From the Acting President
Leo Welch

Welcome to our website, it provides our members - and all others who are interested in us - information about our AAUP conference and our activities, as well as links to other state and national educational sites.

Our Grants Page includes information about funds available for Chapter Development and for New Chapters. The Illinois Conference of AAUP is pleased to announce that the first chapter development grant went to St. Xavier University chapter. Click here to learn more about the grant process.

View our New Photo Gallery! This is just a sample of the many activities of AAUP-Illinois. We invite all our chapters and individual members to submit digital photos of their AAUP related activities.
		Congratulations The Illinois Conference was chosen to receive the 2004 Conference Newsletter Award for its newspaper the Illinois Academe at the 2004 AAUP annual national meeting in Washington D.C.
Click Here
		Congratulations The Illinois Conference was chosen to receive the 2004 Conference Website Award at the 2004 AAUP annual national meeting in Washington D. C.
Click Here

Please note the IL-AAUP Council List, composed of the executive officers and elected members, all of whom are committed to serving our conference. As such, we invite you to contact us with any of your concerns or inquiries. As one of the largest conferences in the nation, we are fortunate to count among our members persons with tremendous experience on such matters as academic freedom, tenure and shared governance - three of the most important fundamental principles in academia. This collective experience and wisdom boosts our energies and enhances our efforts whenever we have to handle the variety of academic challenges that come to our attention.

Together with the annual conference and our Newsletter, The Illinois Academe, this web site is a means by which we aim to communicate and dialogue with our members. Through it, we are able to share ideas and concerns, and promote the academic principles that we all cherish. IL-AAUP can only be successful if participation and involvement is strong. As President of our conference, I will promote and strive for active participation by all our members. It is of the utmost importance, now more than ever, to become engaged in the preservation of the basic principles upon which AAUP is based. We are fortunate to have in many colleges and universities strong chapters that have for years been staunch advocates of AAUP principles. Coordinated initiatives, strong position statements and prompt responses yield better results and have a greater impact on both the state legislature and academic administration. There are success stories to share as well as challenges to face. We all have in our hearts the desire to improve and protect academia along the principles of AAUP. I firmly believe that part of our duties as academics is to educate others of the tremendous value and importance of these principles, as well as to protest by the strongest possible means any violation of such principles.

Please explore the national web site of AAUP www.aaup.org, which is listed as one of our links. There you will find an amazing collection of useful information, including statements of academic freedom, links to other AAUP conferences, electronic pages of "Academe" and "Footnotes" and lots more.

Feel free to contact me with comments, suggestions or criticism about our web site, or any academic matters with which our Council can assist you.

Sincerely,

Leo Welch
IL-AAUP Acting President

Biology Department
Southwestern Illinois College
2500 Carlyle Road
Belleville, IL 62221
(618) 235-2700, Ext. 4199
FAX (618) 277-0631 (preferred) or (618) 235-1578
e-mail: lkwelch@compu-type.net