Summary Report for UIUC AAUP Policy Committee Meeting on August 19, 2009

Present: Abbas Aminmansour, Ken Andersen, Geneva Belford, Linn Belford, Connie Caveny, Harry Hilton, Lewis Hopkins, John Prussing, Arthur Robinson, Robert Spitze, Leslie Struble, Donald Uchtmann, H. F. Williamson

The meeting began at 12:10 p.m. with John Prussing presiding.

President's Report

(1) Review of Material in Packet. The Minutes for the Policy Committee Meeting, June 8, 2009, were approved. Copies of the President’s Report for Spring, 2009 and the Minutes for Annual Meeting, May 12, 2009 were provided for reference. Williamson asked the members to check their entries on the current roster for the Policy Committee. There was a discussion of possible new members for AAUP committees. The importance of having a member of the Policy Committee who is also on the Senates Conference was stressed.

(2) Schedule of Meetings for Fall Semester. The regularly scheduled meetings of the Policy Committee this fall are: September 14, October 12, November 9, and December 14. Each meeting is on the second Monday of the month and will be in 211 IUB.

(3) Meeting of Officers and Fall Activities. Prussing noted that the officers will meet next week to plan for the activities this fall. This will include discussion of the compositions of the Policy Committee and the other Chapter Committees, possible campus administrators to invite to join us, and topics we will be covering this fall. If you have any suggestions or comments on these matters, please let John Prussing know by email.

Action Items

(4) Admissions Related and Other Issues.

(a) Background Documents. Prussing discussed the documents generated so far which included our statement (appeared in July 31, 2009 News Gazette); a “Dear Colleagues” letter on August 9 from the SEC current and future Chairs; and the August 17, 2009 SEC Resolution on Trustee Selection. Hopkins noted that the audience for the second item should have been broader so that all faculty could have had a chance to participate in the discussion and possibly attend the SEC meetings noted in that letter.

(b) Discussion. There was a lengthy discussion concerning the actions taken by the President and the Chancellor. Hopkins noted that there are five areas we should be considering: admissions and faculty responsibility; furlough policy; the status of the Chancellor; the status of the President; and the selection of the members of the BOT.

(c) Furlough Policy. Prussing noted that White had announced the composition of a committee on this issue chaired by Vice President Rao. So far there has been no response to Prussing’s email about the importance of having an AAUP representative on the committee. It was agreed that we could prepare a statement on furlough policy independent of the actions of that committee. Prussing will take the primary responsibility for this.

(d) Admissions and Reconstituting the Board of Trustees. We decided not to take a formal position on the SEC August 17, 2009 Resolution on Trustee Selection. Hopkins agreed to write the first draft of a proposal regarding the selection of the Board of Trustees.

Reports

(5) National Meeting in June. Andersen and Prussing discussed the draft of Andersen’s report on the 2009 AAUP National Convention. Andersen will prepare a final report for the web site.

(6) Chapter Web Site. Caveny discussed her efforts to keep the web site current.