As it enters its tenth decade, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) struggles with its image. As the chief higher-education organization representing professors nationwide, the AAUP is best known for its widely cited statements on academic freedom and tenure. But in the last generation, even as the number of professors in the country has doubled, the association's voting membership has taken a nose dive by more than half and the organization is widely viewed a stodgy and aging faculty club that is no longer relevant to young professors. There are other problems as well, but topping all of the group's management concerns are questions about its mission and its image. Thirty-five years after the AAUP decided to enter collective bargaining, the decision continues to roil the organization. More than half of its members are now part of an AAUP collective-bargaining unit. The rest have no connection to the union, having joined the AAUP because they support its historic role defending academic freedom. The split has created an organization that is frequently beat on both fronts: by bigger unions which are luring away members, and by younger, nimbler organizations which want to control the national conversation about academic freedom. For those not interested in being linked to a union, the AAUP's union aspect tarnishes the organization and acting as union representatives has depleted its resources. Even professors who are members of the collective-bargaining units and say the AAUP brings its venerable reputation to the table worry about whether the group has the power, expertise, and resources to bargain effectively. Maybe the solution, some AAUP members say, is to split the group in two. The association is considering a restructuring that would separate its academic-freedom work from collective bargaining, creating two units under one umbrella. The change is intended to give each of the two entities more freedom to pursue its own goals. Details of howit would work are still sketchy, but members will begin talking about a potential separation at the organization's annual meeting.