Present: Robin Kar, Richard Laugesen, David O’Brien, Robert Parker, Daniel Steward, Leslie Struble, Carol Symes, H. F. Williamson; guest: Charles Roseman
The meeting began at about 11:30 a.m. with Kar presiding.
- Introductions. Kar welcomed Roseman to the meeting and had the attendees introduce themselves starting with Roseman who was attending as the Chair and current member of the Senate Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure (CAFT).
- Review of the Minutes for November 7, 2024 Meeting of Policy Committee. Since there were no responses to his request for substantive comments on the minutes, Kar announced that they were approved by unanimous consent.
- President’s Report. Kar expressed his appreciation to Roseman for joining us today and noted that the meeting will focus on the discussion with him, including the review of USC ST-83, and the chance to know how our committees can be mutually supportive. He also noted topics we could plan to cover at our first meetings in the spring. One could be a session on how the changes in the Federal administration will affect issues such as academic freedom and how the Policy Committee will act on that issue. To illustrate, he read the question he received from reporters at the News–Gazette on this topic and his response about his concerns for the future of higher education. The second was to report that he had discussed our concerns about ST-83 with Nick Jones and presented the text we had discussed at the last meeting. Kar did appear at the most recent Senate meeting to ask how much expertise regarding academic freedom USC had itself or had called upon during this work. He also reported on his contacts regarding our planning to meet with members of the Board of Trustees in the spring and on his conversation with Bill Bernhard on the University FAQ item “What is academic freedom and who has it?” He feels that they have understood our concerns.
- Proposed Schedule for Spring Policy Committee Meetings. Kar reminded the Committee of the proposed schedule for the Spring with meetings on the following Thursdays:
- January 23 (instruction begins January 21)
- February 13
- March 13 (Spring Vacation starts March 15 and ends March 24)
- April 3
- May 1 (Reading Day is May 8)
- The starting time is tentatively scheduled for 11:30 AM as in the fall. Kar asked members to contact Laugesen or Williamson if they have problems with this schedule or starting time.
- Executive Session. The Committee went into Executive Session for the report from Charles Roseman, Chair of the Senate Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure. At its conclusion, Kar and Symes both thanked Roseman for his presentation. Kar will work with him to set up another meeting in the spring. Parker and Symes noted in particular the work Roseman does with his students on various issues. Symes proposed that we consider a workshop to help faculty members with regard to one such issue, how to identify the signs of radicalization among our students and how they might engage with such students.
- Adjournment. Kar adjourned the meeting at about 1:00 p.m. The next meeting will be the first meeting of the spring semester which, as noted above, will be on Thursday, January 23, 2025, scheduled (at least for now) to start at 11:30 a.m.