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Message from the President: Executive Board Meeting, October 23, 2021
Dear Colleagues, Below are my notes on the AAUPLA Board Meeting October 23, 2021. Present in addition to myself were Sudhir Trivedi, Tom Miller, Ravi Rau, and Vipin Menon. Two written reports from Kevin Cope were discussed. David Reid and Judith Miranti had conflicts, and nobody besides the board members chose to attend. Of particular interest to the general membership is the AAUP’s proposal of and support for student debt clinics, as organizing events. Please see the closing portion of this post for information. Also, our January meeting of the general membership will be by Zoom; at it, a nominations committee will be formed for April elections. This is very important; please consider running for office and/or help to identify interested and competent people from your chapters and campuses. Other business was as follows: I. Report on AAUP Region 2 Meeting (on COVID regionwide but also tenure in Georgia and elsewhere): Sudhir Trivedi. Sudhir, our Vice-President, and also Member-At-Large David Reid represented us at this meeting, which focused on serious issues re COVID and tenure in Georgia that may soon arise here. Action: 1. Sudhir is drafting a proposed statement on COVID and teaching, for review and discussion at the…
President’s Fall Newsletter and Summer Meeting Minutes
FROM THE PRESIDENT September 17, 2021 Dear Colleagues, The Louisiana Conference of AAUP has a post office box now, and will soon have paper letterhead. Our address is: Louisiana Conference AAUP POB 4732 Baton Rouge, LA 70821 The Executive Board and Committee A have, in the past year, written a number of advocacy letters on behalf of individuals and in support of policies, and we need a return address. Letters to some entities, including legislators, have to be sent by paper mail, so we are setting ourselves up for a more professional look. There are 191 of us in Louisiana now, meaning that over the past three years we have replaced all who moved or retired, and added another 25 members. This is a positive development and I encourage each of you to promote AAUP membership to at least two of your colleagues this semester, as there is strength in numbers. Brochures and stickers are available from the national AAUP, and we should use them. If you did not receive a version of this newsletter and these minutes by e-mail to your individual address, your membership may have lapsed, and/or the e-mail address you have on file with the AAUP…
Creating a Faculty Senate: First Principles and First Steps
By Kevin L. Cope, AAUP-LA Treasurer, April 30, 2021 Anyone who serves for long as an AAUP Chapter, Section, or Conference officer will experience the synonymy of the individual with the universal. Problems are about the only things that are not in short supply in contemporary higher education. Many colleagues seek help with what they regard as unique troubles, not knowing that many others have faced those same challenges and that the AAUP has plenty of pertinent, collected and collective wisdom to share. One of the most common difficulties facing governance-minded academic professionals is that of irregular (or, worse, non-existent) “faculty” or “shared” governance institutions. Some institutions regard the faculty as little more than hired labor without a voice in campus affairs; others create hybrid or chimerical governance bodies such as “university senates” that seem to include everyone but that end up, in their piebald character, representing no one. It is easy to understand why a clear-thinking faculty member working in such an institution might propose the creation of a faculty governance entity while simultaneously being daunted by the difficulty of that task. Uncertainties concerning best standards and practices for faculty representation in college and university management make the challenge…
President’s Newsletter, April 27, 2021
Dear Colleagues, Our annual meeting was held by Zoom April 24, with 18 people present including all members of the executive board except Secretary Tom Miller, whose Internet connection had been knocked out by the evening’s storm. Following are my notes. Solidary greetings from LESLIE. New work arrangement: the executive committee/committee chairs will henceforth look at feasibility of projects proposed and taken on in these meetings, before we commit too hastily to large projects without personnel (as has happened in moments of Zoom enthusiasm in the past year). The first such project now underway: we need a post office box and letterhead/official envelopes. There are great benefits to increasing our visibility and enhancing our professional profile. We would like a post office box near the Capitol, in the 70802 zip code also used by lawyers and lobbyists. AAUP Redbook: Every chapter and every institution should have one. They cost $35 from JHUP with the AAUP member’s discount, and the state conference will reimburse chapters who buy them (it is suggested they be placed on reserve at the library). Membership: Leslie will resend the most recent roster to chapter leaders, so they can make sure all their members are on it….