​

​Faculty Welfare Committee​ Fairfield University AAUP-AFT

From the FWC Executive Committee

​

Hello everyone,

​

Welcome back to Fall semester in an extremely trying year. Amid these challenges, we are stronger together, and we are looking forward to welcoming you into our campus chapter of the American Association of University Professors, the Faculty Welfare Committee. If you haven't joined yet, you can join our chapter at this web link! I attended a meeting of AAUP chapters across CT this week, and we are talking about common actions that we can take and a proactive strategy to fight for higher education.

​

We had an FWC meeting after the second General Faculty Meeting on Sept. 19, during which we talked about the attacks on scholars and institutions of higher education around the country. Our conversation then tended toward how we can protect scholars here on campus. We discussed what to do in an emergency, including resources for those in need of immediate help, and shared resources available on our new FWC Website: FairfieldFacultyWelfare.com. On the "Help!" site are links to free speech policies and explanations of other resources.

​

A faculty member asked about ways to protect themselves and colleagues from external attacks, and one strategy raised was to make sure that our catalog language and department websites, for example, all accurately reflect and support our mission to include social justice and diverse viewpoints in our classes. A member also brought up a statement from Father Sosa, Superior General of the Society of Jesus, given at the Assembly of the International Association of Jesuit Universities in Bogotá this summer in 2025.

He writes, "Uncertainty can turn into anxiety that paralyzes action. That would serve the purposes of those who seek to weaken citizen participation in public life, to weaken democratic rule to the point of rendering it inoffensive, and to undermine the civic culture of the people. However, when we confront this situation in the hope that strengthens us, uncertainty can be experienced as an opportunity, a chance to contribute to changing the course imposed by those who feel themselves to be in charge today." The language of the complete address might be helpful in responding to criticism or attacks on Jesuit education.

​

We were thrilled to elect to our Executive Committee Tanika Eaves, Ph.D., LCSW, IMH-ED, who is an Associate Professor of Social Work at The Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies. Her clinical and research interests include: reflective supervision and other workplace supports promoting workforce well-being, culturally responsive parent-infant psychotherapeutic interventions, and achieving equity in maternal-infant health and mental health outcomes. She has served as Chair on the Student Life Committee, served as a semester or year-long fill-in on the Ed Tech, FDEC, and EPC committees, and helped establish the Justice Equity, Diversity,

and Inclusion (JEDI) Committee at the Egan School. She has also been an active participant in the Faculty of Color Affinity Network and served on its Executive Council from 2023 to 2024.

​

Finally, as international scholars continue to be under attack, and we have heard that Fairfield HR will be reaching out with guidance to international faculty The AAUP lawyers are engaging with these questions and share this: "While the proclamation on its face appeared to target H-1B workers outside the US and those currently applying for H-1B visas, subsequent guidance from US Citizenship and Immigration Services indicated that the proclamation does not apply to petitions submitted prior to September 21, 2025, or to current H-1B visa holders. Similar guidance appeared to be issued by US Customs and Border Protection. That being said, international travel by those with H-1B status may nonetheless pose a risk until the pattern of implementation and enforcement of the terms of the proclamation becomes clearer."

​

All the best,

Sonya for the FWC Executive Committee (shuber@fairfield.edu)

Campus Event Oct. 15 @ 1 pm
​Research Pivots and Public Attacks

Join us at the Frederickson Lab off the lobby of the library to talk with Dr. Margaret McClure of the Provost's Office about how faculty members who have experienced attacks on their funding or research agendas, fields, and identities might pivot, re-see their work, or use campus connections to adapt to our less-than-ideal circumstances. We will also discuss how these challenges can be included in narratives of tenure and promotion.

Switch AAUP to Your Personal Email

If you receive national AAUP emails at an address ending in .edu or .gov, please log into our member portal and change your preferred email to a personal address. Correspondence to and from work emails can be accessed by the employer or via public records requests. Plus, some states limit the messages we can send to .edu or .gov emails, so you may be missing out on important AAUP information. Using a personal email address enhances digital security and helps avoid restrictions that may be associated with work email addresses. Detailed instructions are below.How to update your email in the AAUP database:You can leave your institutional email on your record so we can run a report to unsubscribe it from emails from our email system, which is separate. If you do get duplicate emails (to both your personal and institutional addresses), please email communications@aaup.org and we will get it fixed.

• Go to https://members.aaup.org/s/login/.
• Login with your email (the email where you receive national AAUP communications) and password.
• You can click the “Forgot your password?” link beneath the “Log in” button to reset it if necessary.
• Once you’re logged in, scroll down to the second header “Communication Information.”
• Click Change (in red on the right of the screen).
• Add your personal email.
• Select “Personal” under Preferred Email Type.
• Add cell phone under “Mobile Phone” (if you choose)
• Click the yellow save button at the bottom of the “Communications Information” section.
• Please also add your discipline if you would like to by following the same process in the top section, called “Contact Information”.

​

​

Don't Fly Avelo

​

As you're planning for conference travel this year, we urge you to avoid patronizing Avelo Airlines, despite its convenience, because it has been receiving funding from ICE and conducting deportation flights. You can take the pledge online to Ground Avelo.

​

​

From AAUP National

Artificial Intelligence and Shared Governance AAUP has a new report out on Artificial Intelligence and the Academic Professions, which has several recommendations including advocating through shared governance for faculty participation in setting policies that shape our use of AI.

We promote faculty welfare, broadly defined, through chapter programs and activities designed to advance academic freedom, advance the economic and professional status of the faculty, encourage faculty participation in governance, and inform the community about AAUP standards and policy statements to ensure higher education's contribution to the common good.