Report
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