October 2007 Newsletter

October 3, 2007

To our colleagues at Truman State University,

As we are all immersed in another academic year at Truman, please have a look at the fall 2007 issue of FOOTNOTES, a newsletter from the national office of AAUP. We invite you to join the oldest and most active national organization of faculty in American higher education. A perusal of the AAUP national website www.aaup.org reminds us that the national organization dates from 92 years ago in 1915 and prioritizes our organization’s mission “to advance academic freedom and shared governance…(and) to define fundamental professional values and standards for higher education, and to ensure higher education’s contribution to the common good….the AAUP has helped to shape American higher education by developing the standards and procedures that maintain quality in education and academic freedom in this country’s colleges and universities.”

We’ve been fortunate to have a strongly focused and active AAUP chapter here at Truman during the past eleven years. Over the past year, issues in which we have been deeply engaged have included the protection of contingent faculty and their benefits, administrative reorganization, the “Intellectual Diversity” Bill HB213, changing healthcare provisions, and restructuring faculty governance. The Missouri Conference of AAUP coordinates our work statewide: www.moaaup.org

We welcome all faculty members to our meetings. We meet the first Friday of each month of the school year (with one exception, this year) in the University Clubhouse, 516 E. Patterson, from 4:30—6:00.

Meetings for this academic year: October 5, November 2, December 7, February 1, February 29, April 4, and May 2 (if needed). For more information, visit our chapter website aaup.truman.edu.

Here are some highlights from our chapter website:

Testimony to Senate Education Committee Hearing on HB213, by David K. Robinson, VP of MO-AAUP

2006 State of the University Survey Report, by Judi Misale, VP of Truman Chapter

2006, Public Higher Education in Missouri: Disturbing Trends, by John Harms, Past-Pres. MO-AAUP

Tenure Myths: Talking Points for Professionals, by Keith Hardeman, Pres. MO-AAUP

If you have questions, please feel free to communicate with myself or with any of our officers, who are listed on our website.

—Betty L. McLane-Iles, president of Truman Chapter of AAUP