Present: Hadi Esfahani, Robin Kar, Richard Laugesen, David O’Brien, Robert Parker, Daniel Steward, Leslie Struble, Carol Symes, H. F. Williamson
The meeting began at about 11:30 a.m. with Kar presiding.
(1) Introductions. Since there were no guests today, introductions were not needed.
(2) Review of the Minutes for the March 13, 2025 Meeting of Policy Committee. Since there were no responses to his request for substantive comments on the minutes, Kar announced that they were adopted by unanimous consent.
(3) President’s Report. The work that we are doing this year has turned out to be incredibly important. These times are extraordinarily challenging for higher education. There is a potential for some of these threats to be existential. Another way of putting it is that many of the warnings that Maxim Krupskiy described in his presentation seem to be coming through. Thus, the challenge is to think creatively to determine how we can preserve our core values as best is possible and what role can we play in this very complex situation.
(4) Promotion and Tenure Panel.
(i) Date: The Panel will be held on April 18, 2025 at 2:30 PM.
(ii) Panelists: The panel members will be Executive Vice Provost Bernhard; Associate Provost Santos; Carol Tilley, Chair of Faculty Advisory Committee, and Curtis Perry, Chair of the Campus Promotion and Tenure Committee.
(iii) Next Steps: Kar will get the Zoom link to Parker so that he can prepare the flier and the EWeek entry and request the Provost to inform Department Executive Officers about the event. Williamson can then prepare the 2025 version of the set of memos to help department staff and Chapter members inform their colleagues about the Panel. It was confirmed that alternative hosts have been chosen as well. Parker suggested we send an email just before the meeting to remind registrants of the event.
(5) Meeting with Members of Board of Trustees. The list of questions prepared by O’Brien and Struble have been provided to the Board and we are awaiting to hear whom they have chosen to meet with us and when the meeting will be held.
(6) Public Meeting and Annual Chapter Meeting: There was a general discussion of the programs for the rest of the semester including the Public Meeting and the Annual Meeting.
(a) Annual Chapter Meeting. The chapter meeting will be May 13, the Tuesday of Final Examination week. We need to decide soon whether we are going to have a speaker or just have it be a business meeting. Kar noted that we had talked previously of having a presentation on how we can more effectively communicate the values of higher education to the public. As a starting point, there was a motion that we bring in one or two speakers as a panel to lead the presentation. Kar and O’Brien agreed to determine whom the panelists could be.
(b) Public Meeting. Parker brought up the Public Meeting and suggested that we should have a woman panelist. Symes agreed and proposed an individual who could be added to the panel. It was agreed that this individual be invited, and Steward agreed make the invitation. Kar announced that the panel will be held Friday, April 25 from noon to 1:30 PM.
(c) Organizing on Campus. Kar thanked Laugesen for organizing the first meeting of the group that was held Friday, March 28. The attendees included the Chair of USC, Vice President of the Senate, and representatives from GEO, Illinois Student Government, CAP, and CFA. It was an excellent opportunity to find out what was occurring at different levels of the University and realize the
importance of establishing channels of communication on these issues. It was agreed that the group would meet every two weeks. Symes noted that the attendees appreciated that we had set up the meeting. Parker noted that this also increased the exposure of our Chapter and our activities. Kar concluded by stressing that we want to be sure that everyone is aware the AAUP Policy Committee is distinct and they we are trying to work things through independently based on AAUP values and policies. Parker suggested that this illustrates how important it will be that both the chapter leadership and this group stay active over the summer. It was agreed that this should occur.
(d) Discussion of Communication Strategies. Kar noted that he had circulated two documents on this issue which he asked members to review and edit offline. He could then prepare revisions based on those responses.
(e) Pressure on Regional Centers. Symes noted that the UIUC Regional Centers are not only going to be losing their Federal funding but also will be under personal and professional pressure so it is important to determine what can be done to support them and assure their future survival.
(6) Adjournment. Kar adjourned the meeting at about 12:40 p.m. The final spring meeting of the Policy Committee will be at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 1, 2025.