AAUP Meeting Agenda

11:00 November 1st, 2007

RUC Room 371

I. Approval of the agenda

II. Approval of minutes from last meeting

III. President Bob Bell’s Visit to Answer Questions from Faculty

A. Every year the faculty is asked to evaluate administrators—from dept chairs to the president. Every year a fair rating of the administrators is hampered by lack of information about what those administrators have done in the past year. Unlike the faculty, who are asked to fill out forms detailing their activities for the year so that administrators can more accurately rate them, administrators are not required to do so for faculty ratings. Although there may have been some reluctance to do so in the past because of dispersal problems, with the advent of the Internet, administrators may now send to each faculty member such a detailed listing of their activities for the year with a flick of the wrist. Would you at this time inform administrators to send such a listing to the faculty so that the faculty can more accurately and fairly evaluate them?

B. Does President Bell believe that an extra 1% raise for administrators (or $1,000.00, whichever is lower) was more important than filling vacant faculty positions (and if so, why)?

C. What discussions did the salary/budget committee exchange regarding an increase in the wages for part-time faculty in meetings and decisions mentioned in the Tech Times report on raises for “most” University employees? Were any other groups -–as a group-- excluded from these raises besides part-time faculty?

D. For several years, the Tennessee Conference of AAUP has advocated a raise in the maximum pay rates allowed by the TBR for part-time instructors. Even though we have heard resounding verbal support of this notion from professors and administrators alike, the TBR has not yet revised its policy to raise the ceiling on pay available to part-time teachers. What do you think would be an effective strategy to achieve success on this critical issue?

E. Is campus safety increased if more people are actually armed (a la our Constitution Day speaker’s thesis, Dr. Joyce Malcolm)? 

IV. Old Business—

A. Fall Forum

V. Such other matters