Summer Training in Faculty Governance

There’s been a lot of talk this week on ProfHacker about THATCamps, which aim to provide training in the digital humanities for participants from a wide range of disciplines. And some faculty are already making their way to NEH summer seminars, and to similar training opportunities in the various disciplines across higher education. And even in the absence of formal, explicit training, many of us are probably embarking on summer improvement plans. (Mmm . . . sweet, sweet, PHP.)

There’s a different kind of training, though, that I don’t think is on as many people’s radar: training in faculty governance and in advocacy for higher education.

The AAUP’s Summer Institute offers exactly this sort of training*. And while some of its workshops (contract negotiations, grievance procedures, etc.) are explicitly pitched at union shops, many of them are not: strengthening faculty handbooks; institutional financial analysis; understanding trends in higher education; lobbying; building a strong AAUP chapter; building shared governance; running better meetings; using social media (run in part by me!); and more. What the summer workshop does is show how to turn the AAUP’s famous principles and turn them into plans for effective faculty governance, rather than dysfunction. The workshops are led by faculty and AAUP staff, and are extremely pragmatic.

You don’t have to take my word for it: Here’s a video from the 2009 summer institute:

This year, the Summer Institute is in Boston, from July 21-24. You can find more information about registration, lodging, and so forth at the AAUP website. You need not be a member of the AAUP to attend, although you do get a significant break on the price. I think registration is open for a couple more weeks.

I’ve been to the summer institute twice now as an attendee and have always come away from it with renewed energy for working on my campus--and I’m looking forward to doing so again!

*Probably should acknowledge that I’m the vice-chair of the AAUP’s Collective Bargaining Congress, as well as president of my campus’s AAUP-affiliated union. I don’t get any money for plugging the Institute, though!

Are there other summer opportunities for training in the arts of faculty governance? Share in comments!

Photo by Flickr user zemistor / Creative Commons licensed.