The academic professional employment category has evolved over the years to the diverse group it is today, including 2000 individuals on the Urbana-Champaign campus. In the past 30 years, six committees have been charged principally with examining various issues and concerns pertinent to the academic professional employment category. They are commonly known by the names of their chairpersons, except for the most recent ones:

1. the Fleming Committee, appointed by Provost Lyle Lanier on February 14, 1963 "to consider the desirability of establishing a new category of employees with appropriate standards for appointment, promotion, and tenure";

2. the TenBoer Committee, appointed by the Joint Council on Higher Education on January 27, 1970 to suggest interpretations of the criteria for exemption of academic professional staff from the State Universities Service System;

3. the McPherson Committee, appointed by Chancellor Jack W. Peltason in September of 1970 to prepare a formal review procedure by which academic staff members who are not members of the faculty might express a grievance or a concern relating to their employment within the University;

4. the Rothbaum Committee, appointed by President John Corbally on September 30, 1971 to explore the problem of developing personnel policies for academic administrative and professional employees;

5. the Martin Committee, appointed by Vice Chancellor Edwin L. Goldwasser on August 29, 1980 "to provide advice in an effort to establish a personnel policy for academic professional employees" and specifically to consider the feasibility and desirability of developing an overall formal categorization system for academic professional employees on the Urbana-Champaign campus; and

6. the Academic Professional Personnel Advisory Committee (APPAC), appointed by Vice President Robert Resek in February, 1990 to "make recommendations regarding a personnel structure for academic professional staff on both campuses." The APPAC was asked to assist "in identifying key elements of a personnel system which would meet the academic and administrative needs of the University, yet maintain the flexibility required to recruit, reward, and retain high quality administrative and professional staff." This committee's recommendations led to the appointment of a University advisory committee which advised the Vice President on the implementation of the APPAC's recommendations.

7. the UIUC Committee on Academic Professional Personnel was appointed by Provost Larry R. Faulkner in January, 1995, to examine the "steps that could be taken -- whether in policy or in operation -- that you believe would be helpful in strengthening the academic professional [personnel] system." He also asked the committee, chaired by Dean W. R. Gomes, to review data (including updated position descriptions) collected in a pilot project by the Office of Academic Human Resources to determine any areas of concern (e.g., titles used inconsistently across departments, etc.), as well as whether it would be useful to collect the same or similar information on a campus-wide basis. In fulfilling its mission, the committee examined the policies and procedures currently in place for academic professional employees including the academic professional titles used across the campus. Its recommendations were sent to the Provost in the Fall of 1995, and an implementation committee was appointed to carry out the recommendations.

The Council of Academic Professionals received approval from the Senate Council in January 2002 to have full membership on designated committees. The CAP Chair [or designee] will be a non-voting member of the Senate Council. AP's will be able to serve as voting members on the following Senate committees: Campus Operations, Budget, Equal Opportunity, Benefits, Information Technology, University Statues and Procedures, General University Policy.

The Council of Academic Professionals passed a new set of bylaws at the December 6, 2001 meeting to take effect June 1, 2002. The Chancellor approved the bylaws in January 2002. The substantive changes to the bylaws were as follows:

	Name change from Professional Advisory Committee to Council of Academic Professionals.
	Increase committee membership to 20 persons [two from each district with staggered terms].
	Add officer positions of Vice-Chair and Communications Chair.
	Codified conditions upon which replacements will be named and/or elected.
	Procedural details for grievances and elections removed.

The Council of Academic Professionals passed the inclusion of Visiting Academic Professionals as constituents in the bylaws at the April 3, 2003 meeting. The Chancellor approved the bylaws in May 2003.