Use institutional e-mail for AAUP communications!

BY KEVIN L. COPE | AUGUST 15, 2020 Kevin L. Cope is the Robert and Rita Wetta Adams Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. He served for ten years as president of the LSU Faculty Senate and of the LSU Council of Faculty Advisors and serves as the vice-president of the Association of Louisiana Faculty Senates. A former member of the AAUP national Council, he is treasurer of the Louisiana AAUP conference and chair of its Committee A. Anyone engaged in activism sends and receives a lot of email.  Many of these letters might be considered confidential or provocative or controversial or just plain “hot,” for most colleagues doing a cold call on an experienced faculty leader are burning mad about something, whether bad policy or administrative persecution or workplace problems.  A very large number of the agitated letters that I receive ask, encourage, or occasionally (politely) order me either to reply to a private, non-university address or even to use such an address myself.  This request usually originates in a belief that a private email address is exempt from scanning by vindictive administrators who, the party believes, routinely reconnoiter faculty email.  Whether…

President’s Newsletter August 9, 2020

The following was sent to all members, except for two administrators (associate members; can see the mailing here), and one member who does not wish to receive mail (but can also read here). Dear colleagues, The August 8 Zoom meeting had 23 participants at its highest point, but usually 22. Secretary Thomas Miller is preparing formal minutes and will have them to you soon. The next general meeting, originally planned for October 10 in Lafayette, will be virtual as well. Christof Stumpf (Prof. Biology, LSU-A) will serve as parliamentarian and timekeeper. We adopted as a conference the two resolutions already endorsed and recommended by the executive committee: “Protecting lives, promoting education,” on COVID-19 and reopening, and the open letter on higher education funding. We urge you to consider their principles and to keep them in mind, in whole or in part, in your own organizing. We also adopted the resolution by an ad hoc committee (K. Cope, J. Miranti, D. Sherman, M. Massé) asking the Governor for faculty representation on higher education boards in Louisiana. For reference I have archived the text here: https://aaupla.org/resolution-august-8-2020/. A task remaining for our next meeting, for Outreach and Communication or for the Executive Committee,…

Draft Resolution

SECOND DRAFT RESOLUTION FOR AUGUST 8TH AAUP MEETING: IMPROVING MANAGEMENT BOARDS, CONNECTING MANAGEMENT BOARD WITH FACULTY Whereas the citizens of Louisiana have established universities as repositories of expertise—as resources for the teaching of our people, for the betterment of our life, for the advancement of our economy, and for the discovery of truth and knowledge; Whereas Louisiana universities, per their mission statements, jointly cover a very wide range of disciplines and professional pursuits, from health care delivery to music history to astrophysics, and more; Whereas the leadership of institutions that are dedicated to the cultivation of expertise requires familiarity with the culture and expertise of those whose profession is the production and dissemination of knowledge; Whereas the management Boards of public institutions—the Boards of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System; the LSU System; the Southern University System; and the Louisiana Community and Technical Colleges System along with the State Board of Regents—are the appointed deputies of the Governor of Louisiana, regulating higher education on behalf of the State executive branch; Whereas the membership of these five Boards is overwhelmingly comprised of persons drawn from a very small range of professions and vocations, most notably business, finance, and law, and…

Agenda for Zoom meeting on August 8, 2020

For voting, followed by brief planning for implementation: – Endorsing/using statements from AAUP on COVID-19 and on HE funding post-COVID (already endorsed by the Executive Committee) – Adopting the resolution by Kevin Cope, Michelle Massé, Judith Miranti and Christof Stumpf, to ask the Governor for faculty representation on HE boards in Louisiana (this is a resolution we would also use for recruitment; a draft was distributed by e-mail Reports and announcements: – Formalization and process for dues subsidy program (Leslie + Executive Committee) – Report from COVID-19 committee (Tom Miller, Christof Stumpf, Sudhir Trivedi, Leslie ex officio); note Tulane survey and results here – Report on media consultant and outreach (Dayne Sherman, Kevin Cope, Judith Miranti) – Brief report from Summer Institute (Dave Reid, Leslie, perhaps others; all webinars and supplemental materials are available here (current members only – you must log in) – Creation of network on the status of women (Judith Miranti, Leslie, [Jana Giles]) – Brief reminder on fall/spring organizing drives, tools and materials for (Leslie) – Brief report from Committee A (Kevin Cope, Leslie) – Possible reports from chapters (Tulane, Southern have interesting activities, and others may) Discussion: – the idea of union (Steve Rushing, Kevin…