UIUC AAUP Policy Committee
Minutes for December 13, 2017
217 Illini Union
Web site:  http://www.aaup-ui.org/

Present:  Bettina Francis, Harry Hilton, Lewis Hopkins, Walter McMahon, David O’Brien, Robert Parker, John Prussing, Daniel Steward, Leslie Struble, Donald Uchtmann, H. F. Williamson

The meeting began at about 12:04 p.m. with Harry Hilton presiding.  

(1)  Introductions.

(2)  Review of the Minutes November 8, 2017 Meeting of Policy Committee. The minutes were approved.

(3)  Comment:  Parker reported on his experience as an expert witness for the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division in a case concerning possible discrimination in the denial of tenure for a faculty member.  The possible precedents that this case set were (a) the inclusion of an expert witness in a tenure case and (b) the application of Title 9 to the treatment of a transgender individual. 

(4)  President’s Report.  Hilton reviewed the key topics in his report, some of which are covered further elsewhere in the minutes.
(a)  He continues to follow up on the status of the revisions in the Statutes regarding hiring policies that have been approved by the three senates and the Senate Council. They were transmitted to the president on December 5, 2016.
(b)  He continues to try to arrange a meeting with Chancellor Jones during the spring semester.  The possibility of meeting with the new Provost next fall was also discussed.
(c)  He will work with Provost designee Andreas Cangellaris and Associate Provost Bernhard to set up a date for the Tenure and Promotion Workshop in the spring.  As soon as he hears from them, he will contact the others for the panel and start the arrangements.
(d)  Parker continues to track actions which are being taken at the state level regarding tenure and course content.  It was hoped that more information on this issue could be presented at the next meeting.  He also asked for suggestions for speakers if this is on the agenda for the Annual Meeting.  One proposal was to ask individuals such as Antoinette Burton if they have suggestions for speakers.
(e)  A report on the results of the shared governance questionnaire will be presented at the January meeting.

(5)  University Set of Guiding Principles.  The principals for freedom of speech in the recently released University’s “set of guiding principles” were discussed.  O’Brien said that there appeared to be no serious problems and noted that Interim Provost Wilkin has set up a task force to determine how these can be implemented.  This is important given that some groups are apparently targeting Universities with regard to this issue.  O’Brien will find out who the members of the task force are.  On a related issue, there was some speculation on what the policy is with regard to requests by class members or others to record lectures.

(6)  Date for Annual Meeting.  Hilton announced that the Annual Meeting will be on May 8, 2018 following the guidelines used in recent years (the Tuesday of final examination week). 

(7)   Activities of Shared Governance Committee.  The procedures planned for the follow up survey were discussed.  McMahon suggested consulting staff at the Survey Research Lab regarding the survey.

(8)  Report from our Liaison to the NTFC Local #6546 Chapter.  Steward reported that they had responded to the request from a faculty member at Barnard College concerning her termination.  They were not able to respond to the specifics of the case but indicated support of the efforts of her local union to assure the proper procedures were followed.

There were no additional reports so the meeting adjourned at about 12:50 p.m.

As noted above, the first meeting for the spring semester will be meeting next month will be January 17, 2018 in 217 Illini Union.

Prepared by H. F. Williamson, Secretary