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President's Biannual Report

Spring 2014

TO:                  Members, UIUC AAUP Chapter
FR:                  Harry H.  Hilton, Chapter President and H. F. Williamson, Chapter Secretary-Treasurer
RE:                  Activities of the Policy Committee, 2013-2014

The principal Chapter activity this year was the sponsorship of the Tenure and Promotion Workshop on April 22, 2014.  The panelists and the topics they covered were Provost Ilesanmi Adesida and Vice Provost Barbara Wilson (campus policies, three year review procedures); James A. Imlay, Professor of Microbiology, Past Chair of the Campus Promotion and Tenure Committee (procedures followed by the UIUC Promotion and Tenure Committee); Billie Jean Theide, Professor of Art and Design, Past Chair of the UIUC Faculty Advisory Committee.  We were pleased that the attendance exceeded our expectations.  Many of the more than 70 people who attended thanked the members of the Policy Committee for the AAUP’s sponsorship of this excellent program. 

The Policy Committee met in the fall on September 18, October 16, November 13, and December 11.  In the spring, we met January 22, February 19, March 19, April 16, and May 7.  2004.  The Policy Committee members who attended at least one of these meetings were:  Ken Andersen, Connie Caveny, Bettina Francis, Michael Grossman, Harry Hilton, Lew Hopkins, Walter McMahon, Cary Nelson, David O’Brien, Robert Parker, John Prussing, Art Robinson, Robert Spitze, Leslie Struble, Donald Uchtmann, and H. F. Williamson.  The rest of this report is a summary of the discussions at these meetings.

(1)  Guests.  The committee meets regularly with University and campus leaders to help the Chapter meet its goals of advancing academic freedom and shared governance, defining fundamental professional values and standards for higher education, and to ensuring higher education's contribution to the common good.  This year we met with:
(a) Sarah Shreeves, Coordinator of the Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship and Associate Professor of Library Administration, to discuss the issues surrounding open access publishing and university-based research.
(b)  John Kindt, Chair, Senate Committee on Faculty and Staff Benefits, to discuss the changes in health insurance for retirees for whom the deadline for making a choice was December 13 and the effects of the pension legislation then being considered in Springfield.
(c)  Katherine Laing, Executive Director of the President’s Office of Governmental Relations, to discuss the actions being considered by the legislature this spring.

(2)  Wozniak Decision.  We discussed our concerns about the procedures used for the final decision on the status of Louis Wozniak. These were summarized in a letter from Hilton to Roy Campbell, Chair, Senate Executive Committee.  The letter was referred to the Senate Committee on University Statutes and Senate Procedures (USSP). 

(3)  Governance and Collective Bargaining.  We reviewed the results of the panel discussion at the May 2013 Annual Meeting on the impact of collective bargaining on shared governance.  We also discussed the roles of the national AAUP, the state conference, and our chapter in the collective bargaining actions at the UIC campus and the status of the efforts on our campus.  We also discussed actions that our Shared Governance Committee might take particularly in light of the results of a Campus Senate survey that had been taken on governance issues.

 

(4)  Actions regarding Boycotts of Israeli Academic Institutions.  The committee discussed this issue a number of times and prepared a draft for circulation to the members and to be sent to campus leaders and the media.  NOTE:  A copy of this resolution appears below. 

(5)  Preparation for Annual Meeting. 
(a)  Nominating Committee.  A Nominating Committee was selected.  The following individuals were proposed to be officers for 2014-2015:  President:  Harry Hilton; Vice President:  David O’Brien; Secretary and Treasurer:  H. F. Williamson.

(b)  Program.  The program will be a panel discussion on Academic Boycotts of Israel chaired by Harry Hilton with two panelists:  Richard Ross, Law School and Robert Warrior, American Indian Studies

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Resolution on Boycott of Israeli Institutions of Higher Learning  (adopted February 19, 2014)

Whereas, the boycott of any educational institution is incompatible with the free exchange of ideas and is irreconcilable with the principles of academic freedom;

Be it therefore resolved that the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) Chapter at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign strongly endorses the national AAUP stand against such boycotts and condemns any such action because it is directly opposed to our cherished principles of academic freedom.