Summary Report for UIUC AAUP Policy Committee Meeting on October 12, 2009

Present: Abbas Aminmansour, Bettina Francis, Jerome Hajjar (guest), Harry Hilton, Walter McMahon, John Prussing, Robert Spitze, Leslie Struble, Donald Uchtmann, H. F. Williamson

The meeting began at about 12:10 p.m. with John Prussing presiding.

President's Report

(1) Review of the Minutes for September 14, 2009 Meeting of Policy Committee. These were approved.

(2) Composition of Committees for 2009-2010. Prussing discussed his plans to talk with possible candidates for the Policy Committee and the Chapter Committees.

(3) Fall 2009 Illinois Academe. A copy of Prussing’s article for this issue was part of the packet. An article by Andersen concerning the UIUC Admissions Scandal will also be in this issue. [NOTE: The fall issue is now out and also includes (a) an article by Cary Nelson on “Admissions at Illinois” and (b) an interview with Matt Finkin concerning issues related to his new co-authored book For the Common Good: Principles of American Academic Freedom.]

Action Items

(4) Preparation for Meeting with Interim Provost Robert Easter. We are scheduled to meet with him on November 9th at 11 a.m. in 209 Illini Union prior to our regular noon meeting of the Policy Committee. A draft of the agenda included in the packet was discussed. A revised version will be circulated for review prior to the meeting. Issues suggested during the discussion included: (a) his goals during his period as interim provost (and how this is affected by the resignation of Chancellor Herman); (b) how the campus administrators hope to minimize the effect of the budget crisis on our ability to continue the mission of the campus; (c) the specific strategies that are being considered such as furloughs, staff cuts, and raises for those earning promotions; and (d) the new time-reporting system. There was further discussion of how a furlough policy might be implemented. Regarding the time-reporting system,

(5) Discussion of Actions by the Senate and the Senate Executive Committee: There was a brief discussion of the actions taken at the recent Senate meeting involving (a) the Resolution on Admissions Review Commission Report (SC.10.01.A) and (b) the Proposed Amendments to the Senate Constitution to support the inclusion of Other Academic Staff in the Senate Electorate (SP.09.03). The Senate Executive Committee will be preparing a list of candidates for the President Search Committee. The final decision on which faculty from the UIUC campus are on the Committee will be made by the Board of Trustees rather than at the campus level.

(6) Spring Tenure Workshop. Hilton will start the planning immediately.
Reports

(7) Government Relations Report: Andersen noted that the funding of MAP for the spring is the dominant issue being discussed this week. [NOTE: A bill was passed and signed to fund the program for the spring though no source for these funds was provided.]

(8) Report on Chapter Web Site. It was noted that Caveny continues to try to work with Joe Grohens on managing the site. An informal motion was passed that if there are still problems by the time of our November meeting, we will see about an alternative for maintaining the site.