The OCAAUP annual meeting took place during the last weekend of October. Attendees heard reports from state and national AAUP leadership, including government relations and pension updates, and approved the 2023 budget.

During our luncheon, journalist and author Will Bunch joined us virtually to discuss his new book, After the Ivory Tower Falls: How College Broke the American Dream and Blew Up Our Politics–And How to Fix It. Bunch gave insightful commentary about rising college costs, the political divide between those with and without bachelor’s degrees, among other topics.

In addition, Cynthia Peeples, one of the founders of the “Honesty for Ohio Education” coalition, delivered a presentation called, “Grassroots Organizing and the Fight for Honest Education in Ohio.” She discussed the various “educational gag order” bills in Ohio and how she has helped organize around these issues.

We appreciate all of our members who participated in person and virtually to hear about the important work of the Ohio Conference!

Election Day 2022 on a national level was not quite the “red wave” that was predicted for the Republican Party. However, in Ohio, the trend of becoming a solidly red state seemed to cement even more with the election results.

In a close, hotly contested U.S. Senate race, Republican candidate JD Vance emerged victorious over Congressman Tim Ryan. The balance of the Senate still remains in flux with some races yet to be determined.

In terms of Ohio U.S. House seats, Democrats made one gain with Greg Landsman unseating long-time Republican Congressman Steve Chabot in Southwest Ohio. Republicans seem poised to wrest the House from Democratic control, but final results are still outstanding.

If Republicans do gain control of one or both chambers of Congress, there is likely to be scrutiny of student debt relief, Title IX, and racial justice efforts. It also is likely that the non-renewed Higher Education Act will continue to go unrenewed for another two years.

As anticipated, Republicans swept all statewide offices, including governor, attorney general, secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, as well as all three Ohio Supreme Court races.

Democrats lost one seat in the Ohio Senate, meaning for the next General Assembly, that body will have a split of 26 Republicans to just 7 Democrats, a supermajority.

In the Ohio House, Republicans appear to have picked up two additional seats, which will take their supermajority to 66 members over the Democrats’ 33 members for the next two years.

These state results mean that we are likely to see more of the same in terms of a lack of commitment to restoring higher education funding, possible attacks on faculty, and a piecemeal approach to solving higher education problems.

This is why it is so important that the Ohio Conference actively educates legislators about our issues and lobbies in the interests of faculty and quality higher education. It is also why our new affiliations with the OFT/AFT and AFL-CIO are so critical. We are going to need our allies more than ever to stave off potential attacks and help us make the case for higher education investment.

In accordance with our constitution and by-laws, this will serve as our call for nominations for the 2023 OCAAUP elections. The positions to be elected in 2023 are:

-Vice President
-Treasurer
-At-Large Member from a public institution with less than 100 members or a private institution

The Vice President serves in the absence of the President. The Treasurer is responsible for overseeing the Conference’s finances. The At-Large Member represents public institution chapters with fewer than 100 members, as well as private institution chapters.

Each position serves a two-year term commencing September 1, 2023. Board members are expected to attend four quarterly Board meetings each academic year (a mix of virtual and in-person) and oversee the direction and interests of the Conference.

To nominate yourself or another member, or if you have any questions, e-mail sara@ocaaup.org. Nominations are due by January 15, 2023.

The OCAAUP annual meeting will take place October 28-29. There are in-person and virtual options to participate. For complete details and registration, click here.

We are pleased to announce that we will have two guest speakers featured at the meeting. Journalist and author Will Bunch will be joining us virtually during the lunch hour to talk about his new book, After the Ivory Tower Falls: How College Broke the American Dream and Blew Up Our Politics–And How to Fix It.

In addition, Cynthia Peeples, one of the founders of the “Honesty for Ohio Education” coalition, will be joining the meeting in-person to deliver a presentation entitled, “Grassroots Organizing and the Fight for Honest Education in Ohio.” She will discuss the various “educational gag order” bills in Ohio and how she has helped organize around these issues.

All in-person and virtual attendees will have the opportunity to get one of our new “Team Ohio AAUP” t-shirts as a thank you for participating. Virtual participants will be given a link in the Zoom chat to sign up to receive a shirt in the mail.

You can direct any questions about the event to sara@ocaaup.org.

As of August 1, 2022, all AAUP members will also be members of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), as a result of the affiliation agreement ratified by both organizations this summer.

One of the many benefits of being an AFT member includes access to a program called “Summer” for student debt management, which simplifies the process for applying for federal loan forgiveness. This program has saved AFT members significant money, some in the tens of thousands of dollars.

AFT has fought hard and developed this application portal and program after the roll out for federal loan forgiveness was challenging. They have also fought and won for an extended deadline, which is upcoming. They are still working on a second extension, but that hasn’t come to fruition yet. The current hard deadline to apply is October 31 and AAUP members have access to this particular benefit right now, even before the affiliation start date of August 1.

For more information, AAUP members can log in to the AAUP website, and also access the relevant information here: https://www.aft.org/benefits/summer.