We are established as a chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). Founded in 1915, the AAUP is the only national organization which exclusively serves the interests of college and university faculty members. AAUP supports and defends the principles of academic freedom and tenure and promotes policies to ensure academic due process. Membership in the national organization is open to all faculty, librarians, and academic professionals at two- and four-year accredited public and private colleges and universities. Current AAUP membership is about 45,000, with over 500 local campus chapters and 39 state organizations.

The AAUP at NYIT, Inc. is recognized as a "collective bargaining chapter" of the national AAUP. This means that we are the official collective bargaining agent for faculty and professional staff at NYIT. Information about collective bargaining appears in the AAUP Collective Bargaining web site, and a list of all collective bargaining chapters (with hyperlinks to their web sites) may be found on the AAUP CB Chapter List page.

The Old Westbury Chapter (now called the Long Island Chapter) of the American Association of University Professors at New York Institute of Technology was formed on September 29, 1967 at which time the chapter held its organizational meeting. At that meeting, a chapter constitution was adopted and officers were elected. At about the same time, the Metropolitan Chapter (now called the New York City Chapter) was formed for faculty and professional staff members based at the Metropolitan Center (New York City Campus).

Because many faculty and professional staff members wanted these two AAUP chapters to represent them for collective bargaining purposes, an election was held on October 13 and 14, 1970 pursuant to an agreement of the parties made on May 25, 1970.

On October 29, 1970, the New York State Labor Relations Board officially certified "The Council of Metropolitan & Old Westbury Chapters of the American Association of University Professors at the New York Institute of Technology" to represent faculty and professional staff members at NYIT for the purposes of collective bargaining. Simply click on this link: Certification of Representative to view and/or print the decision issued by the New York State Labor Relations Board (pdf format).

The first contract negotiated by this "Joint Council" was a Memorandum of Agreement covering the three-year period from September 1, 1971 through August 31, 1974. (Click on the above link to view and/or print the document.) The main contract is only seven pages long, followed by a two-page description of Personnel and Budget (P&B) Committees and a one-page description of grievance handling procedures.

Many old minutes of AAUP chapter meetings are kept at our AAUP office in Old Westbury. For example, click on this link: April 11, 1972 Minutes to view and/or print the minutes of our April 11, 1972 Old Westbury Chapter meeting; the signature sheet is on the second page. Faculty members present at this meeting (over thirty years ago!) who are still teaching at NYIT include: Dr. Leonard Tester, Dr. Gabriel Sunshine, and Dr. Matthew Chang.

For many years, our union was named the "Joint Council of Metropolitan and Old Westbury Chapters of the American Association of University Professors at the New York Institute of Technology." When we legally incorporated our union on May 24, 1995, we changed our name to "American Association of University Professors at the New York Institute of Technology, Inc." (AAUP at NYIT, Inc.).

Who May Join

All full-time faculty and professional staff members (with a few exceptions, such as faculty and staff at NYITCOM and the Vocational Independence Program) automatically become active members of the AAUP at NYIT, Inc. Dues for full-time faculty and professional staff members are 0.90% of the annual base salary. No extra amounts are withheld if you receive extra pay for overload or summer teaching, administrative work assignments, etc.

Technically, only "regular part-time members of the instructional and research faculty" are included in our bargaining unit. This phrase is defined in our contract as all part-time faculty who have taught at least 12 Equivalent Lecture Hours (ELH's) for at least three consecutive academic years. All regular part-time faculty receive the salary and other benefits described in the contract, regardless of whether or not they have joined our chapter. Part-time faculty who are eligible to join our chapter, and choose to do so, pay dues equal to 0.50% of their salary.

How to Join

If you are eligible to join the AAUP at NYIT, Inc. and are not presently a member, we invite you to join. Simply click on the appropriate link below to download your Membership Application and Payroll Deduction form (PDF format). Then print the form, fill it out, sign it, and return it to us at this address: AAUP at NYIT, Inc., New York Institute of Technology, Harry Schure Hall, Room 205, Northern Boulevard, Old Westbury, N.Y. 11568. It may take several weeks for us (and NYIT's Payroll Department) to process the form and for withholding to begin.

• Welcome Letter
• Full-Time Membership Application
• Part-Time Membership Application

If you are teaching part-time and do not know whether or not you have taught enough courses to become eligible to join our chapters, please feel free to contact Deborah Tibrewala in our AAUP office for assistance at (516) 686-1120 or dtibrewa@nyit.edu.