Record of the Council: June 8-10, 2001

Academe, Sep/Oct 2001

The Council of the Association met on June 8, 9, and 10, 2001, in conjunction with the annual meeting at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. The Council session on June 9 ran concurrently with the annual meeting plenary session for the purpose of receiving committee reports, a format designed to condense the annual meeting schedule by eliminating some of the duplication in reporting.

President Jane L. Buck presided. Members of the Council (with the exceptions of Professors Richard J. Boris, Linda L. Carroll, Henry Edinger, and James T. Richardson) were present, as was General Counsel David M. Rabban. General Secretary Mary Burgan and other members of the staff were in attendance. Professor Kerry E. Grant served as parliamentarian.

Reports were presented by Professors Joan Wallach Scott, Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure; Larry E. Glenn, Committee on Chapters, Conferences, Members, and Dues; Jane Dineen Panek, Committee on College and University Government; and Eileen Burchell, Committee on Government Relations. Professors Jeffrey A. Butts and Estelle S. Gellman reported respectively for the Assembly of State Conferences (ASC) and the Collective Bargaining Congress (CBC). Professor Rabban delivered the reports of the Special Committee on Election Issues and the Office of Staff Counsel. The AAUP's former director of research, Ernst Benjamin, who currently serves as senior consultant to the Association, presented the report of the Committee on Retirement.

Elections

Elections Committee staff liaison Jack Nightingale reported that Professor Glenn, as a result of his June 8 election as chair of the CBC, has vacated his seat on the Council representing District IX. The Council will elect a member from the district to fill the vacancy for the term, which expires in June 2003.

Professor Rabban reported for the Special Committee on Election Issues, an ad hoc committee composed of himself and Professors Dolores Furtado and Kerry Grant. The committee, asked to examine the issue of the use of AAUP Listservs to endorse candidates in Association elections, concluded that individuals in their personal capacities may endorse or oppose candidates on an AAUP Listserv, but that individuals in their capacities as chapter or conference officers may not. Council members proposed that another ad hoc committee be appointed to address the issues associated with campaigning on the Listservs.

2001-02 Nominating Committee

Professor Beulah M. Woodfin, University of New Mexico (District I), was selected as the ASC representative on the 2001-02 Nominating Committee, and Professor Jeffrey Halpern, Rider University (District VII), was chosen as the CBC representative. The Council then elected three additional members to the 2001-02 Nominating Committee: Professors Ariel L. M. Anderson, Western Michigan University (District III); Thomas E. Guild, University of Central Oklahoma (District II); and Keetjie J. Ramo, St. Ambrose University (District IV). The committee elected Professor Woodfin to serve as its chair.

Intermediate Sanctions Law

The Council adopted revised policies designed to ensure the AAUP's compliance with the federal "intermediate sanctions" law concerning setting staff compensation and dealing with financial conflicts of interest.

2000 and 2001 Association Budgets

Secretary-Treasurer Grant reported that the Association ended 2000 with a General Fund deficit just over $18,000, increasing the deficit balance from $239,425 to $257,594. He explained that the Association is currently in the sixth year of a twentyyear amortization of its post-retirement health insurance liability for Association retirees, the cumulative balance of which accounts for over a half-million "negative dollars" in the General Fund balance.

Professor Grant reported that at its November 2000 meeting the Council approved a General Fund budget for 2001 with a projected deficit of $147,000. The Council amended the personnel line in the 2001 budget to add $25,000 for a special appointment of a part-time organizer in the Boston area. He indicated that the Association maintained a solid financial position at the end of 2000, and that with continued efforts to reduce expenditures and increase revenue it expects to reduce the projected budget deficit further in 2001.

Academic Freedom and Tenure

The Council concurred in the recommendation of Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure to impose censure on the administration of Charleston Southern University (South Carolina). It also concurred in the committee's recommendation to remove Blinn College (Texas) from the Association's list of censured administrations. In addition, the Council concurred in the committee's statement making no recommendation to the 2001 annual meeting regarding the MCP Hahnemann School of Medicine (Pennsylvania).

Organizing and Services

Voting by mail subsequent to its November 2000 meeting, the Council had approved agreements between AAUP and the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) for joint organizing initiatives at Manhattan College and at Manhattanville College. At the June 2001 meeting, the Council gave its approval to an agreement for statewide joint-organizing initiatives with NYSUT. The document includes an appendix listing institutions at which NYSUT agrees not to initiate an organizing drive without giving AAUP the opportunity to participate in a joint campaign.