Minutes, Truman Chapter of AAUP

November 3, 2006, 4:30 pm

University Club

Meetings are open to all university faculty members.

Faculty present: Betty McLane-Iles (presiding), Martha Bartter, James Harmon, Diane Johnson, Peter Rolnick, Lynn Rose, Tom Stewart

1. Minutes of October 4 meeting were approved.

2. Report from members who met with President Dixon on October 25, to discuss the 2006 AAUP State of the University Survey.

      The meeting went well. Pres. Dixon seemed receptive to AAUP suggestions. She had questions for AAUP and wishes further dialogue. Our members requested that the Board of Governors should meet with Pres. Dixon to discuss the future status of the VPAA. Should AAUP offer support to Dixon regarding VPAA? A follow-up meeting with the President is envisioned. One or two colleagues involved in the first visit should participate again for the sake of continuity.  

3. Discussion of this week’s open sessions with the Ad Hoc Committee on Academic Reorganization.

     The discussion was dominated by the following question: Should the Truman Chapter also sponsor an AAUP electronic forum, to accept anonymous comments regarding Truman Restructuring? The Faculty Senate provides no forum for anonymous comments. The Committee on Restructuring had no video or audio recording of the open meetings with faculty.

     We were reminded that Pres. Russell Warren, who made decisions without faculty input became subject to a faculty vote of no confidence; thereafter, Warren resigned. Pres. Dixon should base changes to Truman’s structure on faculty input. We think that AAUP should facilitate discussion and should encourage proper policy decisions and implementation.

     We wondered about the role of anonymity in the process. Does anonymity promote constructive comment and allow more openness? We discussed the idea of providing an anonymous “AAUP-sponsored Restructuring Forum” online. AAUP could gather and pass on collected comments to various constituencies. AAUP should, however, solicit comments from faculty only. AAUP should categorize comments and submit an “executive summary” of data available. [It turned out, once our chapter president looked into the matter, that setting up an anonymous forum on our Blackboard system was not possible, not at that time.]

     The survey from the Committee on Academic Reorganization was due Friday, 17 November, and they will publish the results sometime after that. A decision on restructuring by Pres. Dixon is expected in December or January.

 The Chapter meeting was adjourned at 18:00.

 Respectfully submitted by James A. Harmon, acting secretary