Your Rights and How to Protect Them
(Adapted from the website of the New York Conference of the AAUP)

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
Listed below are the types of documents that define the general policies and procedures of your institution regarding matters such as appointments, reappointments, promotion, and tenure; curriculum; faculty governance; academic freedom; workloads; salaries, and benefits. You should also have all documents that detail the specific terms and conditions of your individual appointment. Read and retain:

1. Institutional charter and by-laws
2. School and department handbook or governance rules
3. Faculty manual or handbook
4. Faculty union contract, if any
5. List and description of all fringe benefits
6. Student handbook
7. Any other document that establishes procedures
8. Your letter of appointment (and all subsequent reappointments)
9. Any other document that defines or modifies your specific job

Ideally, your faculty manual should contain copies of all documents from 1 through 5. Because faculty manuals are usually written by the administration, be alert to changes that may have been made, unannounced and without faculty consultation, even when faculty normally participate in recommending the provisions of the manual.

Senior faculty can help new faculty by routinely providing copies of important documents during the job interview itself. If such materials are not offered, candidates should ask for them.

KEEP RECORDS
Perhaps the most important step that you can take to protect yourself is to keep thorough records of all your job-related activities. Retain the following items in your files:

1. Grade books
2. Photocopies of final grade reports
3. Sign-up sheets or other records of student conferences
4. Minutes of department/school meetings
5. Minutes of committees on which you have served
6. Syllabi, handouts, reading lists, lecture notes
7. Grant applications and responses
8. All job-related correspondence you have sent or received
9. Appointment books
10. Curriculum vitae (all revisions) and annual activities reports
11. Student and other teaching evaluations
12. Any other item you or another has placed in your personnel files.

If possible, you should review and update your departmental, school, and central personnel files annually. Numbering the pages in the file is a good way to ensure that you will be able to quickly ascertain if documents have been removed.

CREATE RECORDS
Even minor incidents such as an incorrect paycheck or a student complaining to your chair that you missed an appointment can often lead to major problems. Create a "paper trail" as soon as you find yourself in any potentially troublesome situation:

1. Keep written records of telephone conversations, noting the date, names of persons with whom you spoke, and a summary of the conversation.
2. Follow-up telephone calls with written requests for information or action to resolve the problem. Include a summary of the conversation.
3. If you attend meetings on the issue, take detailed notes of the date, who was present, and what was said. Sign and date these notes for your own records. Then send a memo to the appropriate person(s) with a detailed objective summary of what was said and by whom. End your memo with this request: "If your understanding of our meeting (conversation) differs from mine, I would appreciate it if you would please let me know in writing."

WHAT YOU SHOULD DO IF YOUR RIGHTS ARE BEING VIOLATED
1. Immediately review the documents that spell out your rights and responsibilities in order to determine whether you have grounds for a complaint.
2. Immediately read the section in your faculty manual or union contract that describes the proper channels for pursuing a remedy to your situation, including grievance or appeal procedures.
3. Seek a solution first through direct consultation.
4. If an informal approach to solving the problem fails, then use the formal grievance or appeal procedure provided in your faculty manual or union contract.
5. DO NOT MISS THE DEADLINE FOR FILING A COMPLAINT. Internal grievance procedures are designed to save you the time and cost of taking your claim to a civil court. If you miss a deadline you may still be able to resolve the problem internally, but the administration is obliged to do only what is mandated in the bylaws, faculty manual, or union contract on matters not covered by law.
6. California's Fair Employment and Housing Act prohibits discrimination in the workplace. The Department of Fair Employment and Housing is charged with enforcing the provisions of this Act. For more information on pursuing discrimination charges, call (800) 884-1684 and check with California's Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (specifically, the section on Discrimination Complaint Investigation). Complaints of discrimination at the federal level can be filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. File as soon as possible because counting the days to filing deadlines can be tricky and the deadlines are strictly enforced. You do not need an attorney to file.
7. If you are represented by a union, contact the union grievance officer first. Otherwise, contact your faculty grievance committee. Additionally, if your campus has an AAUP Chapter, consult with its officers.
8. Retain an attorney only when you are sure you need one.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO AVOID LITIGATION
1. Find out to what extent the policies of your institution protect you for decisions made or actions taken while you are engaged in professional activities such as classroom teaching, laboratory supervision, or committee deliberations.
2. Find out if you have liability coverage while traveling on institution business or while using an institution-owned vehicle.
3. At the beginning of each term, provide all your students with a written definition of plagiarism and other violations of academic honesty. Use statements from the student handbook, where they exist. Also inform them in writing of the consequences incurred for violating these policies. You may also want to include a statement on your syllabus that students are required to retain a copy of all essays and other assignments so that a second copy can be provided to the instructor.
4. Familiarize yourself with your institution's student disciplinary procedures.
5. Find out whether your institution has an ombudsperson or similar officer to whom student vs. faculty disputes may be referred.
6. Follow correct institutional procedures when you discipline a student for cheating or plagiarism, and be able to sustain your claim with documentation.
7. Finally, don't forget...AAUP members are eligible to enroll in the Association's professional liability insurance program.

The creation and protection of faculty rights is a collective process. The AAUP has worked since 1915 on just this activity and the policy statements produced, often with the collaboration of administrative or other professional groups in higher education, are collected in AAUP Policy Documents and Reports (the volume commonly referred to as "The Redbook"). Becoming familiar with this work may prove invaluable for you and your colleagues.