colleagues at AAUP conferences and presenting at the ... Academic Labor Conference, New Faculty. Majority. ... assaults
Susan Michalczyk, Honors Program, Boston College Candidate Biography In my current position as full-time adjunct associate professor and assistant director of the A&S Honors Program at Boston College, I continue to collaborate diligently with my colleagues in order to uphold AAUP’s principles of shared governance and academic freedom. My first experience with strengthening a collective voice came during graduate studies, when I was president of the Harvard A&S Graduate Student Council, working with students, faculty and administrators on varying concerns from policies and programs for graduate students to larger issues of shared governance at the university.
organization, while representing my colleagues at AAUP conferences and presenting at the Shared Governance Conference in 2010: New Leadership Workshops, Summer Institutes, Contingent Academic Labor Conference, New Faculty Majority. Boston College (B.A. 1976, English, Germanic Studies; M.A. 1977, Italian Studies); Harvard University (Ph.D. 1986, Romance Languages & Literatures) Committees, conferences, publications, service including Women and Gender Studies, International Programs, McNair, Fulbright https://sites.google.com/site/aauporganizingf orchange/ Candidate Statement
In response to the lack of a faculty voice and senate at Boston College, I joined a small group of colleagues to establish an AAUP advocacy chapter at BC. As the first president of BCAAUP and re-elected for a second term, I have focused on increasing membership in our chapter, improving communication among colleagues and responding to their serious concerns. Our collective voice has evolved from a handful of longstanding AAUP members to well over 100 tenured and non-tenured faculty and continues to grow steadily. I have worked with my BCAAUP Executive Board to develop committees and co-ordinate programs in response to faculty concerns: contingent faculty, compensation, shared governance and academic freedom. In 2010, we received the Konheim Award in recognition of our hard work and achievements. Since the establishment of BCAAUP, I have had more opportunities to become involved with the local, state and national
It would be a privilege to serve as second vice president of the national council as part of a slate of candidates committed to moving the AAUP forward by “Organizing for Change.” I greatly appreciate your support. Higher education in general and the AAUP in particular stand at a critical crossroads. Everywhere our profession and its values are under assault. Attacks on collective bargaining rights and shared governance, the abuse of contingent faculty and consequent erosion of tenure, the misplaced priorities of politicians and many university leaders, and assaults on the free expression rights of both faculty and students are increasing. To meet these challenges faculty in general and the AAUP in particular must move beyond our traditional modes of defense, invaluable as these are. The current crisis calls on us to shift our focus and place our highest priority on organizing to defend our profession and genuinely reform higher education. AAUP needs to become a more powerful, articulate,
and energetic force committed to organizing and mobilizing faculty in a broad variety of ways to fight for our profession. To become such a force AAUP must embrace the following critical principles. • The single most effective way to protect academic freedom and shared governance is through collective bargaining. However, where it is not feasible for faculty to engage in collective bargaining, it is essential for faculty to act collectively through an AAUP advocacy chapter. • Our top priority is organizing; wherever possible through collective bargaining, and elsewhere through the development of advocacy chapters. In collective bargaining organizing, we need to be receptive to joint organizing with other unions, but also organize by ourselves wherever possible. • AAUP must provide chapter services to help chapters become more effective vehicles for collective action.
• AAUP must, wherever possible, join with other faculty and student groups to advance our agenda of change. Participation in national and regional coalitions, like the national Campaign for the Future of Higher Education, can facilitate organizing and help mobilize support for higher education.
• Membership in AAUP should be open to any academic professional: all who teach, including contingent faculty and graduate students; researchers; librarians; advisors and other professionals who support the core academic mission. • The AAUP should support faculty and academic professionals at all levels of
institutions, from community colleges to research universities.
• A model for our new approach was our victory in the defeat of Senate Bill 5 in Ohio. Our candidate for president, Rudy Fichtenbaum, helped lead our efforts in this campaign, as the AAUP collaborated closely with the broader labor and progressive movements in Ohio. If elected, we will work to:
• Allocate the resources of the AAUP to reflect our organizing priorities
• Develop and expand the role of the National Council in decision-making for the organization.
• Support meaningful consultation with national, state, and local elected leaders and transparency concerning the priorities of the organization, including collective bargaining initiatives.
