Faculty Senate Constitution Draft

This week the Faculty Senate will likely start to discuss and vote on sections of a revised Constitution. At first blush, this project may not sound very interesting, but let me assure you there are some important issues that will have an effect on all faculty members.

This week you should receive a copy of the current draft of the revised Constitution from Royal Berglee, FS Chair. If you don't, contact your department senators for a copy. Please let your senators know your thoughts on the proposed changes. You can also let me know your thoughts as well.

Some of the hot button issues include representation on the Senate, the evaluation of administrators (including the President), and communication with the Board of Regents. Please note that changes to the FS Constitution must be put to a full-faculty vote, so you will be hearing more about this matter as time goes on.

Ron

Comment on Projected Budget Cuts

Several faculty have asked me what I know about the statement in the Herald-Leader regarding potential budget cuts for higher ed if gambling legislation is not passed by the legislature. The exact figures were terrifying: 12% cuts the first year of the biennium and 34% cuts the second year.

The President spoke with the Senate Executive Council on Friday afternoon, and he believes what others of us suspected--the release of these figures was part of a strategy to build support for expanded gambling in the Commonwealth. If you've been reading the newspapers, you know that the expansion of gambling is not terribly likely at this point, so our legislature will have to figure out other ways of expanding revenue.

Still, the President believes that potential budget cuts will not reach the predicted levels, and I share his opinion. It is difficult not to be uneasy (if not downright frightened), but remember that
a. the Governor has shown consistent support for higher education;
b. higher education has some strong supporters in Frankfort;
c. MSU has some strong supporters in Frankfort;
d. President Andrews continues to take a conservative approach with MSU's internal budget.

So hang in there. We need to wait and watch (and lobby our representatives when the time comes), but don't let that 34% figure weigh you down.

Please continue to post responses to my faculty morale question.

Ron

Faculty Morale?

In reply to my last posting, an anonymous reader comments that faculty morale is continuing to slip and offers some possible reasons for the trend.

I agree that morale is very low, although I have not been very successful in convincing the administration or the BOR that the morale issue goes beyond a general malaise caused by the gloomy economic situation we find ourselves in or the unusually large number of initiatives faculty have been forced to take on in the last couple of years (you know what they are, so I won't list them here). The anonymous reader claims that faculty are disenfranchised. I think that I would put it a different way: Many faculty feel disenfranchised for various reasons.

I would like to ask readers: How widespread is this feeling of disenfranchisement? What are some of the reasons for it? What will it take for conditions to change?

I'm really interested in reading some responses . . . .

New Year's Resolution

Although I have tried to represent your interests to the best of my ability, I did not do a very good job of keeping up with this blog on a regular basis last semester. I promise to do a much better job from here on out with weekly updates at the least. The whole purpose of this blog is for me to learn your opinions about faculty issues at MSU. I will offer my opinions as a faculty member, but I hope that you will let me know what issues are on your minds.

Expect another post in the first week of classes. In the meantime, feel free to post comments or questions.

Ron