The Council of the Association met on November 18–19, 2006, at the Hotel Washington in Washington, D.C.
President Cary Nelson presided. Members of the Council (with the exception of Donna Potts) were present, as were the AAUP’s general counsel, Mary Heen; the AAUP’s general secretary, Roger Bowen; the AAUP’s staff counsel, Ann Springer; and associate counsel Rachel Levinson. Other staff attending included the AAUP’s associate general secretary, Jordan Kurland, and associate secretaries Gwendolyn Bradley, Nicole Byrd, Eric Combest, John Curtis, Erika Gubrium, Cathy Jones, Jonathan Knight, Anita Levy, Wendi Maloney, Michael Mauer, Julie Schmid, and Martin Snyder. Kerry Grant served as parliamentarian. Guests on Saturday included Ernst Benjamin, consultant; Robert Gorman, chair of the Presidential Task Force on Restructuring; Susan Liss, consultant; and Michael Trister, attorney.
Written reports were provided by the president; the general secretary; the Office of Staff Counsel; the chair of the Collective Bargaining Congress (CBC); the chair of the Assembly of State Conferences (ASC); the chair of the Nominating Committee; the directors of the Department of Academic Freedom, Tenure, and Governance; the director of the Department of External Relations; and the director of the Department of Organizing and Services.
President Cary Nelson called the meeting to order at 8:45 a.m. on Saturday, November 18, 2006, introducing new Council members and the parliamentarian. A motion was passed to adopt the agenda. Nelson noted that the minutes of the previous meeting of June 9–11, 2006, were approved by the Council in August by e-mail so that the record could be published in the November–December 2006 issue of Academe.
Evaluation of the General Secretary
Staff were excused, and the Council met in executive session for the remainder of the morning for the report of the General Secretary Evaluation Committee, chaired by Jeffrey Butts.
Presidential Task Force on Restructuring
After a break for lunch, the Council reconvened in executive session (including staff) for the report of the Presidential Task Force on Restructuring by the task force chair, Robert Gorman. Consultant Susan Liss, attorney Michael Trister, and the Association’s general counsel and staff counsel also contributed to the discussion. The Council passed the following motion: “The council tentatively endorses the proposed structure recommended by the Restructuring Task Force to better meet the AAUP’s programmatic and operational needs, approves the further work of the restructuring Task Force to flesh out the details necessary for any future restructuring, and approves the necessary budget for the restructuring work in the next two years.”
Report of the Secretary-Treasurer
Continuing in executive session, secretary-treasurer Jeffrey Butts provided a report on the 2005 audit, the status of the 2006 budget, and a proposal for the 2007 budget. A motion was passed to accept the 2005 report from the external auditor, Calibre Group, as recommended by the Audit Committee and the Executive Committee.
The Council also approved a recommendation from the Executive Committee that the procedure used in 2006 for authorizing face-to-face committee meetings be applied in 2007 as well. In addition, the Council gave its approval to the Executive Committee’s recommendation that for 2008 and beyond, all chairs of Association committees who anticipate or desire a face-to-face meeting of their committee during that fiscal year complete a “committee meeting request” form, to include information on the anticipated cost of the meeting, a rationale for it, and the tasks the committee intends to undertake or complete during the year.
Election Procedures Review Task Force
The Council reconvened for its regular business session, during which Jeffrey Butts, chair of the Election Procedures Review Task Force, presented the final report of the task force. Butts noted that the Association’s election bylaws cover not only Council elective office, but also the biennial election of Association officers, including the chairs of the ASC and the CBC; therefore, no candidate for those offices, nor any incumbent who intends to stand for reelection to those offices, can serve on the Election or Election Appeals committees. The Council approved the task force’s recommendation to amend Articles VIII and IX of the Association’s election bylaws, clarifying eligibility criteria for service on the Election Committee and the Election Appeals Committee.
Election Appeals Committee
John Curtis, staff liaison to the Election Appeals Committee, took a show of hands of those willing and eligible to serve on that committee for the 2007 election. A ballot was prepared, and the Council elected the following members to serve on the 2007 Election Appeals Committee: Jane Buck (Delaware State University, District X); Elizabeth Derrick (Valdosta State University, District V); Candace Kant (Community College of Southern Nevada, District I); Rosa Maria Pegueros (University of Rhode Island, District IX); and Ellen Schrecker (Yeshiva University, District VIII). The committee will confer as soon as possible to select a chair.
The Saturday session adjourned at 5:50 p.m. The Council reconvened at 9 a.m. on Sunday, November 19, 2006, in executive session (Council members and general counsel only) for discussion of personnel matters. Cary Nelson called the regular business session to order at 9:30 a.m.
2007 Budget Proposal
Secretary-treasurer Jeffrey Butts outlined anticipated changes to the 2007 budget when additional information is obtained from the financial consultant, Roche and Associates, and postretirement benefits data are provided by the actuaries. The Council passed a motion approving a proposed budget deficit of $206,623 for 2007. A motion was also passed authorizing the Executive Committee to make interim budgetary adjustments as needed to provide full oversight and review of the Association’s finances. The Executive Committee will report all such actions to Council for detailed approval at the next Council meeting. This authority will expire at the next Council meeting.
Membership Report
Associate secretary Katherine Isaac reviewed the status of membership services and efforts she has made since her appointment on September 11 to deploy the new membership database and Web portal, address a backlog in membership processing, and resolve issues regarding the accuracy of membership records and reports. She noted that the Association will be contracting out to a membership staffing company to assist with the record-keeping functions. She will work with chapter and conference leaders to ensure that records are brought up to date and that a system is in place for maintaining and reporting the data on an ongoing basis.
Addition to Policy Document
Associate general secretary Jordan Kurland presented a proposed regulation on part-time faculty appointments, which was produced by a joint subcommittee of Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure and the Committee on Contingent Faculty and the Profession. An earlier draft of the proposed regulation was published in the September–October 2006 issue of Academe, and the final text was approved by Committee A at its meeting on November 3–4, 2006, and subsequently by the Committee on Contingent Faculty and the Profession. A motion was passed by the Council to adopt the addition (Regulation 13, Part-Time Faculty Appointments) to AAUP’s Recommended Institutional Regulations on Academic Freedom and Tenure. (The full document, as revised to include the addition, is scheduled for publication in the March–April 2007 issue ofAcademe.)
Government Relations Committee
John Curtis, director of the Department of Research and Public Policy and staff liaison to the Committee on Government Relations, reported on the meeting of the committee prior to the Council meeting. He introduced Nicole Byrd, the new government relations associate, and he outlined some of the objectives developed by the committee to improve communications between the national office and state activists and to enhance relationships and communications with members of Congress and the state legislatures regarding higher education. The committee will be encouraging members of the AAUP to participate in Capitol Hill Day on June 7 and to submit nominations for the annual Yost Award, which is presented to members of Congress for outstanding leadership on behalf of higher education. Curtis also briefed the Council on new recommendations from the U.S. Department of Education following the release of the report of the Spellings Commission on the Future of Higher Education, and on state developments regarding “academic bill of rights” legislation.
New Orleans Universities
Jonathan Knight, director of the Department of Academic Freedom, Tenure, and Governance, reported on the work of the Special Committee on Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans Universities. He noted that teams made up of members of the special committee and staff visited New Orleans several times in mid- August to conduct interviews with affected faculty members from five institutions. At the end of August, the full committee met in New Orleans to review the results of the interviews, to consult with local chapter and conference leaders, to meet with public-sector university officials, and to consider plans for the writing of the committee’s report. The Louisiana Commissioner of Higher Education provided committee members and staff with a comprehensive tour of the devastated areas conducted by the Louisiana National Guard.
Knight noted the complexity of conducting five simultaneous investigations, which he reported is the largest effort of its kind by the Association in the past fifty years, matched only by the 1956 investigations of national security issues in the wake of the McCarthy era. Jordan Kurland reviewed some of the specific issues raised in the investigations and noted plans to publish the special committee’s full report, which will include the reports of the five investigations, in the May–June 2007 issue of Academe. It is expected that Committee A will report on these five cases as part of its report to the 2007 annual meeting.
With no new business, the meeting was adjourned at 1:15 p.m.