The UMD AAUP Chapter is gearing up for an eventful year. As you may have heard, President Pines has hired the Huron Consulting Group to draft a Ten Year Strategic Plan for UMD. Our past strategic plans have reflected the recommendations of a committee representing the broader UMD community. Huron by contrast has earned a reputation for recommending aggressive cost-cutting measures and program closures.
We think that the faculty and staff and students who fuel the UMD enterprise can generate an exciting and inclusive strategic plan, one that eliminates the gender gap in salary for women faculty, that supports our graduate students on par with their peers, and reduces the precarity experienced by many professional track and contingent faculty. That is why we are organizing to generate our own People-Centered Strategic Plan (PCSP) and why we will team up with the staff union, AFSCME (Twitter, Facebook), to launch an independent audit of the university’s finances that will identify how we can fund a more equitable and just university (more on that very soon!).
You can help by joining a UMD-AAUP committee. Please email [email protected] now and let us know how you want to participate. We’ll be setting up committee meetings to start by October. We need volunteers for:
Strategic Plan and Governance Committee. Focus on giving voice, proactively, to faculty concerns. Let’s tell upper administration how we see the university’s mission and how we think the university should be run. Let’s develop our vision for the equitable treatment of students and of faculty across all ranks and schools.
Organizing Committee. Strength comes with numbers. Help build our chapter and create energy behind our campaigns by reaching out to departments, schools, and individuals. The organizing committee also serves as a listening post. No prior experience necessary. We’ll train you quickly with the organizing skill you’ll need.
Finance and Transparency. Upper administrators always claim they are limited by financial constraints. But budgets are always about choices. Let’s show that different choices are possible. Members of this committee will learn from the experts and develop the skills necessary to understand how financial and other decisions are made. Members of this committee will research the university’s changing landscape.
Communications and Outreach. Do you have writing, design, social media, or other media skills? Do you have contacts in the press? Join the communications team and stand ready to make our goals and campaigns reach their intended audiences. This group will not hold regular meetings but will be ready to respond to communications needs as they develop.
Next, order of business: ELECTIONS.
Signal your support by voting to approve the Executive Committee (2 Year Term).
Proposed slate for the 2021-2023 UMD AAUP Executive Committee:
President: Holly Brewer
Vice President: Karin Rosemblatt
Treasurer: Louiqa Raschid
Secretary: Luka Arsenjuk
Executive Committee Member At-large #1: Solomon Comissiong
Executive Committee Member At-large #2: Nate Beard
Please vote here.
We are excited to get started and we hope you will join us! Please be in touch with questions or to express your interest in getting involved.
Lastly, please consider becoming a member of the AAUP national. Let’s build a strong voice for faculty!