom protections in our Faculty Handbook with these best practices. If you would like to join this committee or have a suggestion, click here to email.
Transparency – Faculty have a real collective action problem. When it comes to situations like salary negotiation, or parental leave, or ADA accommodation requests individual faculty can feel like they are treading new ground when in fact lots of faculty have gone that way before but we just do not share information. This Sunshine Committee strategizes ways to institutionalize more efficient and equitable sharing of information amongst faculty. If you have a comment or suggestion for them, click here to reach out .
Useful Links
AAUP 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure
AAUP Brief on Academic Freedom