The American Association of University Professors
Minnesota Chapter
The American Association of University Professors takes as its mission to advance academic freedom and shared governance, to define fundamental professional values and standards for higher education, and to ensure higher education's contribution to the common good.

The Minnesota Conference of the American Association of University Professors has established a state-level Committee A (Academic Freedom and Tenure) to help advise faculty at Minnesota colleges and universities as they might encounter difficulty on academic freedom and tenure issues. The state committee is a bridge between the local chapter and the national AAUP office on these key issues.

The Minnesota Conference publishes a newsletter, the Minnesota Academe and holds two annual events: the Fall Forum, which focuses on issues related to academic freedom; and an annual meeting for its membership each February. Questions? Want more information about the Annual Meeting? Contact the Minnesota Conference President, Jeremy Nienow (Inver Hills Community College).

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How to contact the Minnesota AAUP

President: Jeremy Nienow

jeremy.nienow@gmail.com

Past President: Karen Vogel, Hamline University

kvogel@gw.hamline.edu

Vice President: Eva Von Dassow

vonda001@umn.edu

Secretary/Treasurer: David Lesniaski, St. Catherine University

dlski@visi.com

Director: David Bernstein, University of Minnesota

berns009@umn.edu

Director: Cass Dalglish, Augsburg College

dalglish@augsburg.edu

Director: Robert Entenmann, St. Olaf College

entenman@stolaf.edu

The Minnesota Chapter of AAUP has established a state-level Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure. The current chair of the committee is: David Schultz (Hamline University, Graduate School of Management)

MN Committee A Guidelines

Faculty who have concerns in these areas should first work with their local AAUP chapter officers and pursue all possible local appeals which may be described in their Faculty Handbooks.

Faculty who have concerns which are not being adequately addressed locally should feel free to contact the MN Committee A. We will not assume that the faculty member is always right or that we can always help those who have been mistreated. As necessary, we will seek the advise of the national AAUP office.

AAUP primarily defends policies and principles, not individuals. The MN Committee A will provide information and interpretations on AAUP Policy Documents and Reports, as contained in the Redbook, and seek to find appropriate relative statements.

Faculty seeking assistance are strongly urged to keep a record of all correspondence and conversations on their case. It is advisable to write a summary of a conversation after each dialogue with administrators, department chairs, and /or campus committees.

To contact the MN Committee A, send a communication to the Chair:
David Schultz, Professor
Hamline University
Graduate School of Management
570 Asbury Street
Suite 305
St. Paul, Minnesota 55104
651.523.2858 (voice)
651.523.3098 (fax)

MN AAUP Bylaws

April, 1997 Revision

June 1998 amendment

  1. Duties of the Officers
    1. It shall be the duty of the President to preside at meetings of the Executive Committee, and at any plenary meetings of the Conference. The president shall call meetings of the Executive Committee, may appoint members to standing committees, and designate their chair. When a vacancy occurs in any office on the Executive Committee, except for the Presidency, the President shall have the power to fill the vacancy by appointment, with the advice and consent of the Executive Committee, until the expiration of that officers term.
    2. The duties of the Vice President shall be to preside at meetings in the absence of the President and to succeed to the office of President when that office becomes vacant within the term.
    3. It shall be the duty of the Secretary-Treasurer to keep an accurate record of all meetings and to conduct the correspondence of the Conference. The Secretary-Treasurer shall send notices to the President and Secretary of each member chapter lists of nominees for offices and proposed By-Laws and amendments to the Constitution. The secretary-tTreasurer shall receive dues of the members from the chapters and keep an accurate record of all money received and of all disbursements. The secretary-tTreasurer shall make an annual written report of finances to the Conference members.
  2. Elections
    1. The President shall appoint a nominating committee of three members no later than February 1 of the year in which an election of Conference officers is to be held.
    2. The Nominating Committee shall request the recommendation of names of possible candidates from the chapters.
    3. The Nominating Committee shall present its slate of candidates to the members in a spring issue of the Minnesota Academe, not less than one month prior to the deadline for receiving mail ballots. Additional nominations may be made by a written petition from five conference members. Members may write-in votes for other candidates, if they so choose.
    4. Ballots must be received by three weeks following the date of mailing.
  3. Meetings
    1. There shall be at least one meeting of the Conference each year.
    2. With support from a majority of the Executive Committee, the President shall call special meetings of the Conference.
  4. Committees
    1. Committees shall be of two types: standing and ad hoc. A standing committee shall be established and so designated by a majority vote of the Executive Committee. Service on ad hoc committees need not be restricted to Conference members.
  5. Dues
    1. Conference dues shall be established by the Executive Committee. Dues may be remitted to the Conference through the integrated dues structure.
  6. Parliamentary Procedure and Authority
    1. Roberts Rules of Order shall be the authority for this organization in matters of parliamentary procedure. The rules contained in Roberts Rules of Order shall govern in all cases to which they are applicable, and to which they are not inconsistent with the by-laws or any special rules of order set up by the conference.
  7. Notification and Amendment
    1. These By-Laws shall become effective upon approval by a two-thirds vote of the Conference members who cast a ballot.
    2. These By-Laws may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the Conference members who cast a mail ballot.

The National American Association for University Professors website can be reached at www.aaup.org/aaup

A list of AAUP publications can be found at www.aaup.org/AAUP/pubsres/

If you are interested in joining the AAUP, please visit: www.aaup.org/AAUP/involved/join