- DATE: April 13, 2016
- TO: Policy Committee
- FROM: Harry Hilton, UIUC AAUP Chapter President
- RE: President’s Monthly Report to Policy Committee (Mar 16 – Apr 13, 2016)
Removal from AAUP censure list and background checks: Bill Maher, USSP chair, and presented at the April 4, 2016, Senate meeting the committee’s Statute amendments to codify hiring procedures. See SP.15.21 here.
There were no modifications and it should pass our Senate at its next meeting. Of course, in order to become operational these amendments must also receive approval of the other two Senates and of BoT.
Chancellor Wilson’s email on free speech emailed on April 6, 2016, and distances the campus from restrictive free speech issues. The PC passed earlier this year a resolution expressing our disapproval of free speech restrictions on campus. I urge the Policy Committee to pass a resolution today thanking her, the provost and the VC for student affairs for taking the lead on this issue.
Wozniak developments: Nothing new to report.
Steve Kaufman and censure: Nothing new to report
Tenure workshop: The provost, vice provost, John Prussing, Craig Koslofsky and Jim Inlay have agreed to participate the event that is scheduled for April 14, 2016, 2:30 – 4 pm in 314B Illini Union. Please talk to your tenure track colleagues and advertise the event. Thanks.
PC Meeting with President Killeen: Today’s scheduled meeting had to be cancelled due to his meeting with the governor. I have been working on an alternate future date.
Chapter Annual Meeting Speaker: Governor Jim Edgar has graciously accepted our invitation to speak on May 10. The meeting will be held in 210 Illini Union (the General Lounge) 3 – 4:30 pm. He will speak on the budget mess in Springfield and its possible solutions. No title as yet, but it has been requested.
Ad Hoc Committee on Shared Governance: Ken Andersen sent me several pertinent documents that past chapter committees have generated. They will be forwarded to members of our Ad Hoc Committee. I will ask Leslie to please post them on our website.
Chapter Membership: The chapter membership has further declined into the 60s according to the latest national office figures. It is most imperative that we increase our efforts to recapture our past members who have lapsed in their dues and attract new members.
Unfortunately, the last of our faculty duty items, namely service, receives little attention and few rewards from administrators. The national trend in professional societies, other than those like the AAUP, is similar in decreasing memberships. Our younger colleagues are busy and hard driven to perform scholarly activities and consequently have little time or energies to support our goals. The AAUP has always treated, and rightly so, all injured faculty equally whether AAUP members or not.
However true the above, we must intensify our resolve and actively recruit new members. The chapter officers will redouble their efforts for new members at the tenure workshop and the annual open meeting with Governor Edgar. Bill Williamson has prepared an excellent one page hand out to be used at these and future events.