ut-AAUP Bulletin Issue #16

AAUP Comments on Faculty Background Checks
The American Association of University Professors today released a report titled "Verification and Trust: Background Investigations Preceding Faculty Appointments," formulated by the Association's Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure. In its report, occasioned by the increasing frequency and invasiveness of personnel investigations on campuses, the committee calls for a renewed sense of proportion in such inquiries...

Group warns of threats to academic freedom, faculty speech
11.12.09 Public colleges and universities must be vigilant and do more to protect academic freedom, particularly in the wake of court decisions limiting the free-expression rights of public employees, says the American Association of University Professors. AAUP, the nation's largest group that represents academics, has launched a campaign it calls "Speak Up, Speak Out: Protect the Faculty Voice on Campus." The group recently issued a detailed report, "Protecting An Independent Faculty Voice: Academic Freedom After Garcetti v. Ceballos."...

Want A Job In Akron? Hand Over Your DNA
It's not unusual for employers to conduct criminal background checks during the hiring process. But the University of Akron has taken this to a surprising new level. The Ohio school now reserves the right to require any prospective faculty, staff, or contractor to submit a DNA sample, which genetic-testing experts say makes it the first employer in the nation to take such an extreme and potentially intrusive step...

UA faculty willing to strike
The Akron chapter of the American Association of University Professors warned its members Monday that a work stoppage could occur if negotiations with the administration don't move along. AAUP President Walter Hixson advised fellow faculty that the University of Akron administration is trying to undo some of the advances made in the union's first contract four years ago...

Owens faculty vote no confidence in provost
The Owens Faculty Association has no confidence in the leadership of college Provost Paul Unger. The faculty union approved Tuesday a "vote of no confidence" in the provost. Of the 260 members of the faculty union, 199 voted between Friday and Tuesday, with 86 percent approving the measure...

Int ernational first-time graduate enrollment flat; U.S. up 6%
Fall 2009 international first-time graduate enrollment at US graduate schools remained flat, the first time since 2004 that it failed to increase, a new CGS survey has found. In contrast, the survey results reveal that first-time domestic graduate enrollment increased 6% from 2008...

Proposed law would require pay for sick workers
U.S. employers who tell workers to stay home when they are sick will have to give them paid time off for up to five days under new federal legislation proposed on Tuesday. The emergency law would cover pandemic H1N1 flu or any other infectious disease, said California Representative George Miller, a Democrat who chairs the House Education and Labor Committee and who introduced the bill...