On The American Association Of University Professors

Academic freedom is essential to academic development . In fact ,since the university was established, academic freedom always be controlled by religion ,politics and economic needs, while the university is destined to be academically free. As a regulation designer for academic freedom, AAUP has developed a series of ideas and principles enhancing academic freedom .In the times of building world-level university, academic freedom is exclusively important to the development of China higher education.This thesis will introduce the background in which AAUP was established, its development phrases, its present organizational entity, and analyze its achievement in American profession, finally apply to our educational practice.AAUP, being rooted in typical American social background, went through four important phrases and became a smooth organization. Through a series of efforts AAUP has reached its goal as promoter of academic profession: protecting academic freedom and tenure; ensuring shared governance; enhancing academic profession. To critically apply AAUP's experience, our nation should accelerate legislation about academic freedom; labor union needs to defend faculty's rights and interests which should be economically independent. Our colleges and universities should develop academically democratic management to relieve faculty from the various unnecessary rules and regulations and establish mutual understandings between faculty and administrative management, ensuring faculty's rights by enforceable regulations.The innovation of the thesis is to explore AAUP's ideas and principles about academic profession through researching the social and educational background of AAUP and introducing AAUP's development phrases and present organizational situation. Historically research about AAUP provides some beneficial experiences for China higher education.