Present: C. Smith (Chapter President), E. Chudacoff, M. Crichton, K. Kearfott (Chapter Vice-President), J. Lehman, T. Moore, and J. Lee.

C. Smith called the meeting to order at 12:20 PM.

Agenda. No agenda had been circulated. By consensus, the usual agenda schedule was followed.

Announcements. C. Smith informed the Committee that 1) at the annual meeting of the members and Board of Directors of the Academic Freedom Lecture Fund on Friday, March 6, 2009, 3:00-5:00 PM, in 4006 Fleming Building, L. D’Alecy, P. Duren, and J. R. Lee were elected to the Board of Directors for three-year terms; he also said that the following officers were elected: P. Hollingsworth (President), P. Duren (Treasurer) and L. D'Alecy (Secretary); 2) the Annual Meeting of the Michigan Conference of the AAUP will meet at the Marriott Inn, Ypsilanti, on Saturday, April 4, and that the keynote speaker will be Prof. Leonard M. Niehoff, U-M Law School; all members are urged to attend; 3) President Mary Sue Coleman will address the Senate Assembly on Monday, March 16; also the election of new members to SACUA will take place at the same meeting.

Minutes. No minutes were circulated for the February 11 meeting.

Treasurer's Report. M. Crichton reported that the Chapter’s accounts had no deductions since the last Executive Committee meeting. We have until March 18 to renew our 6-month CD, or invest otherwise, and she will try to negotiate a higher interest rate than 0.50%. Failing that, it will be renewed at the 0.50% rate. The Treasurer's Report was adopted by unanimous consent.

Nominating Committee. T. Moore reported that he and J. Lehman had selected the same members and officers for the Executive Committee to be nominated for 2009 as had served in 2008.

Active Cases. J. Lehman provided the Committee an update to Active Cases 1 to 3, and also introduced a new Active Case (4) that shared features with Cases 2 and 3. The cases and proposed Chapter responses were discusses in executive session.

Faculty Governance. C. Smith will sign and send out the letter to the Michigan Auditor General this week, as authorized by the Committee [subsequently revised, signed, and sent].

2009 Annual Chapter Meeting. The Ann Arbor Chapter Annual Meeting will include a public lecture on "The Future of Sustainable Health Benefits at Michigan and Beyond" at noon on Wednesday, April 29, 2009, in the Michigan Room of The University of Michigan League. The speaker will be Dean G. Smith, Professor of Health Management and Policy and Senior Associate Dean at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Professor Smith chairs the MHealthy Advisory Committee which has an oversight role at the University with respect to the health benefits provided to the more than 87,000 employees, employee dependents, and retirees. Election of Chapter Executive Committee members and officers for 2009-2010 will take place at the meeting.

2009 Annual Newsletter. The Committee must decide at the next meeting on what articles will appear in the Annual Chapter Newsletter, who the authors will be, and the deadline times for submission of the articles to the editor (yet to be named).

Michigan Conference News. The Michigan Conference of the American Association of University Professors will hold its 55th Annual Meeting on Saturday, April 4, 2009 at the Ypsilanti Marriott Hotel. The title of the meeting is "Preserving Free Speech" with a focus on academic freedom and free speech within one’s professional life. The keynote speaker will be Leonard Niehoff, Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Michigan and Shareholder at Butzel Long PC. The Journal of College and University Law recently published Professor Niehoff’s article entitled "Peculiar Marketplace: Applying Garcetti v. Ceballos in the Public Higher Education Context." Joining Professor Niehoff for a panel discussion on the topic will be Wayne State Professor of Law, Robert Sedler, and Labor Attorney James Moore of Gregory, Moore, Jeakle, Heinen & Brooks PC.

National Headquarters Developments. The Committee briefly discussed the various candidates for national office.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:35 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

T. E. Moore

Secretary pro tempore

Accepted, with emendations, by unanimous consent, April 8, 2009.