AAUP Purdue

February 25, 2019

Contact:
Dave Nalbone, Indiana AAUP President, dnalbone@gmail.com;
Bill Mullen, AAUP-Purdue Vice-President, bill.mullen2@gmail.com

For Immediate Release

Indiana AAUP Chapters Help Restore Student Rights at Purdue University Global

West Lafayette, IN -- Indiana chapters of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) won a major victory for students and faculty in Indiana by forcing the online public university, Purdue University Global (PUG), to withdraw a mandatory arbitration clause that stripped students of legal rights.

For Immediate Release

WEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA -- Representatives from multiple American Association of University Professor chapters across Indiana universities converged on West Lafayette for a day-long strategy session focused on organizing for faculty rights in Indiana.  The AAUP both nationally and locally is a leading force in organizing for faculty rights in higher education, and achieved several milestones this past year.

Faculty from Purdue West Lafayette, Purdue Northwest, IU-PU Fort Wayne, and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis held a day-long strategy session February 2 to set a path for chapters in Indiana over the coming year.

Common themes at the strategy meeting were the erosion of tenure and faculty governance in Indiana; the increasing use of adjuncts and contingent abor by Indiana universities; increased privatization of essential education services; threats to faculty intellectual property rights spurred by on-line education and privatization.  

This afternoon, AAUP Purdue passed a statement of solidarity with the faculty at Wright State, who are on their 8th day of a strike.  Over 50% of our chapter members approved the following statement:

Dear Wright State colleagues,

The Purdue chapter of the American Association of University Professors sends solidarity greetings.  We stand with your faculty in its strike against the University administration. We support your demands for better wages and working conditions for faculty at Wright State, and your fight for a better educational environment for your students.  Your struggle emblematizes the need for faculty across the country to work together in coalition to fight for its interests.

Respectfully,
American Association of University Professors - Purdue University (West Lafayette) Chapter
West Lafayette, Indiana
 

We are sending it to our colleagues there, and to their administration.

Purdue AAUP is trying out a weekly informal coffee discussion on Wednesdays at 4 pm. We will meet at the new Fuël Coffee Shop in the Purdue Exponent Building, 460 Northwestern Ave, West Lafayette.
 
Join us to chat, to get to know colleagues from around the campus, and to register your concerns about the direction Purdue University and higher education in general have taken.  

We know this is a time that can be tough to participate for folks who have kid responsibilities.  Fuël has a fun kids corner for young kids, and games for older kids.  Feel free to bring your kids along.

Nancy MacLean, Duke University Professor of History and author of the acclaimed Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of The Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America will be discussing her book at a public lecture Monday, January 7, 2019, 7-9 pm, at the Krannert Auditorium at Purdue University (rm 140, 403 W. State St, West Lafayette). The lecture and subsequent discussion is free and open to the public.

Sponsors of the lecture include the Committee on Peace Studies, the Departments of English and Political Science, The School of Languages and Cultures, the American Studies Program, and the Purdue Chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP).

In her book, MacLean traces the intellectual development of the neo-liberal right, and its organized connections with wealthy and powerful supporters such as the Koch Brothers, the Cato Institute, and the Heritage Foundation. She argues that selected intellectuals, such as political economist, James Buchanan, have promoted an anti-democratic policy agenda and defenses of this agenda in higher education. 

The Purdue chapter of the American Association of University Professors condemns the recent vandalism of the home of a Purdue faculty member. We deplore all personal attacks on any member of the Purdue community. We affirm Purdue’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, rejecting racism, hate crimes, and violent acts that threaten free speech, academic freedom, and the safety of all members of the Purdue community.

Approved today by signature of over half the chapter membership.

At the chapter meeting tonight, members voted unanimously to pass the following statement regarding the recently flyers posted on Purdue's campus.

CHAPTER STATEMENT

In the 72 hours after a virulent anti-semite killed 11 Jews at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, white nationalists and white supremacists posted flyers on the Purdue campus.  Similar leafleting of white supremacist flyers on campus in the past has drawn little comment by the administration, except for those prompted from duress applied by the Purdue community. 

Purdue AAUP condemns the appearance of these flyers.  In the wake of the tragic Pittsburgh murders, and other acts of racial violence, we recognize that these white supremacist flyers are intended to frighten members of the Purdue community, especially Jews, but also including Muslims, people of color, women, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ people, all of whom have been victims of discrimination and violence by white supremacists.

This evening, at a special meeting, the Purdue University-West Lafayette chapter of AAUP unanimously passed the following resolution about Purdue University Global. 

Resolution regarding Purdue University Global

WHEREAS, it is the mission of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) to 

advance academic freedom and shared governance; to define fundamental professional values and standards for higher education; to promote the economic security of faculty, academic professionals, graduate students, post‐doctoral fellows, and all those engaged in teaching and research in higher education; to help the higher education community organize to make our goals a reality; and to ensure higher education's contribution to the common good; 

WHEREAS, it is the purpose of the Purdue University AAUP Chapter to serve as a faculty voice to advocate for and defend the rights of faculty and students associated with Purdue University;

You may have seen the recent news coverage about AAUP identifying some problematic practices restricting academic freedom of Purdue Global faculty and students.

Inside Higher Education reports today that Purdue Global has dropped the expectation that Purdue Global faculty sign a NDA as part of their terms of employment.  However, the expectation that students must forgo their legal rights and agree to undergo forced arbitration instead of bringing Purdue Global to court continues. 

Read the Inside Higher Ed piece here.

Tell Purdue what you think about its practice of requiring forced arbitration here.