Summary of Auburn Chapter AAUP meeting, April 22, 2004

The Auburn University Chapter of the AAUP met on April 22 at 3:00 p.m. in Tichenor 206.

President Gary Mullen called the meeting to order. The business for the meeting consisted of the election of new officers for the 2004-05 academic year, a proposal for change in Constitution to separate the offices of Secretary/Treasurer, and a question-and-answer session with Interim President Richardson.

Election of Officers for the 2004-05 Academic Year

The following officers were elected:

Virginia O'Leary (Psychology) President-Elect

Constance Relihan (English) Secretary/Treasurer

Christa Slaton (Political Science) took over from Gary Mullen as President.

Replacements for Executive Board members are:

Ruth Crocker (History)

David Bransby (Agronomy & Soils)

Richard Penaskovic (Philosophy)

Two other nominees for the Executive Board were Beth Guertal (Agronomoy and Soils) and David Sutton (Communication and Journalism).

Recognition of outgoing officers

President Mullen recognized the following outgoing officers and thanked them for their service and contributions to the AU Chapter: Isabelle Thompson (English), Secretary/Treasurer; three individuals who have completed their two-year terms as members of the Executive Committee*Jim Bradley (Biological Sciences), Wayne Brewer (Entomology and Plant Pathology), and Jeff Jakeman (History); and Emmett Winn (Communication and Journalism) for maintaining the AAUP chapter home page and website these past several years. He is being succeeded by Robin Jaffe (Theatre).

Proposed Change in Constitution to Separate Offices of Secretary/Treasurer

The chapter membership was informed by e-mail on April 16 that the Executive Committee has approved a recommendation that the Constitution be amended to create separate offices of Secretary and Treasurer. (See "Proposed Revision of AAUP Constitution.") The proposal was again announced at the chapter meeting to allow input from the membership. The issue will be voted on at the next regular, or special, chapter meeting.

Question-and-Answer Session with Interim President Richardson

Interim President Richardson began with a few announcements about the SACS probation and the financial future of Auburn.

* Nell Fortner has been selected to succeed Joe Ciampi as AU's women's basketball coach.

* He has received an extension on AU's response to SACS until May 14, following the May 7 meeting of the AU Board of Trustees on May 7, at which he plans to present items relating to SACS probation for Board action (the original date for responding was April 22).

* He will be presenting to the Board a proposed code of ethics regarding business relations between the Trustees and the University. If the code is enacted, Trustees will be required to sign a statement each year affirming that the code of ethics has not been violated.

* He is also recommending for Board approval the appointment of an Audit Committee to report on any business relations between Trustees and the University.

* The problems with oversight of Athletics have been taken care of, and institutional control has been achieved.

* Auburn has received more money from the state than expected. Even though the financial situation at Auburn is not as bleak as expected, the University still needs to make some changes in internal funding.

* At the moment, there are no plans to cut academic programs. However, the primary funding commitments are to raising faculty salaries to the regional level and completing deferred maintenance projects.

A question-and-answer session followed these introductory comments.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:30 p.m.

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Proposed Revision of AAUP Constitution

ARTICLE III - Officers

Section 1. The officers of the Chapter shall be President, President-elect, Secretary, and Treasurer. Only active members are eligible for these officers.

Section 2. The President-elect, the Secretary, and Treasurer shall be elected for a term of one year at the last meeting of the academic year.

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[Section on Duties]

Section 3. The Secretary shall

(a) keep a record of all the proceedings of the Chapter and of its Executive Committee;

(b) issue notices of the meetings of the Chapter and of its Executive Committee;

(d) in the case of obsolete records, deposit them in the hands of a suitable agency of the institution;

(e) send out an collect email votes as necessary

(f) count votes and absentee ballots

The Treasurer shall

(a)keep the membership list up to date

(b) collect the local dues assessed upon the members by the Chapter;

(d)review membership reports and financial records

(e )disburse its funds on order of the Chapter or of the President; and

(f) render a financial report to the Chapter at the last meeting of the academic year or on the call of the Chapter.