American Association of University Professors
The 2026 Ohio Conference AAUP Board of Trustees elections will be held electronically from March 15-March 31, 2026. Each member who is in good standing, which includes being current on their dues, will be emailed a ballot from BallotBoxOnline, the secure voting platform OCAAUP has used in past years.
CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT
Name: Dr. Gretchen McNamara
Institutional Affiliation: Wright State University, Senior Lecturer of Music, Trombone and Music Education
Why do you want to serve on the OCAAUP Board of Trustees the Ohio Conference of the American Association of University professors?
For over a decade I have been actively involved in my faculty union, the American Association of University Professors. I became a member and involved in leadership from the very beginning of the Non-Tenure Eligible unionization efforts at Wright State in 2012. I became intimately and immediately aware of the power of our faculty union, and while it is not usually easy work, it is good work. I am ‘good trouble.’
I am running for President of the OCAAUP, a position I have held for four years, to continue the work of higher education advocacy in the state. The Ohio Conference is the largest and most successful AAUP state conference in the country, and I like the work it will take to keep it that way. Union leadership requires strong communication and organizational skills, both of which I possess. It requires thoughtful responses to head on attacks and an ability to reason. Given the current state of higher education in Ohio and the ongoing political attacks, there is no more important time to be actively involved and to continue to lead our conference. It is with confidence and commitment that I’m running for re-election.
Bio: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-tH6iwtUFYA4-iCi1_QrP9QdhX1f2euT/edit
CANDIDATE FOR SECRETARY
The candidate for this position withdrew their nomination very recently. According to the OCAAUP Code of Regulations, it was past the deadline for other potential candidates to be considered by the Nominating Committee and added to this ballot. As such, the committee will put out another call for nominations and a special election will be held for the position of Secretary. Look for more information on this in the next few weeks.
CANDIDATES FOR AT-LARGE MEMBER—PRIVATE INSTITUTION
There are two nominees for the position of At-Large Member-Private Institution. OCAAUP members will vote for one person when voting opens on March 15, 2026.
Name: Liz Klainot-Hess
Institutional Affiliation: Capital University, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology and Criminology
Why do you want to serve on the OCAAUP Board of Trustees the Ohio Conference of the American Association of University professors?
My name is Liz Klainot-Hess and I have been an Assistant Professor at Capital University for the last 3 years. Prior to that I taught at two other private colleges in Ohio – Denison and Kenyon. I have always been heavily involved in the labor movement, starting in high school, and was the co-chair of the UW-Milwaukee Graduate Assistants union while in my Master’s program. I also wrote my dissertation and several articles about the unionization of contingent faculty and the problems faced by these faculty and currently have a book on the topic under review.
I think unions and labor advocacy groups are now more important than ever, especially with the threats facing both unions and universities/colleges. One thing that makes the private colleges in Ohio different from the other Ohio colleges is that tenure-track faculty cannot unionize. At the last state meeting I noticed that there were only representatives from two private schools (including Capital) and three advocacy chapters in attendance. I would like to encourage more Ohio private colleges to get involved in AAUP activities and attend the annual state meeting. It would also be great to have some specific programming or activities specifically for private colleges and advocacy chapters. I also think it is important for the AAUP chapters at Ohio private colleges to begin to collaborate with each other.
Bio: https://elizabethklainothess.com/
Name: Rosemary O’Neill
Institutional Affiliation: Kenyon College; Professor of English and Chair of Gender and Sexuality Studies
Why do you want to serve on the OCAAUP Board of Trustees the Ohio Conference of the American Association of University professors?
I started an advocacy chapter of the AAUP at Kenyon College in 2023 after years of feeling frustrated about the loss of faculty voice in decision-making in my institution. Our chapter has only gotten more energized as austerity-driven cuts and political pressures bear down on our school (like so many others). What started as a core group of less than ten members has grown to a chapter of over forty.
On the OCAAUP Board of Trustees, I look forward to representing the perspectives of private college faculty and increasing collaboration among Ohio’s SLACs on labor issues. It has always been illuminating for me to compare notes with other AAUP chapters at Ohio private colleges, and I hope to formalize this in some way in the years to come through a SLAC caucus and/or programming specifically for chapters at SLACs.
Bio: https://www.kenyon.edu/directory/rosemary-oneill/
Thank you to all the nominees for their willingness to serve in these positions!