Dive Brief:
- The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) on Monday announced it will investigate seven colleges over decisions made amid the pandemic that the organization says may have weakened academic governance.
- The seven institutions are Canisius, Keuka, Medaille colleges and Illinois Wesleyan, Marian, National and Wittenberg universities. AAUP will release the results of the investigation in early 2021.
- Faculty members at several schools say administrators are making unilateral decisions during the pandemic, and some instructors are suing or protesting institutions.
Dive Insight:
Colleges have been scrambling over the past several months to figure out whether and when to reopen campuses, as well as how to adjust their budgets to make up for steep revenue declines. Some administrators, in their haste to make these decisions, haven’t sought faculty members’ input, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported last month.
Since March, several faculty members have complained to AAUP that their colleges’ governing boards and administrations have taken “unilateral actions” on several issues, including course formats, department and program closures, and layoffs, according to the news release. “In most cases, the stated basis for the actions was the need to deal with pandemic-related financial shortfalls,” it reads.