Faculty Senate Updates

Restructuring of Senate Update – Sept 20 2023

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Meeting Updates from Sept. 14 and Sept. 19

On September 14 and September 19, Faculty Senate discussed, asked questions and reached a conclusion about how our group will be represented in the foreseeable future.  (Well, sort of!)

We began with the understanding that the university’s curriculum belongs to all faculty. Therefore, the question that faces Faculty Senate is: “How do we give everyone an equal say in the issues the Senate decides?” During the September 14 meeting, we spent a considerable amount of time brainstorming this question. I don’t believe Robert’s Rules of Order has suggestions for running active brainstorming, but I felt confident that we needed a robust brainstorming session.

On September 19, Senators got back to work and by the conclusion of our meeting, I’d certainly gained greater appreciation for the role and expertise of our Parliamentarian. Though I have been part of Faculty Senate for many years, I found this meeting to be a unique experience. We spent over 90 minutes discussing the pros and cons of a variety of membership structures and concluded that too many ideas and opinions were present in our group to effectively make an informed decision. We needed a smaller committee.

As I watched our colleagues during this discussion, I saw excitement, sadness, anger, confusion, realization — I’ll just say it was an emotional journey. It was an important journey as well. All who wanted to speak had an opportunity, and it’s my sincere belief and hope that all who spoke felt that they were heard.

As a result, we unanimously passed the following motion:

Motion to move to refer to the Committee of Past-Chairs to present representation options ranked to the Senate for a vote and distributes report via email to all Senators by the end of day October 11.

This was an important decision because it called for us to each put our trust in our colleagues to direct our future path. I think this smaller committee, which I’m part of, will serve Faculty Senate well. All colleges are represented in this group. Meeting times are already being determined, and I believe we have already elected our chair. This committee’s meetings, along with all meetings of Faculty Senate and its councils and committees, belong to all faculty members.

This committee will present a report to Faculty Senate on October 19, with a written report sent to all senators by October 11.

Until that time, please don’t hesitate to contact me for more information.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Update September 8, 2023

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Faculty,

During the next nine months, the Missouri State’s Faculty Senate will be busy, and I want to keep you updated.  In my field, agriculture, there’s something called the Glass Walls project, led in part by Dr. Temple Grandin. The project “opens the doors” on the agriculture industry, which helps counteract misinformation. I want to take that model of communication and apply it to the Faculty Senate. 

Here are a few things that Faculty Senate would like for you to know:

First, the Faculty Senate constitution and by-laws have not been officially updated since 2009. Over 2,000 changes to the constitution and by-laws have occurred since that time, but these changes haven’t been formally approved by the Board of Governors. Faculty Senate and administrative leadership have been working to correct this. Second, the 2022 faculty concerns committee led by Andrea Applegate MS, clinical professor, Dr. Michael Kyle, and Jennifer Pratt MS, clinical professor, did amazing work. At our first meeting, Dr. John Jasinski suggested that we might improve our data set and gain broader understanding if the committee delves deeper into some key points.  Sending these types of follow-up surveys is within Faculty Senate guidelines, so you may receive additional surveys in your inbox. Table 3 from the survey lists what participating faculty felt was most important to faculty. 

ranked focus for next year photo

Highlights of the Faculty Survey of Success and Engagement 

1.  Pay and Compensation. During the 2017–18 academic year, the ad-hoc personnel tiring Trends committee led by Dr. Cynthia MacGregor, the 2017–18 Faculty Senate Chair, was charged with determining a way to better use available data to accurately reflect compensation levels at Missouri State University.  

Currently faculty compensation is compared to CUPA averages. What we learned in 2017 aligns with the challenge we face now: It is not possible to compare salaries of positions when those positions have no CUPA equivalent, are shared roles that are divided between faculty and administration or are tied to specific medical fields. These are cases of comparing apples to oranges. Until we can properly define our “apples” and “oranges,” we will never have an accurate data set for the comparison of salaries. 

For this reason, we’re setting up an “apples to oranges” committee—though I doubt this will be the official name! We have got to figure this out if we ever want to get to the bottom of the pay and compensation debate. I’ll keep you posted. 

https://www.missouristate.edu/FacultySenate/_Files/Hiring_Trends_Extended_Report_April_6_2018.pdf

2.  Job Security and Working Conditions. A total of 105 comments were submitted regarding this section. Of these, 94.3% expressed concern, and 5.7% were relatively positive. I read every one of those comments and encourage you to take the time to read them, too. I have sent this survey to a number of people that have expressed genuine concern for our welfare. I will be touring facilities with members of the provost’s office. I assure you that your concerns have been heard; I’ll keep you posted.

https://www.missouristate.edu/FacultySenate/_Files/Updated_FacultyConcernsSurvey_May2023.pdf

3.  Benefits. Dr. Ann Rost and the committee on benefits did a tremendous job last year as they compared Missouri State’s benefits package to the benefits at comparable universities.  I have heard many people express appreciation for our benefits. This committee asks: Can they be better? One recent improvement includes orthodontia. This was not covered when my oldest son had braces. When my middle son first got braces, they were not covered, but by the time he completed his orthodontia treatment, I received a partial rebate because the coverage took effect while he was wearing them and after I had paid for them.  Thank you, benefits committee! 

My hope is that you can see Faculty Senate working for your benefit. Our Faculty Senators as well as those serving on the various Senate committees have a real impact on us all.

Best of luck for a great semester!

Dr. Elizabeth L. Walker – Professor

Darr Agriculture Center | Bond Learning Center

Faculty Senate Chair 2023-2024