January 19, 2000
SUB Down Under

Meetings are open to all University faculty members.

President Keith Doubt opened the town meeting by having those in attendance introduce themselves, informing the group that minutes of all meetings and the town meeting would be posted on the web site, and encouraging new memberships.

Marc Becker was complimented on the Retention Survey, gave a very short summary of the results, then answered questions.

An extended discussion ensued over some of the issues that cause faculty to leave or want to leave, and things that faculty or administration could do to alleviate some of the issues were discussed.

One general conclusion drawn up was that there are several small issues that might be easily addressed: e.g., library and recreation center facilities for spouses and families, e-mail addresses for spouses. Ways were discussed as to how best get administrative action on these.

Asked to name the most overriding issues that surfaced in the report we might want the administration to address, Marc Becker suggested that the greatest concerns of faculty who have left seemed to be 1) Meaningful activity and/or employment for spouses, 2 Limited and expensive health benefits, and 3) Low salaries.

There was an extensive discussion about the poor family benefits in the consortium health plan, and the apparent lack of faculty representation on the benefits committee who might be expected to represent families. It was noted that the majority of faculty at Truman are on the single provider plan.

The discussion evolved to how the budget pie is cut up, (Medical Benefits/Faculty salaries; Buildings/Education).

Keith Doubt noted that AAUP scholarships are available for faculty to attend budget seminars.

After a discussion on how to best to encourage reaction to the survey from administration and the Board of Governors, it was agreed that Gary Jones and Natalie Alexander, with e-mail input from others present, would write a Bill to bring to the Faculty Senate with issues of concern and suggestions for how to address these concerns.

NOTES
AAUP Town Meeting
January 19, 2000