The University of Alabama AAUP Chapter recognizes and appreciates the UA Faculty Senate statement about the cancellation of student magazines. We believe it important, though, to identify a broader concern: these misguided decisions came about because the University lacks true shared governance and fails to seek input into decisions from faculty.
There is a concept from the Disability Rights Movement, Nihil de nobis, sine nobis, which calls for“Nothing about us, without us.” This means when we make policy, we must seek input from those it directly affects. We call for changes in University decision making, so that all policy and decisions are made jointly with faculty and affected members of the University community. Centering faculty governance and ensuring its effectiveness are pillars of AAUP.
Our members have been subjected to momentous and deleterious decisions made about fundamental aspects of our jobs. These include policies that investigate faculty, require word changes on syllabi, eliminate classes, and remove faculty work from public presence. These decisions have occurred without faculty input, without transparency in the decision-making processes–and without any rationale to support or explain them. Unfortunately, the impact goes well beyond faculty. Student groups have been ushered off campus, the Women’s Resource Center and its numerous popular programs have been erased, and, most recently, student-run magazines have been cancelled. Given the lack of transparency, there could be other similar transgressions of which we are aware.
The University of Alabama AAUP chapter calls for changes to the current top-down social, professional, and legal hierarchy, which creates out-groups of faculty, staff, and students. We seek an inclusive, fair, and respectful campus, where those affected by policy and programs help to fashion them. We insist on transparency so that policy decisions include us, our work, and our students.
University of Alabama AAUP 