AFT Higher Education has developed a Strategic Plan (PDF) to focus the union’s efforts in addressing the current trends in higher education. Within that plan are priorities for addressing several topics that AFT has been working on for several years. These topics continue to warrant our attention. Below you will find a list of "hot topics" with links to information and resources about that topic.

Academic Freedom
Faculty and professional staff must be able to exercise independent academic judgment in the conduct of their teaching and research.  Academic freedom is important because society needs "safe havens," places where students and scholars can challenge the conventional wisdom of any field—art, science, politics or whatever. This is not a threat to society; it strengthens society. It puts ideas to the test and teaches students to think and defend their ideas.  Defending academic freedom against conservative political attacks such as the "Academic Bill of Rights" movement is essential to the continued success of colleges and univerisities and a fundamental responsibility of higher education unions.

Academic Staffing Crisis
No trend has changed the face of higher education more than the shift away from a corps of full-time, tenure-track faculty to a contingent instructional workforce. AFT is working to find new ways to increase full-time tenure-track faculty positions and at the same time achieve pay equity and professional rights for contingent faculty and graduate employees.

Shared Governance
Shared governance, the set of practices under which college faculty and staff participate in significant decisions concerning the operation of their institutions, is vital to maintain the academic integrity of our colleges and universities, to prevent the pressures of commercialization from distorting the institution’s educational mission or eroding standards and quality, and to uphold the ideals of academic freedom and democratic practice. Strengthening shared governance is the responsibility of all colleges and universities, and a priority of our union.

Tenure in Higher Education
AFT believes that tenure is the bulwark of accountability and quality in higher education. It ensures that the institution’s curriculum, teaching, research and other academic programs will be framed by trained and motivated professional who possess a deep, lasting commitment to the institution. That is exactly what we want in employees. Designing ways to weaken tenure or to deny people its protections makes no sense.

Technology Issues
Today, technology can be seen in almost every aspect of higher education. Consequently, AFT’s approach to technology is to look broadly at how it is influencing higher education as a whole, and to make that effort ongoing to keep pace with new developments. This broad and ongoing approach is coupled with local affiliates bargaining specific contract language to address the impact of technology on their members.

Intellectual Property
Issues concerning the ownership and control of intellectual property on campus have become much more complicated and pressing as college administrations step up their efforts to profit from the research, scholarship, and teaching of the faculty and staff. As a result, higher education unions must start to pay very close attention to legislation, court decisions and campus policies concerning intellectual property -- and to protect their members' interests through collective bargaining.