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President's Semester Report

Fall 2007

TO: Members, UIUC AAUP Chapter
FR: Donald Uchtmann, Chapter President
RE: Activities of the Policy Committee, Fall, 2007

This is my third report to the members of the UIUC AAUP Chapter concerning our activities during the previous semester and completes my first year as Chapter President. I have appreciated the support of the other members of the Policy Committee as well as the members of the Chapter during my tenure as President. I continue to be impressed by the important role that so many members of our chapter play in campus governance particularly as members of numerous important committees. This was highlighted during the campus review of the Academy on Capitalism and Limited Government Fund (ACLGF). This included work in the Senate and the Conference by Policy Committee members Aminmansour, Burton, and Grossman and the membership on the Advisory Committee of two AAUP members, Finkin and Thomas Ulen who chaired that committee.

The Chapter officers met July 23 to prepare for our activities this semester. The Policy Committee met on September 17, October 8, November 12, and December 10. Members of the Policy Committee also met with President Joseph White on October 8 (see item 1 below). The members (and guests) who attended at least one of these meetings were: Abbas Aminmansour, Kenneth Andersen, Geneva Belford, Linn Belford, Nick Burbules (guest), Vernon Burton, Connie Caveny, Matthew Finkin, Clyde Forrest, Bettina Francis, Michael Grossman, Harry Hilton, Lew Hopkins, Harry Liebersohn, Walter McMahon, Cary Nelson, John Prussing, Arthur Robinson, Robert Spitze, Leslie Struble, Donald Uchtmann, and H. F. Williamson.

The rest of this report provides a summary of our activities and the discussions at the Policy Committee meetings. One major activity was our role in the campus review of the Academy on Capitalism and Limited Government Fund (see item 2 below). During the spring semester, we plan to meet with Vice President Rao and to hold a tenure workshop. If you would like to have a more active role in our Chapter’s activities, please let me or one of the other members of the Policy Committee know. We would be pleased to have all of our members more involved in the Chapter’s activities, possibly as members of the Policy Committee or of one of the other committees.

Activities of the Policy Committee

(1) Meeting with President Joseph White. The Policy Committee regularly invites campus leaders to join us for a discussion of issues important to the faculty and the rest of the academic community. President White accepted our invitation to join us at for a meeting in October prior to our regular Policy Committee meeting. After the introductions, President White thanked us for inviting him to join us and for our service to the University. He feels that faculty governance is welcome and vital to the mission of the University. He then addressed a number of issues including (a) the long term fiscal health of the University; (b) long term issues regarding the University’s budget; (c) the role of the University and its President as the key voice for higher education in Illinois; and (d) the Academy on Capitalism and Limited Government Fund (ACLGF) and (e) the importance of academic freedom. In the discussion that followed, members of the Committee noted (a) the history of concern about academic freedom and shared governance on this campus; (b) the issues raised so far by the establishment of the ACLGF; (c) the need for an increased faculty involvement in the interactions with the state legislature; and (d) concerns about the management of the Foundation. At the conclusion of this discussion, Uchtmann thanked President White for joining us and presented him with a copy of the AAUP Red Book autographed by those who had attended the meeting. President White thanked us for this gift and for inviting him to attend our meeting.

(2) Academy on Capitalism and Limited Government Fund (ACLFG). The Policy Committee discussed this issue extensively throughout the fall including at our meeting with President White. An ad hoc committee of Andersen, Grossman, and Hopkins was asked to monitor developments and prepare a statement on this issue: AAUP UIUC Chapter Statement: The Academy for Capitalism and Limited Government Fund: Faculty Authority and Responsibility. This Policy Committee reviewed this statement electronically. It was adopted on October 26, 2007 and sent to all members of the chapter on October 29, 2007. The Statement also was forwarded to Provost Katehi, Chancellor Herman, President White, Vern Burton as Chair of University Senates Conference, and Nick Burbules as Chair of UIUC’s Senate Executive Committee. As I noted in my memorandum accompanying the document: “The Statement invites faculty to engage in the work of re-framing the proposed mission of the Academy for Capitalism and Limited Government Fund. The Statement goes on to suggest three tasks worthy of special attention.” These tasks are to: (a) Make sure that donors, backers, and the university administration understand the principles of faculty authority over curriculum, course content, and choice of research questions and that formal donor agreements are publicly available and consistent with these principles; (b) Distinguish clearly between the appropriate and welcomed intent of donors to enable and encourage study of particular topics and ideas and the unacceptable intent to mandate particular results or presentation of particular points of view. Donations mandating particular points of view should be refused; and (c) Investigate how and why these two recent instances [i.e., the Global Campus and the Academy for Capitalism and Limited Government Fund] of initial failure to follow established principles and procedures occurred and recommend changes in practices to ensure that statutes are followed and, if necessary, changes in the statutes to prevent such failures in the future.” The Policy Committee plans to continue monitoring the actions of the Fund.

(3) Composition of Committees for 2007-2008. We currently have five committees as follows (Chairs in parentheses): (i) Government Relations (Andersen); (ii) Academic Freedom (Robinson); (iii) Programs (Hilton); (iv) Communications (Caveny) and (v) Membership (G. Belford). We hope that members of the Chapter will be interested in working on these committees. If you are, please let me know.

(4) Preparation of the Chapter’s Standing Rules. A subcommittee (Andersen, Williamson) was established to prepare the Standing Rules, a task assigned to the policy Committee in the revise the Chapter By-Laws approved last sprig. Andersen presented a draft for these Rules organized into three topics: Communications, Attendance and Participation in Meetings; and Notice and Agendas of Meetings. It is planned to have a final draft in place before the end of the spring semester.

(5) Chapter Web Site (http://aaup-ui.org/): The site was completed last spring under the direction of Nelson. He reports that AAUP members nationally are being encouraged to visit our site and to use it as a guide for sites at other chapters. The Communication Committee is working out the ground rules for handling material on our site. The Committee (Caveny, Belford, Nelson, Williamson) will also discuss how the site will be maintained.

(6) Planning for Next Promotion and Tenure Workshop. This workshop is the probably the most well-received activity that we have sponsored in the past five years. We are planning to hold it again in the spring with a panel that will include the Provost or her representative and recent members of the campus Promotion and Tenure and Faculty Advisory Committees.

(7) Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee. The chair, Robinson, has worked with one individual concerning the procedures used for a promotion and tenure decisions. We also discussed actions which may be proposed on the UIC campus concerning revising the University’s Statutes with regard to the tenure/probation period.

(8) Government Relations Committee. The chair, Andersen, continued to lead discussions of the problems facing the state particularly with regard to the budget. Though some positive actions occurred (e.g., fully funding the pension systems this year), there is significant concern about failures to pass and fund a capital bill; to address the state’s structural deficit; and to resolve other issues such as the Chicago area transportation crisis. He is also concerned that next year will be even more difficult given all the unsolved problems left over from this year.

(9) National Office. Nelson, the President of the National AAUP, reported regularly on the activities of the national AAUP. One was an email outreach program to 350,000 faculty nation-wide. In the spring a major membership drive is planned.

e Policy Committee meetings. One major activity was our role in the campus review of the Academy on Capitalism and Limited Government Fund (see item 2 below). During the spring semester, we plan to meet with Vice President Rao and to hold a tenure workshop. If you would like to have a more active role in our Chapter’s activities, please let me or one of the other members of the Policy Committee know. We would be pleased to have all of our members more involved in the Chapter’s activities, possibly as members of the Policy Committee or of one of the other committees.

Activities of the Policy Committee

(1) Meeting with President Joseph White. The Policy Committee regularly invites campus leaders to join us for a discussion of issues important to the faculty and the rest of the academic community. President White accepted our invitation to join us at for a meeting in October prior to our regular Policy Committee meeting. After the introductions, President White thanked us for inviting him to join us and for our service to the University. He feels that faculty governance is welcome and vital to the mission of the University. He then addressed a number of issues including (a) the long term fiscal health of the University; (b) long term issues regarding the University’s budget; (c) the role of the University and its President as the key voice for higher education in Illinois; and (d) the Academy on Capitalism and Limited Government Fund (ACLGF) and (e) the importance of academic freedom. In the discussion that followed, members of the Committee noted (a) the history of concern about academic freedom and shared governance on this campus; (b) the issues raised so far by the establishment of the ACLGF; (c) the need for an increased faculty involvement in the interactions with the state legislature; and (d) concerns about the management of the Foundation. At the conclusion of this discussion, Uchtmann thanked President White for joining us and presented him with a copy of the AAUP Red Book autographed by those who had attended the meeting. President White thanked us for this gift and for inviting him to attend our meeting.

(2) Academy on Capitalism and Limited Government Fund (ACLFG). The Policy Committee discussed this issue extensively throughout the fall including at our meeting with President White. An ad hoc committee of Andersen, Grossman, and Hopkins was asked to monitor developments and prepare a statement on this issue: AAUP UIUC Chapter Statement: The Academy for Capitalism and Limited Government Fund: Faculty Authority and Responsibility. This Policy Committee reviewed this statement electronically. It was adopted on October 26, 2007 and sent to all members of the chapter on October 29, 2007. The Statement also was forwarded to Provost Katehi, Chancellor Herman, President White, Vern Burton as Chair of University Senates Conference, and Nick Burbules as Chair of UIUC’s Senate Executive Committee. As I noted in my memorandum accompanying the document: “The Statement invites faculty to engage in the work of re-framing the proposed mission of the Academy for Capitalism and Limited Government Fund. The Statement goes on to suggest three tasks worthy of special attention.” These tasks are to: (a) Make sure that donors, backers, and the university administration understand the principles of faculty authority over curriculum, course content, and choice of research questions and that formal donor agreements are publicly available and consistent with these principles; (b) Distinguish clearly between the appropriate and welcomed intent of donors to enable and encourage study of particular topics and ideas and the unacceptable intent to mandate particular results or presentation of particular points of view. Donations mandating particular points of view should be refused; and (c) Investigate how and why these two recent instances [i.e., the Global Campus and the Academy for Capitalism and Limited Government Fund] of initial failure to follow established principles and procedures occurred and recommend changes in practices to ensure that statutes are followed and, if necessary, changes in the statutes to prevent such failures in the future.” The Policy Committee plans to continue monitoring the actions of the Fund.

(3) Composition of Committees for 2007-2008. We currently have five committees as follows (Chairs in parentheses): (i) Government Relations (Andersen); (ii) Academic Freedom (Robinson); (iii) Programs (Hilton); (iv) Communications (Caveny) and (v) Membership (G. Belford). We hope that members of the Chapter will be interested in working on these committees. If you are, please let me know.

(4) Preparation of the Chapter’s Standing Rules. A subcommittee (Andersen, Williamson) was established to prepare the Standing Rules, a task assigned to the policy Committee in the revise the Chapter By-Laws approved last sprig. Andersen presented a draft for these Rules organized into three topics: Communications, Attendance and Participation in Meetings; and Notice and Agendas of Meetings. It is planned to have a final draft in place before the end of the spring semester.

(5) Chapter Web Site (http://aaup-ui.org/): The site was completed last spring under the direction of Nelson. He reports that AAUP members nationally are being encouraged to visit our site and to use it as a guide for sites at other chapters. The Communication Committee is working out the ground rules for handling material on our site. The Committee (Caveny, Belford, Nelson, Williamson) will also discuss how the site will be maintained.

(6) Planning for Next Promotion and Tenure Workshop. This workshop is the probably the most well-received activity that we have sponsored in the past five years. We are planning to hold it again in the spring with a panel that will include the Provost or her representative and recent members of the campus Promotion and Tenure and Faculty Advisory Committees.

(7) Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee. The chair, Robinson, has worked with one individual concerning the procedures used for a promotion and tenure decisions. We also discussed actions which may be proposed on the UIC campus concerning revising the University’s Statutes with regard to the tenure/probation period.

(8) Government Relations Committee. The chair, Andersen, continued to lead discussions of the problems facing the state particularly with regard to the budget. Though some positive actions occurred (e.g., fully funding the pension systems this year), there is significant concern about failures to pass and fund a capital bill; to address the state’s structural deficit; and to resolve other issues such as the Chicago area transportation crisis. He is also concerned that next year will be even more difficult given all the unsolved problems left over from this year.

(9) National Office. Nelson, the President of the National AAUP, reported regularly on the activities of the national AAUP. One was an email outreach program to 350,000 faculty nation-wide. In the spring a major membership drive is planned.