AAUP members also heard from our Membership committee, whose primary charge remains to recruit broadly across the university. This fall, the committee reached out to potential members through personal networks such as individual invitations and group emails, and was generally encouraged by the result of these efforts. Noting that only relying on personal networks might produce blind spots—especially when it comes to getting non-faculty workers on board—the committee urged all AAUP members to be creative with their outreach.
To this end, the committee’s goals for the spring include broadening contact with different constituencies on campus, in particular staff, VAPs, and graduate students. The committee also plans to throw one or more spring AAUP social events, designed both to grow our membership and build community among existing AAUP members. Members enthusiastically discussed this prospect, both when it came to outward facing, recruitment-oriented gatherings like teach-ins or happy hours, or with more internal community building activities such as button making (the latter in collaboration with the Communications Committee).The main ask from the Membership committee is an evergreen request: invite people you know to join! Everyone is encouraged to spread the AAUP Bucknell Membership Form link far and wide. If you want to invite your work group/mailing list to sign up, but have concerns about remaining anonymous, Membership committee members can help you do this, and would be happy to assist. The committee also welcomes any AAUP member who wants to join the committee. To get involved with these and other efforts, please contact Jacob Powell in Economics (jp082@bucknell.edu).