Dues-Sharing Program
As part of the AAUP's Organize Every Campus campaign, advocacy chapters are eligible to receive a portion of members’ dues back when members participate in active organizing efforts. These resources will help chapters develop an organizing culture and build power on campus.
The dues-sharing program was piloted in academic year 2024-25, and was a tremendous success. Eligible advocacy chapters receive ⅛ of the dues paid by the total number of members on their roster.
Some important improvements to the Dues Sharing program for its second year. Qualifications for a chapter are now determined on a proportional scale, and admission to the program will be made on a quarterly basis.
There are five main requirements for becoming and staying a part of the Dues Sharing program. Each year your advocacy chapter must:
A minimum of twenty members in your chapter;
Sending members annually through Organize Every Campus skill-building trainings to learn basic organizing skills;
Growing your chapter membership density annually by a minimum of 2%;
Participation in Pods Organizing for Power (POP) monthly check-ins with AAUP staff organizers
A bank account and filing 990 forms annually with the IRS
Details on qualifying steps are enumerated below.
Chapters admitted to the program will receive:
⅛ of their member’s dues on a quarterly basis (lifetime members will only be counted toward dues-sharing at the time they join);
The Basic Chapter Toolbox, which includes support for designing a professional chapter logo and setting up a basic chapter website, as well as free access to Action Network and access to Zoom through AFT Local 6741.
Requirement #1:
A Minimum of Twenty Members
The minimum chapter size for eligibility is twenty. Your chapter should be holding regular meetings and officer elections.
Requirement #2:
Organize Every Campus Trainings
One of the primary aims of the Dues Sharing program—and the broader Organize Every Campus campaign of which it is a part—is to help advocacy build their organizing capacity.
Organizing is a skill that must be learned. When we launched Organize Every Campus in 2024, AAUP partnered with the best organizer training program in the world, the Skills to Win program (run out of University of California Berkeley’s Labor Center), to provide trainings for AAUP members. Admission into and continued eligibility for the Dues Sharing program requires that your chapter train new members in organizing fundamentals each year.
There are several opportunities throughout the year to complete the training:
AAUP will run a training each Fall and Winter semester, tailored to academic workers
UC Berkeley Center regularly runs Skills to Win workshops throughout the year
Organizing for Power runs a Core Fundamentals program each year
The number of required new participants your chapter must send is determined on the following sliding scale:
If your university has ≦ 300 full-time faculty, you must train 2 new members annually.
If your university has 301-1000 full-time faculty, you must train 3 new members annually.
If your university has ≧ 1,000 full-time faculty, you must train 4 new members annually.
Please note that these Zoom trainings have minimum cohort requirements — if your chapter has questions about how to participate, contact Lukas Moe (lmoe@aaup.org).
Requirement #3:
Grow Your Chapter Density on Campus by 2%
Building density is key to building power on campus. Density is the number of dues paying members divided by the total number of eligible members on your campus. To qualify for dues-sharing, your chapter must add 2% membership density annually.
Eligible AAUP members include all academic workers (full and part-time faculty, including all clinical faculty, instructors, lecturers, as well as staff and graduate workers). But, for the purposes of establishing baseline campus sizes, we are using IPEDS data for faculty only. However, all new members — regardless of job category — will be counted toward your chapter’s growth goal. For chapters already enrolled in dues-sharing, rosters will be checked on June 1 each year.
How to Calculate 2% Member Density Growth:
Total Faculty - Total Current AAUP Chapter Size = Total Remaining Eligible AAUP Members
Total Remaining Eligible AAUP Members x 2% (i.e., .02) = Number of Members Chapter Needs to Add to Be/Remain Eligible in Dues Sharing
Large R1 University Example:
2,530 (Total Faculty) - 245 (Total Current AAUP Chapter Size) = 2,285 (Total Remaining Eligible AAUP Members)
Total Members Who Need to Be Added: 2,285 x 2% (i.e., .02) = 46
Small Liberal Arts College Example:
300 (Total Faculty) - 21 (Total Current AAUP Chapter Size) = 279 (Total Remaining Eligible AAUP Members)
Total Members Who Need to Be Added: 279 x 2% (i.e., .02) = 6
To arrive at consistent numbers, estimate using the IPEDS Academic Workforce data. When the page loads, click on the tab “DRILLDOWN” and enter your institution name in the field about halfway down the page on the right. Subtract the “GA” (graduate workers) number from the total. If there are faculty on your campus in a collective bargaining unit, subtract the size of their bargaining unit from the number of eligible AAUP members.
All staff, graduate workers, full and part-time faculty members are eligible and encouraged to join the AAUP, and every member will be counted toward your chapter density growth. If you have questions about how to estimate your growth goal, please write to lmoe@aaup.org.
Requirement #4:
Participation in Pods Organizing for Power (POP)
Building power on your campus requires sustained strengthening of your chapter’s organizing and institutional capacity. POP is the AAUP program that aims to give you the tools to do just that.
To join and stay eligible for Dues Sharing, chapters must send representatives to participate in POP’s monthly check-ins. These small-group meetings, facilitated by AAUP organizers, will focus on encouraging inter-chapter conversations, group skill expansion, and reviewing key organizing skills such as mapping, list-building, leading successful meetings, and campaign planning.
Sign up for Pods Organizing for Power here.
Requirement #5:
Set Up a Bank Account and File 990 forms
You will need to make sure your chapter has up to date bylaws in compliance with national AAUP, and has elected officers including a treasurer.Instructions for setting up an EIN number, setting up a bank account, and filing 990 forms with the IRS will be provided separately. For instructions on how to do this, contact Secretary-Treasurer Danielle Aubert (daubert@aaup.org) or AAUP Director of Finance Muaz Ahmed (mahmed@aaup.org).
HOW TO JOIN DUES SHARING
To participate in the dues-sharing program, complete the interest form.