At the 71st Annual Meeting of the Ohio Conference AAUP on November 6, members unanimously approved three resolutions.

Resolution 1: Education First

Whereas the primary mission of Ohio’s colleges and universities is to
educate students, a mission carried out by professors,

Whereas colleges and universities have increasingly and irresponsibly
devoted resources to endeavors peripheral to the academic mission, such
as athletics, administrative bloat, and lavish construction projects,

Whereas the aforementioned misplaced priorities have led to a reduction in
instructional spending and the number of full-time and tenured faculty,

Whereas the average spending on instructional salaries at universities is
particularly abysmal, accounting for just 20 percent of institutional budgets,

Be it resolved that the Ohio Conference AAUP encourages Ohio’s colleges
and universities to adopt an “Education First” approach to its priorities and
budgeting to ensure that high-quality instruction for students can be
guaranteed before allocations are made to enterprises and activities clearly
outside of our institutions’ core missions.

Resolution 2: Academic Freedom & Government Interference

Whereas the American Association of University Professors was founded
on the core principle of academic freedom – the idea that faculty are free to
teach, research, write, and otherwise engage in scholarly activity without
fear or retaliation or political interference;

Whereas faculty are bound by professional standards and expertise to
teach the most up-to-date and accurate information of their disciplines;

Whereas the Ohio Conference AAUP represents approximately 6,000
college and university faculty across the state;

Whereas college students deserve truth and honesty in education;

Whereas there is legislation pending in the Ohio General Assembly, which
would restrict academic freedom and create a dangerous precedent of
what can and cannot be taught at institutions of higher education;

Be it resolved that the Ohio Conference AAUP affirms its unwavering
commitment to promoting and defending academic freedom;

Be it further resolved that the Ohio Conference AAUP unequivocally
opposes any attempts by government to interfere with educational content
and academic freedom at Ohio’s colleges and universities.

Resolution 3: Support for New Deal for Higher Education

Whereas the American Association of University Professors has partnered
with the American Federation of Teachers on the “New Deal for Higher
Education” campaign;

Whereas the New Deal for Higher Education campaign promotes the
following ideas:

–Prioritizing teaching, research, and supporting student success;

–Allowing all students to access higher education regardless of their ability
to pay;

–Ensuring job security, equitable pay, professional voice, and sustainable
careers for all faculty and staff;

–Creating academic environments free from racism, sexism, and other
bigotries that prevent learning, degrade research, and perpetuate
inequality; and

–Canceling student debt for borrowers who have unjustly shouldered the
burden of financing higher education the last forty years.

Be it resolved that the Ohio Conference AAUP supports the New Deal for
Higher Education and pledges to help advance the mission of the
campaign;

Be it further resolved that the Ohio Conference AAUP encourages Ohio
AAUP chapters and members to engage in advocacy to help promote the
New Deal for Higher Education.

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.

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP OUR DEMOCRACY IN 2020!

Sign up to be a poll worker.
https://www.ohiosos.gov/elections/poll-workers/signup/

Double check your voter registration.
https://voterlookupxss.ohiosos.gov/voterlookup.aspx

Make sure your family and friends are registered to vote.
https://voterlookup.ohiosos.gov/voterlookup.aspx

APPLY FOR MAIL-IN ABSENTEE BALLOT, AND MAKE SURE YOUR VOTE COUNTS!

Given the uncertainty this election, apply for your absentee ballot NOW.  Be sure to include your signature and fill in your date of birth. (commonly omitted info)
https://www.ohiosos.gov/elections/voters/absentee-ballot/

You can write your own application if you include the following info. 

https://www.ohiosos.gov/elections/voters/absentee-voting/

Where do I send my application? 

https://www.ohiosos.gov/elections/elections-officials/county-boards-of-elections-directory/

Track the status of your absentee application 

https://www.sos.state.oh.us/elections/voters/toolkit/ballot-tracking/

PROMPTLY RETURN FULLY COMPLETED BALLOT WITHOUT DELAY!

Fully complete the entire application including commonly omitted things like your signature and identification info. Do NOT tear off the stub at the bottom of the ballot!

If mailed, ballots must be postmarked by the day before the election (Nov. 2nd).

You can also drop your ballot at your local Board of Elections office or drop box up until 7:30 p.m. on Election Day. 
https://www.ohiosos.gov/elections/elections-officials/county-boards-of-elections-directory/

Absentee ballots cannot be returned at your polling place on Election Day. If you applied for an absentee ballot and show up at your Election Day polling location, you will need to cast a provisional ballot.

VOTE EARLY, IN PERSON

In person early voting begins Oct. 6 and runs up to Nov. 2, including to two Saturdays, two Sundays and the Monday before the election.
https://www.ohiosos.gov/elections/voters/absentee-voting/#inPerson

KEY DATES FOR THIS ELECTION

OCTOBER 5 
Voter Registration Ends

OCTOBER 6
Early voting begins in-person 
County Boards begin sending out absentee ballots

NOVEMBER 2
Early in-person voting ends at 2 p.m.

NOVEMBER 3
Election Day
Pollsare open 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Full Voting Calendar
https://www.sos.state.oh.us/globalassets/publications/election/2020electioncalendar_12x18.pdf

As part of “Solidarity Summer” — a series of events hosted by the AAUP-Wright State University chapter — the chapter is hosting several virtual events focused on candidates and issues impacting Ohioans and the communities we serve. 

While the events are free, participants will be asked to consider a contribution to AAUP-WSU’s political action committee, which supports pro-education, pro-labor candidates in Ohio.

All are welcome to attend today’s Call to Action event from 3:00-4:00 p.m.

Join the Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83081528320?pwd=TXFnd0tBRmVPeDd5amtkdmNwRHlTUT09

Meeting ID: 830 8152 8320
Password: 294418

Martin Kich
Professor of English, Wright State University
President-Elect, Ohio Conference of the American Association of University Professors

Ohio’s colleges and universities are contributing in uncountable ways to the state’s efforts to contend with the coronavirus pandemic. Our faculty have provided expertise that has helped our state to meet a wide range of challenges, from conducting ground-breaking bio-medical research to resolving unprecedented logistical and technological issues. Our institutions have opened their facilities and have donated their equipment to meet pressing community needs.

Our faculty have educated most of the medical professionals combatting the pandemic in our communities—the EMTs, the physicians, the nurses, and the other medical professionals from respiratory therapists to grief counselors, all of whom have inspired us with the strength of their commitment to their patients and to the public good.

Our faculty have also educated most of the other first responders—the police and the firefighters and the professionals who have maintained community services despite the dramatic disruptions that the pandemic has created in our daily lives.

Our faculty have also educated most of our leaders at all levels of government, in the business community, and in the non-profit sector—all of whom are meeting almost unimaginable challenges in a remarkably organized and efficient manner.

Graduates of our Public Health programs are organizing the contact tracing that will very shortly be necessary to contain the disease.

The academic programs that have produced these remarkable alumni/-ae maintain supplies of personal protective equipment, from masks and goggles to gloves and gowns. Just about every college and university in the state has donated their inventories of these essential PPE items to local hospitals in order to alleviate the shortages in their supplies.

In addition, some of the programs involve training with ventilators and respirators, which have also been loaned to the hospitals to meet sudden spikes in demand. In fact, several of the regional campuses that serve rural communities have even loaned hospital beds to the smaller hospitals there.

And when our institutions have not had the finished equipment on hand, they have provided materials needed to produce it or have actually begun to produce it.

For instance, the Theater Costume Shop at Lorain County Community Colleges has donated fabric appropriate for making masks.

Students in the Plastics Engineering Technology Program at Shawnee State University have designed special face shields for first responders and essential workers, and students at the University of Toledo and at other institutions have been using 3D printers to produce face shields.

Although the faculty, staff, and students have been working remotely, our campuses have not been shuttered completely. Some of our facilities are large enough to accommodate large numbers of people while also maintaining social distancing, and they have been used by local agencies for all sorts of purposes—from a blood-donation drive at Bowling Green State University to day-long food distribution to the needy, conducted by the local food bank, at Wright State University.

Beyond all of these immediately evident contributions, researchers at our universities have been contributing to the scientific innovations that will allow us to manage this disease. For instance, researchers at Ohio State University have made major contributions to multi-institutional efforts to develop effective and efficient COVID-19 testing.

In this crisis, our colleges and universities are demonstrating how integral they are to the well-being of our communities. In uncountable ways, they have enhanced the economic vitality and the quality of life within our communities. More importantly, even in the best of times and especially in the midst of a crisis such as this pandemic, they also are essential to preserving the lives of our family members and neighbors.

In the past few weeks virtually every college and university in the state has made or proposed drastic faculty and staff reductions in the face of financial difficulties exacerbated by the pandemic. Institutions of higher education will not be able to maintain their excellence, to sustain their contributions to communities and public health, or to keep students safe in the next academic year if they don’t receive more aid from the federal government. It would be a desperately needed investment not only to ensure that institutions survive, but to put them on footing to thrive for years to come.