MINUTES, Truman Chapter of AAUP
October 13, 2005, 9:00 AM
University Club
Meetings are open to all university faculty members.
Faculty present: David Robinson (presiding), James Harmon, Tom Marshall,
Steven Reschly, Jan Saffir
1. Minutes of the September 23, 2005, meeting were approved.
2. Treasurer’s report (including membership dues).
Quite a
few people have already contributed toward the David F. Gruber Leadership Development
Fund of the Missouri State Conference. On the occasion of David’s passing
last August, the officers pledged $500, and $325 has already been received.
Likely we will meet or surpass our pledge.
Another
matter is now finished: our drive to insert an “AAUP brick” into
the re-constructed Magruder Hall. A large anonymous donation turned our $250
brick into a sizeable “slab” (more than $500). It will read “Truman
AAUP Academic Freedom for a Free Society.” We look forward to seeing it,
and hope that it will be prominent as well as large.
Problematic,
as usual, is the determination of membership and dues. The AAUP national office
is supposed to send the chapter contribution back to us, and it seems that
this has not happened for several months. We know that a few have joined or
renewed recently, but this information is incomplete at present.
We decided
that James, Marc, and David would work together, to contact all members (and
friends) to remind them about the contribution drives (and thank them for their
contributions heretofore); we will also remind them about dues (and that local
dues can also be paid directly to treasurer, $10 per year).
3. Town Hall Meeting.
We decided
to go forward with plans, first by polling members to see whether Tues. or
Thurs. (Nov. 8 or 10) would be best (5:30-7:30 in either case). We have a working
title/theme for the meeting: “The Budget and FTE Ratios.” We want
to invite members of the Faculty Senate Budget Committee to make a brief presentation
and then open things to our usual open discussion. We will also extend courtesy
invitations to administrators who might be interested in this discussion.
The officers
will publicize this event, calling on members to help circulate tp all faculty
copies of “Footnotes” (the national newsletter) along with our
own newsletter, as we invite them to participate in this discussion.
(Since the
meeting, the officers have agreed on this date for the Town Hall Meeting: Tuesday,
November 8, 5:30-7:30, Violette Hall 1000.)
4. Joining Connect 4 Respect.
Our local AAUP chapter voted formally to join a new community coalition,
“Connect 4 Respect” (which first met as Citizens United Against Hate).
(Motion by James; seconded by Jan; carried unanimously). We understand that
AAUP rules require that we dissolve our formal association with this group,
should it become involved in partisan political activities.
Their next event is a lecture and seminar, led by Maria Evans (A.T. Still University)
and Anthony Weisstein (Truman, Science Division), entitled “Harry Laughlin,
Eugenics, and Racism: Then and Now,” Wed., Oct. 26, First Christian Church
(downstairs). Also planned is another seminar, led by Daniel Mandell (Truman,
Social Science Division): “Encounters in America: The First Thanksgiving,
1621 and Today,” Wed., Nov. 15, Wed., 7 pm, First Christian Church fellowship
hall.
5. University Mission Statement.
Stephen Pollard (Social Science) noticed that several changes had been made,
without any discussion by authorized faculty groups, indeed without notice
that such changes would be made. In our discussion we wondered if the President’s
Steering Committee for the Master Plan would address the matter of the Mission
Statement. We also noted that the Faculty Handbook has also recently been
changed, apparently without faculty input into the changes. AAUP must assert,
time and again, that shared governance is a serious matter: the health of
the university depends on it.
6. Adjournment, ca. 10:00 AM