Friday, November 5, 1999, 7:30 AM
Washington Street Java Co.
Meetings are open to all University faculty members.
Members Present: Marc Becker, Keith Doubt, Stephanie Fore,
Janice Grow, David
Gruber, Joan Mather, Peter Rolnick.
1. Janice Grow agreed to take minutes at meetings when she
was able to
attend.
2. Treasurer’s Report was read by Keith Doubt in absence of
Treasurer
James Harmon. Expenses for food and the ad for the Town Meeting
were
approximately $l00. Our current balance is $213.61. We have 40
members
listed at national AAUP. The new officers are not yet listed there.
3. President’s Report. Keith Doubt reported minutes for September
and
October are now posted on the web page. Keith is slowly working
his way
through division meetings to recruit for membership. He has visited
Language and Literature, and is scheduled to attend Fine Arts.
Keith is distributing copies of Footnotes at each meeting,
along with membership flyers. Where he is not invited to
speak, he puts membership information and Footnotes in
mailboxes.
Keith Doubt announced that Deadwood would play at the Potluck
Supper
at the University Club on the Friday before Thanksgiving. There
was a
discussion about placing ads in various places, as well as on
e-mail for
the Potluck Supper. Expenditure for the ads was authorized.
A paper titled “Dilemmas in the Rhetoric of Assessment
and
Accountability: Some Anti-Assessment Aphorisms” from the
journal Soundings
was distributed by Keith Doubt. There was a discussion about copyright
issues were AAUP to circulate the document to members or place
it on the web
site. It was decided to investigate the issues around the copyright
laws
further.
Dave Gruber attended the state General Education Steering Committee
meeting in Columbia. Gruber warned that though there is talk about
each
college having autonomy, in the back of the discussion was talk
of a state
assessment system, which Gruber sees as not at all in tune with
Truman.
Keith Doubt raised issues brought to him by letter from two
faculty
members having to do with lack of appropriate support for their
external research
grant applications. There was a discussion about the advisability
of
waiting to see what the administration would do about the concerns
before
AAUP’s getting involved visibly in the issues.
4. Review of the town meeting was tied to the Conversation
with the
President and Vice-President held for faculty last week. It was
reported that President
Magruder acknowledged the high attrition last year, suggested
it might be a
fluke, and said if it continues it would be looked into. It was
reported
that the administration seemed to criticize the lack of numbers
in the AAUP
report on attrition.
5. Marc Becker reported on the results of the faculty attrition
survey. He
expressed disappointed at the low number of returns he had received.
There
was a discussion about disseminating the results to the faculty
and to the
Board. Stephanie Fore suggested that the data needed to be interpreted
before it is disseminated. Marc agreed to write up a draft of
what has been
done, pass it on to others for further interpretation. It was
suggested
that Judi Misale would be the appropriate member to do that. It
was
suggested that the AAUP will then distribute through the Monitor
or some
other venue.
Respectfully submitted, Janice Grow
Additional Items
An item that I neglected to raise at our last meeting
was the possibility of hosting a film series with the Film Club
on
campus. The Film Club is interested in the idea. We would show
well
known art films that dramatize compelling political practices
in
difficult times. We would co-sponsor the film series. Keith Doubt
There is also another agenda item that I need to raise.
Teresa Heckert, President of Faculty Senate, has created a
committee on Faculty
Compensation. Teresa attended and spoke at our Town Meeting on
Faculty
Attrition. It is important for us to commend and support this
initiative. Note that the committee calls for one representative
from
AAUP. The question now is to find out who would like to serve
on
this committee and who is best qualified. If there is more than
candidate, we can elect a representative from AAUP to the Committee.
Here is the resolution that passed the Faculty Senate
Whereas the University Master Plan states one of our goals
is to
“monitor salaries and compensation packages for faculty to
ensure
fairness and adequacy internally as well as comparability with
external
peer groups” (p. 40), and
Whereas Dr. Robert Stein, Assistant Commissioner of the Coordinating
Board of Higher Education, suggested the state universities and
colleges
determine appropriate comparison schools for facilitating faculty
compensation discussions, and
Whereas numerous Truman faculty members have voiced concerns
with the
high cost of health care for their families,
I am forming a special committee with the following four charges:
1. determine comparison schools
(note: discussions should occur at Faculty Senate before list
is
finalized)
2. gather information on the pay structure at these schools, including
salary (base
and opportunities to supplement through grants, etc.) and benefits
(including health/dental/vision care, retirement, life insurance,
disability insurance, paid sick leave, and tuition reduction plans)
3. research merit pay structures at these and other institutions
4. research summer salary structures at these and other institutions
Members of the committee will be asked to serve until our May
meeting
(i.e., the last meeting of the 1999-2000 Faculty Senate), at which
point
this committee will be dissolved. The committee will prepare a
report
of its findings. This report will be discussed at either the May
or
July Faculty Senate meeting, as time allows. This information
will be
shared with appropriate administrators.
Membership
-one faculty representative from each division
-one representative from AAUP
-two administrators (i.e., Dave Rector, Institutional Research
and
Michael McManis,
Dean for Planning and Institutional Development)
Note: this committee will not address the issue of “fairness
and
adequacy internally” due to time constraints. The 2000-2001
Faculty
Senate may address this issue.