Minutes of the AAUP Executive Committee Meeting of August 22, 2007
Present: D. Burns (Chapter President), M. Crichton, W. Ensminger, W. Kaplan, J. Lee (Michigan Conference Executive Director), R. Lomax, C. Smith
D. Burns called the meeting to order at 12:15 p.m.
Agenda. The proposed agenda was adopted as submitted.
Announcements: C. Smith announced that University President M. Coleman will deliver her annual address on the status of the University at the Senate Assembly meeting on Monday, September 24, 2007, in the auditorium of the Palmer Commons. Committee members discussed the materials to be provided at the Information Fair for new faculty on Wednesday, August 29, 2007. J. Lee indicated that he would attend that affair.
Minutes. The minutes of the July 25, 2007 meeting were adopted unanimously with several modifications.
Treasurer's Report. M. Crichton reported that the Chapter paid $20.00 to the State of Michigan for the non-profit corporation filing fee and that the balance in the Chapter's checking account was $1,255.34. The Committee voted unanimously to accept the Treasurer's report.
Active Cases. C. Smith reported on two active cases. The first case, which involves a grievance that has arisen from a tenure-denial decision, was discussed previously. He said that the case was being examined by the SACUA Faculty Hearing Committee since it involves major procedural issues. The second case involves a decision by a dean to request Regents' Bylaw 5.09 demotion and dismissal procedures for a faculty member, who a year earlier had a 5.09 procedure against him dismissed by the executive committee of his unit. The Committee noted that the grounds for dismissal were similar to those of the preceding year's case.
Faculty Governance. C. Smith reported that the document on faculty shared governance, both at the unit and central level, prepared by a special Senate Assembly taskforce, was nearing completion and had received tentative approval by Provost T. Sullivan. He added that the Provost was in the process of establishing a special committee to work on revision of the University's grievance procedures. This committee is being set up in response to a proposal for such revision adopted by SACUA and the Senate Assembly in January, 2007. Other topics that were discussed included a) the request of the Committee on the Economic Status of the Faculty (CESF) request for unpublished salary data, b) Senate Assembly endorsement of the report of the Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics, c) the selection of the faculty ombudsman, d) the selection of the Davis, Markert, Nickerson Visiting Professor, and e) the CIC request for endorsement of their proposed policy on authorship rights.
All Campus Labor Council (ACLC). R. Lomax reported that the ACLC was planning a meeting for early September. He expressed the hope that Executive Committee member I. Perfecto would be able to represent the Chapter at such meetings.
State Conference. J. Lee discussed the meeting of the Michigan Conference Executive Board at Wayne State University on Saturday, September 8, 2007. He said that acting AAUP Executive Secretary E. Benjamin would discuss the proposal to restructure the national AAUP at that meeting and invited Committee members to attend if they were interested. Executive Director Lee added that the national organization was compiling a history of the AAUP at the chapter and state conference level. C. Smith said that he had been working on a history of the role of University of Michigan faculty in the founding of the AAUP and in the early years of that organization.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:15 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
C. B. Smith
Chapter Secretary