Minutes of the AAUP Executive Committee Meeting of February 13, 2008
Present: D. Burns (Chapter President), M. Crichton, W. Ensminger, J. Lee (Michigan Conference Executive Director), J. Lehman (SACUA Liaison), R. Lomax, T. Moore, I. Perfecto and C. Smith.
D. Burns called the meeting to order at 12:16 p.m.
Agenda. The proposed agenda was adopted by consensus.
Announcements: C. Smith informed the Committee that the annual meeting of the members and Board of Directors of the Academic Freedom Lecture Fund will be held from 9 am to noon on Monday, March 10, 2008, in room 2006 of the Fleming Administration Building.
Minutes. The minutes of the January 23, 2008 meeting were adopted by unanimous consent.
Treasurer's Report. M. Crichton reported that the Chapter had received $330 in donations in memory of Wilfred Kaplan and had paid $321.65 for the Chapter's share of the expenses of H. Chandler Davis, the honoree who attended the 2007 Davis-Markert-Nickerson Lecture. She said that the balance in the Chapter's checking account is $1697.39. The Treasurer's Report was adopted by unanimous consent.
Nominating Committee. D. Burns appointed E. Chudacoff and T. Moore to serve on the Nominating Committee for the Chapter's annual meeting. He indicated that he would name a third member to that committee but encouraged Chudacoff and Moore to begin the process of seeking candidates for Chapter office. C. Smith reminded the Committee that an election must also be held for delegates to both the annual meeting of the State Conference in April and to the annual meeting of the national AAUP in June.
Active Cases. J. Lehman reported that the faculty member, who has a grievance about interference by a department chair with his right to send email to colleagues in his department, has now filed a law suit in the United States District Court, Eastern District of Michigan.
Faculty Governance. C. Smith reported that Rackham Dean J. Weiss reported to SACUA on Monday, February 4, 2008 that the Rackham Executive Board is discussing a policy whereby starting in 2010, graduate students may be required to register every semester that they are pursuing a degree. He added that Professor A. Stewart also had met with SACUA and had explained that ADVANCE, a top-down initiative to improve the educational pipeline for women in science and engineering had not achieved gender equity at the faculty level. He also said that the Provost had requested input from SACUA on proposed revisions to the Faculty Handbook.
C. Smith reported that Provost T. Sullivan had met with SACUA on February 11, 2008, in executive session and had discussed (1) a student admission issue, (2) timeliness of e-mail notifications about campus security alerts, (3) revision of Principles of Faculty Involvement in Institutional and Unit Governance at the University of Michigan, (4) erosion of faculty and staff benefits, and (5) faculty-administration communications.
J. Lehman suggested that the Committee invite M. Welsh, central faculty ombudsperson, to meet with the Committee and discuss his experiences during his first six months as faculty ombudsperson.
2008 Annual Chapter Meeting. D. Burns said that he would contact AAUP President Cary Nelson to determine the titles of the two presentations that he has agreed to make at the Chapter Annual Meeting on April 30, 2008.
State Conference Developments. J. Lee informed the Committee that the Michigan Conference Annual Meeting will be held on Saturday, April 12, 2008, at the Eagle Crest Conference Center in Ypsilanti. He added that the Conference Board will be meeting in East Lansing on Saturday, February 16, 2008.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:15 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
C. B. Smith
Chapter Secretary