Minutes, Truman State University Chapter of AAUP
December 10, 2003 9:00 a.m.
University Club
Meetings are open to all University faculty members.
Faculty present: Martha Bartter, Marc Becker, James Harmon, Wolfgang Hoeschele,
Tom Marshall, Joan Mather, Elaine McDuff, Peter Rolnick
1) Minutes. The minutes of the November 20 meeting were read and approved.
2) Faculty Senate restructuring. AAUP celebrates the Board of Governors’ final
approval of the restructuring of Faculty Senate! Remember that this whole
process began with a set of AAUP-sponsored faculty fora a year or two ago,
presided by past president Jan Saffir.
3) Faculty Senate Budget Committee. The Faculty Senate is in the final stages of
forming a new budgetary oversight committee, with only members and terms yet to
be decided. There are issues of the composition of the committee, including the
role of administrators on it. AAUP could remind the Faculty Senate that the
National AAUP does training sessions on faculty roles in university budgeting.
4) Representation at Division Head meetings. In the spirit of openness and
transparency, faculty should have representation at Division Head meetings. This
would facilitate communication and cooperation, including providing better
dissemination of more accurate information. Perhaps Faculty Senate should send
representation. Furthermore, Division Head meetings should have minutes that are
publicly available and distributed.
5) Course load. We continue to hear rumors of course load increases. Questions
raised and discussed included: Why are professors being asked to teach more
classes when there are fewer students? How do the data justify this move? It
seems to be based on rather arbitrary decisions about numbers. We also need to
support the liberal arts mission, which means smaller writing enhanced and other
classes which contribute to the educational process but do not necessarily
increase a body count. Faculty are confused as to where our priorities and
values lie, and are concerned that increases in load will compromise the quality
of the education we provide to our students.
6) Protection of Tenure. Some general discussion about how local AAUP chapters
have the responsibility to uphold tenure standards, but at the same time protect
the provision of tenure for faculty.
7) Meeting schedule for next semester: Friday, January 30, 4:30 p.m. (day after
January Conference); Thursday, February 26, 9:00 a.m.; Friday, March 26, 4:30
p.m.; Thursday, April 29, 9:00 a.m.
Meeting adjourned at 10:30 a.m.
Respectfully submitted by Marc Becker, Secretary