Registration is now open for the 2026 AAUP Higher Ed Summit and Biennial Meeting, which will be held June 10-13 in downtown Chicago, Illinois, at the Hyatt Centric Chicago Magnificent Mile.
The summit will be a gathering of AAUP leaders and members with an emphasis on organizing to meet the political moment and building strong chapters. We’ll strategize together and take part in workshops focused on our political agenda, shared governance, and nuts and bolts skills for running effective advocacy and collective bargaining chapters. It also includes, on June 12 and 13, the Biennial Association Meeting, which is the formal business meeting of the AAUP.
Summit Programming
Workshop tracks include:
- Core Skills—A slightly condensed version of our popular training designed to help you develop essential organizing skills, enabling you to build strong leadership structures in your chapters, execute high-participation campaigns, and win on issues that matter to you and your colleagues.
- More Skills—The next level of organizing skills, focused on running membership drives, building a sustainable program, and leadership development.
- Political Education—Understanding our political moment, the challenges ahead, and how to win the political power we need for change, including how to engage in electoral politics and advocate for state legislation.
- Shared Governance in a Crisis—Putting AAUP policies into action through governance, shared governance and collective bargaining, faculty on contingent appointments and governance, and more.
- Bargaining Campaigns and Contract Enforcement—Skills for democratic contract campaigns that win better working conditions and drive other changes, plus how to protect the rights you've won.
*Note for chapters participating in the dues-sharing program: Taking all four Core Skills or all four More Skills sessions on Wednesday, June 10, counts toward the dues-sharing requirement for member participation in Organize Every Campus trainings.
The conference will also include presentation of awards, social events, and plenaries.
Biennial Association Meeting and Elections
The purposes of the meeting are established by the AAUP Constitution and include electing AAUP officers and Council members, voting on amendments to the Constitution, expressing the AAUP’s views on professional matters, voting on proposals and resolutions, and acting on recommendations presented to it by Council.
The 2026 Biennial Association Meeting on June 12 and 13 will include elections for at-large and regional members of the AAUP’s governing national Council. Elections are conducted in person in a secret ballot election by credentialed delegates of AAUP chapters and sections. Nominations are due by March 16, 2026. Chapters and sections (which are groups of small chapters) submit delegate forms to AAUP by May 15, 2026. Further information is available here and has been sent to chapter leaders.