Membership Meeting March 5, 2014

1. Membership MeetingMarch 5, 2014

2. Steering Committee Members: Eloise Bellard, Secretary, Library StefniBogard, Nursing Craig Carson, English Deborah Cooperstein, President, Biology CarolAnn Daniel, Social Work Steve Goldberg, Chemistry Rob Linne, VP – Collective Bargaining, Education David Prottas, VP – Grievance, Business Maureen Roller, Nursing Carol Sussal, Treasurer, Social Work Cathy Cleaver, Executive Director Legal Counsel: Beth Margolis, Gladstein, Reif & Meginniss, LLP AAUP Membership Meeting

3. Scope This is not about any one person. AAUP Membership Meeting

4. Unilateral Policies The administration is unilaterally imposing a wide variety of policies governing the behavior of faculty and other employees. AAUP Membership Meeting

5. Unilateral Policies The administration is disciplining a number of faculty members for violating a number of these policies. AAUP Membership Meeting

6. Unilateral Policies The AAUP has not agreed that these unilateral policies apply to faculty. Even “good” policies must be negotiated and must conform to the Collective Bargaining Agreement. AAUP Membership Meeting

7. Title IX AAUP agrees that AU should comply with Title IX. AAUP strongly supports the nondiscriminatory intent of Title IX. AAUP Membership Meeting

8. Title IX The US Government does not dictate any specific disciplinary process. AAUP Membership Meeting

9. What Do You Think the Process is? What would happen if a student accused you of sexual harassment? AAUP Membership Meeting

10. Title IX The Title IX gender anti-discrimination policies are just the newest and most egregious of the administration’s unilateral policies. AAUP Membership Meeting

11. Title IX With respect to Title IX, AU has explicitly rejected a “due process model” in favor of a “civil rights model” which may involve alarming and disturbing investigatory techniques. AAUP Membership Meeting

12. Title IX AU’s Title IX legal advisor has strongly asserted that faculty should play no role in disciplinary process involving faculty, and in fact at AU faculty members play no substantive role in the Title IX process or any other faculty disciplinary procedures. AAUP Membership Meeting

13. Title IX For faculty, there are no “hearing boards” which make either preliminary or final determinations as to whether there has been a violation of Title IX or other policies. AAUP Membership Meeting

14. Title IX In all cases involving faculty, administrators have investigated the cases, made recommendations (as investigators) as to guilt, determined whether the faculty member is guilty (as the final authority) and imposed the sanction. AAUP Membership Meeting

15. Title IX We believe the administration’s current faculty disciplinary practices violate the standards for “just cause” under the CBA. AAUP Membership Meeting

16. Justice and Fairness We are concerned that the administration’s practices raise doubts about basic criteria of fairness: predictability, consistency, proportionality, impartiality, genuine right of appeal. AAUP Membership Meeting

17. Justice and Fairness Faculty at AU have less protection than do students at AU; students are judged and sanctioned by hearing boards which provide for substantive due process protections. AAUP Membership Meeting

18. Justice and Fairness At other institutions faculty have more protection. They are judged and sanctioned by hearing boards which provide for substantive due process protections. AAUP Membership Meeting

19. Justice and Fairness It is possible to develop a fair disciplinary process which complies with Title IX, and treats all parties justly. AAUP Membership Meeting

20. Justice and Fairness • The administration has until now refused AAUP’s request that they negotiate sensible policies that can be brought into alignment with the CBA. • They recently signaled a willingness to “have a conversation.” AAUP Membership Meeting