Minutes of the AAUP Executive Committee Meeting of May 9, 2007

Present: D. Burns, M. Crichton (Chapter Treasurer), W. Kaplan, K. Kearfott, R. Lomax, T. Moore, C. Smith, M. Thouless

In view of the absence of Vice-President Burns until near the end of the meeting, M. Crichton called the meeting to order at 12:15 p.m.

Agenda. The proposed agenda was adopted as submitted.

Announcements. C. Smith reminded the Committee that Athletic Director W. Martin will address the Senate Assembly at its May meeting at 3:15 p.m. on Monday, May 14, 2007, in the Forum Room of the Palmer Commons. He added that the Committee on the Economic Status of the Faculty and the Budget Study Committee would also make reports at the meeting. T. Moore observed that graduation rates for students involved in intercollegiate athletic remain considerably lower than the overall graduation rates for undergraduate students and expressed the hope that Athletic Director Martin would address this issue.

Minutes. The minutes of the April 25, 2007 meeting were adopted unanimously as submitted.

Treasurer's Report. M. Crichton reported that the Chapter has received $1,105.00 in donations, has sent $105.00 to the Michigan Conference to cover the registration fees for three Chapter members at the Michigan Conference 2007 Annual Meeting, and has paid $782.20 to First Impression Printing for the printing of the 2007 Chapter Annual Newsletter. She said that the current balance in the Chapter's checking account is $1,043.59. The Committee voted unanimously to accept the Treasurer's report.

Active Cases. T. Moore brought the Executive Committee up-to-date on the case of the faculty member who is being charged by the dean of his unit with academic misconduct in a dispute over authorship. He said that the case will now be evaluated by the Office of the Vice President for Research. He noted that the Vice President for Research is charged by the University administration with the handling of all cases of alleged academic misconduct.

Faculty Governance. C. Smith reported that, in the aftermath of the shootings of faculty and students at Virginia Technical Institute by a mentally deranged student, SACUA had met with representatives of the University's Department of Public Safety. He said that several weeks earlier SACUA had met with University administrators involved in providing mental health services for undergraduate students. He noted that students with problems often must wait two or three weeks before they can have an appointment with a University mental healthcare provider. He added that the Department of Public Safety did not have any new approaches to handling a shooting on campus although its police officers are trained to deal with "shooters". T. Moore observed that the University's campuses by state law are considered gun-free zones.

C. Smith said that SACUA had interviewed one candidate for the Faculty Ombuds position and that three other candidates would be interviewed on Monday, May 21, 2007. He noted that SACUA had been asked to send its recommendation for Faculty Ombuds to the Provost. Committee members expressed the opinion that the Faculty Ombuds should be chosen by faculty rather than by the University administration.

C. Smith reported that within the past several weeks the Alumni Development Office, which is administering the faculty need-based scholarship fund for undergraduate students, has received over $25,000, which qualifies the fund for matching funds, which will be provided by President M. Coleman. He added that any contributions now made before December 31, 2007, will be matched dollar-for-dollar by President Coleman.

Chapter Annual Newsletter. C. Smith reported that the 2007 Annual Newsletter had not been delivered by University Mail Services because of a misunderstanding about the mailing. He added that L. Carr of the SACUA office had been promised by the Mail Services that the mailing would be fully delivered through campus mail by Tuesday, May 8, 2007, at the latest.

Chapter Annual Meeting. The Committee discussed final plans for the 2007 Chapter Annual Meeting and the talk by University of Texas-Austin Professor Mary Steinhardt that will take place on Thursday, May 10, 2007 in the Michigan Room of the Michigan League. T. Moore announced that he had arranged for a breakfast meeting at the Campus Inn of the speaker with members of the SACUA taskforce that had developed the proposal adopted by the Senate Assembly for revision of the faculty grievance procedures and with candidates for the position of Faculty Ombuds.

State Conference. C. Smith reported that he had distributed a survey by email that had been sent to the Chapter for its consideration by Michigan Conference Executive Director Jeffrey Lee. The Committee decided to discuss the survey at its next meeting.

National Headquarters Developments. C. Smith reminded the Committee that it had selected D. Burns to represent the Chapter at the 2007 Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. and that Vice President Burns needed to send in his registration materials.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

C. B. Smith

Chapter Secretary

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