Faculty members are reactivating the UNM chapter of a national organization of university professors, hoping to strengthen their voice in the outcry against UNM's administration.
The American Association of University Professors counts more than 45,000 professors as members. There are more than 200 members in New Mexico institutions of higher learning, according to the AAUP Web site.
"Recent events have convinced us that we should revitalize the UNM chapter of the AAUP, which has existed in the past and done some good work, but has been less active recently," said AAUP and Faculty Senate member Richard Wood.
On March 9, 35 members of UNM AAUP met, and they will meet again May 19 at 9:30 a.m.
The March 9 agenda covered issues including AAUP's relationship to other faculty bodies and its role in the future as an independent organization.
Wood said aligning with AAUP is beneficial for UNM faculty because it provides access to nationwide resources and data.
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"(AAUP) has resources in the way of position papers on various issues that universities face (and) advice on the way that what's
going on at UNM is part of national trends in higher education," he said. "It's really a set of national connections and national perspective on things."
Wood said UNM AAUP is being careful to avoid stepping on the toes of the Faculty Senate and other faculty organizations that are already established.
"What AAUP does is bring a set of national connections because it is a national organization," he said.
Faculty Senate President-elect Douglas Fields said he is willing to work with AAUP in the future, but he intends to address problems with UNM's administration through the Faculty Senate.
"I think if the faculty want to start an AAUP chapter here to get more information or whatever, that's their privilege to do that," he said. "My plan is to work with the Faculty Senate. I have no problems with people organizing through AAUP, and I welcome working together with them."
Eleni Bastea, a member of AAUP, said in an e-mail that she became involved in AAUP because the national data can support local efforts.
"The AAUP can also provide a context, potential structure, and support for University-wide movements, like ours here at UNM," she said. "I believe that working with the AAUP, we can achieve more than if we went at it in an isolated fashion."
Bastea said a national organization could help address problems like salary discrepancies and poor decision making.
"As the pay inequities between the two bodies - faculty and administrators - sharpened, and as decision making became concentrated in the hands of the administration, it was all but inevitable to witness a near breakdown of the system.," she said. "As I became involved with these developments this academic year, I looked to the AAUP as a way to advise us on the next steps.."
Wood referred to UNM AAUP as "a professional organization" but said he doesn't know if its role might become more like a labor union.
"People ask, 'Is there a labor-organizing effort in play?' and the answer is, 'We don't know.' But at present, it's a professional organization," he said. "The point is to have an organized faculty group that's focused on representing the core academic mission of UNM, and organizing among faculty to do that."
