AAUP@KSU

 

Chapter Meeting 1/28/09

 

Minutes

 

            Housekeeping

 

 1.  Chapter Pres. T. Keene called meeting to order at 12:30 and requested introductions.  Attending:   Stephen Bartlett, Michael Firment, John Haseltine, Tim Hedeen, Thierry Leger, Meg Murray, Robert Paul, Andrew Pieper, Gabriel Ramirez, Scott Reese, Peter Schultz, Birgit Wassmuth, Deanna Womack, Chris Ziegler, Ulf Zimmermann

 

 2.  Approval of Minutes:  Done.

 

 3.  Membership Report:  56; discrepancies between local and national records.

 

 4.  Treasurer’s Report (T. Hedeen):  ca. $700.00 balance; only 25 have paid local dues.

 

            Updates

 

 5.  College & Department Governance (D/CFCs) (T. Hedeen):  Positive meeting; Provost Black in attendance and stressed D/CFCs have right/duty to take things to higher levels if necessary.  He was also clear that these should be referred to, emphatically, as “elected representative faculty councils.”

 

 6.  Administrative Review (C. Ziegler):  A meeting of the representatives of the Deans’ Council, Chairs’ Council, and Faculty Senate with the Provost was scheduled for the following day.  The KSU AAUP Executive Committee presented a Resolution on the Administrative Review process to be presented at that meeting, urging a uniform and open one.

 

 7.  Section 3 & 5 Revisions (Workload and T&P):  These are about done, with only a few T&P items (such as post-tenure review) pending.  Since what seems to have been compiled, owing to the history of the document, is much more than a “faculty handbook” proper, it was recommended that the portions actually pertaining to faculty be pulled together in a separate, renamed document.  It was also noted that the T&P Oversight Committee, as a committee of the Faculty Senate, needs to report to the Faculty Senate, and the FS Executive Committee will address this issue.

 

           

 

 

 

Discussion

 

 8.  Adjunct Issues (S. Bartlett):  He is not enamored of the AAUP’s use of the term “contingent faculty” for adjuncts and similar faculty; he prefers “support” faculty. ¨

Attesting to their contingent status, there is nothing about them in the Faculty Handbook, even though, according to S. Bartlett’s count, they number 43% of KSU’s teaching faculty.  It would seem appropriate, therefore, that language concerning their rights and responsibilities etc. be incorporated in the Faculty Handbook.  He also recommends that departments/colleges (as appropriate) have specially designated coordinators for such faculty.

 

 9.  New Member Scholarships—Expectations:  No particular issues beyond the ones already voiced and addressed were articulated.

 

10.  Other Matters Arising:  We still need to get a complete handle on standing committee leadership and membership (their handles, that is).

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

Ulf Zimmermann, Secretary

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


¨ The Secretary would here beg to disagree:  “contingent” very precisely describes such teaching employees’ perennially precarious and unpredictable status, which is precisely what the AAUP is seeking to improve; “support” faculty would simply perpetuate this all too contingent status.  But then, of course, the Secretary has become persuaded of the contingency of all things.