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 Steering Committee Minutes
November 27, 2012

Meeting called to order by UD-AAUP President Calvin Keeler. Our agenda is primarily about preparing for contract negotiations next spring.

1.   UD-AAUP office is currently 011 Hullihen Hall, moved from McDowell Hall because of space problems in Nursing. We and the administration recognize that it not offices to be in the basement of the administration building, and we hope to move elsewhere as the current wave of building and remodeling proceeds.

2.   (Contract Maintenance Officer Gerry Turkel) A new financial analysis before contract negotiations will be performed by Rudy Fichtenbaum, who is now national AAUP president, using data that will come out this month.

3.   (Turkel) Special salary adjustments have been made, and will be discussed in the upcomingAAUP Voice. More transparency in the process is needed, and also clarity in the next round of negotiations that we will receive salary information earlier in the contract.

4.   UD-AAUP and administration plan to co-sponsor on-campus forums featuring speakers from national AAUP on topics such as academic freedom and tenure, faculty governance, tenure and contingent faculty. Possible speakers have been discussed with national AAUP. March may be the optimal time for visits.

5.   The appropriate letter requesting opening of bargaining on a new CBA next spring has been sent to the administration. The lead negotiator has been appointed by the Executive Council: Gerry Turkel (Sociology). A slate of candidates for the remainder of the team, chosen by the Executive Council, was presented to the steering committee. After some discussion, they were approved without dissent. The team will include Theodore Davis (Political Science), Kevin Kerrane (English), Beth Morling (Psychology), and David Smith (Biological Sciences).

Further discussion of the procedure for appointing the bargaining team led to a consensus that future candidate slates should be circulated to the steering committee a couple of weeks in advance to allow time for discussion of the team and additional nominations.

6.   University Senate President Sheldon Pollock reported on Senate resolutions of interest to UD-AAUP. Members of the administration, defined as faculty who are not in the bargaining unit, will not be allowed to be Senate officers or Committee Chairs. Output from the AAUP/Faculty/Administration ("3-3-3") committee to resolve CBA/Faculty Handbook inconsistencies is beginning to be brought to the Senate in the form of resolutions. Removal of Section V (Benefits) from the Faculty Handbook will be among the first things.

7.   Remainder of the discussion primarily related to the upcoming bargaining. Most proposals regarding terms in the new CBA, from the administration or from the Executive Council, will be circulated to the steering committee for feedback well before bargaining team meetings. An exception will be some salary items, which the administration wishes be kept within the University community until finalized, for reasons that the UD-AAUP concurs with.

Topics of concern included online learning, growth of the administration, and potentially balancing short-term budget issues via resources for faculty. Making sure that the steering committee is fully engaged through the process and ongoing needs to raise membership numbers and awareness were also brought up.

Respectfully submitted,
Brian Hanson
Secretary