Aaup Field Staff Association

AAUP FIELD STAFF ASSOCIATION MINUTES CAPITOL HILTON HOTEL DECEMBER 1, 2007

Present: Caryl Schiff-Greatorex (CSU-presiding), Scott Barns (OU), Ellen Benson (CSU), Julie Berger (EMU), Linda Cunningham (CSU), Susan Esman (WMU), Michelle Fecteau (WSU), Steve Greatorex (CSU), Diisa Hejka (WSU), Deborah Herman (UC), Gary Holder-Winfield (CSU), Jeff Lee (MI Conf.), Kathryn Makra (Kent)

Guests: Ernie Benjamin, Cathy Jones, Julie Schmid, Amanda Wolf (all from National AAUP)

Chairperson Schiff-Greatorex called the meeting to order at 12:30pm.

Introductions

Minutes

The minutes of June 8, 2007 were approved as distributed.

Chairperson Schiff-Greatorex requested to change the order of the meeting to allow National AAUP General Secretary Ernie Benjamin and National AAUP Membership Director Amanda Wolf to update the field staff on National AAUP.

Report from National 1. AAUP Member Database – (E. Benjamin) a. The software purchased is not capable of creating accurate or necessary reports. b. National believes the data that they have is accurate and they are trying to do work-a- rounds in order to create reports, send bills, etc. Please notify National if any information a chapter receives is inaccurate. c. Any roster changes received by the 30th of a given month will be reflected in the system by the 15th of the following month. d. It would help if membership information was received by National in an electronic excel format. e. Membership lists are sent to chapters in hard copy form. f. If requested, the National AAUP membership office will send membership lists to chapters in an electronic excel version, the paper list will continue to be sent. Chair Greatorex will send out an email to the distribution list letting chapters know that they need to send a request to the National Membership Office if they would like their membership lists sent in electronic form. 2. National AAUP’s Election – (E. Benjamin) a. The National AAUP’s Election Committee requested members home addresses. b. Chapters were supposed to receive an alert from national that their members would be receiving emails requesting the verification of their home address. Chapters in the room did not receive this alert. c. Chapters have been contacted by members who are concerned about the legitimacy of the email request. d. The Department of Labor requires that election material go to an individual’s home address and not their school address. e. E. Benjamin reported that National is doing due diligence in giving everyone the opportunity to be involved in the national elections and therefore sent the email to all members. f. E. Benjamin will issue a policy that email addresses will be used for business purposes and elections only and will not be used for solicitation purposes. g. Candidates can purchase up to 2 uses of the list for election news letters. Over  Announcements 1. C. Greatorex announced that she emailed the field staff a letter she had sent General Secretary Benjamin regarding Field Staff’s requests and the General Secretary’s response. 2. The field staff list serve has been very useful. 3. E. Benson was congratulated on the first issue of Supporting Knowledge. The Field Staff Association Newsletter. 4. S. Greatorex is the liaison for the Life & Disability issue.

Treasurer’s Report (S. Barns) 1. June balance was $2789.41. 2. $140.00 has been collected in dues. 3. $1.93 has been earned in interest 4. The total for December’s meeting is $2931.34. 5. An additional $30.00 was collected today in dues making the updated total $2819.41.

Old Business 1. National AAUP Website and Field staff Web page a. National AAUP web site is difficult to navigate. b. The software for the web site was purchased at the same time as the database software and they were supposed to communicate. c. Until the issues with the software have been corrected it is not feasible to have a field staff web page on National’s web site d. E. Benson, Field Staff Association Information Coordinator, will design a web site for AAUP Field Staff off CSU-AAUP’s web page and will provide a link for National to put up on their site. e. Any notices from National AAUP should be located on this site. 2. Field Staff Survey Contract (S. Greatorex) a. S. Greatorex investigated survey monkey as a possibility to get field staff information. b. A salary survey should go out within the next couple of months. c. The results will be distributed as soon as they are tabulated and will be available for the June ’08 meeting. d. As contracts are renewed the information can be updated. 3. Field Staff Handbook a. K. Makra volunteered to update the handbook. b. J. Schmid will be the liaison with National and assist with National information and links. M. Fectoe and L. Cunningham also volunteered to assist on this committee. c. L. Cunningham will send an electronic version to K. Makra.

New Business 1. Life & Disability Report a. Due to the unique nature of the structure of AAUP and the Chapters, a new plan has been offered. b. The old plan was set up with a high participation rate which could not be met. c. The new plan is a voluntary plan needing at leas 10 people participating. d. Agreement has been reached to extend the old plan until Jan 1 in order to finalize the details. e. Bills will come to National quarterly, itemized by Chapter and individuals. f. These bills will be passed onto the chapters. g. Open enrollment will take place on annually. New employees will be added when they are hired. h. Currently 13 staff have applied for the life and 14 have applied for the disability.

Over 2. June Meeting ideas a. Breakfast meeting rather than a lunch meeting b. Tour of National AAUP office is still under consideration however there is very little time at the June meeting. c. Different National staff attend the Field Staff meeting. d. Conflict Resolution i. The introduction/overview at this meeting was a good start however individuals would like more of a detailed and interactive workshop. ii. Possibly offer this at the summer institute since the June meeting may be too full for workshops. e. Discussed having a separate dinner meeting for Field Staff in June, after the decision regarding the restructuring of National AAUP, in order to discuss the implications of the decision on local campuses.

Meeting ended due to the unavailability of the room.

Respectfully Submitted,

Linda J. Cunningham Secretary