Minutes, Truman State University Chapter of AAUP
March 4, 2005, 4:30 pm
University Club

Meetings are open to all university faculty members.

Faculty present: Judi Misale (presiding), Martha Bartter, Marc Becker, Roger Festa, James Harmon, Diane Johnson, Sylvia Macauley, Steve Reschly, Peter Rolnick,.

1) Minutes of February meetings were approved.

2) Peter gave a report on the Faculty Senate Budget Committee, and the lack of openness of the budget. Peter queried each member of the budget committee about how the budget divided, what is the size of each piece, who is in charge of each piece, and what are past and future projected budgets? It is hard to discuss issues like faculty sabbaticals when we do not know what the budget situation is. President Dixon has said that she will present the budget to the Senate. Peter will keep after this from the Faculty Senate end. Keeping the budget in the dark is not good for anyone. We will wait to see how the budget committee follows through on these issues before considering scheduling a Town Hall meeting on this topic.

3) The Science Division plans to ask the VPAA to explain how the DAP will be used to forward student learning. Social Science may submit a similar resolution at its March 9 meeting.

4) Judi presented the results of the AAUP University survey. There were a lot of split attitudes, though there were negative ratings on morale, access to resources, and salary. Even though morale was low, dedication to the University and its mission remains high. The survey also reflects significant questions about the effectiveness of our assessment instruments and methodology. There were also significant differences between divisions. For example, Social Science is more distrusting of administrative policies than HPP. Satisfaction with resources for research, salaries, morale, and assessment instruments, however, were universally low across the board. We will post the results of the survey to the AAUP webpage shortly after spring break (http://aaup.truman.edu).

5) Report on President Dixon's meetings with faculty groups regarding our divisional structure. She is thinking this would be a good time to rethink the division structure, but did not indicate which way she might go. Might it help our budget situation to eliminate a layer of highly paid administrators? President Dixon observed that conflict can lead to growth. Roger noted the necessity to have a type of structure that represents faculty concerns to the administration. However, this reorganization proceeds, we need to stay on top of this and continue to be actively involved in these discussions. We once again encouraged structured and public feedback on what has happened in these meetings.

6) We discussed at length confusion over what appear to be changes in the timing of granting tenure, what the rationale behind the charges is, and the lack of public information about those changes. Those currently eligible for tenure have been informed that tenure decisions will be made by the Board of Governors in April of this year, but will not be effective until August of 2006. The phrase "tantamount to tenure" has been used in conjunction with these changes, but what does "tantamount to tenure" mean? Exactly what is the status of faculty approved for tenure but not actually tenured for over a year after approval relative to the benefits afforded by tenure, justification for dismissal being a primary one?

[FYI--There are seven reasons why a tenured professor can be fired: incompetence, insubordination, physical or mental health (inability to do a job), moral turpitude, public behavior unbecoming of a professor, elimination of position, and financial exigency.]

7) Chett Breed submitted a memo regarding possible roles of the AAUP in a reconstituted University Club committee. The main concern is submitting the necessary paperwork to maintain the Club’s legal status. We are concerned that this may turn into creeping demands on AAUP limited resources. We are still hesitant to be the target organization to take responsibility for the Club, but we again expressed our support for the continued operation of the University Club and conditions that will ensure that outcome.

8) We send our best thoughts and wishes to David Gruber.

Meeting adjourned at 6:15 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by Marc Becker, Secretary