For more than a half century, unions have proven effective in struggles to defend tenure, protect academic freedom, and secure “a sufficient degree of economic security to make the profession attractive to men and women of ability.” Four main factors distinguish AAUP unionism: a commitment to academic freedom and shared governance, local autonomy, an emphasis on organizing, and dedication to organizational democracy.
Advancing and protecting academic freedom is the AAUP's core mission. Academic freedom is the indispensable requisite for unfettered teaching and research in institutions of higher education. As the academic community's core policy document states, "institutions of higher education are conducted for the common good and not to further the interest of either the individual teacher or the institution as a whole. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition" (1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure, which has been endorsed by more than 280 national scholarly and educational associations).
For a century, we have been developing standards for sound academic practice and working for the acceptance of these standards by the community of higher education.The Association has long been viewed as the authoritative voice of the academic profession in this regard. Selected statements, reports, and policies dealing with academic freedom, as well as with other key issues, are published in the AAUP's Policy Documents and Reports, also known as the "Redbook."
The AAUP's Committee on College and University Governance composed its first statement on the subject in 1920, emphasizing the importance of faculty involvement in personnel decisions, selection of administrators, preparation of the budget, and determination of educational policies. Refinements were introduced in subsequent years, culminating in the development of the 1966 Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities. This statement, which was jointly formulated with the American Council on Education and the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, calls for shared responsibility among the different components of institutional government and specifies areas of primary responsibility for governing boards, administrations, and faculties. It remains the Association's central policy document relating to academic governance. It has been supplemented over the years by a series of derivative policy statements, including those on faculty governance and academic freedom; budgetary and salary matters; financial exigency; the selection, evaluation, and retention of administrators; college athletics; governance and collective bargaining; and the faculty status of college and university librarians.