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FAQ: Purpose of AAUP-HC, who the chapter represents, and how to become a member
The core purpose of Hampshire College’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), like that of the national organization is to defend academic freedom, encourage faculty participation in governance, and protect and advance the professional status and interests of all faculty. In accordance with AAUP’s One Faculty campaign AAUP-HC recognizes within its mandate non-administrative faculty across rank and category, including ten-year-track faculty, faculty associates, visiting faculty, adjunct faculty, and Rosenthal adjunct examiners. One of the central principles that brought the AAUP-HC into being and animates its work is that we are stronger, and the institution is stronger, when the faculty is informed, organized, and active.
Who does AAUP-HC represent?
The AAUP-HC develops principles for the faculty as a body, whether or not they are members. We believe we are stronger when we work together.
Since our AAUP advocacy chapter formed in Spring 2018, we have had a large active chapter membership, and have maintained a majority of the faculty as members.
How do I become a member?
Right now, you can support this work by becoming a member of the AAUP-HC chapter if you have not already. To officially join Hampshire College’s AAUP chapter, you just need to join the national AAUP organization and they will enroll you in the chapter. The membership fees are sliding-scale based on salary, and you can pay once yearly or by the month: https://www.aaup.org/membership/join.
If you join and are not already on our email list, drop a line and we will add you. Note: joining email list is a separate process from joining AAUP itself.
And if joining is a financial hardship, there are several faculty members who seeded a cooperative fund to cover dues of those who cannot pay them—just get in touch at hampshirecollegeaaup@gmail.com.
Joining the chapter helps us get support from AAUP organizers, gives us access to webinars and policy documents, and connects us with a national network of faculty also organizing on their campuses. It also connects us with an organization that sets independent standards for higher education, and which has the ability to censure a campus not following them.
Forming this chapter has given us leverage we would not have had otherwise—and has allowed us to achieve a number of successes, including agreements in 2019 and 2020 which are becoming models and inspirations for other colleges and universities.
We ask all members to help support our legal support fund at a suggested donation of $25-30 per month.
What if I choose not to join the chapter—can I still participate?
Yes. All faculty who do not currently hold an appointment as VP are welcome to join our email list (google group), even if they are not AAUP-HC members. Today, 96% of the non-administrative faculty (across all ranks and categories) are subscribed to the email list.
Update: we now welcome deans who do not have a VP appointment and who are not members of the senior team to join AAUP-HC meetings and listserv as guests, and join AAUP as non-voting associate members. To join AAUP as an associate member, write AAUP at membership@aaup.org.
We have followed an ad-hoc practice of welcoming non-AAUP members to be in working groups and generally participate in discussions at meetings and in the email list. This includes access to meeting notes and shared documents. We have followed this practice because we wished to have a high level of participation and information-sharing.
We will survey and solicit feedback from all faculty in order to develop strong proposals that serve our common interests.
When it comes to decisions about the chapter itself, including electing officers, faculty members must be chapter members to participate.
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