Update on My Meeting with President Andrews

It has taken me several days to gather my thoughts on my meeting with President Andrews concerning faculty morale. In fact, it will probably take me a couple of postings to cover all of my thoughts on the current situation. But let me give you the basics.

While I'm not sure that Dr. Andrews and I see the current state of affairs in precisely the same way, his reaction to the meeting was largely positive. In short, he listened and he agreed to take some actions.

First, he agreed that we need to step back a bit and prioritize the many initiatives that we have under way at the present time. His top two priorities--the curriculum audit and general education reform--are probably the top two priorities of the faculty as well. He also expressed a general willingness to be flexible with deadlines if necessary.

Second, he agreed that we need to get a handle on all of the various work groups and ad hoc committees exploring policies that directly affect faculty. He agreed with my suggestion that a meeting needs to take place between the leadership of the Faculty Senate and the Provost and members of her staff to sort out where we stand on these various initiatives. The exact relationships between the work groups and ad hoc committees and the Faculty Senate committees should be clarified at such a meeting.

Third, he agreed with my suggestion to host a forum for faculty to express their views and ask questions. Both he and I agree that his open forums last summer had a very positive effect, and, if his schedule permits, he would like to hold such a forum before the end of this semester. Regardless of when such a forum takes place, please participate and encourage others in your unit to participate as well.

There is probably more to say about where we go from here, but I think that is enough for now. Stay tuned for more posts in the near future. As always, please let me know what you're thinking.

Ron

Thanks for Your Responses to My Faculty Morale Posting

The response to my faculty morale posting (see archive at right for 28 October) has been overwhelming. Some faculty members replied on the blog, but many more replied privately to me via e-mail. And others stopped me in the hallway or on the street. While the number of responses surprised me, I was not terribly surprised that faculty largely agreed with my assessment of the current situtation. While some faculty expressed their support for certain initiatives (e.g., reassessing workload, reforming general ed.), there was deep concern about how we are proceeding.

If you have not responded to me in some fashion, please do so in the coming week. I am meeting with the President on Monday, 10 November to discuss the current situtation, and I want to try to represent all points of view. Also I would like to hear any specific suggestions for improving the current situtation.

Ron