Faculty Unionization

A response from the AAUP president

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

This is a response to the provost's memo of 7 January 1997. Contributions to the union debate are welcome food for thought; regrettably, the provost's memo is an indigestible morsel of misinformation.

The provost labels AAUP's efforts as "adversarial" and seems affronted by faculty disagreement with administration policies. The "negative picture of administrative leadership" is simply the reporting of the machinations of a misguided administration; the provost blames the messenger for the message. He also forgets that AAUP's responsibilities to the professoriate and to the university include the advocacy of administrative adherence to AAUP standards, which have been adopted by the faculty and the board of trustees (see Faculty Handbook page 16, 1994). The presence of AAUP members in all aspects of faculty governance indicates extensive faculty support of the nation's premier higher-education organization. For such faculty members to exercise the right to participate in university governance and to speak out on university issues is an attribute of a free society that the provost needs to appreciate. His condescending denigration of such open discourse reveals a lamentable cynicism and disregard for faculty's professional assessments.

The provost is totally misinformed about how AAUP faculty unions work. Decisions are derived in a totally democratic governance process, where each member is fully informed about issues and positions, and expresses his/her preferences; all views are given full consideration, and majority wishes are pursued by the union leadership in negotiation processes. Under AAUP, faculty academic freedom, tenure, governance, and authentic due process (principles devised and maintained by AAUP since 1915)

are defended assiduously and effectively under the collective bargaining laws; to date, 49% of the WSU tenure-track faculty have actively demonstrated their belief that AAUP is the only effective defense against an administration which ignores faculty votes and requested spending priorities, and does not believe in faculty academic primacy, violating the university constitution and bylaws as well as faculty professional standards. AAUP defends professors' rights and thus opposes any forfeiture of professional status or limitations on individualism. The judicious implementation of state workload requirements, i.e.: to protect faculty from excessive loads-is indeed negotiable in Ohio, as are class sizes and many other academic issues.

In U.S. public higher education, some 50% of all faculty are union members, in such excellent universities as University of Cincinnati, Rutgers University, SUNY, Kent State University, etc. Faculty, their students, and their universities thrive in the union environment, especially because their union protects against administrative malfeasance and attacks on the professoriate, while ensuring academic freedom and academic excellence in education and scholarship.

The provost's statement bears witness that the Wright State University faculty needs a union! - M.D. Goldfinger, AAUP/WSU

Letter to the editor:

I was appalled that in your 3 February edition, while you printed the provost's falsehood-filled tirade against a faculty union, you failed entirely to present the other side of the question.

You have thus shown yourself to be not a journalistic enterprise, but rather, just an administrative propaganda device. You ought to change your name to Monologue. - M.D. Goldfinger

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