William & Mary
AAUP Chapter
The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) has defended principles of academic freedom in the United States for more than 100 years. It was founded in 1915 with the mission “to advance academic freedom and shared governance; to define fundamental professional values and standards for higher education; to promote the economic security of faculty, academic professionals, graduate students, post‐doctoral fellows, and all those engaged in teaching and research in higher education; to help the higher education community organize to make our goals a reality; and to ensure higher education's contribution to the common good.”To learn more about the AAUP’s work, visit → www.aaup.org
About Our Chapter
The W&M AAUP chapter is an advocacy chapter, not an organizing chapter. As such, the W&M AAUP chapter serves as a voice for instructional and professional faculty, graduate students in teaching and research roles, and other instructional and research employees to promote shared governance, inclusivity, and academic freedom. The W&M AAUP renewed its charter during the 2025-2026 academic year, after having been dormant for many years. The chapter is not part of the university, although it may collaborate with university committees and other university organizations on issues of mutual interest.The mission of the W&M Chapter, per our Bylaws, is “to promote academic freedom, guard against the erosion of faculty status, and strive to improve working conditions for all classes of faculty on all William & Mary campuses. In so doing, the Chapter aims to ensure that faculty are involved in all academic and other relevant decisions at the College of William & Mary through meaningful participation in governance, as described in the AAUP 1966 Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities, and to foster the highest levels of teaching, research, scholarship, and service to the community, as befits a premier public university.”
Chapter Membership
Membership in the W&M AAUP Chapter, per our Bylaws, is open to “all those at William & Mary who are current or retired full-time tenured, tenure-eligible, or non-tenure-eligible instructional faculty, current full-time professional faculty, graduate students who participate substantially in the process of teaching or research, and postdoctoral researchers. Part-time or adjunct faculty are eligible for membership during any semester in which they are serving as a classroom instructor.”Associate members of the AAUP are ineligible for Chapter membership. Assistant deans, associate deans, vice deans, deputy deans, deans, and all full-time administrators, regardless of faculty status, are ineligible for Chapter membership while serving in such administrative roles. Faculty serving as department chairs, center directors, or program directors remain eligible for Chapter membership while serving in such roles.
To join the W&M AAUP Chapter, members must first join the national AAUP organization and then indicate, by e-mail to [email protected], that they wish to join the W&M Chapter. Members can join at any time of the year.
Stay Informed
We encourage all who are eligible for membership to join our chapter’s e-mail list and attend meetings, although only members may vote on Chapter matters.To be added to our e-mail list, or to receive more information on the Chapter, please contact us at [email protected].