University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Chancellor's Committee on the Status of Women

Meeting Minutes

3:00-5:00 p.m., 500 Swanlund Administration Building

I. Announcements

A. Welcome to all members and our guest Reginald Alston, Professor in Community Health and
     Kinesiology; and Chair, Senate Committee on Equal Opportunity.

B. The Graduate College is organizing a symposium on February 21, 2005, and the Graduate
     Dean of University of California, Berkeley, Mary Ann Mason will be presenting her research
     on the feminization of graduate studies and effect of child bearing and raising on graduate and
     academic career.

C. Please mark your calendars for the next meeting date: Tuesday, February 22, 2005,
     3:00-5:00 p.m. in Room 500 Swanlund Administration Building.

II. Old Business

A. Approval of minutes of the November 30, 2004 meeting.

B. Flexible Appointment Structures for Faculty: Kal Alston suggested to the committee that
    we may need to do another survey as the faculty response earlier did not seem very
    representative of the entire faculty on campus.

1. Reginald Alston gave a background of the involvement of the Committee on Equal
   Opportunity with this project. He emphasized that the two committees should be
   kept abreast of each other's work. He also informed that the members of the
   Committee on Equal Opportunity want to know the larger aim of the Flexible
   Appointment Structures for Faculty. They need to be apprised of certain issues like
   pay increments, conversion from part-time to full-time, etc.

2. Reginald Alston reiterated the importance of such discussions and joint meetings, as
    they are extremely helpful in pre-proposal brainstorming sessions.

3. Kal Alston raised her concerns that the survey had deliberately stepped back from
    targeting specific issues and provide us with only broad issues. She emphasized that
    the committee needs to decide whether we require a more coherent analysis of data
    and identify the core areas for policymaking.

4. Kal Alston also suggested that we can request Cheryl Bullock to draft a summary/
    synopsis of the core issues to be analyzed, strengths and weaknesses of the survey.

5. Kal Alston also brought to light that the American Association of University
    Professors (AAUP) monitors abuses against faculty, issues of freedom, protection
    of tenure rights, etc., and they should be consulted to see if they have any policy
    statements in this regard.

6. Kal Alston informed the committee that she will be attending the American Council
    on Education's (ACE) conference and will gather information that is more relevant
    on what is available to the public.

7. Reginald Alston informed that other committees on campus have expressed their
    desire to have a voice on this topic.

8. Kal Alston suggested that we can have a meeting to share information and ideas.
    She also emphasized that we need to study the survey in detail to get future
    directions of work.

9. Reginald Alston told the committee that the Committee on Equal Opportunity had
    discussed about redoing the survey and concluded that it will be a cumbersome
    process to get it done electronically. It was suggested that a shorter version could
    be conducted again and not electronically.

10. Kal Alston expressed that the survey can be conducted electronically also but the
     delivery system has to be in place.

11. Victoria Gonzalez suggested that we could assess the shortcomings and strengths
      of the survey and devise a shorter version.

12. Kal Alston reiterated the need for narrowing down the options and making it
      more concise. The survey can be routed through the Provost's Office.

13. A discussion was held on the survey responses and the committee members
      analyzed some key responses and crucial issues.

14. Kal Alston suggested that the presentation of the survey needs to be fine-tuned.
      Also, the number of options to a question needs to be reduced and narrow them
      down for better understanding. Kal Alston volunteered to request Cheryl Bullock
      to look into the matter and report to the committee in the next meeting.

15. Kal Alston also suggested that she and the secretary, Mansi Sachdev, will study
      the related policies and efforts in the Big Ten universities. Kal Alston also
      emphasized that we need to take this issue further with other committees on
      campus.

C. Mentoring: Kal Alston reiterated the need to devise recommendations to implement the
    mentoring program.

D. Kal Alston informed the committee that we need three volunteers for three projects so that we
    can furnish our annual report.

III. Other Items