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. 

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