Who we are

The Association of Academic Professionals (AAP) is a non-profit voluntary association that is part of a national movement of academic professionals who seek collective bargaining rights for academic professionals at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.  We enjoy and wish to preserve the many benefits of working at a great university. We also seek to improve on these benefits while maintaining maximum flexibility at our jobs. That means organizing to establish a measure of control over our job security, evaluations, grievance procedures, career paths, compensation, and professional development. As a locally run organization, we know the issues and concerns of academic professionals on this campus and we set our own goals and priorities. So far, visiting APs have unionized here at the University of Illinois. They join professionals who have organized at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville; Michigan State, Connecticut State, and Rutgers universities; the Universities of Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Hawaii, and Alaska; and the university systems at Maine, California, California State, and the State University of New York.

What we do

Bargaining
Visiting Academic Professionals recently completed negotiations for their successor collective bargaining agreement.

Here are some highlights:

• Job protections and a “just cause” standard which establishes clear protocols and protections for members of the Visiting Academic Professionals bargaining
  unit. A grievance procedure that ends in binding third party arbitration to be used in resolving disputes.
• Visiting Academic Professionals are guaranteed assistance with interviews from Academic Human Resources for nonvisiting or other visiting positions. Pay increases with a new minimum salary for all visiting academic professionals.

The truth is, the last round of bargaining took a lot longer than it should have. When we don’t have a large, engaged membership standing behind the bargaining team, the University feels free to stall negotiations. THE LESSON IS, YOUR MEMBERSHIP MATTERS!

Contract Enforcement

• AAP leadership meets regularly with university administration to proactively address issues and concerns related to the work of academic professionals.
• AAP recently obtained a favorable resolution for several individuals involved in a dispute over proper payment of wages.
• AAP regularly asserts the rights of individuals who have been unfairly evaluated or disciplined for alleged job performance issues.

Lobbying

• AAP leadership recently met with university administrators to discuss ways we could work together on common issues at the state capitol.
• AAP is part of the campus labor coalition. The unions in the coalition work to support one another on campus and lobby Springfield together on behalf of their members and the University.
• As part of the IEA, the AAP advocates for pension protection, the maintenance of tuition waivers, better higher education funding, and other issues that impact our members.

Community

There are literally thousands of academic professionals at the University of Illinois, but we often hardly know one another. The AAP brings us together for a common good. In the process, it fosters the sort of community that ought to characterize the university, but rarely does. Individually, we are researchers, costume designers, flight instructors, programmers, graphic artists and more. Together we can work for positive change and have a good time doing it.

IEA Champaign office staff contact information:

Steve Vaughan
UIUC AAP UniServ Director
steve.vaughan@ieanea.org
(217) 390-5942 or (217) 384-2906

Aedan Murphy
Champaign Office Associate Staff
aedan.murphy@ieanea.org
1-800-638-5544, X331

In the interest of being as strong a local as possible, the AAP is committed to getting in  touch with all VAPs. It is important to put a face with names and inquire how best we can support you. Our strength depends on our connection to one another. Knowing one another makes us a more effective organization.