Summary of Auburn Chapter AAUP meeting, January 30, 2004

The Auburn Chapter of AAUP met on January 30, 2004 at 12:15 p.m. in Thach 202.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the events leading up to Dr. Walker’s resignation as President and the appointment of Dr. Richardson in that position and to determine what, if any, response AAUP should make.

The consensus following the discussion noted below was: (1) disappointment in the manner in which the selection of Dr. Richardson as Interim President was made without faculty involvement; and (2) a commitment on the part of our AAUP chapter to work with Interim President Richardson in any way we can to further the goal of getting Auburn University removed from probation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).

When President Mullen opened the floor for discussion, the following comments were made:

• That the Governor can fire a President and appoint a new one without consulting stakeholders is a shocking example of the lack of shared governance at Auburn.
• Interim President Richardson has presented a negative first impression to faculty because (1) he has made negative remarks about his predecessors; (2) he has assumed that Dr. Walker and Dr. Muse both made the same mistakes; (3) he has argued that now Auburn University has a “strong” President (unlike Walker and Muse) and with a strong President, the Board of Trustees will not need to intervene as often as in the past; (4) his appointment as Interim President will help the University get off of SACS probation.
• Interim President Richardson’s appointment may cause further problems with SACS.
• Interim President Richardson has not provided the specifics of a plan to remove the probationary status imposed by SACS. In addition, he intends to meet with the Board of Trustees to discuss the specifics of his plan before he meets with the faculty. The implication is that Richardson will talk with the Board about what should be done and then tell the faculty what to do. He seems to be avoiding input from faculty and ignoring his role to express faculty concerns to the Board.
• The new Trustees have not yet been appointed. We are concerned that Barron will find a way to be reappointed.
• We do not know what Dr. Walker’s current assignment is. Will he return to the College of Engineering?

These are some actions suggested during the meeting:

· We need to push for the Board of Trustees to develop a policy for removal of Board members.

· We need to pay attention to the Dean searches that are going on. We need to insure that shared governance is being honored in those searches. The AAUP Executive Committee will have regular meetings with Provost Hanley and discuss the Dean searches at those meetings.

· We should respond to the SACS Criteria whose violation caused our current probation with a list of suggestions to get the probation lifted.

· Whatever we do, we want to insure that the suggestions are positive. Although it is important to point out the violations of shared governance that occurred in Dr. Richardson’s appointment, we would like to move forward in cooperation with this new Interim President.

· We should continue to press for Bobby Lowder’s removal from the Board of Trustees. Lowder’s removal, more than any other action, could satisfy the conditions of the SACS probation.

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The meeting was adjourned at 1:00.