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Originally posted by: Kicker
"Hey Stephen.  I see you are posting tonight.  Can you report on the AAUP meeting?"

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Yeah -- I'm about to close out to get a bath and go to 206 for a drinkee after watching the news (of course).

The meeting was reasonbly well attended -- maybe 30 of us in the College of Business 116. Kevin was there and I think got some good quotes.

Let's see . . .  meetings are beginning to merge together . . . . 

Amy read an excellent and impassionioned statement about how the administraton has put us in this bad position with SACs and how it continues to "break the oars" that we are using to row the boat back upriver to reacreditation  . . . .

Mike Forrester reported on the state meeting at Alcorn. He said that faculty at historically black collleges really have it badly -- at Alcorn, for instance, most of them don't get contracts until well into the semester. He cited some other concerns  . . . .

The AAUP passed a resolution requesting the board to begin searching for a new presdient immediately . . . there were two versons. One was a "gentler" version and one a more  . . . ummm . . . militantone crafted by the doyenne of diplomacy Dr. Scarborough. The Scarborough version, after remarkably little tinkering  (he did not think so!) passed unanimlously. It will be sent to the IHL with 15 points by which the Presdient has endangered SACs.

Mike Forrester also put together a letter to come from key senior faculty members from al five colleges that criticize the attack on the liberal arts. It is an excellent piece. Mike is looking for suggestions of follks to sign it from all the colleges -- the more senior and well known, the better

I hope Amy will post these docs either here or on the AAUP site.

We are also gathering the troops for a run up to the board next Thursday. We just want to go up to remind the Board we are watching and concerned. So wear some USM stuff. The more the better as the space is small and the mlore of us there are the greater the impact. I have directions I can email. I believe the meeting starts at 9. We will probably put together a caraven to leave from USM that morning -- more detail sto follow for those who need rides or want to join.

Am,y reported that we hope to get Robert Campbell in during April (probably mid) to talk to grad students about the AAUP and academic freedom. It seems really important ot get our students now to start understanding these things and their stake in them as future faculty members.  This is really cool -- so get the word out to your grad students.

Myron reported on the National. He  indicated that there are several other major national issues that are equal to or even worse than ours (but not by much!). This means the AAUP is pretty busy trying to prioritze its efforts at a time when many univesity faculties are moving from voluntary associations to labor organizations. In missisiippi we donl;t have a choice. Myron emphasized to them how important it was for future membership for them to show some visible support . . . they have all of our information and are watching closely.

That's it for the moment. I am sure I have missed something so others can fill in.

Sorry for the typos . . . long day and too tired to fix them.

Incidently, on a personal note, despite the fact that the Dean has taken a long time to catch up with the troops (and I know some who feel has even stabbed some of the troops in the back) . . . this statement that he made is important and even though it is milder than many of us would like it sets forth a territory that as a Dean he now has obligated himself to defend. Personally, I know that many of my own actions are based on a complicated mix of idealism, pragmatism, and trying to work out the ebb and flow of my instinct for survival with my own inner convictions about justice and the need to resist abuse of power . . . . so I don't think we should be suprised that he might be acting out of that often contradictory set of emotions, fears, and beliefs. There is no doubt that he crafted this statement with an eye to how to both please us and in so doing support us . . . while at the same time to avoid a direct confrontation with the administration. Particularly when, in this instance, he could address the source of this attack indirectly by framing this as "confusion" and misunderstanding on the part of some quarter sof the community. I think it was a smart move . . . he will live to fight another day but now he has (with a twig rather than a sword, it is true) drawn as line in the sand. I think that is something we should acknowlege, even though with a certain amoiunt of caution. It will almost never be the case that a Dean's agenda and a faculty's will be the same. I have seen Deans fall on their swords -- but it was usually only when there truly as no middle way between losing the respect of the faculty or being fired.

I know everyone is incredibly tired -- I could see that yesterday in the LA meeting. But we have won some important victories. And even more importantly -- we have stopped cold some really terrible things that might have happened. I thinl this is a littke like Washington fighting the war -- he did not win many battles but in the end he won the war through sheer determination, capitalizing on his opponant's stupidity, his own occasional brilliance, and his ability to keep troops in the field even when things seems bleakest. It is a poor comparison between our revolution which was a truly serious business and our little revolution here . . . but I think there is a pale reflection of that great struggle against oppression in our own struggle at USM (and yes I am well aware that the reasons for that war were a lot more complicated and compromised than our our own mythology suggests). But sometimes it is OK, I think, to let the myth inspire when things seem most desperate. We will always wake up to remember that the landowners and merchants hated the taxes and struck back using poor farmers and workers as their weapon. And we can always remember in the cold light of day that even we,  committed  to the ideals of academic freedom and shared governance as we believe ourselves to be, are also acting at times out of anger, pettiness, a fear of being diminished or of having our lives smaller and less significant than we believe them to be.

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Originally posted by: stephen judd's typing helper
"A six-page report on Sound Governanace survey was also presented. Top box summary numbers: "Satisfied with Shared Governance" Fall 2003, 176 responses Very Satisified 0% Satisified 5.9% Dissatisfied 17.6% Very Dissatisfied 73.5% No response 2.9% Spring 2005, 211 responses Very Satisified 2.4% Satisified 5.7% Dissatisfied 14.7% Very Dissatisfied 76.3% No response 0.9% "

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Originally posted by: Robert Evans
"If you really do get RC to come, please announce the visit far in advance.  I'd be half tempted to drive all the way over there just to shake his hand."

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