MICHIGAN
CONFERENCE REPORT
By Executive Director Robert C. Grosvenor
Lansing
, April 5 – The Michigan Conference just completed the
largest and most successful Annual Meeting in the 49-year
history of the
Conference.
Its theme was:
“The Future of Higher Education in
Michigan
: The Changing
Academic Labor Force and the State Budget Crisis”.
The Situation in Other
States.
George
Wharton, Treasurer, Assembly of State Conferences of AAUP,
Curry College, Newton, Massachusetts led off the program
with a report on “Faculty Response to the Changing
Academic Workforce” as he viewed it from his many trips
around the country to AAUP
Chapters. He
noted the situation is critical in all the states he has
visited to date – and the future doesn’t look too bright
either.
HEIDI Data.
Wayne State University Professor Marc Cogan, Chair of the
Committee on Economic Data (Committee Z), gave an
excellent slide show presentation which showed most
graphically what is happening to the professoriate as the
number of tenure track positions continues to decline
steadily. His
slides are available on the Internet by contacting me
at:
www.miaaup@aol.com.
Professor Cogan is also planning to offer a
one-day Workshop this summer on “Data Sources Available
and How to Use
Them.”
Interested members should notify me by
e-mail, and I will keep you informed.
What’s Happening
Today?
University
of
Michigan Professor
Charles B. Smith
chaired a panel discussion on “The Changing Composition of
the Academic
Workforce.”
Panel members were Professors Ariel Anderson, Chair, AAUP
Collective Bargaining Congress from Western Michigan
University; Henry Cohen from Kalamazoo College; Kenneth
Waltzer from Michigan State University; and E. Ian
Robinson from the University of Michigan.
Each panel member presented the situation as it was
occurring at her/his academic
institution.
The WMU report was impressive because it showed that the
number of tenure and tenure-track positions had actually
been increased substantially during their last contract
negotiations.
The reports of the other panel members were not as
encouraging.
Higher Education in
Michigan
.
Former
Senator John J. H. Schwarz was the first afternoon
speaker. His
subject: “The Future of Higher Education in
Michigan
.” He spoke
from his 12 years’ experience as Chair of the Senate
Appropriations Subcommittee on Higher
Education. He
has always been a strong supporter of higher
education.
The Senator was not optimistic about the future of higher
education in Michigan given the current financial crisis
in the State.
He noted it had taken over 100 years to develop Michigan’s
higher education system of 15 public colleges and
universities, 47 private colleges, and 28 community
colleges. He
expressed grave concern about the possible dismantling of
the system because, he said, “We’ll never be able to
rebuild it
again.” His
presentation was most illuminating.
What’s Being Done About
It. Sen.
Schwarz continued his work as Chair of a panel which
tackled the
subject:
“Confronting New
Realities:
Michigan
’s State Budget
Crisis.” Panel
members were:
Michael Roy, Vice President for Financial Affairs,
Northern Michigan
University;
Lynne Schaeffer, Vice President for Financial Affairs,
Oakland University; and Louise Anderson, Vice President
for Business and Finance, Kalamazoo Valley Community
College. Each
panel member outlined specific steps being taken at
her/his institution to meet the budget reductions which
are being
imposed. Some
ideas were quite
creative. A
question and answer period followed.
Conclusion.
AAUP members
concluded that while future years look somewhat bleak,
there is an opportunity for AAUP to provide strong
leadership to protect academic freedom, tenure, and the
rights and benefits of faculty
members. The
job won’t be easy, but AAUP leaders are preparing for the
fight.
Annual Business
Meeting.
During the
morning session President Tom Dietz presided over the
Annual Business Meeting and Election of
Officer
s. In his
report he noted gains made at
Western
Michigan
University
in their new contract and the union security clause the
Wayne State University Chapter finally won after a 30-year
fight. He
noted organizational efforts continuing at
Cornerstone
University
and
Calvin
College
in
Grand
Rapids
,
Grand
Valley
State
University
, and
Michigan
Technological
University
. Other
organizational efforts will be developed in 2003-2004 in
the area of the private colleges and universities.
Election.
Two officers
and four executive board members were elected for two-year
terms.
Charles B. Smith
of the University of
Michigan
and Carol Johnson from
Northern
Michigan
University
were unanimously elected Treasurer and Secretary,
respectively.
Executive Board members elected were Linda
Kinczkow
sk
i from
Eastern
Michigan
University
,
Charles J. Parrish
from
Wayne
State
University
, George Monsma from
Calvin
College
in
Grand
Rapids
, and Paul Wilson from
Western
Michigan
University
.
Professors Fund for Educational Issues
(PFEI).
The
Conference has a wholly owned subsidiary – PFEI – a Sec.
501 (c) (3) corporation to which tax deductible
contributions can be made by faculty members to finance
grants for individual AAUP member projects, or local
chapter or conference
projects. It
receives several thousands of dollars each year in
contributions which are used for a variety of
purposes.
Tax-deductible contributions in any amounts can be made at
any time during the year and are most gratefully received.
2004 Annual
Meeting.
At the 2003
AAUP Annual Meeting in
Washington
,
D.C.
, on Friday, June 13, from
5:00 – 7:00 p.m.
the Michigan Conference will host a “Special Reception”
for all the delegates to “kick-off” a yearlong celebration
to mark the 50th Anniversary of the chartering
of the Michigan
Conference.
There will be activities of note during the 2003-2004 year
which will culminate with a special 50th
Anniversary Annual Meeting
Saturday, April 3,
2004
, in the Ballroom of the Radisson Hotel,
Lansing
,
Michigan
. We hope your
chapter will start making plans to have the largest
possible delegation present to help celebrate this
historic occasion.
Legislative
Reception.
The
Conference continued its legislative efforts with its
Annual Legislative Reception on
Tuesday, February 18, 2003
at the Radisson in
Lansing
. It was the
largest and most successful one held to
date.
Plan now to be with us for the
13th Annual Legislative Reception to be
held
February 10,
2004
; and the 14th on
February 8,
2005
.
We like to
plan ahead.
The
Future.
I am starting
my 13th year as the Executive Director of the
Michigan
Conference. It
has been an experience I have thoroughly
enjoyed. Each
year I become more convinced of the very important role
that AAUP can, and does, play in the life of faculty
members all over
Michigan
.
Your chapter is one of the oldest affiliates of the
Michigan Conference and one which has consistently fought
to protect the rights and benefits of faculty
members. You
have the most active and most consistent Executive
Committee of any chapter affiliated with the Michigan
Conference. I
know you are rightly proud of the many battles they have
fought, and are fighting, on behalf of the UM
faculty. It is
my hope that you tell your colleagues about the good work
the chapter is doing and encourage them to lend their
numbers to strengthen the Chapter’s position in its
ongoing battles on their
behalf. They
know that the larger the Chapter becomes the more
effective it will
be. Encourage
a colleague to join
today. I look
forward to attending your Chapter’s Annual Meeting later
this month.