American Association of University Professors
University of Delaware Chapter


301 McDowell Hall, University of Delaware, Newark, DE  19716
Phone: 302-831-2292; Fax: 302-831-4119; E-mail: aaup-mail@udel.edu


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AAUP Executive Council Minutes
October 20, 2008
Room 302 McDowell Hall, 1:00 p.m.

PRESENT: Linda Bucher (presiding), Leon Campbell, Gerald Turkel, David Smith, Pat Barber, Calvin Keeler, and Kevin Kerrane (secretary)

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

 Regular Meeting:

 Following approval of the minutes from the September 15 meeting, L. Bucher noted that there were no office updates for the month, and no current Treasurer’s report (S. Pollack was excused). D. Smith proposed an addition to the agenda under “New Business”: a discussion of rights (if any) pertaining to S-contract teachers.

The AAUP Voice: G. Turkel said that the next issue of the newsletter would appear after the AAUP fall election of AAUP, and would include a vote tally. He also reported that “things are getting better” at the national level, with an increase in membership and much more cooperation with the American Federation of Teachers.

 Old Business:

L. Bucher announced that R. Girardi contacted Steve Finner re: the chapter history project – Steve hopes to have a draft a draft of our chapter history by the end of the year.

L. Campbell and D. Smith reported on work by the Salary Equity Review Committee.

Reviews, which will be done for all faculty, are expected to be completed early in the spring

semester. Problems have arisen most often from salary compression rather than inequities in rewarding merit.

Our members of the AAUP/Administration Annual Evaluation/ Merit Pay Committee are D. Smith, S. Pollack, and G. Turkel. At the insistence of the Provost, the committee’s September 29 meeting included deans and department chairs. In light of CBA Article 12.3, all departments are to review their merit criteria and their methods of translating appraisal scores into merit money. D. Smith observed that the administration’s determination to make merit a greater determinant of salary increases can only work within a system that is fair, transparent, and free from caprice.

L. Campbell suggested that, in negotiating the next CBA, we should try to prohibit the practice of some departments that award merit money as a percentage of salary, so that a higher-paid faculty member would receive more merit dollars than a lower-paid colleague with exactly the same appraisal scores. G. Turkel noted that such a prohibition might be fairer, but would also add to the problem of salary compression.

G. Turkel reported on the Diversity Task Force meeting of October 6, which attracted only a small turnout. Much of the meeting focused on accessibility and accommodation for handicapped faculty. Also discussed were issues of minority faculty: questions about hiring, and about limiting the service obligations of new hires.

Discussion of our 2008-2010 elections turned to the use of an electronic ballot. L. Bucher said that using an outside contractor would cost over $2,000, whereas we could organize the balloting ourselves by using the program known as Survey Monkey. The consensus of Council was that we should try this as an experiment, especially since this election was likely to be uncontested.

New Business:

Faculty Survey:L. Bucher noted that Survey Monkey would also be used for our canvassing of non-AAUP members, which could be done during the election period.

S-contract teachers: D. Smith reviewed the recent controversy over an S-contract employee who was teaching seven courses, but had no UD benefits. As a result of publicity over this case, such teachers will now be limited to two courses a semester—i.e., half of the official teaching load for full-time faculty—because anything more would impose tax and insurance obligations on the university.

Within the terms of the CBA, D. Smith said S-contract teachers are not part of the bargaining unit, and so there is nothing that the AAUP can do. G. Turkel suggested that the plight of these teachers could be addressed in the next round of negotiations, and L. Campbell said that he would ask the university’s legal counsel (James Boudreau) to clarify the requirement imposed by the IRS.

The meeting adjourned with a reminder the next Council session is scheduled for Monday, November 17, at 1:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Kevin Kerrane