Register For Summer Institute Today

Dear Colleague, In a few short weeks I’ll be heading off to my sixth AAUP Summer Institute, which runs from July 26-29 in Chicago, Illinois. If that suggests I may be crazy, at least I am in good activist company. Every year half those attending are making return visits. It’s easy enough to explain. The courses pack tons of information into compact sessions and there are always several courses meeting simultaneously, so you come back to attend the ones you missed. After last year I thought I had used up all my opportunities (and I had indulged myself in taking a couple of classes twice), but this year new classes are scheduled. (.pdf)

You can get hooked on some of this stuff. Take “Contract Negotiations” and role play as an administrator—all of the fun with none of the burden of extra income! Or try our “Crash Course in Institutional Financial Analysis” and learn how to tell whether the dean is telling the truth when he or she says there’s no money. Once you see how university budgets are really constructed and learn what they reveal and conceal, you’ll never want to return to that standard faculty ignorance that’s no longer so blissful.

Among the great new courses this year is one on direct action organized by the Oakland-based Ruckus Society (P.S.: They’ve had a little direct experience with direct action in California). That’s not the only course title torn from the headlines. You can get the latest updates on the affirmative action strategies under renewed assault and the inside story on the continuing assaults on faculty benefits and collective bargaining.

Our teachers come from across the country and bring with them years of activism and experience. Join us this summer in Chicago and then take the latest news back to your campus. Stay in a room with a view and enjoy the Chicago skyline. Join us for social events and conversation. Compare your campus stories with new friends from dozens of states. The AAUP’s Summer Institute is our most popular event.

Register now!

Cary Nelson AAUP President, 2006–2012