|
Chapter Membership Elects
Treasurer and Secretary:
In the month of April, the Akron-AAUP
conducted chapter elections for the positions of Treasurer and Secretary. These
are two-year terms of office. Votes were counted on April 18th, and John Hebert
was elected Treasurer, while Kate Budd was re-elected as Secretary.
Next time you see them, please
thank John and Kate, as well as our other candidates, Tim Lillie and Vicki
Rostedt, for their willingness to run for these important offices. Our contract
is a key mechanism now in the faculty’s role in shared governance, and the
Akron-AAUP is responsible for the day-to-day monitoring and implementation of
it. The Akron-AAUP’s work is carried out by the voluntary efforts of your
faculty colleagues who have offered to serve. Please extend your
congratulations, and your thanks, to these colleagues
Return to Top of page
Accreditation Focus Visit
Set for April 28th:
The Higher Learning Commission (HLC), which is
the accrediting body for the University of Akron sent their team of two
evaluators to campus last week to meet with the constituencies that comprise the
campus community. Part of the purpose of the focus visit is to gauge impressions
of how governance is working on our campus. According to attendees at various
meetings, the focus visit team found active, engaged students, faculty, and
staff who gave a balanced view of governance at UA.
Despite the resolution from the faculty senate that the HLC withhold full
accreditation until the new University Council model is adopted by the
administration, a recent Email Digest edition from the administration announced
the visiting team's preliminary findings that our institution continues to enjoy
its accreditation. - for three more years. At the end of this 2nd
semi-probationary period, HLC will be looking for a statement of demonstrating
progress toward full shared governance. Faculty and Akron-AAUP are looking
forward to reading the complete report as soon as it becomes available. We will
post the report without editorializing in this newsletter.
Akron-AAUP wants to help the process of developing shared goverance by offering
the academic community a chance to participate in a
shared governance survey.
Pending full approval of the chapter executive committee, slight modifications
to the existing survey (see a description at
www.aaup.org/AAUP/issues/governance/goveval.htm), and completion of IRB
approval, we should be able to show the degree of progress toward the goal by
collecting data at least three times over the probationary period. Invitations
to participate, as well as findings from the survey, will also be available in
these pages.
Return to Top of page
Faculty Reminder about ITL
Grant Money:
Faculty are reminded that the settlement of our merit pay
grievance created a fund of $65,000 for faculty grants in the areas of
teaching and learning. Through December 2008, every faculty member is
eligible for $100 to attend a workshop or buy materials to improve their
teaching and student learning. If faculty apply for a workshop grant, be
sure to identify the specific workshop that you will attend. You can use
the $100 for the conference fee. Just inform Helen Qammar (x8834;
hqammar@uakron.edu), head of the Institute for Teaching and Learning, of
the specific workshop that you will attend. You can do this on the
application form. Remember, this money is yours, so we encourage you to
apply for this grant. In January 2009, unspent money will be used to fund
faculty grants of up to $400, until the money runs out. To read the
directions for the grant, and get a copy of the application form, go
here:
Return to Top of page
Other Academic News
from around the Nation:
Nationwide “Academic Bill of Rights” Legislation:
While Ohio faculty,
administrators, and citizens were successful at turning
away Senate Bill 24 (Ohio’s Academic Bill of Rights
legislation), ABOR legislation continues to be proposed
in other states. In fact, in numerous states we are now
seeing the second wave of such legislative proposals.
Are you comfortable with a state legislature intruding
into what you teach and how you teach it? Mandates for
intellectual diversity, as determined by legislators,
could do exactly that. For regular information on these
attacks on your academic freedom, check the Free
Exchange on Campus homepage at
http://www.freeexchangeoncampus.org. If you would
like to see a quick summary of the current legislation
that is out there, with links to the actual legislation,
go to this web page at the Free Exchange on Campus web
site:
http://www.freeexchangeoncampus.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=section&id=5&Itemid=61
|
Return to Top of page
Plans for AAUP Summer
Institute 2008:
Last year the chapter funded three
chapter members to Reno, Nevada for three days of intensive training and focused
workshops. We'd like to do so again this summer. For any chapter member
interested in moving into leadership roles in the local chapter, this is an
excellent opportunity to appreciate all that AAUP does for you and the
profession. This year the Summer Institute is scheduled for July 24-27 at the
University of Rhode Island.
Return to Top of page
"Faculty interests are Akron-AAUP interests, so
Ask Us Anything"
Akron-AAUP
Communications Committee
Return to Top of page
See the
new and improved National AAUP website at
http://www.aaup.org.
Back
to Akron-AAUP Home Page
|
