North Carolina Conference of the AAUP

No one dreams of earning a college degree under wiretap conditions • NC Newsline At UNC-Chapel Hill, vague administrative threats to secretly record lectures are already changing the tenor of its classrooms.

This is a victory for all who care about higher education in North Carolina that happened to come one day after @ncaaup.bsky.social VP Abigail Hatcher’s op ed was published in @ncnewsline.com & NC AAUP packed the UNC System Board of Governors meeting.

Coincidence? 🤔

When We Fight, We Win!

UNC-CH Will ‘Scrap’ New Recording Policy, Chancellor Says The move comes less than three weeks after the controversial rules were enacted.

Congrats to @ncaaup.bsky.social & all who fought against this surveillance policy that would've allowed admin to hijack microphones in the classroom for secret recordings.

This move would've chilled classroom discussion & suppressed students' willingness to ask questions & take intellectual risks.

OPINION: Kevin Howell Needs to Step Up Kevin Howell’s silent first semester has students upset

NCSU's Nubian Message has a powerful denunciation of Chancellor Howell's inaction and what it means for students
thenubianmessage.com/16314/opinio...

States like FL, TX, NC and GA, which have done the most to degrade academic freedom at public universities, are now trying to create their own state-run accrediting agency, the CPHE. What could go wrong? We have until March 4 to send in feedback.

To be clear, we are glad that UNC CH administrators did the right thing and corrected course

“Academic freedom —the ability to research, teach, & learn without interference is essential to the quality of education we offer in North Carolina.

Do we want UNC to go in the direction of Texas or Florida or we do we want to uphold the reputation, standards & quality that it has for decades?”

New 'academic freedom' rules will hurt teaching at UNC schools, professors say Members of the American Association of University Professors North Carolina spoke against the new academic freedom policies for UNC system schools.

Terrific coverage of the issue and our action: spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/charlotte...

UNC-Chapel Hill scraps secret recording policy in surprise reversal Chancellor Lee Roberts announced Friday that the university is reversing course.

UNC CH admins touched the stove, and learned that it is hot
www.newsobserver.com/news/local/e...

Let's be clear: While we are disappointed that this passed, the elimination of the most egregious language and restrictions is due to the tireless efforts of our AAUP NC members and allies. We are the fastest growing conference, and we're just getting started.

Letter to the Editor: Prevent the 'Floridification' of North Carolina Accreditation Have you heard of CPHE, the Commission for Public Higher Education, a newly formed but not yet approved educational accreditation agency? UNC Charlotte recently announced its intention to join the

"As members of AAUP—defenders of academic freedom & shared governance—we believe that states should not police the accreditation of their own universities, nor should they compel 'voluntary' membership to a new accreditor through monetary incentives or veiled threats."

@ncaaup.bsky.social

UNC System’s new definition of academic freedom approved over faculty objections The policy states that “academic freedom is not absolute,” and places three key parameters around it.

"People who come to this university system to study do so with the expectation that they will get the quality education that the name UNC represents. A redefinition of the code to restrict academic freedom would damage that expectation.”

—David Ambaras, NC State AAUP President

@ncaaup.bsky.social

She’s been released 🙏🏽

Black background white text title reads how to organize and it has 20 step

Snagged this today but more for self talk than organizing anybody. I mean, I guess I’m organizing myself. Heh.

AAUP members are rejecting the Commission for Public Higher Education accreditation standards, which threatens to introduce unprecedented partisan influence over universities.

Check out this thread and graphics explaining what is at stake nationally, especially at southern universities⬇️

Update: They passed it. We witnessed and walked out.

Let Faculty Teach!

Let Students Learn!

The UNC Board of Governors just voted to rewrite the definition of academic freedom to effectively limit students' ability to fully engage in a variety of scholarly topics & limit open inquiry & academic debate in NC higher education.

@ncaaup.bsky.social

ED’s DEI Guidance Is Dead, but Trump’s Crackdown Isn’t Diversity advocates say the courts have been clear—Trump has no justification to ban DEI. But other legal experts say the administration has plenty of other tools it can use to accomplish the same goa...

“The court was explicit that the administration cannot ban all diversity, equity and inclusion. It needs to be bound by the existing law, not the Trump administration’s fantasy of the law.”

—Aaron Nisenson, AAUP Senior Counsel

Actually, the left is winning the AI debate But it does need to get organized.

“In fact, the left appears to be so successfully engaged in matters related to AI that one can’t help but wonder if allegations about its supposed ignorance of the technology are motivated by a desire to change the very terms of the debate.” - @bcmerchant.bsky.social

🔔🔔🔔

RIGHT NOW: The NC AAUP is at the UNC Board of Governors meeting fighting back against attempts to squash open inquiry & academic debate in higher education.

This political interference is part of a broader effort to restrict what faculty can say & do in their classrooms.
@ncaaup.bsky.social

We are in the BOG meeting!

Public Comment Submissions - UNC System UNC Board of Governors Public Comment FORM Comments will be accepted from February 17 to 5 p.m. on February 26. Submit a comment online.

Show your solidarity with @ncaaup.bsky.social and fill out the public comment form below and demand that the UNC Board of Governors abandon their plans to revise Chapter VI of the System Code.

This is a key step you can take to support faculty and protect academic freedom in North Carolina ✊

Protect Academic Freedom, Vote No to Revising The Code The UNC System Board of Governors will vote to amend the UNC System Code with new restrictions on academic freedom at its February 26 meeting. The Board of Governors plans to rewrite the very definiti...

The UNC Board of Governors is rewriting the definition of academic freedom, which threatens to limit critical inquiry and chill speech across campuses.

@ncaaup.bsky.social is fighting back: over 1,300 signed the petition demanding the BOG drop this policy.

Add your signature and share widely!

Must-read article that connects the current UNC BOG attempt to restrict academic freedom to the longer history of federal defunding of and widespread attacks on higher ed. Kudos to @aaup.org member Vincent Russell and his colleagues for these statements! smokymountainnews.com/news/item/40...

bsky.app/profile/aaup...

Protect Academic Freedom, Vote No to Revising The Code The UNC System Board of Governors will vote to amend the UNC System Code with new restrictions on academic freedom at its February 26 meeting. The Board of Governors plans to rewrite the very definiti...

I just signed the @ncaaup.bsky.social petition calling on the UNC Board of Governors to Protect Academic Freedom, Vote No to Revising the UNC System Code.

Sign here: actionnetwork.org/petitions/pr...

When this professor was targeted by Terrorgram, a network that's mostly defunct now in the U.S., it wasn't like a kid calling in a fake b*mb threat. In 2021, Terrorgram was one of the scariest entities around. He's very lucky to be OK.

There's no question that putting syllabi online is a risk.

Justice for the fired six! Sign and share this petition: tinyurl.com/9r864kmf

In any case, to win, we must fight. Join @aaup.org today! 3/3

As NC AAUP VP Abigail Hatcher observes, we can fight back against outside threats, but it's harder when our own deans, provosts, and general counsels are applying policies that welcome outside threats. 2/