Disaffiliating from AAUP would allow KSUFA to enjoy increased financial security. Disaffiliation would reduce our annual expenses by roughly $140,000—the approximate amount we will pay to AAUP national in affiliation dues this year. Potentially, we could channel some of the savings into increased services for our members or even reduce membership dues. Alternatively, we could create a new strategic reserve designed to assist faculty who might be involuntarily separated from the University should the University be forced to invoke reduction in force of FTNTT faculty or the retrenchment of TT faculty at some point in the future.
Disaffiliating from AAUP would allow KSUFA to maintain our status as an independent union and even more fully exercise our autonomy. We might be able to fund academic year workload equivalency for a faculty member who would keep an eye on problematic legislation being floated in Columbus and serve as our voice at the Statehouse. We might be able to provide a dedicated budget to our advocacy committees (Committee W, Committee Q, and the Racial and Ethnic Concerns Committee). We would have the freedom and the financial resources to evolve in almost any way that Kent State’s faculty might need us to evolve.
A more detailed answer question can be found in Vol. 3: The pros and cons of disaffiliating from AAUP of the “Our Kent State Faculty Union and AAUP” series.
