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3/7/24 Policy Committee Minutes

    Present: Robin Kar, Richard Laugesen, Cary Nelson, David O’Brien, Robert Parker, Leslie Struble, H. F. Williamson

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

    1. Introduction. Kar called the meeting to order and welcomed the attendees.
    2. Review of the minutes for February 8, 2024, Meeting of Policy Committee. Since there were no responses to his request for comments on the minutes, Kar announced that they were approved without objection.
    3. President’s Report. Kar thanked Carol Symes for presiding over the February 8 meeting of the Committee. He apologized for missing the February meeting and noted what has changed so that this is not likely to occur again. He talked with Carol about what occurred at the February meeting and has been able to follow up on the key items as will be discussed later in the meeting. The first was his concern about the status of the meeting with the Chancellor. He was pleased that in fact the meeting has now been set up with the Chancellor and the Provost for March 29 at 3 p.m. After the meeting, the Policy Committee will meet to discuss what occurred. The second was setting up the P&T Panel. He is near determining a date that is convenient for all the panelists. Once that is set, he will work with Parker on the next steps. He will also be reporting on the status of the web site and the initial plans for the Annual Meeting.
    4. Schedule for Spring Policy Committee Meetings:
      1. Regular Policy Committee Meeting: The meetings will start at 12:30 p.m. on the following dates. The meetings will be held electronically.
        • April 4: (first Thursday)
        • May 2: (first Thursday, this is Reading Day)
        • He discussed the additional procedures he plans to use to publicize the meetings including having his assistant send an Outlook invite to everyone as well as an email announcement just before the meeting. He also would send out the Zoom information just before the meeting. Laugesen noted we could also extend the invitation to the entire Chapter membership.
      2. Meeting with Chancellor Jones and Provost Coleman: March 29 at 3 p.m.
      3. Special Meeting of Policy Committee: March 29 at 4 p.m.
    5. Action Items
      1. Preparation for Meeting with Chancellor and Provost, March 29, 2024
        1. Attendance. The Policy Committee members will be polled to see who will be attending for information on the program. Their names will be included on the final program sent to the Chancellor and the Provost.
        2. Program. There was a lengthy discussion of the additional topics that could be included on the “General Discussion” portion of the program to be sent to the Chancellor. Kar will prepare the final Program as a result.
      2. Promotion and Tenure Panel
        • Kar has arranged for the four panelists: William Bernhard; Rosa Milagros Santos;, Greg Elliott, Chair, Campus P&T Committee; and Carol Tilley, Chair, FAC. Once he has set up the date, he will work with Parker and Williamson to publicize the event.
      3. Annual Chapter Meeting: We will discuss this further at the next meeting.
        1. Date: If the date chosen in the past is selected again, the date will be the May 7, the Tuesday of final examination week.
        2. Suggested Program: The idea is emerging that the program would cover “AI and Academic Freedom.” Possible speakers and the nature of the topic to be covered were discussed.
        3. Nominating Committee. At the conclusion of the meeting, Kar set up the Nominating Committee as Parker, Strubel, and Williamson.
      4. Report on Chapter Website. Kar presented website progress summary listing (i) pages completed, (ii) pages in progress, (iii) pages not built as well as the status of content being transferred whether fully transferred (News Items; Newsletters), halfway transferred (meeting minutes); and transfer not started (Meeting agendas). The number of broken links was noted. There were also “additional notes” about the process and possible future actions we could take. It would appear that it will be ready to go public by early summer.
    6. Adjournment. There being no further reports, Kar adjourned the meeting at about 1:50 p.m. As noted above, the next meeting of the Committee will be at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 4, 2024.