There is a lot of ground to cover this month. We have wins to celebrate, updates to share, and opportunities for you to join in this fight for a better higher ed.
WCU AAUP Impacts On and Off Campus
(Most) WCU election results are in! In our first candidate endorsement cycle, WCU AAUP had an 87% success rate with endorsed candidates now poised to be real decision makers at WCU and in the UNC System. That 87% success rate was no fluke. CONEC confirmed that every newsletter we sent out corresponded to a spike in voting participation.Our Advising Day door-to-door canvassing also increased participation in faculty elections.
Our WCU AAUP wins are:
Todd Collins, Chair of the Faculty
Veronica Wisnewski-Parks, Faculty Assembly (Alt) Delegate
Laura Wright, Faculty Hearing AND Grievance Committees
Katherine Mershon, CAS Representative to Faculty Senate
We are still waiting to hear results from the Staff Senate elections, but we are hopeful we will continue our winning streak!
Your vote made this happen, and your voice can become part of our collective decision-making in leveraging these wins to make positive change on WCU’s campus. Join AAUP today to turn your stressors and complaints into collective action to solve your everyday issues. When you join, let us know so we can get you connected to a community of folks who are making higher education a sustainable work environment.
Speaking of community, last month WCU AAUP hosted quite a few fun social events. First, our “Toasting the End of Spring Break” happy hour was attended by 21 Adults, 4 children, and 2 dogs! If you weren’t there, you did miss out on a lot of fun and should plan to be at the next one (check out our Instagram to see the fun and stay up to date on WCU AAUP future happenings). Our “Coffee With Comrades” event connected us with students from the Trans Student Union and the Revolutionary Book Club. These students want to know two things:
Why haven’t all of their professors joined AAUP yet? (If you teach these students, expect to be asked this directly)
How can WCU AAUP and TSU/RBC support each other?
This first student partnership is exciting to those of us on the Organizing Committee, as the ability to mobilize students and faculty (in conjunction with the power the elected members will hold) will be huge for launching a successful issue campaign in the fall. **If we look to organizers out of Rutgers as an example, student participation was crucial to their success as the University Administration could not leverage the students against the faculty to force them to drop their demands.** If you are interested in finding out ways to cultivate that relationship and support students in our campus community, your ideas are needed! With your participation, we can make this a meaningful partnership that will turn into something bigger than any of us could anticipate. Send an email to wcuaaup1889@gmail.com so we can connect interested people to this important work.
WCU AAUP had a good showing at “No Kings 3”. I attended Waynesville’s protest with a substantial group all repping AAUP gear. If you attended this or a different “No Kings” protest this past weekend, please let us know by filling out this form. We would like to have an idea of the WCU AAUP impact for the May Newsletter. These numbers are important for gauging our impact and for leverage in influencing decision-makers.
We may be a new chapter, but we’re already punching above our weight. Within the NC Conference, we rank squarely in the middle of the pack in terms of membership, and we have two members serving on the State Elections Committee. Our members also have been tapped to meet with faculty from Meredith College and UNC-Pembroke to answer their questions about starting their own AAUP chapters. After both meetings, those other faculty immediately began the chartering process, ultimately leading to two new NC chapters and an increase in NC delegates to the AAUP Biennial Meeting. As you can see, WCU AAUP already is making significant impacts both on our campus (see the election results above) and across the state.
Get Involved
Behind the scenes, we are planning a fall campaign based on the issues identified in our February General Meeting. Your Organizing Committee is working hard to map our campus to identify leaders and key decision-makers, in addition to creating an escalation plan. This is a heavy lift for our current group of 5. If you have contacts across campus you can lean on or are interested in strategy development and implementation, you are needed by the Organizing Committee. Launching the first campaign will be a significant moment in your chapter’s history; a successful first campaign makes future campaigns more likely to succeed. To lend time and talents for the good of your own working conditions and those of your colleagues, join the organizing committee.
But our work isn’t just about organizing. It’s also fun. Most of our regular meetings have been to plan events and coordinate media. To get connected with your colleagues and current/future friends, join a committee (Organizing, Good Vibes, and/or Communications).
It is important to remember that AAUP committee work should either be documented in your FAD as service to your profession or submitted as paid volunteer time if you are staff. The work that we do directly impacts the sustainability of our profession. It is our labor (teaching, student/faculty support, committee work, research - of all kinds, not just academic, answering phone calls, sending emails, etc.,) that attracts and retains students. That makes protecting and advocating for our working conditions through WCU AAUP the most important service we could perform for WCU, the UNC System, and quite frankly, the whole of higher ed.
I love my job and want to be able to do it well. That is why I joined AAUP and why I participate in committee work. I hope you’ll join me.
NC AAUP Updates
Dues-paying members: Save the date for the (virtual) NC AAUP Annual Meeting! The meeting will be held via Zoom on April 18th from 10am–1pm. Watch your inbox for a registration link soon.
NC AAUP is soliciting Nominees for the offices of Vice President and Secretary of the State Chapter. In addition, we are seeking four delegates to the AAUP Biennial Association Meeting. Nominees must be AAUP members in good standing as of February to be considered for any of these roles. Self-nominations are encouraged. Nominations must be submitted by 5PM on April 5th so that nominees can be confirmed and verified before the voting period opens.
If you are interested and want to learn more about these positions, see the nomination form.
Working Group Updates:
The CPHE Working Group is hosting an info session on the new proposed accrediting body CPHE on April 8th, 7pm-8pm. To register, follow this link. The information session is open to all (i.e., you do not have to be a dues-paying member to attend). NC Central University will be impacted by the CPHE, but they do not have an AAUP chapter. If you know anyone who works at NC Central, please share the registration link with them.
The Working Immigration Group (WIG) will be hosting an Immigration and Resource Fair at NC State on April 14, 12–4p. If you’d like to get involved with the WIG, contact Cat Warren (cat_warren@icloud.com).
National AAUP Updates
WCU had three representatives at the All-Member National AAUP meeting this past Tuesday to hear updates from AAUP organizers from around the country. To no one’s surprise, there continue to be relentless attacks from the Trump Administration against the entire educational system. To keep up the AAUP’s winning streak in reversing firings, securing withheld grants, and reversing policies, AAUP is asking all members to participate in two areas:
The National Legal Team is preparing for litigation related to the Trump Administration’s attacks on “DEI”. If you have first-hand knowledge of things happening at WCU related to cuts/changes to DEI programs or contracts, please contact Aaron Nissonson for a confidential correspondence about what you know. I have no direct knowledge of the ICA closure, but if you do, that might be worth sharing.
National AAUP is pushing May Day participation this year. The Research Triangle is getting special National Attention (Shout out Trent from AAUP National!). Stay tuned for more information about ways WCU AAUP is recommending we participate. Join the Organizing and/or Good Vibes Committees if you have thoughts to share
Calls to Action
Lots to do this month to support yourself, WCU AAUP, AAUP NC/National, and higher ed in general.
Email wcuaaup1889@gmail.com to liaise with interested student organizations
Invite WCU AAUP to your department meeting! Email wcuaaup1889@gmail.com to coordinate schedules
Save the Date for the NC Annual Meeting, April 18th, 10am–1pm
Save the Date for May Day, plan to participate in some form of No School, No Work, No Spend and/or Public Protest, May 1st, all day
Upcoming Webinars Worth Participating In:
NC AAUP CPHE Info Session, April 8th, 6pm-7pm (many of us on the Organizing Committee will be there!)
Shared Governance Outside the Faculty’s Primary Responsibilities, April 30th, 1pm-2pm
Good News to Share
The Right Expands Its Campaign to Censor College Professors. The Progressive. (3.3.2026) It seems bleak from the title, but Todd Wolfson, AAUP President, has some good news to share.
I talk a lot about radical hope in these newsletters. It is so easy to take a look at the laundry list of bad things happening in higher ed, in the streets of American cities, and in communities all over the globe and just throw your hands up in despair. I understand the urge; I feel it every day. But we can’t give in to the bleakness if we want to find a way out of this. We must hold out hope for a better tomorrow and act in a way that will bring us there.
You are someone worth fighting for. Our colleagues, students, and community members are people worth sticking our necks out for.
Join your WCU community in this struggle for a brighter future.
In Solidarity,
WCU AAUP
They are watching us. I have said some variation of this in every month’s installment of this newsletter and almost every urgent action in between, and it is true. The think tanks and malicious actors in powerful places are watching us.
They watched all 3000 of us sign the petition opposing the UNC Syllabus Policy and its Doxxing Database.
They watched us come together and increase our NC Conference membership by 250% year-over-year, which makes us the fastest growing conference in the country.
They watched all 1000 of us sign the petition opposing the UNC Academic Freedom Policy and the many NC and National Members who pushed their way into the Board of Governors meeting to bear witness to the vote that would pass the new policy.
After they watched how we refused to back down and refused to give up on the principals that make our universities worth the time and effort we put into them as employees, students, and community members, they have started backing down. In the past week, AAUP has had two significant victories in our state:
1) UNC Recording Policy Reversal. After watching our AAUP responses, UNC Chapel Hill reversed course on pursuing its just-announced, proposed Recording Policy that would allow the university to record any faculty teaching at any time. They are scrapping the whole thing. This is a major win for academic freedom within the UNC system, because Chapel Hill is a bellwether for regional campuses like ours.
2)Academic Freedom Policy Concessions. While a version of the Academic Freedom Policy was passed that will still curtail speech in our classrooms, the petitions we signed and the faculty presence we had got several key changes made to the policy. These changes will continue to allow us as faculty to use our expertise as teachers and scholars to make pedagogical decisions about our content. This may seem like small potatoes and it would have been better if this policy had not passed, but these are concessions that hinted that the needle was moving in our direction and allow us to do our jobs and learn more freely than the first draft. Make no mistake, we aren't finished with this policy, but we are still celebrating this victory.
If you signed a petition, you made this happen. If you joined AAUP, you made this happen. If you wrote letters, talked to your friends and colleagues, and/or marched to Raleigh this past Thursday, you made this happen.
If you haven’t done any of those things yet, just imagine the impact we can have with your involvement. I’ll go ahead and put my requisite plug for you to join AAUP and WCU AAUP here.
If you join, let us know. We only get an updated roster once a month and would love to connect with and integrate you into the chapter much faster than National AAUP’s timeline.
Community Building
Feeling inspired yet? This month, WCU AAUP has two events that you won’t want to miss!
Frog Level Mixer Part 2! Come join us for a no-strings-attached, community-building event at Frog Level Brewing in Waynesville, NC. Come hang out with friends and meet new ones on March 14th at 4PM. Just like last time, this event has been planned by WCU AAUP, but this is not a recruitment drive. You will not be expected to sit through a timeshare-esque info session before you can chat with old and new friends and eat and drink whatever tickles your fancy. The purpose of this event is strictly community building across our campus, and I hope that you will stop by! Bring friends and family with you! The more, the merrier!
Coffee with Comrades! “Ask me about AAUP” or hang out with your WCU community at Blue Ridge Bootleg Coffee in Downtown Sylva after your department’s Advising Day events. We will be at BRB Coffee from 12-4pm on March 24th to answer your lingering questions about AAUP and get a sense of how you might envision yourself as a valuable part of an AAUP Chapter at WCU.
Provided we get a good turn out (which we will because you are going to come… with friends!), we would like to do these kinds of events monthly. The Good Vibes and Events Committee strongly believes that there is nothing more important than community building. You are not alone. Talking with each other over a pint or a cup of coffee is the most radically hopeful thing we can do. Follow us on Instagram for more updates on these and other happenings.
WCU AAUP Chapter Updates
First, a very minor but really impactful update about our website. WCU AAUP purchased a domain name; we are now officially www.wcuaaup.org! The link will only reliably work if you type the "www" prefix, but the site is the same, and now you should be able to Google us! OK, on to the important stuff!
In the past month, our chapter has been busy! With our membership having doubled in the New Year, we have been moving behind the scenes to train, strategize and prepare for our New Year’s Resolution of launching a campus-wide campaign to make positive change in conditions for faculty, staff, and students at WCU. A few weeks ago, 4 of us completed the AAUP “Core Skills” organizer training, a multi-night Zoom course going over the basics of designing and implementing successful campaigns in a higher education setting. The breakout sessions gave us space to think through our own ideas for our campus which the Executive and Organizing Committees are planning to continue to map out. If you are an AAUP member and would like to get involved, the Organizing Committee (and all of our Committees) are looking for members.
WCU elections are happening this month and many AAUP members are running for important roles to give us more leverage to work within the University and UNC System. Collective action is important and effective, but it is much easier when you already have a seat at the table. Stay tuned for our AAUP candidate endorsements. If you are running for something and would like to be considered for AAUP Endorsement, please email us ASAP!
Finally, WCU AAUP has started offering to meet with Departments to talk about the new Syllabus Policy (more on that in the next section), Academic Freedom, and general AAUP information. We would love to connect with you and your department. Please, email us and let us know if that is something your department might be interested in.
NC AAUP Syllabus Updates
NC AAUP is continuing to legally challenge the current UNC syllabus policy and doxxing database and are having success at Chapel Hill and Charlotte with using modified past syllabi to answer FOIA requests. If you do receive a request (FOIA or otherwise) for current syllabi or syllabi from years past, you should:
Feel free to reply, “I will respond after seeking legal guidance.” A university administrator will typically offer a 1-2 week window asking you to respond. Take the entire time.
Notify your WCU AAUP chapter at wcuaaup1889@gmail.com and the NC AAUP legal hotline (free for AAUP dues-paying members).
Draft a syllabus for your previous course that includes only the required information (see guidance here) and email it to the requesting administrator. Do not send your original document (we’ll call that the “Document Formerly Known as Syllabus”) to the requesting authority; that document is no longer a syllabus, as defined by Section 400.1.6. (Guidance adapted from UNCW AAUP)
Our current legal team has successfully sued the UNC System in the past and so we are hopeful that they will be able to reverse the course of this policy and uphold the privacy, safety, and intellectual property of faculty and maintain the quality of a UNC System education.
Take Action
This month's homework is relatively easy, but extremely important.
Come to an AAUP Event. **Bonus points** for making your next department meeting an AAUP event.
Connect a Friend/Colleague with WCU AAUP. Send them our updated Interest form and invite them to an AAUP event with you. If you have a friend that might be interested in being involved with WCU AAUP even though they don't work at WCU, send them the form and bring them to an event! Community partners are important, even if they aren’t able to become official members of AAUP.
Vote for an AAUP endorsed candidate (endorsements forthcoming). Vote in the local primaries, too, while you’re at it. Civic engagement is important at all levels.
NC AAUP is asking all of us to sign this petition to submit public comments on the new accrediting body to express concerns about academic freedom and the politicization of higher ed. As we have now proven, these petitions are vital for showing popular support for getting small concessions.
Upcoming Workshops
If you are interested and have an hour or so to spare, check out these webinars offered by NC AAUP and AAUP National.
ACLU of NC is doing an NC AAUP-exclusive Know Your Rights Webinar for faculty concerned with their rights on campus (March 2)
Immigrants’ Rights and Higher Education: What to Know Amid New Assaults and Key Wins (March 6)
Academic Due-Process Standards for Contingent Faculty (March 26)
Good News to Share!
In addition to the significant wins highlighted at the beginning of this (admittedly lengthy) newsletter, I have more good news to share about AAUP wins this past month.
Our very own WCU AAUP president was interviewed by Smoky Mountain News on the proposed academic freedom policy. (Some say new UNC BOG academic freedom policy an attempt at censorship). AAUP National picked up the story and shared it on their socials!
NC AAUP saw a recent win at UNCG where UNCG AAUP was able to get their immigration resolution adopted by their faculty senate.
AAUP National had another legal win in California (Trump administration drops appeal of court order blocking $1.2-billion UCLA settlement). I would like to highlight that this had been a years-long campaign that was unsuccessful before it was successful in court (twice!) We can reverse policies.
And with these beacons of hope, we will sign-off this month’s installment of the WCU AAUP newsletter. As always, we hope you will join AAUP and WCU AAUP to join us in making positive change in our campus and community. When we work together, we can create, update, and completely reverse policies, but nothing changes unless we all pitch in.
In solidarity,
WCU AAUP
If you are the subject of targeted harassment from administration, students or outside actors, please contact wcuaaup1889@gmail.com to triage and connect you with State and National resources. You are not alone.
I hope everyone is enjoying the snow and staying warm. As I finish this month's newsletter, I am watching the snow fall from the safety of my couch with a mug full of hot tea which is where I believe everyone should be on a snow day or for many snow days. To really start things off, I have some good news to share with all of you reading this. Our roster has already doubled since officially getting our charter! If we can keep up this pace, we will more than meet our goal for 200 members by the end of the year.
The more people that join, the more effective our chapter can be at advocating for each other and our students. If you haven’t already, consider joining AAUP and WCU AAUP. If you have questions about AAUP you want answered before you decide to join, email us and we will be happy to talk with you about the value of this chapter.
Frog Level Mixer
To continue building that positive energy,, I wanted to share that WCU AAUP’s first official social gathering was, at least in my humble opinion, a sweeping success! Thanks to everyone who showed up to chat at Frog Level on MLK day. I can only speak for myself, but I had a great time getting to know new people and catching up with old friends. Check out our new Instagram to see what you missed out on!
We are planning to hold another purely social event around Spring Break. If you couldn’t make it to last month’s mixer, you should definitely plan on being there…with friends!
February Meeting
Our First General Meeting is scheduled for this coming Tuesday (AAUP members should keep an eye on their email inboxes for snow plans; we are switching to zoom). This meeting is set to confirm officers and map out our vision for WCU AAUP’s advocacy role in the coming year. This meeting in many ways will be the most consequential as we start to choose what kinds of issues we want to advocate for/against and what forms we would like our advocacy to take. If you want a say in what this chapter does and how it does it, this first meeting is not one to miss.
This meeting is only open to dues-paying AAUP members for confidentiality and voting purposes. We get an updated chapter roster at the beginning of the month, so if you sign up now, we will not know until next month that you joined. So, if you do want to participate in this inaugural meeting, after you join AAUP, email us to let us know that you are an eligible participant and we will be happy to share the meeting details with you. We really are hoping to see as many new faces as possible.
NC AAUP Syllabus Guidelines
In less happy news, the NC Public Syllabus Policy has officially gone into effect and is already causing chaos across our UNC system. Whether you are an active faculty member, student, or community member, this policy is doing damage to you. To not take this blow to Academic Freedom and Quality Instruction laying down, the NC Chapter of the AAUP has put together guidelines for all UNC System faculty for creating a compliant syllabus that protects faculty from being doxxed by malicious actors. These should be literally one page long with only the bare minimum information included (example here). NC AAUP is recommending that we use the popular workplace protest method: work to the rule. They described this in their last meeting as doing no more or less than what is asked of us and letting the powers that be deal with the unintended consequences of their policies. The NC AAUP legal team recommends putting your course calendars, non-required policies, etc., in separate documents and to be inconsistent with your naming of those documents.
For faculty and staff that might deal with outside requests for past syllabi (ones that offer more in terms of course content and instructor information), NC AAUP’s legal team has advised us that a syllabus is now what the UNC System has defined it to be. This means that any past documents that were called syllabi are no longer that. NC AAUP is advising us to comply with records requests only with syllabi that meet the current definitions of what a syllabus is. This means, retroactively make your past syllabi look like the current policy compliant syllabus before handing it over to anyone. But before you hand anything over, reach out to the NC AAUP legal hotline and loop WCU AAUP in as well.
Take Action
If you are feeling overwhelmed or beaten down by the syllabus policy - and all of the other truly horrific things we are watching unfold every day - I completely get you (just ask my therapist) but we cannot give up our resistance to bad faith attacks against Academic Freedom. The actors that wanted this policy in place are watching our reactions and our reactions (and the rulings from the inevitable onslaught of lawsuits) will determine how they proceed. We cannot give up hope for a better outcome. My mental health about it all greatly improves when I feel like I am doing something to voice me dissent. Here are some concrete things you can do today to feel better and make an actual difference:
Join AAUP: Joining AAUP gives our WCU chapter and the NC Chapter more access to National resources. Even if you don’t ever go to a meeting, your membership allows us to to many things including: pay for lawyers for legal battles that you might be part of, gain access to national news outlets to allow more people hear our dissents, and leverage our larger membership to show the powers that be that we represent a significant amount of people to encourage change. If you are a community member that doesn’t work at WCU or another eligible institution, you can join WCU AAUP as a “Supporter” (no dues required!) so that we know that we can count on you to participate in future advocacy campaigns.
Invite your friends/colleagues to join AAUP or bring them to AAUP events. A personal invitation is the most effective one. If you know someone who is worried about the state of higher education, ask them to join AAUP with you. If you know someone who wishes they were more connected to the people that they work with, invite them to a WCU AAUP social event.
Sign (and Share) the NC AAUP Syllabus Policy Petition. The policy has gone into effect, but that doesn’t mean that NC AAUP has stopped showing up to the UNC offices to present UNC leadership with reasons to reverse this policy. This petition is still being used to show President Hans that the people of NC are not supportive of this decision and the more signatures they get the harder our voices will be to ignore.
If the violence in MN is making you feel hopeless, here are some places you can donate to make an impact from states away: standwithminnesota.com and https://workingpartnerships.betterworld.org/campaigns/uniteherelocal17/.
In The News
Opinion: UNC's syllabi public-posting mandate erodes academic freedom – 12.28.2025 (Guest Opinion: Vincent Russell, WCU AAUP President)
Trump’s Attempts to Control Higher Education Follow a Familiar Fascist Playbook – truthout, 1.1.26 (Todd Wolfson quoted)
Faculty firings over Kirk commentary are unraveling – Politico, 1.26.26 (Todd Wolfson quoted)
And with that, we will sign off this month’s installment of the WCU AAUP newsletter. As always we hope you will join AAUP and WCU AAUP to join us in making positive change in our campus and community.
In solidarity,
WCU AAUP
If you are the subject of targeted harassment from administration, students or outside actors, please contact wcuaaup1889@gmail.com to triage and connect you with State and National resources. You are not alone.
Happy New Year from WCU AAUP! The start of the year brings with it a challenge to shed the status quo and make positive change in your life. In this spirit of change, WCU AAUP would like to share some of our New Year's Resolutions for our first year as a chapter.
A Host of First Meetings. First General Meeting, First Social Gathering, First Community Service Engagement. This year our goal is start our tradition of showing up for each other both on and off campus.
Representative Membership. WCU currently employs about 1600 people across multiple colleges and support offices and it is our goal this year to have 200 members with at least 2 members from each college and office to give WCU AAUP a better idea of the issues facing all of our faculty, staff, and graduate students.
Campaigns to Improve/Protect/Sway. With our new membership, it is our goal this year to position the WCU AAUP to serve the faculty, staff, and graduate students through continued op ed writing, email/phone banking, and the making of public statements in tandem with National AAUP, NC AAUP, and local resources to respond to campus issues as they inevitably crop up and prevent potential issues before they impact our campus.
Train Our Membership. The AAUP offers many opportunities for training throughout the year on various topics (Organizing, Social Media Usage, Responding to Campus Issues, etc.,), and we plan to encourage attendance this year to make sure that our chapter is as effective as we can be this year.
To this end, if you know someone on campus, invite them to join WCU AAUP and AAUP National with you. A personal invitation is the best way to get people to actually sign up. If they have questions you don't feel comfortable answering, feel free to loop in wcuaaup1889@gmail.com. We are happy to help answer any questions about AAUP as an organization and goals of this chapter.
Back To School Kickoff
You're invited! While the start of the semester is still quite a ways away, we wanted to get our first social gathering on your calendar. Social events are open to anyone regardless of your membership in or interest in AAUP. Of course, we are passionate about AAUP and are happy to talk your ear off about it, the purpose of this event is not to force you to sit through a timeshare-style presentation to pressure you to join AAUP. Instead, this is supposed to be a good, old fashioned mixer for the purpose of helping each of us build camaraderie and get to know people outside of our departments. There are currently about 60 people on our newsletter roster, so feel free to share widely amongst faculty/staff/graduate students at WCU or community members that might be interested in supporting our efforts. Bring old friends, meet new ones! If that sounds like fun to you, join us!
First General Meeting and Call for Officers
Since we launched this newsletter in December, our newsletter has had a 200% increase in subscribers. Because of that, we did want to reshare some of the important information about our first All Call Meeting that was shared in that first newsletter. If you were here last month for that, feel free to either refresh you memory or skip right to the next section.
The first General Meeting of WCU AAUP will take place in early February. This confidential meeting will be open to those who become Quiet Members, Active Members, Leaders, and Organizers. Become a dues-paying AAUP Member and join WCU AAUP to get access to specific meeting information in the beginning of the Spring semester. This is a meeting you don't want to miss as it will fundamentally shape the direction that this Chapter takes as a Faculty/Staff advocacy group as we will hold our inaugural officer election event. If you have the talent and passion for leadership, consider running for an officer position. Open officer positions and their duties are included here:
President: The duties of the president shall include carrying out the policies of the chapter, appointing all committees of the chapter, exercising general supervision over the activities of the chapter, and presiding at meetings of the chapter and executive committee. The president shall be a member ex officio of all committees.
Vice president: The duties of the vice president shall include those usually appertaining to the office and those delegated by the president. In the absence of the president, the vice president shall serve in the president's stead.
Secretary-Treasurer: The duties of the Secretary-Treasurer shall include: keeping a record of Chapter members; keeping a record of Chapter proceedings; corresponding with the Secretary-Treasurer of the Association as needed; and certifying Chapter delegates to the Association's annual meeting. The Secretary-Treasurer shall keep an accurate record of all funds received and disbursed. At the request of the President, the Secretary-Treasurer shall prepare an annual Chapter budget and finance report and submit them for approval to the Executive Committee. In the absence of the President and Vice President, the Secretary-Treasurer shall preside at meetings of the Chapter and conduct other Chapter business.
In addition to electing officers, we will also solicit membership into these initial standing committees who will individually elect a Chair to be announced at the March General Meeting.
Executive Committee: The Executive Committee is responsible for creating new committees, establishes chapter goals and initiatives, and coordinates responses to address campus issues.
Organizing Committee: The Organizing Committee is responsible for overseeing efforts in member recruitment to ensure the chapter roster is representative of the campus composition. They are responsible for identifying campus issues impacting faculty/staff/graduate students.
Communications Committee: The Communications Committee is responsible for overseeing the WCU AAUP email, website, Newsletter, and other public-facing media.
Good Vibes Committee: The Good Vibes Committee is responsible for overseeing the planning and executing of chapter social gatherings as well as community action and service opportunities.
If you would like more information about officer positions or standing committees, feel free to reach out to wcuaaup1889@gmail.com. The Intent to Run/Officer Campaign form will be sent out to dues-paying AAUP members on January 15th once we are given our updated roster from AAUP National. To be on the roster, you must join AAUP National by January 4th.
AAUP Workshops and Resources
One of the benefits of AAUP membership is access to expert-led, virtual workshops. The AAUP has two workshops coming up that are worth checking out:
Academic Freedom and International Institutions This webinar series initiates a conversation within the International Studies Association (ISA) about evolving threats to academic freedom around the world, how academic freedom is understood in different environments, and what can be done to defend academic freedom in an international context.
AAUP Core Skills Training. Five two-hour sessions over three weeks covering organizing skills to help you build strong leadership structures in your chapters to execute high-participation campaigns and win on issues that matter to you and your colleagues. If you are interested in joining our group of participants, email us at wcuaaup1889@gmail.com by January 9th.
As with all AAUP Webinars, be sure to sign up at least a few hours early so that your membership can be verified and the Zoom Link sent.
If webinars aren't your thing, check out the AAUP Back-to-School Kit. As you start to turn your attention to the Spring semester, these resources will help you plan your syllabus language and policies in addition to helping you think through your digital footprint and targeted harassment. If you are dealing with targeted harassment from administrators, students, or outside actors, please contact wcuaaup1889@gmail.com.
Final Thoughts
Before the ball drops every year, my grandmother always says: "How you start the year, is how you finish it" and in that spirit, I would like to start this year and conclude this newsletter with a listing of recent AAUP wins to inspire us as we embark on WCU AAUP's first year of advocacy.
UNC Syllabi Policy Petition has garnered almost 3,000 signatures. Even though our efforts have not yet been successful at protecting academic freedom, the immediate mobilization of so many North Carolinians is a win especially given the end of year/semester timing of the announcement.
Win in AAUP v. Trump: Court Blocks Attacks on University of California System
Court Rules in Favor of the AAUP in Harvard Grant Termination Case
Separated by office walls, it can feel scary and hopeless as new attacks are waged against higher education every day from all angles, but if we can come together and organize our efforts, our power is stronger than that of those wishing us harm. And with that message of hope, WCU AAUP will sign off this January Newsletter. We hope to see you at the Kickoff and First General Meeting. We encourage you to become an AAUP Member and join WCU AAUP to add challenging the status quo to your New Year's Resolutions. Level up your resolution by inviting others to join with you.
In solidarity,
WCU AAUP
Welcome to the WCU AAUP inaugural newsletter! Join us as we work for positive change both on our campus and in our community. In this newsletter, you can expect monthly updates on WCU's new AAUP Chapter, recommendations for workshops, insightful news stories and opinion pieces, as well as calls to action to support AAUP initiatives at the local, state, and national levels.
Chapter Updates
WCU AAUP has officially submitted bylaws to AAUP National! Now the real work begins! Check out our website to learn more about the chapter, and access the member's only information. By being chartered, we gain the benefits of National AAUP recognition and the support that comes with, including access to legal counsel, national media outlets, and the strength that sheer numbers provides in the effort to improve higher education for faculty, staff, and students.
Chartering, however, is only the beginning. Now it is time to build our membership so that we can be a sizable, representative advocacy group for WCU. With more members comes more efficacy, and perhaps just as importantly, more resources from AAUP National if and when something happens to threaten our employment or the principles of academic freedom and shared governance. Our voices are heard when we work together, and together we hope to shape our campus and enact positive change.
Not sure how you fit into WCU AAUP? Subscribing to our newsletter is a great start, but it is certainly not the only way that you can make a difference on WCU's campus on higher education more broadly. We understand that time can be a huge barrier to participation, which is why we have outlined a few ways to get involved, all you need to do is choose what works for you right now.
Supporter: Subscribes to the Newsletter and participates in Chapter initiatives. Perfect for those ineligible for AAUP membership, but interested in helping spread the word or otherwise show up to support our efforts.
Quiet Member: Subscribes to the Newsletter, is an official, dues-paying AAUP Member, and participates in some events and Chapter initiatives. Regular meeting attendance or meeting attendance at all is not required, participate as you can.
Active Member: Subscribes to the Newsletter, is an official, dues-paying AAUP Member, and participates regularly in Chapter meetings and initiatives. No leadership expectations here; show up often and speak up as you see fit.
Leader: An active member on a mission. Serve on the Executive Committee or Chair a Subcommittee to direct the WCU AAUP chapter.
Organizer: An active member with a passion for people. Help recruit and maintain membership to ensure that our chapter is a good representation of our campus.
Whatever you choose, we look forward to working with and for you. Don't let your membership be a secret; tell your friends and colleagues and encourage them to join with you!
First General Meeting and Call for Officers
The first General Meeting of WCU AAUP will take place in early February. This confidential meeting will be open to those who become Quiet Members, Active Members, Leaders, and Organizers. Become an AAUP Member and join WCU AAUP to get access to specific meeting information in the beginning of the Spring semester. This is a meeting you don't want to miss as it will fundamentally shape the direction that this Chapter takes as a Faculty/Staff advocacy group as we will hold our inaugural officer election event. If you have the talent and passion for leadership, consider running for an officer position. Open officer positions and their duties are included here:
President: The duties of the president shall include carrying out the policies of the chapter, appointing all committees of the chapter, exercising general supervision over the activities of the chapter, and presiding at meetings of the chapter and executive committee. The president shall be a member ex officio of all committees.
Vice president: The duties of the vice president shall include those usually appertaining to the office and those delegated by the president. In the absence of the president, the vice president shall serve in the president's stead.
Secretary-Treasurer: The duties of the Secretary-Treasurer shall include: keeping a record of Chapter members; keeping a record of Chapter proceedings; corresponding with the Secretary-Treasurer of the Association as needed; and certifying Chapter delegates to the Association's annual meeting. The Secretary-Treasurer shall keep an accurate record of all funds received and disbursed. At the request of the President, the Secretary-Treasurer shall prepare an annual Chapter budget and finance report and submit them for approval to the Executive Committee. In the absence of the President and Vice President, the Secretary-Treasurer shall preside at meetings of the Chapter and conduct other Chapter business.
In addition to electing officers, we will also solicit membership into these initial standing committees who will individually elect a Chair to be announced at the March General Meeting.
Executive Committee: The Executive Committee is responsible for creating new committees, establishes chapter goals and initiatives, and coordinates responses to address campus issues.
Organizing Committee: The Organizing Committee is responsible for overseeing efforts in member recruitment to ensure the chapter roster is representative of the campus composition. They are responsible to identifying campus issues impacting faculty/staff/graduate students.
Communications Committee: The Communications Committee is responsible for overseeing the WCU AAUP email, website, Newsletter, and other public-facing media.
Good Vibes Committee: The Good Vibes Committee is responsible for overseeing the planning and executing of chapter social gatherings as well as community action and service opportunities.
If you would like more information about officer positions or standing committees, feel free to reach out to wcuaaup1889@gmail.com. The Intent to Run/Officer Campaign form will be sent out to official WCU AAUP members in the New Year.
AAUP Workshops and Resources
One of the benefits of AAUP membership is access to expert-led, virtual workshops. The December line-up is sparse given the end-of-the-semester timing, but this webinar on Faculty Involvement in Budgetary and Salary Decisions, might be worth checking out. It takes place on 12/3, so register ASAP to get access to the Zoom link.
If webinars aren't your thing, check out the AAUP Back-to-School Kit. As you start to turn your attention to the Spring semester, these resources will help you plan your syllabus language and policies in addition to helping you think through your digital footprint and targeted harassment. If you are dealing with targeted harassment from administrators, students, or outside actors, please contact wcuaaup1889@gmail.com.
Share the Good News!
We need your help to grow WCU AAUP. Don't let your membership be a secret; tell your friends and colleagues about your planned involvement and encourage them to join with you! Not sure how to make that ask? Copy and paste (and personalize) this email template and share widely.
Subject: Join me in standing up for academic freedom and shared governance
Hello!
WCU has officially launched an AAUP chapter with the first meeting planned for early February. I am going to get involved and I think you should too. Any current or retired faculty, staff member, and current graduate student is eligible to join.
The AAUP is a national advocacy group that serves to protect the interests of higher education professionals. With all of the doxing and employment terminations happening in in this political climate, having access to national news networks and legal advice can mean the difference between being quietly fired for your speech or winning a public apology and damages for wrongful termination. Joining the WCU AAUP Chapter will also give us the ability to make changes to our campus such as pressuring our administrators to maintain academic freedom protections and add more principals of shared governance to campus operations.
Click this link to find out more and get involved in WCU AAUP. At very least, please subscribe to this newsletter so you can keep updated on WCU AAUP happenings and participate when you're ready. I think this is going to be a great thing for WCU and the more people that join, the more we can improve our campus and community.
If you have questions, you can ask me or send them to wcuaaup1889@gmail.com. If you are interested, don't keep that to yourself; invite your friends and colleagues to join with you!
Thanks,
[Your name]
Final Thoughts
Thank you for reading to the end of our inaugural WCU AAUP Monthly Newsletter. We hope to see you at the first General Meeting in February. Bring your concerns and your passion for change and together we can make a lasting impact on WCU's campus and community.