Welcome to the first AAUP-Illinois electronic newsletter. I write to introduce myself as the new President of AAUP -IL (2002-04) and to inform you of some exciting current initiatives.
I consider the most important challenge of my presidency to be the improvement of communications and service to our chapters and members. The AAUP-IL Council has wholeheartedly embraced this task and I am grateful for its support and active participation. The program has the following components:
o The development of an AAUP - IL web site
o The installation and use of an e-mail communication system
o The creation of a visitation program
o An upgrade of our newspaper, The Illinois Academe
o The promotion of grants for chapter development
o To strengthen our contacts with the Assembly of State Conferences
Please make a note of our new address and phone number as listed on our web site. You will also notice that our new Executive Director (formerly Executive Secretary) is Lynne Meyer, who has replaced Connie Caveny as of June 2002. Connie, who continues to serve as Treasurer, has served in that dual capacity for the past few years. I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude for her hard work and dedication to AAUP-IL.
The AAUP - IL State Council and I are doing our best to serve you. Please let us know if there are things that we can do towards that end. Your participation and input is very important to us. I encourage all of you, particularly those who are members of a large chapter, to nominate experienced colleagues to serve on the AAUP - IL Council. Please check our web site and the next e-mail newsletter for upcoming information about nominations.
Sincerely,
Pangratios Papacosta, Ph.D.
AAUP -IL Conference President
January 2003
I am happy to announce the creation of our own web site, which will serve as the main platform of our communications. Although still in its infancy, it promises to be one of the best sites amongst AAUP conference web sites. Please visit and explore it at www.ilaaup.org
We also have completed setting up an e-mail communication system. This newsletter is the first of monthly updates and announcements aimed at keeping you informed of AAUP-IL news and events in a brief and convenient format.
Our Council members have each volunteered to visit 1-3 AAUP-IL chapters per year. Individual members have already selected their chapters and soon they will be contacting the officers and making arrangements for their visit. This is a new initiative that we hope will strengthen Council - chapter communications.
We are revisiting the effectiveness of our newspaper, The Illinois Academe, which is published and distributed to our members twice a year. In view of our new web site and monthly electronic newsletter I would like to assess its current format and style. Please provide us with your feedback on this matter. Send your comments to Council member Professor Lesley Kordecki, English Department, Barat College. Her e-mail address is lkordeck@barat.edu
Grants of up to $300 per year are now available to each chapter for AAUP-related events. In such events we often invite many of our colleagues who are not AAUP members. Some chapters use this money for a reception during new faculty orientation at their institutions. Also, grants of up to $500 are available to members who wish to organize a chapter at their institution. Please visit our web site for more information on grants.
The Assembly of State Conferences offers a series of workshops and grants for members who wish to assume a leadership role. Please read the welcoming remarks by Tom Guild in the Announcements section of the AAUP-IL web site. Tom will also be attending our annual meeting (see below).
Our annual meeting is scheduled for Saturday April 26, 2003 at Illinois State University in Bloomington-Normal. The main theme is "The Value of Liberal Education." We have already secured the attendance of Jane Buck, the national President of AAUP, and Tom Guild, Chair of the Assembly of State Conferences. The program will also include break out sessions on the connection between Liberal Education, Academic Freedom and Tenure. One specific session may be "Liberal Education after 9/11: A Curriculum Revisit." Please try to attend. Bring along a colleague.
