The Annual Business Meeting of the UIUC AAUP Chapter was held by Zoom and began at about 3 p.m. on May 12, 2020 with President David O’Brien presiding.
- Election of Officers for 2020-2021. President O’Brien reported that he had asked Robert Parker and H. F. Williamson to be the nominating committee and that the committee had nominated the following individuals to serve as officers during the 2020-2021 term: President: David O’Brien; Vice President: Richard Laugesen; Secretary and Treasurer: H. F. Williamson. This information was provided to the members along with the procedures for further nominations. No additional nominations were received, and none were made from the floor. The proposed officers were approved for 2020-2021.
- President’s Report. President O’Brien went over the content of his President’s Report that had been sent previously to Chapter members. It included:
- Summary of the Chapter Activities for the Year. These included meeting with Chancellor Jones and Provost Cangellaris, President Killeen and Executive Vice President Barbara Wilson, and Trustees Don Edwards and Edward McMillan. We also reviewed the recommendations of the University of Illinois report on Sexual Misconduct and met with members of that task force to discuss it.
- Recognition of the preparation and circulation of two surveys of shared governance on campus developed under the direction of Professor Hadi Esfahani in conjunction with the Provost’s Office.
- Preparation of our annual “Achieving Tenure and Promotion” Workshop online under the direction of Harry Hilton, for which there was a record attendance. He concluded by noting that our greatest challenge is to grow our membership, a more important task given that attacks on academic freedom and tenure are on the rise, tenure track positions are disappearing, and the AAUP must address more issues and more cases of administrative misconduct than ever before. He urged attending to join us in the membership campaign planned for next year.
- Resolutions. Two resolutions were proposed and approved to recognize the contributions of campus administrators and faculty to our efforts.
- Participation in the 2020 “Achieving Tenure and Promotion” Workshop. On behalf of the Chapter, the Policy Committee thanks panelists Provost Andreas C. Cangellaris, Vice Provost William T. Bernhard, Professor Carol. L. Tilley, and Professor Andrew V. Suarez for their participation in the 2020 “Achieving Tenure and Promotion” Zoom Workshop and Harry Hilton for his leadership in arranging the event. Additionally, we wish to express our gratitude to the Provost and Vice Provost by having the event widely publicized, thus assuring its record attendance. Chapter President David O’Brien is asked to send each individual a note expressing our appreciation.
- Provisions for Tenure Roll Backs. We applaud the initiative taken by the Provost Andreas Cangellaris and his staff in issuing the Addendum to Provost Communication #16, making provisions for tenure roll backs during the COVID-19 crisis. This action will bring implicit relief to the designated faculty. Chapter President David O’Brien is asked to send the Provost a note expressing our appreciation.
- Election of a Delegate to the AAUP Biennial Convention. The Policy Committee nominated David O’Brien to be the one delegate the Chapter is eligible to have. There were no additional nominees, so he was approved as the delegate.
The meeting adjourned at about 4 p.m. and was followed by a presentation by Chapter President David O’Brien on the “Future Role of the AAUP on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Campus.”