Minutes, Truman State University Chapter of AAUP
September 25, 2003, 9:00 a.m.
University Club

Meetings are open to all University faculty members.

Faculty present: Natalie Alexander, Martha Bartter, Marc Becker, Terry Gabel, David Gruber, James Harmon, Kathryn Kuhlman, Tom Marshall, David Robinson, Peter Rolnick, Jan Saffir.

1) We enthusiastically welcomed our new president, David Robinson.

2) Dixon meeting. President Dixon enthusiastically accepted our invitation for a meeting with her. We will meet on Thursday, October 23 at 11:30 a.m. in the Spanish Room. David Gruber will bring a copy of a Red Book to present to her.

3) Faculty Senate restructuring. The Faculty Senate is finalizing language and procedures for a faculty vote on the restructuring of Faculty Senate. We need to encourage our colleagues to support this plan.

4) Summer School. We had an extensive discussion about the changes to the Summer School program. We would like to urge the administration to present a report on whether these changes have realized their desired administrative and financial improvements, including the inclusion of specific data on changes in student enrollments. Such a report may be being prepared for presentation to governance bodies. We discussed the idea of sponsoring a town meeting to address these issues, and conducting another evaluation of student Summer School needs.

5) Administrator evaluations. AAUP conducted administrator evaluations until Faculty Senate began its process. There was discussion about whether the current practice fulfills the goals of the original AAUP process, whether faculty concerns are being addressed, and whether faculty are receiving the feedback that we need. We discussed whether AAUP needs once again to take over this process, or whether we should request Faculty Senate to be more pro-active in this regard.

6) Membership drive. David Gruber provided an update on the membership drive.

Meeting adjourned at 10:15 a.m.

Respectfully submitted by Marc Becker, Secretary