Present: Hadi Esfahani, Robin Kar, Richard Laugesen, David O’Brien, Robert Parker, Carol Symes, Carol Tilley, H. F. Williamson
The meeting began at about 12:34 p.m. with Kar presiding.
- Introduction. Kar called the meeting to order, welcomed the attendees, and asked them to introduce themselves.
- Review of the minutes for May 2, 2024, Meeting of Policy Committee. Since there were no responses to his request for comments on the minutes, Kar announced that they were approved by unanimous consent.
- President’s Report. Kar started his report by thanking those attending for all the service they have provided over the years and noting that he looks forward to another constructive year with all of us. He stressed that the AAUP is a critical institution in higher education in the United States and has been for over a century helping define and protect key institutions such as academic freedom, tenure, and shared governance. This has allowed us to develop new ideas without fear of political retribution and makes U.S. higher education an envy of the rest of the world. There have been attacks on these key institutions, sometimes from the right and sometimes from the left. He feels that University of Illinois is in a relatively better place in this regard when compared with campuses across the U.S. Among the challenges that are facing higher education are attempts to create post-tenure review; attacks on certain fields such as critical race studies; and questions about how to handle issues on campus such as free speech and protests. Whatever threats come to the fore this year, one of our responsibilities will be to respond effectively to what is happening.
- Schedule for Fall Policy Committee Meetings. Kar noted it was necessary to consider moving to an earlier starting time because of conflicts for some members. Given there were no objections, a change to 11:30 a.m. was approved for the rest of this semester. This change will be sent to the entire Policy Committee. Thus, the remaining fall meetings are scheduled to be at 11:30 a.m. on the following Thursdays.
- Thursday, October 10 (2nd Thursday)
- Thursday, November 7 (1st Thursday)
- Thursday, December 5 (1st Thursday); Reading Day is December 12
- Review of Annual Chapter Meeting and Program on May 7, 2024. Kar noted that the meeting went well. The proposed change in the leadership structure of the division of the secretary’s position between Laugesen and Williamson was approved by their election. We felt that the program “Artificial Intelligence and Academic Freedom” by Kevin Sharp and Robin Kar was well received. It is available on the Chapter web site. The procedure of having attendees register for this and related events has led to a significant increased in the members on our listserv.
- Chapter Web Site. Kar noted that the web site is now up and has links to full videos and other items. He is pleased with how the site looks and how accessible it is especially insofar as it responds to past perceptions that we had not communicated the range and vitality of the chapter’s recent and ongoing activities. He thanked the policy committee members for their input in developing the website. He asked for any suggestions that the rest of us have, as the website is a living “document” and can always profit from further input.
- Composition of Policy Committee for 2024-2025. The roster of the current Policy Committee was sent to the members for review to help start an ongoing discussion of individuals whom we might invite to join. An example could be an individual whom they met at the new faculty orientation session. It was also suggested that we renew the policy of inviting Chapter members to attend meetings of the Policy Committee. We will continue these efforts for the entire semester.
- Key Actions Items Facing Policy Committee for 2024-2025
- Review of New Campus Policies on IDs and Signage. Kar noted that they did not implement the signage policy but that they did implement a policy that allows them to ask for an ID in certain circumstances. Though the Policy Committee members had not yet had a chance to discuss these changes over the summer when comments were invited, he and O’Brien submitted a statement during the comment period stressing that the University should be careful when implementing the latter policy to avoid the appearance of biases or a stop and frisk policy. The comment period was too brief to permit further action from the committee as a whole. He suggested that the Policy Committee could consider preparing a document describing these concerns that might help the campus do the right thing with our statement as part of the support. This might include establishing the criteria we feel the policy should meet before it is implemented by the administration. Rob concluded by suggesting a process which starts with his sending an email to our members and others asking for input on this policy from a broad range of individuals. He and perhaps one other would work on preparing such a document. O’Brien agreed to help him. They would plan to have the document ready before the end of October.
- Review of University FAQ Item “what is academic freedom and who has it?”. (https://stratcom.illinois.edu/free-speech-faq/) Kar noted that we also may want to comment on these FAQ’s and how they are defining academic freedom. Since they are linked to the campus policies just discussed, he noted that this review will be included in that report.
- Meeting with Campus Administrators. Last year, the full committee met with Chancellor Jones and Provost Coleman. Kar and Symes also had a preliminary conversation with President Killeen and Executive Vice President Nick Jones. Kar asked for suggestions as to whom we might invite to meet with the full committee this year. It was suggested that we might want to include a meeting with the new, interim Chair of the Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure to offer our support. Parker suggested we consider meeting with one or more members of the Board of Trustees. We could remind them that we are continuing a tradition of holding such meetings.
- Membership drive. To promote membership, Kar reminded us that we could again make presentations at department meetings for interested departments. Kar and Tilley reported favorably on their experience at the new faculty orientation with mny new faculty showing interest. Tilley was surprised at how few who came by the table even knew what the AAUP and academic freedom are. Those who signed up will be on our listserv. We will also continue the process started by Laugesen last year of having people register for our Zoom meetings such as the Tenure Panel and the Annual Meeting so that we could add their email addresses to the listserv—a process that as noted earlier has led to a sizable increase in our mailing lists. Parker noted that last spring we had set up an open house for members on the listserv, but it was not successful. There was some discussion of planning a similar meeting again, on the one hand, and further department meetings on the other.
- 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 on Thursday, October 10, 2024, at the new starting time of 11:30 a.m.