About

RIT AAUP has been around for many years, although our membership has ebbed and flowed over the years.

Our current chapter was restarted by Professor Emeritus Dr Stephen Aldersley, who retired after a 46-year career at RIT.

A Welcome Message from Dr Aldersley

WELCOME to the AAUP Chapter of Rochester Institute of Technology

As you may know the American Association of University Professors has been the principal defender of academic freedom in higher education since its founding in New York in 1915 (https://www.aaup.org/about/history-aaup). Over the years it has published landmark documents speaking to core tenets of the academic profession, most notably the 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure (https://www.aaup.org/reports-publications/aaup-policies-reports/policy-statements/1940-statement-principles-academic). Note that the Statement does not only apply to tenure track faculty but rather “to all others, such as part-time faculty and teaching assistants, who exercise teaching responsibilities.”

Back in the 1990’s, RIT had a thriving AAUP chapter with close to 150 faculty members. After declining over the intervening years, it was revived at the end of 2025 and is now back on firm footing, and we are pleased to introduce this new website which we intend to be not simply a means of communication of chapter activities and positions, but to be first and foremost a location for discussion of any and all issues of interest to faculty at the university. To that end, on this site we will be posting articles and links to sources of information relevant to the daily lives of RIT faculty.

The AAUP has a broad definition of faculty responsibilities beyond teaching and research. This is laid out in the 1966 Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities (https://www.aaup.org/reports-publications/aaup-policies-reports/topical-reports/statement-government-colleges-and). This document, co-developed by the American Council on Education and The Association of Governing Boards and Colleges, notes that: “The variety and complexity of the tasks performed by institutions of higher education produce an inescapable interdependence among governing board, administration, faculty, students, and others. The relationship calls for adequate communication among these components, and full opportunity for appropriate joint planning and effort.” Of particular interest to the Chapter is that portion of the document that speaks to the issue of faculty governance. We take seriously the responsibility of faculty to engage fully in the following aspects of institutional life: “The framing and execution of long-range plans, one of the most important aspects of institutional responsibility, should be a central and continuing concern in the academic community. Effective planning demands that the broadest possible exchange of information and opinion should be the rule for communication among the components of a college or university. The channels of communication should be established and maintained by joint endeavor. Distinction should be observed between the institutional system of communication and the system of responsibility for the making of decisions. A second area calling for joint effort in internal operation is that of decisions regarding existing or prospective physical resources. The board, president, and faculty should all seek agreement on basic decisions regarding buildings and other facilities to be used in the educational work of the institution. A third area is budgeting. The allocation of resources among competing demands is central in the formal responsibility of the governing board, in the administrative authority of the president, and in the educational function of the faculty. Each component should therefore have a voice in the determination of short- and long-range priorities, and each should receive appropriate analyses of past budgetary experience, reports on current budgets and expenditures, and short- and long-range budgetary projections. The function of each component in budgetary matters should be understood by all; the allocation of authority will determine the flow of information and the scope of participation in decisions.”

            In addition to the primary interest of the chapter in safeguarding tenure and academic freedom, these areas of governance will remain a focus of our work going forward.

Recently, the AAUP has found itself in the forefront of the struggle to protect universities and faculty against the concerted attacks of the current administration in Washington. Lest one question the reason for its concern, one could hardly do  better than listen to the keynote speech given at the 2^nd National Conservatism Conference on November 2^nd, 2021 by Vice President Vance (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FR65Cifnhw). After stating that “The universities do not pursue knowledge and truth, they pursue deceit and lies,” as a result of which, “We have to honestly and aggressively attack the universities in this country,” he quoted President Nixon to the effect that “the professors are the enemy.” Speeches of this ilk, while they may at the time have seemed to some more rhetorical than dangerous, took on far greater weight in November of 2024 and have since come to embody many aspects of the Federal Administration’s approach to high education. Could there be any stronger reason to consider joining a union fighting to oppose the onslaught of proclamations, executive orders and laws that have since come showering down on the universities?

The common understanding of a “union” of course is a group of workers organized to fight for better working conditions, notably compensation, health benefits and sundry contractual protections, and many AAUP chapters do fit that description. However, thanks to the Supreme Court’s 1982 decision in NLRB v. Yeshiva University (https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/444/672/) such chapters, known within AAUP as ‘collective-bargaining chapters’ are to be found primarily, though not exclusively, in the public sphere. By contrast, the RIT chapter is an ‘advocacy chapter.’ As such while we are prevented from engaging in collective bargaining, we exist to promote the values and positions of the AAUP in every aspect of university life.

So please, make the most of the website and consider becoming a member of the AAUP.

We do have one caveat. In order for the membership to discuss matters openly and freely in chapter meetings and beyond, our meeting minutes will be password-protected. Once you become an AAUP member, we ask that, in addition to using an electronic address other than rit.edu (which AAUP requires), that you use your own private password to log on to that portion of the site so limited.

Signed, the Chapter Executive Committee:

President: Stephen Aldersley (emeritus professor)

Vice-President: W. Michelle Harris (GCCIS)

Treasurer: Aaron McGowan (COS)

External Relations/Webmaster: Atia Newman (CAD)