Summary Report for UIUC AAUP Policy Committee on June 11, 2007

Present: Ken Andersen, Geneva Belford, Linn Belford, Connie Caveny, Bettina Francis, Art Robinson, Robert Spitze, Leslie Struble, Donald Uchtmann, H. F. Williamson

The meeting began at 12:10 p.m. with Donald Uchtmann presiding.

(1) Review of (a) the minutes for April 30, 2007 Policy Committee meeting; (b) the Summary Report; and (c) the minutes for the Annual Meeting on May 3, 2007. These documents were approved with minor revisions.

(2) Schedule of Meetings for Fall. The schedule if we meet on the second Monday of each month would be. September 10; October 8, November 12; and December 10. Uchtmann noted a conflict on September 10. It was agreed to move that meeting to September 17 if a room can be obtained.

(3) Preparation for President White’s meeting with Policy Committee on October 8, 2007. A key agenda item for our September meeting will be to discuss the topics we would like to cover in our meeting with President White. We also discussed which other University-level administrators we could consider inviting to join us.

(4) Review of First Draft of President's Spring Semester Report to the Members. The draft was approved with one revision:

(5) Actions by Fidelity Investments. There has been concern that Fidelity Investments is one of the major investment managers seeking privatization of Social Security, either directly or indirectly, and elimination of defined benefit pension plans in favor of individual accounts. Andersen reported that this will be reviewed by SURSMAC in a meeting with Dan Slack. Williamson noted that it has been brought to the attention of Barclay Jones for consideration by Faculty Benefits in the fall.

(6) Summer Meetings. Uchtmann noted that the officers plan to meet at least once during the summer to plan for the fall semester.

(7) Support for Web Site. Uchtmann reported that he has submitted an application to the state Conference for a grant in support of our web site.

(8) Follow-up on Chapter’s Annual Meeting on May 3. Uchtmann thanked Francis for chairing the meeting while he was absent and Andersen for his strong presentation.

(9) Chapter Web Site: Uchtmann encouraged everyone to visit the site which is in excellent shape. There was a discussion of whether the address of the website might be confusing since it uses “ui” rather than “uiuc” and whether the latter might be preferred.

(10) National Meeting: Andersen reported on the national meeting. He felt that it was a more “upbeat” meeting than last year even though there are budget problems that must be addressed. Unlike last year, there was a financial report which included the expenditures that will be needed to compensate for past mistakes. Other topics covered included: (a) improvements in handling membership procedures and in increasing the Association’s membership; (b) plans for a major reorganization of the Association; (c) censures for Universities examined in the report on Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans Universities; (d) how to handle the new, lower budget for the Association; and (e) the contents of two major reports on contingent faculty and gender equity,

(11) Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee. Robinson will talk with staff in the Provost’s office concerning how to handle departments that don’t follow proper promotion and tenure procedures particularly with regard to role of annual evaluations. He will also discuss his concerns about how the issue of the number of inside and outside letters is handled in cases where the candidate is working in a narrowly defined subfield.

(12) Government Relations Committee. Andersen noted that the IBHE staff has been somewhat optimistic about some of their work with the legislature and governor. Members of the legislature are aware of the need for increased revenue to support the budget and the capital budget but it is not clear how the necessary compromises will be made to reach a solution.