Present: Abbas Aminmansour, Ken Andersen, Geneva Belford, Linn Belford, Connie Caveny, Harry Liebersohn, Walter McMahon, John Prussing, Arthur Robinson, Robert Spitze, Leslie Struble, and Donald Uchtmann
The meeting began at noon with Donald Uchtmann presiding.
President’s Report
- Review of (a) the Minutes for Meeting June 9, 2008 and Summary Report for June 9, 2008; (b) Minutes for Officers’ Meeting on August 26, 2008; and (c) the Chapter President’s Report for Spring Semester 2008. The first was approved subject to minor editorial changes if necessary. The second was an informational item. The third has been distributed to Chapter members in final form following earlier reviews.
- Schedule of Meetings for Fall. The remaining schedule for fall is; October 6 in 211 IUB (note: first Monday of month); November 10 in the Illini Union General Lounge; and December 8 in 211 IUB.
- Other. Ken Andersen presented the President with Don Uchtmann with the plaque awarded to the Chapter at the national AAUP meeting for outstanding Chapter electronic communication. He noted the award also included $100. The Policy Council expressed gratitude to Cary Nelson for his leadership and personal effort in this area.
Action Items
- Composition of Policy Committee for 2008-2009. The roster distributed with the agenda was approved by the Policy Committee with the provision for additions pending discussions by Don Uchtmann. Don reported on his efforts to date and received approval to proceed as discussed.
- Composition of Continuing Chapter Committees for 2008-2009. These committees are (with current Chairs)(a) Government Relations (Andersen); (b) Academic Freedom (Robinson); (c) Programs (Hilton); (d) Membership (G. Belford); and (e) Communications (Caveny). Following discussion in the officers’ meeting last summer, Don Uchtmann proposed the Policy Committee Committees have co-chairs this year. Co-chairs could share responsibility and coupling an experienced person with another will help the Policy Committee maintain the knowledge and skills needed. John Prussing agreed to co-chair the Membership Committee with Geneva Belford. Uchtmann asked those not currently chairing to think about the committee they would be best suited for and to contact him.
- Planned AAUP Activities for 2008-2009: Current planned activities include the following: (a) Membership drive which is expected to include both a general contact via email or campus mail and targeted personal contacts with faculty who are either perceived as receptive or have recently received tenure and (b) a Spring tenure workshop targeted toward probationary faculty. Connie Caveny agreed to check the availability of Footnotes. Harry Liebersohn agreed to co-lead the tenure workshop event (added as co-chair of the Programs Committee). Caveny agreed to locate a list of recently tenured faculty. Andersen suggested a program or seminar in honor of the National AAUP Presidents from the Chapter could be developed with several topics coming to mind.
- Invitations to Campus Administrators to meet with Policy Committee. Uchtmann noted he and Harry Hilton will meet as previously arranged with the Provost as part of the tenure workshop planning. Administrators previously identified include Walter Knorr and Vice President Rao. Based on the discussions of the “Fund” and the Global Campus, we also are considering Chancellor Herman, President White, and Charlie Evans, Global Campus Dean.
Reports
- Academy on Capitalism and Limited Government Fund. Prussing reported it appears progress is being made. Negotiations are on-going to either modify or replace the MOU. If the negotiations are not successful, the funds should be relinquished. He indicated additional information should be available soon.