Missouri State University Chapter

A Message From John B. Harms, President, AAUP/Missouri State
Dear Colleagues:

There is a “silent revolution” unfolding across the nation within higher education that threatens key academic values of academic freedom, tenure and shared governance. Consider the following:

• In the 1990s more than 50% of full-time faculty appointments were non-tenure track.
• By 1998 42.6% of all higher education faculty were part-time.
• Following the national trend towards declining shares of state revenues going to higher education, last year Missouri Governor Holden withheld 15% of funds for higher education, which effectively meant a $13.5 million cut for Missouri State.
• 1998 university technology transfers to private corporations totaled $34 billion.
• FY 2000 state appropriations per student (NCES):

MO $4857     KS $6370
OK $6079      IL $6463
IA $6129        AR $6778

• Percentage of Missouri state budget devoted to higher education:

FY 1980 8.3%
FY 2003 5.8%

• Percentage of Missouri general revenue and lottery proceeds devoted to higher education:
  

FY 1989 17%
FY 2003 <13%

• Nationwide, real undergraduate tuition and fees at state flagship universities increased 125% between FY 1981 and FY 2002.
• Nationwide, real undergraduate tuition and fees at state colleges and regional universities increased 116% between FY 1981 and FY 2002.
• Twenty-five years ago, Missouri State students contributed approximately 17% of the cost of their education; for FY 2003 the figure is 43%.
  
• In 1950 the share of the Federal tax burden paid by corporations was 26.5%. By 2000 that share had declined to 10.2%. By contrast, the share of the Federal tax burden paid by individuals via payroll taxes increased from 6.9% to 31.1% during those same years.

These little snippets provide clear evidence of a profound restructuring of the University. There is a mosaic of forces transforming our shared community of scholars who integrate teaching, research and service into a fragmented patchwork of contingent educational laborers managed according to a corporate model that views education as just another commodity. Certainly, the emergence of the Phoenix Universities on the academic landscape provides clear evidence of the restructuring of the University and the commodification of education.

Most faculty members are probably aware that the AAUP's purpose is to advance academic freedom, tenure and shared governance, to define fundamental professional values and standards for higher education, and to ensure higher education's contribution to the common good. This all sounds very nice. But, the real issue is how does the AAUP work? How do core values of academic freedom, tenure and shared governance become embodied in real individuals and organizational structures?

As a professional organization, the AAUP gathers information from faculty and institutions across nation and uses this information to develop policy documents and reports that reflect best practices. These are collected and published by the AAUP as Policy Documents & Reports, also more commonly referred to as simply, The Redbook. While the function of the national AAUP and State Conference is to distill and develop best practices from the diversity of colleges and universities nationwide and statewide, chapters like ours work to implement these practices locally.

For example, one of the major trends affecting Academia in the past 20 years has been the integration of women into the University, who now constitute about 36% of full time faculty. Not surprisingly, women experience academic work differently – especially trying to balance child rearing responsibilities with academic challenges such as promotion and tenure, which often overlap in time. Hearing this problem from numerous faculty and campuses across the nation, the AAUP convened its Committee on the Status of Women in the Academic Profession and its Subcommittee on Academic Work and Family to examine this problem and develop a set of principles. The result was the Statement of Principles on Family Responsibilities and Academic Work, published in Academe in the Fall of 2001. It outlines a set of best practices distilled from the experiences of individuals and universities from across the nation. It is an AAUP resource that specific universities can draw on when developing their own policies for dealing with the problem, and provides a cosmopolitan perspective on the issue. This is how the AAUP works.

What this means practically, is that for the AAUP to actually work, it requires faculty members to participate and constantly examine practices on campus for how they influence academic values. As the facts cited above reveal, many of the forces that shape our lives as teachers and scholars come from constituencies off campus, like the state legislature and its fiscal policies, for example.

The central message is that we need to come together as a community of scholars and actively confront these forces and participate in the process of restructuring the University. This need, however, is thwarted by our academic training, which emphasizes disciplinary thinking and suggests that our careers are determined by our activities as chemists, art historians, psychologists, etc. I do not mean to demean our disciplinary activities, but rather, to suggest that current circumstances dictate that we think and act as University Professors; as a community of scholars.

The AAUP is the only organization that represents all faculty, across all ranks and all disciplines at both public and private institutions. It is the only organization that represents exclusively the interests of faculty in higher education. One of the main functions of the AAUP is to gather information on the nation’s faculty and use this information to inform policies in higher education and strengthen the faculty. The AAUP, together with other organizations like the Association of Governing Boards and the American Council on Education, formulates statements and principles that guide the policies and procedures implemented in colleges and universities across the nation. Its state counterpart, the Missouri Conference, represents the interests of faculty in Jefferson City and supports local chapters like ours at Missouri State.

Won’t you consider becoming a member and joining me and our other AAUP colleagues in making sure that the faculty’s interests are forcefully articulated and represented at Missouri State, in Jefferson City, and across the nation? It is one thing to believe in AAUP principles, and another to actively contribute and participate in their realization in actual ongoing university policies and practices.

I know that membership costs inhibit many faculty from joining the AAUP, who want to know, “what do I get for my money?” Well, here’s what faculty get who join the AAUP:

• The work of the AAUP which is constantly defining best practices and professional standards, and an organizational structure to implement them.
• Resources providing ongoing information and perspective on higher education, like Academe, Footnotes, and newsletters.
• And most importantly, the opportunity to participate, contribute, and be a part of the ongoing process of higher education.

Think about it.
What is the foundation of a vibrant and active community of scholars?
What are the activities that can bring us together as a faculty?

I know from my own experience that joining the AAUP is less about what I get, and more about what I am a part of. In my own case, for example, I pay the top dues rate of $140 national and $10 local dues = a total of $150, or a staggering 41 cents a day – less than a cup of coffee. I view it as a necessary and desirable investment in my profession and the opportunity to work with colleagues to apply academic values and create an active community of scholars.

Yes, it is true. Academic freedom is not free, and we need your support.

We have a half-rate dues structure this Fall for new members and untenured faculty, and a number of payment options to make joining the AAUP easy and convenient.

I sincerely hope you will join us.

If you have any questions, please give me a call, or email me.

John B. Harms, President
AAUP/Missouri State
836-5676
jbh221f@missouristate.edu