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2/17/22 Policy Committee Minutes

    Present: Robin Kar, Richard Laugesen, Walter McMahon, Robert Parker, Dana Rabin, Bruce Rosenstock, Leslie Struble, Carol Tilley, H. F. Williamson.

    The meeting began at about 12:30 p.m. with Parker presiding.

    1. Introductions. Introductions were not needed.
    2. Review of the Minutes for January 20, 2022 Meeting of Policy Committee. The minutes were approved.
    3. President’s Report. Parker reviewed the report that he had sent to the Committee indicating that most of the topics would be covered later in the meeting. He reported that he had had extended discussions with a faculty member who contacted him in his role as an AAUP representative concerning academic freedom issues.
    4. Schedule for Spring, 2022. There were no new meetings added since last month. Plans for key meetings were to be covered later in the agenda.
    5. Panel on Critical Race Theory
      1. Review of Program. Parker felt the panel expanded the campus discussion about this critical topic in academic freedom and expanded awareness of the AAUP to a wider audience.
      2. Additional Programs. Kar suggested that we plan similar programs during the semester. There was a discussion of the relevant programs at recent Annual Meetings that could serve as examples.
      3. Plans for Follow-up. As a first step, Parker organized two open houses on Zoom for potential new members on February 16 and 17 which were announced at the meeting and on EWeek. He also sent an email to those who registered thanking them for their interest and the three panelists for their participation. He included information on an anti-critical race theory bill that was recently proposed for the state of Illinois and about the open houses.
      4. Response to HB 5505. Parker led a discussion of the points made in an earlier, extensive email discussion about the potential impact of this bill and how we might react. He proposed writing a letter on behalf of the Policy Committee to our local legislators expressing our opposition. It was moved and seconded that he should write such a letter and circulate it to the Committee for feedback before sending it. The motion was approved unanimously.
    6. Planning for Promotion and Tenure Workshop: April 14, 2022. Hilton had informed Parker that the plans were all in order. (NOTE: There was a typo in the agenda regarding the day of the week of the Workshop: the meeting is on a Thursday).
    7. Planning for Annual Chapter Meeting
      1. Date. It was agreed that the meeting would continue to be on the first Tuesday of the spring semester final examination week which is May 10, 2022.
      2. Program. There was a brief discussion of possible programs continuing the earlier discussion regarding how we might follow up on the Panel on Critical Race Theory. One possibility was a variation on the theme about “The Attack on Democracy and the Threat to the University.” The determination of the program will be covered more thoroughly at the next meeting
    8. Meeting with Provost Cangellaris
      1. Date and Time: As reported last month, Provost Cangellaris will meet with the Policy Committee at 11:30 a.m. on April 7, the hour before our April Policy Committee meeting.
      2. Program: The format of the program will be similar to that used for previous meetings with administrators. Copies of those programs will be circulated to the Committee to help prepare the program for this meeting at the March 10, 2022 Policy Committee meeting.
    9. Other Activities for Chapter
      1. Membership Campaign. The campaign discussed earlier is continuing.
      2. Plans for AAUP National Biennial Meeting on June 16-19, 2022. No one has responded to the invitation to be a delegate from our Chapter, nor has any other chapter in Illinois invited us to share a representative with them. The committee agreed that we would not want someone from outside our chapter to represent us, so it was agreed that the committee would not reach out to another Illinois chapter about sharing representation,
      3. Title for the Chapter. Parker noted that since there are two AAUP chapters on this campus, our chapter and the NTFC, he had asked Steward in his role as our Liaison to the NTFC to consult with the NTFC leadership about the best way to refer to our chapter to avoid implying that our is the only AAUP Chapter at the UIUC.
      4. Report on Website. Struble is preparing to shift our Chapter website from an html design to a WordPress design.
    10. Adjournment. There being no further reports, the meeting adjourned at about 1:40 p.m. As noted above, the next meeting of the Committee will be 12:30 p.m. on March 10, 2022.