At the centenary of the founding of the American Association of University Professors, the MNAAUP asks faculty senates at the institutions of higher education across our state to consider the following statement and principles, and to endorse their own campus-specific version.

The professoriate in America upholds a social contract that calls on teachers to educate the populace under the time-honored democratic principle of freedom of inquiry. This principle is the bedrock of the AAUP’s mission to support academic freedom, and its application requires professional self-regulation and governance.

The current economic environment in higher education, however, threatens to erode the values on which the profession stands. Particularly, the increasing percentage of contract contingent faculty has fostered inequitable salaries, unequal job protection, and thus has threatened institution-wide protection of academic freedom. Therefore the MNAAUP is asking faculty on campuses across our state to adopt urgently a statement of principles specifically adapted for each member institution that calls for:

• Equitable compensation for part-time per-course adjunct professors, raised to a reasonable and substantial fraction of the starting salary for tenure-track assistant professors and linked to a faculty salary grid;
• Recognition of the right of adjunct faculty to unionize, with tenure-track faculty support;
• Institutional audits charting the percentage of tenured and tenure-track positions compared to contingent positions;
• A general review of each institution’s policies and practices regarding adjunct and contingent faculty, with particular attention paid to:
  • Regular, professional reviews;
  • Clear policies on reappointment notifications;
  • Equitable treatment in departmental affairs across departments;
  • Publicized methods of due process in hiring, reappointment, and equity complaints.
• Clear institutional commitments to move toward a higher percentage of secure, tenured positions, supported, wherever possible, by full convertibility of contingent positions to tenure-track.

The MNAAUP believes implementation of these principles begins by having faculty senates endorse campus-specific versions of this document. Faculty senates should then work with administrations to begin the institutional audits. The goal should be to ensure every faculty member on every campus has the opportunity to secure academic freedom in order to teach, write, and speak fearlessly.