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Fall 2007
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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
Colorado Conference Annual Meeting and Joint Training Workshop
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
AGENDA
This outstanding workshop with experienced AAUP activists from outside Colorado will help Colorado faculty
advocate effectively in respones 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)
9:00 to 10:45
(Concurrent session for
non-Colorado attendees)

 Topic: Assessment of current conditions and problems in higher education from a
faculty perspective. Tom Guild, Donna Potts, and Tom Coffey presenting.
11:00 to 12:30: Joint
session 		Developing leadership in chapters.
Discussion leaders: Tom Guild and Marki LeCompte
12:30-1:15 LUNCH Voluntary contribution: $10 for tenured and tenure-track faculty; $5 for contingent
faculty
1:15 to 2:30 Joint
session 		Practical approaches for developing “Shared Governance.”
Discussion leaders: Tom Coffey and Steve Mumme.
2:45 to 4:00 Joint
session 		Activity at the chapter level: specific examples; what has worked, what has not, and why. Discussion leaders: Donna Potts, Marki LeCompte and Steve Mumme.
4:15 to 5:30 Breakout
sessions 		(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.
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 THE REGISTRATION FORM ON OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.AAUP-CO.ORG OR ON THE LAST PAGE OF THIS NEWSLETTER.

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AAUP ALERT FALL 2007 page 2
 

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 year’s 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 Colorado’s 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 (I’ve 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@comacast.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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AAUP ALERT FALL 2007 page 3
 

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.
Myron Hulen
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 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 Colorado’s public colleges and universities would
be making the transition to private status, or closing their doors.
Clearly, Senator Gordon’s commitment to Referendum C has
helped ensure continued access to higher education for a large
percentage of Colorado’s 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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AAUP ALERT FALL 2007 page 4
 

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 LucyGraca@comcast.net
Colorado State University Steve Mumme Stephen.Mumme@Colostate.edu
CSU-Pueblo Janet Barnett janet.barnett@colostate-pueblo.edu
CU Boulder Marki LeCompte Margaret.LeCompte@colorado.edu
CU Denver (Assoc.) Carsten Seecamp Cseecamp@carbon.cudenver.edu
Front Range Community College Liz Nick Anthro@privatei.com
Mesa State College Carrie McVean-Waring CMcvean@mesastate.edu
Metropolitan State College (Assoc.) Lawrence Glatz Glatz@mscd.edu
Naropa Institute Susan Burggraf SBurggraf@naropa.edu
Pikes Peak Community College Larry Giddings Larry.Giddings@ppcc.edu
Regis University Joanne Karpinski JKarpins@mindspring.com
U.S. Air Force Academy (Assoc.) Don Anderson Donald.Anderson@usafa.af.mil
University of Denver Deann Saitta dsaitta@du.edu
University of Northern Colorado Laura Connolly 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 Colorado’s web-site at www.aaup.org. AAUP Colorado’s mission is to advance academic freedom and shared governance, to define fundamental professional values and standards for higher education, and to ensure higher education’s contribution to the common good. AAUP is a non-profit [501(c)(3)] organization.
 

Registration Form
(REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED)
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
 
* Name:
* College or University:
* Home Mailing Address:
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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.