Present: Richard Laugesen, Walter McMahon, Robert Parker, Leslie Struble, H. F. Williamson.
The meeting began at about 12:33 p.m. with Parker presiding.
- Introductions. Introductions were not needed.
- Review of the Minutes for February 17, 2022 Meeting of Policy Committee. The minutes were approved.
- President’s Report.
- Friends of the Chapter. Parker reviewed his March 6, 2022 report to the Committee. He discussed the email contact list he is assembling of individuals he is calling friends of the chapter. This includes those who have been panelists at our events and those who have expressed an interest at such events as the new faculty orientation. If anyone has suggestions for individuals to include on this list, they should send their names to Bill Williamson.
- Communication with the Campus Faculty Association (CFA). Parker plans to increase our contacts with the CFA given our shared concerns regarding academic freedom and shared governance.
- 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.
- Preparation for Meeting with Provost Cangellaris at 11:30 a.m. on April 7, 2022.
- Arrangements. It will be a Zoom meeting. The agenda will include the list of probable attendees based on responses from the Policy Committee members.
- Agenda. The agendas from previous meetings with the Chancellor or the Provost were reviewed to help prepare the agenda for this meeting. A different format will be adopted starting with the introductions of the attendees but not including opening remarks from the Provost. Instead, there will be welcoming remarks from Parker followed by a General Discussion. Four topics were selected: legislative attacks on universities, follow up on the shared governance survey, campus task forces and academic freedom, and the role of COVID in the next academic year (2022-2023).
- Final Planning for Promotion and Tenure Workshop: Thursday, April 14, 2022
- Publicity. Williamson will circulate information on how to help publicize the Workshop to the affected faculty and the administrators in their departments.
- Membership Recruiting Material. Parker and Laugesen will work on how to get material to the attendees and on how they might be contacted for future mailings from the Chapter.
- Planning for Annual Chapter Meeting: Tuesday, May 10, 2022.
- Program. There was a brief discussion of possible topics for the program. The principal one suggested earlier was a variation on the theme about “The Attacks on Academic Freedom and Tenure.” This could focus on the legislative actions already in effect throughout the nation.
- Nominating Committee. Parker announced that he had appointed Struble and Williamson to be the Nominating Committee.
- Other Activities for Chapter
- Plans for AAUP National Biennial Meeting on June 16-19, 2022. As noted at the February meeting, 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. There was a discussion about whether we should revisit being involved given the announcement from the National AAUP that a vote to ratify the affiliation between the AAUP and the AFT will be taken at the meeting. The implications of this decision will be discussed at the next meeting.
- Report on Website. Struble discussed whether the agendas for our meetings should be posted on the website. She also noted the problems that have arisen as she is shifting our Chapter website from an html design to a WordPress design.
- Membership Campaign. McMahon discussed some of the strategies we might pursue to increase our membership. This included a discussion of whether individuals could join the Chapter without joining the national AAUP.
- 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 April 7, 2022 following the meeting with Provost Cangellaris.