AAUP censures Southern University

WASHINGTON — The top national organization of university professors on Saturday voted to place Southern University on academic censure for its handling of a declared financial emergency and the resulting faculty layoffs during the past two years.

The formal censure by the American Association of University Professors, or AAUP, which has spent a lot of time in Louisiana lately, gives Southern the dubious distinction of joining LSU, Southeastern Louisiana University, Northwestern State University and Nicholls State University on the 52-school list.

Southern University and National Louis University in Illinois were the only schools in the country placed on the censure list during the AAUP annual meeting in Washington. Last year, LSU — the only national flagship on the list — Southeastern and Northwestern were the only three schools added.

Several Louisiana universities have drawn the ire of the AAUP in recent years for alleged violations of faculty rights and university policies during layoffs that have resulted from repeated state budget cuts to higher education in the state.

More at http://theadvocate.com/home/6261982-125/aaup-censures-southern .