Welcome to BCAAUP
Established in January 2010, BCAAUP is a local affiliate of the American Association of University Professors, which is the preeminent national faculty association working to protect academic freedom and promote faculty governance. The Boston College chapter has more than 120 members (tenured and tenure track, non-tenure track and grad students), and interest and membership continue to grow. BCAAUP responds to concerns raised by BC faculty on issues including academic freedom and tenure, governance, grievance, and compensation, and we continue to engage the administration on these matters in order to improve communication and transparency on all levels across the university.
Announcements
At the April 24th, 2014 PAC meeting, the Provost approved our proposal for a standing Faculty Handbook Committee. In order to establish this committee before the academic year ends, there was agreement that 3 current representatives of the PAC would serve as the first standing Faculty Handbook Committee.
The election of a Faculty Senate will also take place next fall. The Senate shall consist of thirty-two elected members and the members shall represent the four divisions in the college: Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, Humanities I, and Humanities II. Each of the four divisions shall have a total of eight representatives, and no department or program shall have more than three senators from its ranks. All full-time faculty members in the college holding an academic rank shall be eligible to serve as members of the Senate. If you would like to be a candidate for the A&S Senate election, or would be interested in serving on the BCAAUP Executive Board, please contact any of our Board members.
BCAAUP Faculty Handbook Committee Approval
AAUP recently held their national elections, with the incumbent slate of candidates running under the slogan “Organizing for Change” winning the election. Among this group is Susan Michalczyk, Adjunct Associate Professor in the Honors Program at Boston College, winning her election for the position of Second Vice President. This will be her second consecutive term in this position. The Chronicle of Higher Education and Inside Higher Ed both covered this election in their April edition.
AAUP Officers Win Elections That Focused on Their Union Emphasis
Below is the BC AUUP Spring Update and the details for our upcoming March meeting. We hope that this can provide details on new developments from the last update in the fall and that all faculty can join us for our upcoming meeting.
BCAAUP Spring Update 2014
BCAAUP March Meeting
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Stokes 195S
4:30 PM-6:00 PM
We welcome David Kociemba from Emerson College, and member of the AAUP Committee on Contingency and the Profession to our next meeting.
Please join us for a discussion of:
Proposal for Faculty Committee for Faculty Handbook
Faculty Benefits
Concerns for Contingent Faculty
Faculty Senate Updates
All faculty and graduate students are welcome!
With best wishes for the coming spring,
The BCAAUP Executive Board
Chronicle of Higher Education recently published an article on the series of events leading up to the planning and execution of the Belfast Project.
Rudy Fichtenbaum, President of AAUP, recently addressed the Congressional House State, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee regarding the Community College Pay and Benefit Equity Act of 2014, testifying about the problems and challenges faced by part-time faculty.
Rudy FichtenbaumTestimony on HB14-1154
Petition to Request Improved Cell Phone Service in Stokes Hall
In response to faculty concerns about the lack of cell phone service in Stokes Hall, BCAAUP asked faculty members to add their names to a petition. Not only have we had a strong response from faculty, but also from concerned students and staff. As a result, we are expanding the petition to include the larger BC community and will continue to collect signatures through Fri., Nov. 15th. We believe that this on-going problem poses a serious safety issue for faculty and students alike. We have been told that the problem has been resolved for those who have ATT as a provider; however those with other providers have poor or no service in Stokes.
If you would like to add your name, please email Susan Michalczyk at [email protected].
We will send the petition to Michael Bourque, Vice-President for IT on Fri., Nov. 15th.
BCAAUP Fall Update
We hope that this new academic year has begun well for everyone and send our thanks to so many of you who have been involved in advocacy for our faculty throughout the summer. We welcome our new members of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and our new colleagues at BC. BCAAUP welcomes any and all faculty: tenured and non-tenure track, grad students and retired colleagues, to contact us with your concerns and join us at our meetings.
Attached is the full Fall update. Some highlights include a brief overview with our meeting with Interim Provost Joe Quinn, the results of last year’s faculty survey, and plans to foster communication with the administration.
Given the reality of the challenges facing our faculty, and in the absence of any recognized official faculty governing body, BCAAUP continues to make inroads in our commitment to academic freedom and faculty governance. We hope you will consider becoming a member of AAUP (aaup.org for information about membership) and joining our advocacy chapter, http://bcaaup.org/, and consider serving on our Executive Board
With best wishes for this new academic year,
The BCAAUP Executive Board
AAUP President Fichtenbaum’s Response to President Obama
President of AAUP Rudy Fichtenbaum responds to President Obama’s recent proposal for performance-based funding in higher education.
Privacy of Faculty Email & Electronic Materials
One of the interesting revelations in the recent controversy involving faculty email searches at Harvard is that the university and Harvard’s Arts and Sciences Faculty have a privacy agreement concerning faculty email and other electronic correspondence. BCAAUP has obtained a copy of this agreement (click link above) and suggests that we might consider negotiating such an agreement for BC faculty. What do you think?
BCAAUP end-of-year update 2013
Thanks to all of you who have helped to address matters of Academic Freedom and Governance at Boston College during this academic year. Click on the link above to see our End of Year Update, which provides information about our work this year, as well as issues that we will address moving forward next year. We hope that BCAAUP has been and will continue to act as a resource moving forward.
With best wishes for the summer,
The BCAAUP Executive Board
BCAAP Statement on Students for Sexual Health, March 2013
The Boston College chapter of the American Association of University Professors is deeply concerned about the university’s recent letters sent to members of the BC Students for Sexual Health (BCSSH) threatening disciplinary action against them for distributing contraceptives in their dorm rooms. While it is the university’s right to distribute or not distribute contraceptives through the student health center, we believe that taking disciplinary action against students for lawful actions undertaken in the privacy of their dorm rooms constitutes an infringement of their rights. The issues regarding sexual health raised by BCSSH are important to the welfare of our students who come from a variety of faith traditions; taking disciplinary action against them on such matters of individual conscience sends the wrong message to the campus community, alumni, and prospective students.
BCAAUP President Susan Michalczyk on the Quest for Shared Governance
The following op-ed by Susan Michalczyk, Boston College AAUP President, details the faculty’s ongoing quest for a university faculty senate and the sad state of faculty governance at a prestigious Jesuit college. Perhaps the reality of the first Jesuit pope, who is a man committed to social justice, will enliven Boston College’s administration to improve faculty representation in the name of genuine collegiality.
The Quest for Shared Governance at Boston College