Auburn should build its future with its faculty, not around them: op-ed

This is a guest opinion column.

Like many of my colleagues at Auburn University, I read Williesha Morris’s recent reporting regarding the state of our institution with deep concern. The Board of Trustees has initiated a radical shift in university operations by dissolving the Faculty Senate, establishing a new presidential academic advisory council, and claiming broader oversight of the curriculum. This move represents a seismic change in the governance of one of Alabama’s primary flagship universities.

A Choice to Weaken Governance

It is vital to acknowledge that Auburn was not forced into this position. By opting to dismantle existing faculty governance structures, the Board has signaled that faculty judgment is no longer trusted, but rather something to be managed. Academics are no strangers to constructive criticism; our entire professional lives center on the peer-review process, which is essential for scholarship and teaching progress. However, true institutional advancement relies on collaboration, not the systematic removal of faculty voices from decision-making tables.

Defining the Auburn Degree

Trustees hold a critical role in setting institutional priorities and serving the interests of students, taxpayers, and the state. Yet, there is a fundamental difference between providing oversight and exercising unilateral control. The curriculum defines what an Auburn education represents, and crafting that definition requires a partnership between administrators, trustees, and the faculty experts who teach those subjects.

Consider the mandatory civics courses recently implemented. The importance of civics and American history is not in question; rather, the expertise required to develop these programs resides with the faculty who specialize in those fields. By sidelining this expertise, the university risks undermining the very quality it aims to protect.

Building a Sustainable Future

My desire for Auburn is simple: I want an institution where students, staff, and faculty thrive, and where the value of an Auburn degree remains unimpeachable in the eyes of parents, employers, and alumni. Policies that openly distrust faculty expertise jeopardize that confidence and threaten to alienate the educators who drive the university's mission.

If there were legitimate issues with the speed of the Senate or the effectiveness of the curriculum, those should have been addressed through genuine reform and collaboration. Displacement creates distance; reform should build legitimacy. A university cannot succeed by ignoring the experts responsible for the daily work of scholarship and teaching.

Ultimately, Auburn’s future should be built with its faculty, not around them.

Alabama professors react as Auburn takes more control over faculty, curriculum

Colin Gabler is the Hurston Professor of Marketing and a Fulbright Scholar at Auburn University. He writes about social justice issues and higher education and has published pieces at 205focus.com, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, University Business, and the Columbus Dispatch.