Summary of AAUP Executive Committee meeting, December 3, 2003

The AAUP Executive Committee met on December 3, 2003 at 3:00 p. m. in 228 Thach.

The following members were present: Larry Gerber, Jim Bradley, Wayne Brewer, Renee Middleton, Gary Mullen, Virginia O'Leary, Judy Sheppard, Isabelle Thompson, and Bill Trimble. Absent were Glenn Howze, Robin Jaffe, and Jeff Jakeman.

Discussion

Two items were discussed

AAUP Response to the SACS Self Study

We discussed a procedure for completing the AAUP response to the SACS Self Study. We plan to complete the response by the middle of January.

Discussion of Administrative and Board members Visit to Louisville, KY

We discussed how to respond to the recent visit by David Housel, President Walker, Byron Franklin, and Earlon McWhorter to Coach Bobby Petrino at the University of Louisville, Kentucky, on November 20. This visit occurred a few days before the end of the football season without the knowledge of Coach Tuberville and without the knowledge or permission of Louisville Athletics Director Tom Jurich. The consensus is that our AAUP chapter needs to respond, given that AU Senate Chair John Mouton has chosen to make no comment on behalf of the AU faculty concerning this incident and the national attention it has drawn. The executive committee made the following decisions: (1) to call a meeting of our AU chapter members on Tuesday, December 9, to address the Louisville incident; (2) to introduce at that meeting a resolution from the executive committee calling for the resignations of the five individuals involved, i.e., William Walker, Earlon McWhorter, Byron Franklin, Bobby Lowder, and David Housel; and (3) introduce a second resolution from the executive committee supporting the AU Alumni Association Board of Directors' call for the above resignations and the recommendations made in its letter to Gov. Bob Riley on December 3, 2003.

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Summary of AAUP Executive Committee meeting, December 17, 2003

The AAUP Executive Committee met on December 17, 2003 at 9:00 a. m. in 228 Thach.

The following members were present: Jim Bradley, Wayne Brewer, Larry Gerber, Glenn Howze, Robin Jaffe, Gary Mullen, Judy Sheppard, Isabelle Thompson, and Bill Trimble. Absent were Jeff Jakeman, Renee Middleton,Virginia O'Leary, and Christa Slaton.

Announcement

The status of the February SACS Reaffirmation visit is unclear because of the recent probation. To prepare the AAUP response to the Self Study, we need to find out the status of the planned visit.

Discussion

Special Called University Senate Meeting, December 11, 2003

We decided that at this moment, the AAUP did not need to conduct any follow up on the called meeting of the University Senate on December 11. At that meeting resolutions were passed censuring William Walker and expressing "no confidence" in his judgment or leadership as president of Auburn University. However, this decision will be reconsidered as events warrant.

SACS Probation

In order to determine what AAUP response*if any*is warranted to the recent probation imposed by SACS on the University, we need to know exactly what the violations were. Therefore, we will have to wait until after SACS releases its report to further discuss this item.

Crisis in Administrative Leadership at the University

We talked about how to address the current problems with University leadership. We concluded that President Walker is not capable of guiding the University through a year of SACS probation. Support for the idea that Gov. Bob Riley should appoint an oversight commission to address the non-compliance issues relating to SACS probation was discussed. Also discussed were the nature and composition of such a commission and who might serve were a commission to be formed. The importance of the faculty working with alumni in pushing for such commission was emphasized.

Grade Changes at AUM

We discussed making a statement questioning the findings of the joint AU-AUM committee report on the grade-change investigation at AUM involving two AU trustees, Jimmy Samford and Lowell Barron. The report was released this past week. While the report criticized some aspects of the manner in which the cases were handled, it concluded that no evidence was found that Mr. Samford or Mr. Barron pressured officials to change grades of the two students involved. A reading of the report reveals serious flaws that lead one to deduce that the results of the investigation were, at best, inconclusive, due to lack of critical testimony and pertinent documents that inexplicably were missing from the students' files. Particularly disturbing are indications that key evidence documenting Mr. Barron's involvement could not be located and may have been "destroyed." In addition, the two administrators involved (Roy Saigo and Keith Lantz, AUM Chancellor and Dean of the School of Business, respectively, at the time the cases were under review) declined to talk to the investigative committee, thereby denying the committee access to critical information on which to base its conclusions. Additional inquiries need to be made before AAUP takes any action in responding to the findings of this report.