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Summary Report for UIUC AAUP Policy Committee Meeting on November 5, 2012
Web site: http://www.aaup-ui.org/
Present: Abbas Aminmansour, Kenneth Andersen, Bettina Francis, Michael Grossman, Harry Hilton, Walter McMahon, David O’Brien, John Prussing, Art Robinson, Robert Spitze, Leslie Struble, Donald Uchtmann, H. F. Williamson.
The meeting began at about 12:30 p.m. following the meeting with Provost Adesida.
President's Report
(1) Review of the Minutes for October 1, 2012 Meeting of Policy Committee. The minutes for this meeting were approved.
(2) Review of fall schedule of meetings. The remaining schedule for the fall will be the following:
December 10: 11 a.m., 215 IUB with Christophe Pierre, Vice President for Academic Affairs
December 10: noon, 211 IUB for regular meeting;
(3) Planning for meetings in the spring. Struble reported on the scheduled and tentative meetings for the spring semester. We know the dates and guests for the first two meetings. Prior to the Policy Committee meetings, we will meet with:
(a) January meeting: January 14. 11 a.m., 215 IUB: Collective Bargaining and Shared Governance: Burbules, Chambers, and Tolliver; noon, 211 IUB, Policy Committee meeting.
(b) February meeting: February 11: 11 a.m., 215 IUB: Peter Schiffer, Vice Chancellor for Research, noon, 211 IUB, Policy Committee meeting.
(c) March meeting: date during week of March 11 to be determined since Union is booked on Monday, March 11. The 11 a.m. meeting will be on Collective Bargaining and Shared Governance with Ernie Benjamin and Jim Barrett
(d) April meeting: date during week of April 8 also to be determined for same reason.
(e) “May” meeting: tentatively Monday, April 29.
(f) Annual Meeting: If we follow recent policy, the Annual Meeting will be Tuesday, May 7.
(4) Review of Meeting with Provost Adesida. Struble noted that this had been a good chance for the Provost to better understand the AAUP’s role on campus. We will continue to stress the importance of shared governance in our work with the Provost, particularly if he is able to be on the panel for the spring tenure workshop. Struble can note this in her thank you note to the Provost.
Action Items
(5) Preparation for Meeting with Vice President for Academic Affairs (VPAA) Pierre on December 10. The draft agenda was approved. There was concern about how the VPAA can know what issues the faculty are concerned about. Andersen noted that might be difficult for the VPAA to have direct contact formally with faculty on a given campus (e.g., by holding town meetings) since this might be felt to be outside the chain of command.
(6) Invitations to Other Campus Administrators to meet with Policy Committee in Spring. Andersen noted that we keep in mind the possibility of asking Katherine Laing to join given our concerns about what may take place in Springfield this spring.
(7) Planning for the Governance Workshop, 3-5 p.m., Tuesday, November 13, 314 Illini Union. Announcements have been sent to the members; appeared in E Week and Inside Illinois; and sent on the Senate ListServ. The committee members were urged to keep publicizing the event and to join us on the 13th.
(8) Report on National AAUP. Andersen noted that he had not had a chance to report to us in his role as the Chapter’s representative to the national meeting last summer. He shared his concerns about the future of the national organization from his perspective at the State Conference and our Chapter. In particular, he noted the questions he has about how decisions will be made once the three-part “division” is in place.
