May 19, 2000

Dear Colleagues,

It has been a momentous year and a half for the Drew chapter of the AAUP. In conjunction with other bodies on campus, we have accomplished a great deal, and at the end of this academic year, we think it is a good time remember what our chapter has achieved.

  • Last spring, over 70 faculty members met with Michael Mauer, a representative of the AAU national office.
  • This past spring and summer, over 45 faculty members contributed money to have Richard Weber analyze Drew's public financial documents. He then met with us and explained that Drew is in very good financial shape.

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  • In the fall, co-chairs Dorene Isenberg and Bernie Smith organized several strategy meetings of the membership. These were followed by an unprecedented, standing room only town meeting of students, faculty and administrators. This meeting garnered us much student support and expanded the dialogue about faculty compensation issues.

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  • Throughout the year AAUP members continued to work and communicate with the compensation committee about our concerns.

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  • In November, we held elections for the officers for the next two years. Sandra Jamieson and Fred Curtis were elected co-chairs; Robin Timmons, Secretary; and Lessie Culmer-Nier, Treasurer. Sandra Jamieson has also been elected to a two year term as Secretary of the New Jersey State Conference of AAUP.

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  • We held well-attended monthly meetings during the spring semester. We also passed bylaws and created a chapter website (http://www.depts.drew.edu/aaup/). Our membership has grown to 60 members.

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  • Charles Courtney and Robin Timmons represented Drew at the Annual meeting of the New Jersey State Conference of AAUP.

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  • The AAUP chapter and the Merit Pay Committee co-hosted a special faculty meeting on merit pay. The meeting was attended by about 40 faculty members.

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  • We set priorities for the 2000-2002 academic years. These include:
    • following implementation of salary policy
    • follow policy discussions regarding benefits
    • continue discussion of merit pay issues
    • examine concerns of adjunct and non-tenure track faculty
  • We also discussed other issues that have not yet been prioritized:
    • on-line courses/virtual university
    • overall workload issues and support for research (including alternate computer platforms) 
This has been a very active and effective year for the Drew AAUP chapter. Our accomplishments this year have only been possible due to the hard work and leadership of Dorene Isenberg and Bernie Smith and the commitment and solidarity of our AAUP chapter. We have had several successes this year, but the struggle is by no means over. We need to continue and extend the successes achieved to date. We look forward to working together with you again in the fall. 
 
A Luta Continua
(The Struggle Continues)
Sandra Jamieson and Fred Curtis
Co-Chairs, Drew AAUP
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Last modified Juner 8, 2000