Tennessee Conference of the AAUP

	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

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What TAAUP Does

The Tennessee Conference of the AAUP provides services to its constituent colleges and universities and to the state as a whole, and strives to protect the rights of all faculty members in Tennessee public and private institutions, whether they are full-time or adjunct, tenured, tenure track, or non-tenure track. We attempt to help government officials, the media and the general public understand the importance of higher education in helping students become more competitive in a global economy and more capable of exercising their rights and responsibilities as citizens, and to convey the vital role that faculty plays in achieving those goals.

Conference Officers

President, Tennessee AAUP Conference: Máté Wierdl, University of Memphis, Department of Mathematical Sciences Wierdlmate@gmail.com

Past President, Tennessee AAUP Conference:
Josephine A. McQuail, Tennessee Technological University (TTU) jamquail@gmail.com

Vice President, Four-Year Public Universities:
Cynthia George, Tennessee State University

Vice President, Community Colleges: David Johnson, Volunteer State Community College

Vice President, Contingent Faculty: Vacant

Vice President, Private Universities:
Linda White, Associate Professor of English,
LeMoyne-Owen College

Secretary: Josie McQuail, retired, Tennessee Technological University, Secretary, jamquail@gmail.com

Treasurer:
Dora Estes (retired), adjunct faculty, Nashville State Community College, Dept of Accounting and Finance, dorast6@gmail.com

Resources on Tenure from Alfred Lutz, Professor of English at MTSU

February 2026

When we talk about tenure, we're really talking about one leg of a three-legged stool: academic freedom, shared governance, and tenure. It makes little sense to talk about tenure, or the other two, in isolation.

The following are a few books and links (as well as information on one state whose governor banned tenure through an executive order --Oklahoma) that address the ways these three concepts (and their material manifestations) interact to create the possibility of an intellectual community. Note that some critique tenure, in the spirit of knowing arguments pro and con so we can defend tenure against its opponents.

Berube, Michael, and Jennifer Ruth. Race, Democracy, and the Future of Academic Freedom Johns Hopkins UP, 2022.
Finkin, Matthew W., ed. The Case for Tenure. Cornell UP, 1996.
Gerber, Larry G. The Rise and Decline of Faculty Governance,. Johns Hopkins UP, 2014.
Hofstadter, Richard, and Walter P. Metzger. The Development of Academic Freedom in the United States. Columbia UP, 1955.
Nelson, Cary, and Stephen Watt. Academic Keywords: A Devil's Dictionary for Higher Education. Routledge, 1999.
Nelson, Cary. No University Is an Island: Saving Academic Freedom. New York UP, 2010.
Post, Robert C. Democracy, Expertise, Academic Freedom: A First Amendment Jurisprudence for the Modern State. Yale UP, 2012.
Reichman, Henry. Understanding Academic Freedom. Johns Hopkins UP, 2021.
Reichman, Henry. The Future of Academic Freedom. Johns Hopkins UP, 2019.
Van Alstyne, William W., ed. Freedom and Tenure in the Academy. Duke UP, 1993.

Some of these would be AAUP resources:

https://www.aaup.org/reports-publications/aaup-policies-reports/policy-statements/1940-statement-principles-academic
https://www.aaup.org/tenure

Here's a list of other texts, mostly journalistic rather than scholarly; some arguing for tenure, others against it, on the subject:

https://www.nas.org/blogs/article/why_college_professors_need_tenure/
https://www.nas.org/blogs/article/the_enigma_of_tenure/
https://www.nas.org/academic-questions/28/4/faculty_tenure_remove_it_no._improve_it_yes/
https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/conversation/a-conservative-defense-of-tenure/
https://jamesgmartin.center/2019/08/to-protect-tenure-conservatives-need-to-ally-with-progressives/
https://democracyjournal.org/magazine/20/in-defense-of-tenure/
https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2009/10/20/tenure-conservative https://fee.org/articles/a-libertarian-defense-of-tenure/
https://unewsonline.com/2012/09/a-professor-in-defense-of-tenure-and-academic-freedom-at-slu/

OKLAHOMA IS NOT OK!

Here's an "interesting" document from Oklahoma: https://www.sos.ok.gov/documents/executive/2168.pdf (It is worth noting that, according to the Oklahoma Policy Institute, executive orders terminate 90 days after the inauguration of the next governor, unless continued by the incoming governor.)

Here is some material, taken from a recent AAUP message, about the Oklahoma situation:

Kevin Stitt orders budgeting, tenure changes; AAUP responds OU Daily, 2.5.26: (Todd Wolfson statement quoted)
Tenure Eliminated at Oklahoma Colleges. Inside Higher Ed, 2.5.26 (Todd Wolfson statement quoted)
Tenure Will Be Eliminated at Most of Oklahoma Public Colleges, Governor Says. Chronicle of Higher Ed, 2.5.26 (Todd Wolfson statement quoted)
Oklahoma Governor Eliminates Tenure at Regional Universities and Community Colleges. The EDU Ledger, 2.6.26 (Todd Wolfson statement quoted)
Oklahoma Governor Nixes Tenure At Most Of The State's Public Colleges. Forbes, 2.6.26 (Todd Wolfson statement quoted)
AAUP President releases statement on elimination of tenure at state universities" KSWO ABC 7 News, 2.6.26 (Todd Wolfson statement quoted)