AAUP LA State Conference Annual Meeting – April 30, 2016

AAUP LA State Conference Annual Meeting
Room 1834, Lavin-Bernick Center, Tulane Univ
Saturday, Apr 30, 2016
President’s Report

Since our last annual meeting held in LSU-Alexandria on May 2, 2015, the Executive Committee had its semi-annual meeting at Southern University, Baton Rouge, on Nov 7. Commissioner of Higher Education James Rallo spoke about the issues facing our universities.

We lost recently a good friend and national AAUP a long serving officer and staunch defender of academic freedom and faculty rights, Dr. Jordan Kurland. His support and wise counsel will be much missed.

A current list of AAUP members of our state will soon be available, the last one of May 2015 showing 167 members. Once again, all campuses are encouraged to have active chapters, it taking only 7 to establish one. Each chapter is also encouraged to maintain a website and link to the State Conference’s.

Participation in activities at the national level is also useful and important. The following opportunities are worthy of note. Travel support is possible for the Summer Institutes.

A forthcoming webinar on teaching evaluation will discuss trends and areas of concern in teaching evaluation, drawn from a survey of over nine thousand faculty. It will also review AAUP policies on teaching evaluation, and have time for Q&A. The webinar will take place Friday, May 13, 2:00-3:00 PM Eastern Time, and is offered for free as a benefit of AAUP membership.
Presenters: Craig Vasey is chair of the AAUP Committee on Teaching, Research, and Publication. Daniel Murphy is a member of that committee. Linda Carroll is a member of the AAUP’s national Council and a former member of the committee.
Register for the teaching evaluation webinar at http://www.aaup.org/event/webinar-teaching-evaluation.
Annual Conference on the State of Higher Education, June 15–19, in Washington, DC. Join colleagues for panel presentations, plenary speakers, lobbying, and the annual business meetings of the AAUP. This year, as we move into our second century, the conference will focus on racial, social, and labor justice in higher education. Register and find more information at http://www.aaup.org/event/2016-aaup-annual-conference.
AAUP/AAUP-CBC Summer Institute, July 21–24, in Portland, Oregon. Four days of workshops and special programs to build faculty advocacy skills. We bring in organizers, data analysts, seasoned campaigners, and issue experts to build your skills as an advocate for AAUP principles, collective bargaining, and higher education. Develop your skills, network with colleagues from around the country, and have fun in a casual environment. Register and find out more at http://www.aaup.org/event/aaupaaup-cbc-summer-institute.
Governance Conference and Workshops, September 30–October 2, in Washington, DC. We are now accepting proposals for presentations at the conference on topics relating to academic governance. See the complete call for papers at http://www.aaup.org/governance-conference-call-proposals.

This last year, we became aware of two cases of revoking of tenure and dismissal. One faculty member from SU, Baton Rouge, made a presentation at the meeting of the Exec. Comm. in November; he had also previously contacted directly the national office. There has been no formal move for our Conference’s involvement. On the second case, at LSU, Baton Rouge, the Conference provided monetary support towards legal expenses as did the national office, the faculty member having filed a suit in the courts.

There are two sources of support from the national office that we can benefit from. ASC Grants of $1,000 or 2,000 have minimal requirements of a functioning executive committee, a newsletter, and committees maintained for legislative monitoring, academic freedom, and chapter development. Applications are due Dec 15. Conference Development grants for one time significant projects are entertained each Apr 1 and Oct 15. Our state Conference encourages and will support any campus chapter willing to team with us and apply for these.

April 30, 2016

Ravi Rau, President

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