AAUP Ohio Conference

American Association of University Professors

Wittenberg Sanctioned by National AAUP

Wittenberg University was one of six institutions added to the list of AAUP sanctioned institutions at the June 2021 AAUP Council meeting.

An institution is sanctioned by AAUP only after an investigation by the Committee on College and University Governance reveals “serious departures by the administration and/or governing board from generally accepted standards of college and university government endorsed by this Association, as set forth in the Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities and derivative governance documents.”

The report on Wittenberg highlighted three actions that Wittenberg’s board took without consulting the faculty.

The first was its establishment of an ad hoc Academic Program Futures Committee (APFC) consisting of administratively selected faculty members to plan, largely in secret, further academic program reductions than those already approved by the Educational Policies Committee (EPC), an elected faculty body.

The second step came in May 2020, two months into the COVID-19 crisis, when the board approved a resolution “suspending any faculty manual provisions that might delay the actions needed to achieve financial sustainability.”

Finally, in June, the board announced to the faculty its unanimous approval of APFC recommendations to discontinue eight programs and departments and to eliminate two tenured faculty positions in geology and Japanese.

The report describes how the faculty and the Wittenberg AAUP chapter protested each step along the way.

The University of Akron also was investigated as part of National AAUP’s omnibus governance investigation amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. However, a successful negotiation of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the chapter and administration on shared governance led the Committee on College and University Governance to make no recommendation on sanction.

However, in its statement, the committee wrote that it “remains deeply concerned about the continued presence in the collective-bargaining agreement of language equivalent to the technically deleted ‘force majeure.’” In light of subsequent developments, the AAUP’s Council referred consideration of a recommendation on sanction of the University of Akron back to the Committee on College and University Governance.

OCAAUP Submits Testimony on SB 135

For the June 2 hearing of the Ohio Senate Workforce and Higher Education Committee, OCAAUP President Marty Kich submitted interested party testimony to address several key concerns that we have with the substitute bill.

On May 19, the Senate Workforce and Higher Education Committee had adopted a substitute version of SB 135. Substitute SB 135 is different and somewhat improved from its original version.

Of particular concern to us in the original bill was language that implied that faculty could be fired for speaking about material deemed to be outside of their discipline or for expressing personal views. The new version of SB 135 no longer has this language.

Instead of a second chance voucher program financed by universities, there would be a second chance grant pilot program funded by the state. The goal of the program is to help students re-enroll at an institution of higher education to obtain a degree or certificate.

The revised bill also scales back the authority of the chancellor in opening and closing programs based on “in-demand” jobs. Under the new language, the chancellor should consider in-demand jobs when potentially approving a new program.

The bill’s new language still would allow universities to withhold transcripts from students, if the students have outstanding debt at the institution, but makes an exception when the student or graduate needs the transcript for a job.

There is no doubt that our advocacy efforts made a big difference in making this bill more palatable to this point, and we thank the AAUP members who spoke to legislators on our behalf and sent emails to members of the Workforce and Higher Education Committee.

Jackson Delivers OCAAUP Testimony about State Budget

On May 4, Dr. David Jackson, Professor of Political Science at Bowling Green State University, as well as President of the BGSU AAUP chapter, delivered testimony on behalf of OCAAUP regarding House Bill 110, the state budget bill.

The testimony focused on the importance of investment in public higher education, as well as the importance of educational quality and full-time faculty.

You can watch the video of the testimony and subsequent questions by legislators by visiting this page, clicking on the May 4 hearing, and going to the 35 minute mark in the video.

Roosevelt Network Report: The Financialization of Higher Education at the University of Cincinnati

A hard-hitting report about the upside-down priorities at the University of Cincinnati has been released by current and former students at UC who are members of the Roosevelt Network.

The report criticizes UC’s lack of inclusiveness in decision-making and transparency. It challenges the university’s centralized budgeting model, which usurps money to the central administration — money that often is later allocated to non-academic areas, like deficit-generating athletic programs.

Ultimately, the report recommends increased transparency, greater student and faculty representation, decentralizing university funding, freezing tuition, and re-examining expenditures on athletics.

As described on its website, the Roosevelt Network trains, develops, and supports emerging progressive policymakers, researchers, and advocates on campuses and in cities across the US, focusing on communities historically denied political power.

OCAAUP President Addresses Workload, Administrative Bloat to House Committee

McNay Testifies Before Higher Education Reform Study Committee

On Monday, September 9, Ohio Conference AAUP President John McNay delivered testimony to the Higher Education Reform Study Committee – a new standing committee started in the Ohio House of Representatives over the summer.

McNay
John McNay

The committee has embarked on a “road show,” traveling all over the state to public and for-profit colleges to discuss a myriad of issues in higher education.
On September 9, the committee met at Columbus State Community College to address the topic of “Reducing the High Cost of Higher Education.”  “Faculty Workload” was a topic listed under that heading.
During his testimony, McNay explained, “The common assumption is that universities’ costs are so high due to the labor (e.g. faculty) that they have to employ…Yet the most recent data from the Integrated Post-Secondary Data System (IPEDS) reveals that between FY 2002 and FY 2011, Ohio’s institutions spent, on average, 29.5 percent of their operating budgets on total instructional compensation (e.g. salaries and benefits). Over the 10 year period, total instructional compensation declined by 3.9 percent.”

Citing additional IPEDS data, McNay went on to tell legislators that the real culprit of rising tuition and waste is “administrative bloat,” and that future discussions about reducing higher education costs should focus on reining in administrative spending and redirecting it to instructional purposes.  

Members of the committee seemed to acknowledge the problems of administrative bloat and the shrinking numbers of full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty at Ohio’s institutions.  Vice Chair Christina Hagan (R-Alliance) asked for a list of recommendations from the Ohio Conference AAUP.  We will continue to update our members with relevant information about this committee. You can follow the committee and read other testimony that has been given by clicking here.