AAUP Executive Council Minutes
April 11, 2007; 8:00-10:00 AM
Room 302 McDowell Hall

PRESENT: Linda Bucher (presiding), Leon Campbell, Gerald Turkel, Danilo Yanich, Sheldon Pollack, David Smith, Steve Dentel, and Kevin Kerrane (secretary)

Minutes from the March 7 meeting of the Executive Council were approved with one minor deletion that related to the percentage of faculty membership in AAUP.

The meeting began in Executive Session with reports from the Grievance Officer, D. Smith, and the Contract Maintenance Office, L. Campbell.

Regular Meeting:

Treasurer’s Report: S. Pollack reported no new numbers from February. Acknowledged answering e-mailed questions from faculty who had read his report in the Voice and wanted more information about specific items on the budget report.

The AAUP VOICE: G. Turkel stated that future issues of the Voice should include a mark identifying the printing company for our newsletter as a union shop. He added that the next issue would focus on the survey being mailed to all faculty, and would also highlight this year’s recipients of the AAUP student awards.

Old Business:

Chapter History Project: G. Turkel said that he would be conferring with Steve Finner re: project this afternoon.

AAUP/Faculty Senate Joint Meeting: D. Smith, L. Campbell, and L. Bucher summarized their meeting on April 2 nd with Dallas Hoover of the Faculty Senate’s Executive Council. The meeting dealt with three items: (1) aligning the language of jurisdiction between the Senate and AAUP regarding such issues as termination procedures; (2) clarifying minimum standards for promotion and tenure as stated in the CBA and the Faculty Handbook; and (3) a policy on how prior work at other institutions should be weighed in faculty members’ cases for promotion and tenure. L. Campbell suggested that this third item should be discussed in a fall issue of the Voice. L. Bucher added that the Voice article could be coauthored with a Faculty Senate representative since the Senate was poised to pass a motion this spring on the question of how work elsewhere, in rank, should be counted. S. Dentel proposed that the article make clear that this agenda item resulted from faculty difficulties originally brought to the attention of AAUP.

Membership Recruitment: Several members of Council discussed the effectiveness of the AAUP asking for time at meetings of departments and of the various college senates. K. Kerrane stressed the importance of individual solicitations by faculty within their own departments. He suggested that the AAUP Steering Committee could coordinate recruiting efforts by providing up-to-date membership lists and materials to representatives in every department, and by targeting the new pool of CNTT faculty who may not understand that the chapter serves them fully as much as it does those on tenure tracks. L. Bucher emphasized that a higher membership percentage in 2007-08 will mean more as we prepare for negotiations on a new CBA.

Steering Committee Election: L. Bucher reported that N. Getchell was elected to fill vacancy in the CHS.

AAUP Award Recipients: Kristen L. Geaman, History, minor in Medieval History; Jason A. Peiffer, Plant Sciences, with minors in Biochemistry and Biochemical Engineering

AAUP/Provost Faculty Forum: L. Bucher indicated that plans are underway for Dr. Breneman’s visit this fall.

New Business:

Replacement of Arts and Sciences Steering Committee Members: L. Bucher indicated that a replacement for Richard Braun is still pending.

Bargaining Team: L. Bucher stated that the Bargaining team should be identified by end of this semester. Several Executive Council members have expressed an interest in serving on the team.

Reception for President Harker: Wednesday, Sept. 26 th, 4-5 PM

Faculty Survey: L. Bucher asked that each Executive Council member review the prior faculty survey for the next meeting.

News from National AAUP

Annual Meeting: June, Washington, DC

Summer Institute: July, Reno Nevada.

Next Meeting: 5/9/07, 8-10:00