Idaho State University removed from AAUP sanctioned list

The announcement was made by Gregory Scholtz, director of the AAUP’s Department of Academic Freedom, Tenure and Governance, in a letter to ISU President Kevin Satterlee dated June 17.

“It is my privilege to inform you officially that delegates to the 105th annual meeting of the American Association of University Professors voted unanimously to remove Idaho State University from the Association's list of sanctioned institutions,” Scholtz said.

The letter enclosed a statement of ISU’s standing.

“My congratulations to you, the ISU faculty senate, and the ISU AAUP chapter,” Scholtz said. “Your cooperative efforts in the spirit of academic shared governance have led to this happy outcome.”

Satterlee said he was pleased by the announcement.

“Idaho State University administrators and faculty are working hard to build a positive and productive relationship based on the tenets of shared governance,” Satterlee said. “It is my hope that we continue to work together to foster a relationship built upon trust and mutual accountability. I am continually impressed by our faculty and their dedication to our students and the mission of the university. I believe that the University and our students benefit when we can work together collaboratively, inclusively and transparently.”

ISU was sanctioned by the AAUP in June 2011 after the ISU Faculty Senate had been suspended. In November, Satterlee approved a proposed new faculty senate constitution that the faculty had ratified, which received approval from the Idaho State Board of Education in December.  The AAUP made a visit to ISU in March meeting with faculty groups and Satterlee.

According to the AAUP’s statement of ISU’s standing, the AAUP representative visiting ISU said, “I was very much impressed by the dedication of the ISU faculty, the AAUP chapter, and President Satterlee to cooperative institutional change. It is tremendously refreshing to visit a campus where the faculty seems energized not in opposition to fresh outrages, as is sadly too often the case, but because things are improving.”