You can find information about the UA-Huntsville shootings all over the web, but the Chronicle of Higher Education website has some of the best information available. Access it here: http://chronicle.com/section/Home/5.
As you might expect, there are some lively debates among Chronicle readers on the subject of tenure and workplace violence.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Breaking News: Raises at WKU
According to the student newspaper at Western Kentucky University, administrators are planning for a modest raise for faculty for next year. The plan would turn the 1.5% bonus faculty got in 2009 into a raise to their base pay this July. Read the story here: http://www.wkuherald.com/2010/02/09/faculty-staff-to-get-raises/
Your natural question might be "If WKU can do it in these tough economic times, why can't MSU do it?" I'll be asking this question repeatedly myself, and I'll be watching to see what the other Kentucky universities do. I am not terribly hopeful that we'll get any raises for 2010-11, but we need to keep a faculty salary enhancement plan on the front burner.
If you haven't read the post on HB 374 below, please take a look at it and tell me what you think.
Ron
Your natural question might be "If WKU can do it in these tough economic times, why can't MSU do it?" I'll be asking this question repeatedly myself, and I'll be watching to see what the other Kentucky universities do. I am not terribly hopeful that we'll get any raises for 2010-11, but we need to keep a faculty salary enhancement plan on the front burner.
If you haven't read the post on HB 374 below, please take a look at it and tell me what you think.
Ron
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
House Bill 374 and Faculty Regent Elections?
According to MSU's web page: "House Bill 374, sponsored by Rep. Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green, would allow faculty members at the rank of instructor to vote in elections for faculty seats on the governing boards of the six comprehensive universities and also would make them eligible to hold such seats. Current law restricts voting and election rights to faculty at the rank of assistant professor and higher."
I am curious what you think of this proposal.
As the current Faculty Regent, I am probably not entirely objective about such a proposal. But I do have an opinion. There is probably some justification for having Instructors vote for the Faculty Regent. Currently at our institution, non-tenure-eligible faculty (which includes both full-time Instructors and part-time Adjunct Instructors) represent nearly 45% of the total faculty, and they generate close to 30% of the total credit hours of the institution. In the interests of fairness, it seems to me that full-time Instructors should have some say in who represents them on the Board of Regents.
I am much less in favor of allowing full-time Instructors to serve on the Board of Regents. Many of these folks are very capable and very professional, but I strongly believe that our Faculty Regent should be tenured and should be a full professor (the latter is currently not a requirement, btw). It seems like a recipe for disaster to elect a Faculty Regent who could conceivably be fired at a moment's notice and who doesn't have full academic freedom.
But I am willing to be convinced otherwise, so let me know if you have a different opinion on this matter.
Ron
I am curious what you think of this proposal.
As the current Faculty Regent, I am probably not entirely objective about such a proposal. But I do have an opinion. There is probably some justification for having Instructors vote for the Faculty Regent. Currently at our institution, non-tenure-eligible faculty (which includes both full-time Instructors and part-time Adjunct Instructors) represent nearly 45% of the total faculty, and they generate close to 30% of the total credit hours of the institution. In the interests of fairness, it seems to me that full-time Instructors should have some say in who represents them on the Board of Regents.
I am much less in favor of allowing full-time Instructors to serve on the Board of Regents. Many of these folks are very capable and very professional, but I strongly believe that our Faculty Regent should be tenured and should be a full professor (the latter is currently not a requirement, btw). It seems like a recipe for disaster to elect a Faculty Regent who could conceivably be fired at a moment's notice and who doesn't have full academic freedom.
But I am willing to be convinced otherwise, so let me know if you have a different opinion on this matter.
Ron
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