AAUP ALERT!

Lobbying on behalf of Higher Education in Colorado A newsletter of the American Association of University Professors Colorado Fall 2007

SAVE THE DATE

Saturday, September 29, 2007
Holiday Inn Convention Center, Denver International Airport, 15500 E. 40th Ave. (Just off I-70.)
Sponsored by the Colorado Conference of the AAUP and The Higher Education Association for Reform from Oklahoma

Colorado Conference Annual Meeting and Joint Training Workshop AGENDA

This outstanding workshop with experienced AAUP activists from outside Colorado will help Colorado faculty advocate effectively in response to the continuing fiscal crises facing higher education in Colorado. 9:00 to 10:45 a.m. Colorado Conference Annual Meeting Introduction (5 min.) Welcome to new Chapter at Denver University (5 min.) Individual Chapter reports (30 min.) Developments at the national office (see page 3) (5 min.) State Conference reports and plans Legislative report (20 min.) Restructuring the Conference: explanation (see p. 3) & vote (15 min.) Financial report (5 min.) Plans for the upcoming year: Committee A discussion & straw vote (15 min.) Adjourn. (15 min. break) Topic: Assessment of current conditions and problems in higher education from a faculty perspective. Tom Guild, Donna Potts, and Tom Coffey presenting. Developing leadership in chapters. Discussion leaders: Tom Guild and Marki LeCompte. Voluntary contribution: $10 for tenured and tenure-track faculty; $5 for contingent faculty Practical approaches for developing Shared Governance. Discussion leaders: Tom Coffey and Steve Mumme. Activity at the chapter level: specific examples; what has worked, what has not, and why. Discussion leaders: Donna Potts, Marki LeCompte and Steve Mumme. (1) Contingent faculty issues and potential programs. Discussion leaders: Ann Wilson, Lucy Graca and Suzanne Hudson. (2) Committee A at the state level: faculty contract rights and remedies, and working with administrations to address problems. Discussion leaders: Ray Hogler, and Elmer Hoyer. (3) State conference, activities, and lobbying at the state level. Discussion leaders: Laura Connolly, Myron Hulen, and John Straayer.

9:00 to 10:45 (Concurrent session for non-Colorado attendees) 11:00 to 12:30: Joint session 12:30-1:15 LUNCH 1:15 to 2:30: Joint session 2:45 to 4:00: Joint session 4:15 to 5:30: Breakout sessions:

PRE-REGISTRATION IS NECESSARY! PLEASE E-MAIL LUCYGRACA@COMCAST.NET

WITH YOUR NAME, COLLEGE, DISCIPLINE, FACULTY STATUS, MAILING ADDRESS, AND E-MAIL ADDRESS, OR FILL OUT AND MAIL THE REGISTRATION FORM ON OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.AAUP-CO.ORG OR ON THE BACK OF THIS NEWSLETTER.

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LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
By Laura Connolly, Interim Vice President for Legislative Matters We are pleased to report that, as a result of the vote taken at last years Annual Meeting, AAUP-Colorado has initiated legislation to provide for voluntary binding arbitration in the event of labor disputes between faculty and their institutions. This should provide for more timely and less costly resolution of disputes, which will benefit faculty, administrations, and the taxpayers of the state. In contrast to the busy 2006 Colorado legislative session, the 2007 session was relatively quiet for higher education. Although money from Referendum C relieved some of our hardships of recent years, Colorado higher education is still struggling financially. These funding difficulties were documented by the NCHEMS study, conducted by the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, which found that funding for Colorados colleges and universities is more than $800 million short of the national average enjoyed by our peers. Funding continues to be a primary concern for higher education in Colorado. AAUP-Colorado is developing a pool of members who would be willing to testify occasionally to support or oppose bills before House or Senate committees at the State Capitol. If you are interested, please notify Laura Connolly (laura.connolly@unco.edu; 970.351.1558). John Straayer, expert on Colorado politics from Colorado State University, has agreed to provide mentoring for those who wish to testify. By testifying, you really can influence the passage or defeat of bills that affect us directly (Ive seen it happen!). As always, the Colorado Conference executive committee will follow all relevant bills and publicize our position.

AAUP COLORADO NEEDS A WEBMASTER! Our Web Site is in desperate need of updating. If you can help, please e-mail AAUP Secretary, Lucy Graca: LucyGraca@comcast.net as soon as possible

Proposed amendment to the State Conference Constitution

Notice of Proposed Change to the State Conference Constitution to be voted on by the Membership at the Annual Meeting on September 29, 2007. 1. Article II, Section 1 of the State Conference Constitution shall be amended by changing the first sentence to read: 1. Officers: The Executive Council of the Colorado Conference shall consist of the President, Vice President for Legislative Matters, Vice President for Administrative Matters, Vice President for Community College Matters, Secretary, Treasurer, Immediate Past President, five additional Council Members elected at large, and the President or designated representative from each Colorado university or college chapter of the AAUP. This change will allow a better division of responsibilities and a renewed focus on community colleges. 2. Article II, Section 1, Subsection a of the State Conference Constitution shall be amended by deleting the current sentence and replacing it with the following: a. The Conference President, Vice President for Legislative Matters, and Secretary shall be elected in even numbered years for two year terms; the Vice President for Administrative Matters, Vice President for Community College Matters, and Treasurer shall be elected in odd numbered years for two year terms; and At-Large Members shall be elected in alternate years for two year terms. All terms shall begin on November 1st.

This amendment will stagger the terms of elected officers to maintain as much continuity as possible. Elections for Conference Officers will be held in October Ballots for the Election of Conference Officers will be sent out by mail in early October. If the two amendments to the Conference Constitution pass at the annual meeting, candidates for the three offices will be for the Vice President for Administrative Matters, Vice President for Community College Matters, and Treasurer.

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NEW STRUCTURES FOR NEW CHALLENGES

By Myron Hulen, AAUP Colorado President

NEW STRUCTURE FOR AAUP-COLORADO

Since its founding five years ago the Colorado Conference has expanded its operations and activities significantly. It no longer is an organization suitable to be run primarily by only two or three individuals the workload is too great. At the last two Executive Committee meetings, restructuring has been discussed at length. The Executive Committee has recommended dividing the current Vice President for Government Relations positions into three parts: a Vice President for Legislative Affairs; a Vice President for Administrative Affairs, and a Vice President for Community Colleges. This will require a change to the State Conference Constitution and it will be voted on at the annual meeting on September 29th. (The amendments to the State Conference Constitution to be voted on are on page 2 of this newsletter.) In the interim, the Conference has been operating under the proposed structure. The Executive Committee has approved the interim appointments of Laura Connolly (UNC) as VP for Legislative Matters, Marki LeCompte (CU Boulder) as VP for Administrative Matters, and Ann Myron Hulen Wilson (FRCC) as VP for Community College Mattrs. In addition, since Ann Wilson was Interim Treasurer, Liz Nick was appointed as the new Interim Treasurer. This is a lot of change for our organization, but it is believed that it will provide for more flexibility, a better division of responsibility and tasks, and renewed focus on community colleges.

RESTRUCTURING AT AAUP NATIONAL ORGANIZATION

The national AAUP announced in June that it is studying a plan to restructure itself into three related organizations, much as the Sierra Club and other nonprofit organizations have done. One component would be a professional organization that would contain the Assembly of State Conferences and would operate much as the national organization does today. A second component would be a charitable foundation that would handle tax deductible fund raising. The third component would be a labor organization that would contain the collective bargaining chapters and would operate as a union. The principal reasons for the restructuring are that it would enable contributions to be tax deductible while allowing other components to become more active politically. Details are sketchy at this point, but it is assumed that there would be interlocking directorates for governance. The national AAUP hopes to have the restructuring proposal presented to the general membership for voting at the next annual meeting in Washington, D.C., in June, 2008. Further description of the tentative structure can be found at www.aaup.org/AAUP/about/.

Senator Ken Gordon received the 2007 Friend of Higher Education Award, presented by AAUP-Colorado. Senator
Gordon campaigned tirelessly for Referendum C, walking across the entire state with a group of supporters. The passage of Referendum C was critical for preventing continuing funding cuts for public higher education in Colorado. Had Referendum C failed, most of Colorados public colleges and universities would be making the transition to private status, or closing their doors. Clearly, Senator Gordons commitment to Referendum C has helped ensure continued access to higher education for a large percentage of Colorados youth. He is truly deserving of the name Friend of Higher Education.

Ann Wilson, Laura Connolly, Sen. Ken Gordon (holding plaque), and Myron Hulen.

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You can become a member of AAUP by visiting www.aaup.org and clicking on Get Involved or by
contacting one of these AAUP Colorado Chapter representatives: Arapahoe Community College Lucy Graca Colorado State University Steve Mumme CSU-Pueblo Janet Barnett CU Boulder Marki LeCompte CU Denver (Assoc.) Carsten Seecamp Front Range Community College Liz Nick Mesa State College Carrie McVean-Waring Metropolitan State College (Assoc.) Lawrence Glatz Naropa Institute Susan Berggraf Pikes Peak Community College Larry Giddings Regis University Joanne Karpinski U.S. Air Force Academy (Assoc.) Don Anderson University of Denver Dean Saitta University of Northern Colorado Laura Connolly Lucy.Graca@arapahoe.edu Stephen.Mumme@Colostate.edu janet.barnett@colostate-pueblo.edu Margaret.LeCompte@colorado.edu Cseecamp@carbon.cudenver.edu Anthro@privatei.com CMcvean@mesastate.edu Glatz@mscd.edu SBerggraf@naropa.edu Larry.Giddings@ppcc.edu JKarpins@mindspring.com Donald.Anderson@usafa.af.mil dsaitta@du.edu Laura.Connolly@unco.edu

For information on organizing a chapter at your college or university, contact Cathy Jones,
AAUP National Field Representative, cjones@aaup.org, or visit AAUP Colorados web-site at www.aaup-co.org. AAUP Colorados mission is to advance academic freedom and shared governance, to define fundamental professional values and standards for higher education, and to ensure higher educations contribution to the common good. AAUP is a non-profit [501(c)(3)] organization.

REGISTRATION FORM
Colorado Conference Annual Meeting and Joint Training Workshop September 29, 2007, 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Place: Holiday Inn Convention Center, Denver International Airport
Sponsored by the Colorado Conference of the AAUP and the Higher Education Association for Reform from Oklahoma

Please Print Name:______________________________________________ College or University: _________________________________ Home Mailing Address:_________________________________________________________________________ E-mail address: (home e-mail is best) ________________________________

Enclosed is a voluntary contribution of ___$10 for tenured or tenure track faculty, ___$5 for all others
Make checks to Colorado Conference of the AAUP. This will help defray the cost of the lunch.

The Holiday Inn is holding a block of rooms until September 15th. If you plan to stay there you should make arrangements directly with them. Their phone is (303) 371-9494 or 1-800-Holiday. The Holiday Inn has established a special rate of $119 per room. Mention the AAUP Colorado Conference when making your reservation. Directions to the Holiday Inn DIA: Going east toward Limon on I-70 from Denver, take Exit 283 (Chambers Rd.). Take the Chambers Road ramp 0.1 mile. Turn left onto N. Chambers Rd. for 0.1 mile, then right onto E. 40th Ave. The Holiday Inn is about one-half mile on the left. Mail this form and your check to: University of Colorado Chapter of the AAUP P.O. Box 2296 Boulder, CO 80306-2296