4/20/2012: From Insidehighered:
… Fichtenbaum repeated Wednesday what he had said during his campaign: union organizing will be a priority. “That certainly is a direction we would like to take the AAUP. Tradition is important and we support the core policies of the AAUP but we need to build an organization of activists who will work together. There are private institutions where having a union might not be possible but we can still have collective action to defend academic freedom and shared governance,” he said. But critics have questioned whether the AAUP has the financial resources to do more of any one of its missions without sacrificing resources in other areas.
The AAUP president-elect said all this may alter the character of the AAUP slightly, but it could also be the foundation for supporting the historic mission of the AAUP. “What is the best way to achieve academic freedom, shared governance and protect economic interests of faculty members? I think the answer is being an organization of activists, where the core values of the AAUP remain a centerpiece.”
Fichtenbaum said his main goals revolve around increasing AAUP membership, which is currently about 40,000, and building more coalitions, including those representing the interests of non-tenure-track faculty. “We continue to support tenure, of course. But we support the idea of academic freedom for all faculty,” he said. …
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