	The Tennessee Conference of the American Association of University Professors Advancing Academic Freedom and Shared Governance, Defining Fundamental Professional Values and Standards for Higher Education, and Ensuring Higher Education’s Contribution to the Common Good.
UTK, NSCC, TTU, TSU, PSCC, APU, ETSU, VSCC, UoM, UoC, LMOC, MTSU, WSCC, NSCC, CSCC, PSCC JSCC, STCC, CSCC, DSCC, LU, MSCC, BM, UofS, BU,TW, LMU, TNU, CU, RC, UU, RSCC, LC, VU

2024 Election of the Tennessee Conference of the AAUP

Members in Good Standing are eligible to vote.
Members who did not vote during the Zoom meeting on Nov. 23 may vote by printing and mailing this ballot:
MAIL IN BALLOT
Ballots must be received by December 2 and must be anonymous. Do NOT put your name on the printed ballot form. Mail your ballot to: Emily Ellis, 400 East Columbia Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37917

2024 TAAUP Candidates

Here are the statements received so far from TAAUP 2024 candidates. Other statements will be added as they are received.

For President

Dr. Máté Wierdl

Dr. Wierdl has participated for over 10 years in the Tennessee conference of the AAUP as activist and leader and looks forward to participating in scheduled upcoming colloquia funded by a proposed Conference Development Grant on higher education issues to be held at Tennessee university campuses in 2025 after his sabbatical abroad. He is Professor of Mathematical Science at University of Memphis.
For more from Dr. Wierdl, see the homepage, right column:Now Is The Time: Save Public Education

For Treasurer

Dora Estes

I decided to join AAUP during the 2009-10 school year because I was told that I would have to lose my full-time teaching job at Volunteer State Community College (Volstate). I had been there ten years but was not put on tenure track for the first four or five. I had no one to support me and no one to talk with about how to proceed with my objection. I had gotten on the dean of Business' bad list when I told the new president that I was not on tenure track five or six years before I was told that I was taken off tenure track and would not be rehired the next year. I hoped to get some help from AAUP but did not know how to go about that so I went it alone. I filed an complaint with HR at Volstate as required but nothing came of it at that time. I then filed a complaint with the Federal EEOC who told me that I had the right to sue Volstate on the grounds of age discrimination. I could not find a lawyer that was willing to take my case so it ended right there. Twice in the years following 2010, I was supposed to teach a class for Volstate as an adjunct but the HR person there said I could not be approved. I even contacted the new president of the college about it the second time and was told that I would have a hard time proving retaliation so I gave up again.
I decided that I would like to help others who were facing such by becoming active in the Tennessee AAUP. I served as treasurer for eight years before quitting in 2023 because of health. I am appalled at the treatment the faculty has received under the new boards. I would like to see non-members be informed that AAUP could help them when they become a target at their school. I was so lost and alone while I was fighting the unfair treatment I received that I want to help others so they do have to go through such unfair treatment due to political pressure. I have a BS in accounting and 48 graduate hours in business. I taught governmental and nonprofit accounting at TN Tech and at Volstate where I designed the course.

For Two-Year College Vice President

David Johnson

I taught for 10 years at Tennessee Technological University, and
30 years at Volunteer State Community College. I have served on
12 nonprofit boards. I was secretary of the Appalachian Center
for Crafts Friends of the Craft Center. For 10 years, I was the president
of the upper Cumberland adult literacy council up until this
fall (2024).

For Secretary

Dr. Josephine McQuail

I have been active in the AAUP since the early 1990s, and have served as President and Vice President of my local group Tennessee Technological University, and the state conference. I have been acting treasurer in the TN AAUP conference until recently and have been essentially acting secretary. I just recently retired from TTU where I served as professor of English for 34 years. I think the AAUP is more important than ever now. I pledge to do whatever is in my power to further the goals of AAUP, particularly to promote Academic Freedom and due process, and to support tenure as a vital institution in order maintain the highest level of excellence in teaching and research in higher education in the United States.