In an unusual move, the American Association of University Teachers (AAUP) voted to censure the University System of Georgia (USG).
The Association said it made the decision because of USG’s decision to remove tenure and academic freedom protections from the system’s post-employment review policy.Dr Irene Mulvey
“Through their unilateral actions, the USG Board of Trustees proclaimed to the academic community that they do not view academic freedom as important to public higher education in the state.” said Dr. Irene Mulvey, President of the AAUP. “The removal of academic freedom protections will have a devastating effect on the quality of education in the USG system, as well as the recruitment and retention of faculty and students. We call on USG Regents to reverse changes to the post-term review policy so that academic freedom, so essential to higher education, is restored.
Over the weekend, the AAUP board voted unanimously to censure USG, acting on the recommendation of the association’s committee on academic freedom and tenure.
Last October, USG’s board of trustees passed changes to the system’s post-employment review policy that allow tenured professors to be fired without granting them a termination hearing. The move was condemned by the AAUP “for effectively abolishing tenure at Georgia’s public colleges and universities in flagrant violation of long-established principles of academic freedom and tenure endorsed by more than 250 learned societies and academic organizations.” ‘Higher Education”.
“The primary purpose of tenure is to protect academic freedom, which is necessary for all who teach and conduct research in higher education,” AAUP said. “When faculty members may lose their positions because of their speech, their publications or their research results, they cannot properly discharge their essential responsibilities to advance and transmit knowledge. Serving the common good, tenure enables faculty members to pursue research and innovation and draw evidence-based conclusions without corporate, religious, or political pressure.
In December, the AAUP published a report outlining USG’s position on tenure and academic freedom, which they noted affects more than 5,800 tenured faculty at twenty-five colleges and universities.
Walter Hudson can be contacted at [email protected]
