Join

How to Join AAUP–Penn
Penn faculty and grad employees can join the national organization and select affiliation with the AAUP–Penn chapter; you should then sign up for our contact list right away to let us know you have joined and to stay updated. To get involved: 1) join AAUP now! and 2) sign up for our chapter’s contact list for updates, meeting invitations, and opportunities to participate in whatever way you choose.

Eligibility
Membership in our chapter is open to tenured and tenure-track faculty, lecturers and other contingent faculty, graduate-student employees and postdoctoral fellows who are primarily teachers or researchers, and librarians, archivists, curators, and technicians who participate substantially in the process of teaching or research. 

Dues
Annual membership dues for the AAUP national organization are based on self-reported income. AAUP–Penn does not currently charge any additional chapter membership dues to join. We do, however, encourage voluntary contributions from tenured faculty or all those with means to subsidize membership in the national organization for grads and contingent faculty or anyone in need of financial support.

Get Involved with Your Chapter
A chapter is only as strong as its membership, and AAUP–Penn aims to be a member-led organization that is shaped by your concerns. Join our mailing list to stay connected, participate in chapter meetings, join committees and working groups focused your highest priorities, and receive regular updates on your chapter’s actions.

Why Join AAUP?

  • Do you want a meaningful voice in shared institutional governance?
  • Are you bothered by the widespread trend of hiring adjuncts at low wages rather than tenure-track faculty with fair compensation, benefits, and job security?
  • Are you an adjunct/lecturer in a vulnerable position and in need of solidarity on issues affecting you?
  • Do you want to see contingent faculty paid fairly, with benefits and better working conditions, and treated with respect?
  • Are you concerned about the future of higher education in the U.S. and the prospects of current PhD candidates seeking stable academic employment?
  • Do you want to support the needs of graduate workers at Penn?
  • Do you want a faculty organization to support the needs of other campus workers?
  • Are you concerned about the corporatization of the university and the power of boards of trustees?
  • Do you support racial justice and gender equality in hiring, promotion, and in university–community relations?
  • Are you concerned about health and safety at work during an ongoing pandemic?
  • Have you observed inequities in compensation and workload within faculty ranks?
  • Do you wonder how your compensation compares with others at your rank?
  • Do you need a means of redress for harassment or for conflicts within your department/program or division?
  • Do you want to defend colleagues from political attacks on academic freedom?
  • Are you interested in issues in higher education generally?

If you are a faculty member, AAUP is already working for you. Joining helps support their advocacy and research on urgent issues in U.S. higher education and is an important expression of solidarity with colleagues across the profession.