The meeting was called to order at 12:10 pm.
The minutes from the December 10, 1999 meeting were distributed for
approval at the next meeting.
(1) Update on the Compensation Committee Report (invited guest Chris
Van Wyk)
Chris reported that the Compensation Committee planned to present their
report and recommendations to the Finance Committee of the Board of Trustees
later in the day and to the full board in the evening. He said that
V.P. McKitish and Pres. Kean have been fighting hard to get the Board to
go along with the recommendations and that all indications suggest that
tomorrow the full Board will approve the currently budgeted compensation
package which is expected to achieve approximately 40% of the comparison-schools
goal. Apparently the Board is unclear about the process by which
the Committee came to the recommendations and is concerned about the use
of a geographical adjustment (cost of labor) in the policy. The Board
is unlikely to approve the compensation policy until the issue of non-salary
compensation is addressed. Comment: The first 40% increase does not include
adjustment so first year should not be a problem for the Trustees anyway.
Response: There is no danger that the 40% will “overshoot” anyone.
Question: Who will make the presentation? Answer: Ginny
Samuel and Chris today, additional members tomorrow. Tonight they
will speak for 20 min then leave; then Kean will speak to the Trustees
alone. Key Trustees have already been called and Chris and Ginny
have met with some Trustees as well.
Question: Is there a danger in waiting to vote for the policy?
Answer: Trustees are aware of the possibility of a negative reaction to
a delay.
Question: What if the Trustees do not vote for the policy?
Answer: Kean has never suggested changing the policy proposal, he
has just suggested better ways to present it to the Board.
Question: What about the 40% next year, the 20% the next and
the prospects for a long-term policy? Answer: Compensation
is now on the table at budget meetings across campus. The Trustees
have been and will be told that if Drew wants to pay competitive wages,
here is what is needed. The Board will be given salary figures so
the Board will know and understand what we need to pay people.
Question: When will we know? Answer: Friday afternoon sometime.
Question: Did the AAUP resolution go to the Board? Answer:
It went to Kean and to the Compensation Committee but probably not to the
full Board.
(2) Report on the Middle States Faculty and Staff Task Force
(invited guest Roxanne Friedenfels)
Roxanne reported on the Middle States Retreat held on February 11-
12. On Friday, small round-table discussions of the four Task-Force
issues were held. On Saturday the facilitators of each discussion
reported on their table’s discussions at an open Task-Force meeting which
was then summarized by the chair of each Task Force during the closing
session. Regarding the faculty, the clear theme was a call for systematic
policies concerning faculty issues such as: (a) Clearer explanations and
better communication about expectations for new faculty members.
(b) Stated policies regarding dealing with grants. (c) Explicit rules
about retirement to avoid special deals. (d) Frequency and
criteria for sabbatical leaves. (e) Recognition of faculty work such
as technology use, committee participation, updating or changing fields,
and overloads. Other issues that arose involved: (f) the necessity
for clerical support, (g) a concern about over-reliance on adjuncts and
the conversion of adjunct to full-time positions without national searches,
(h) the perceived lack of faculty diversity and methods for improvement,
and (i) inadequate faculty-staff communication .
Question: Does AAUP wish to meet with the Task Force? Answer:
Yes
Question: Were there any comments about long-term adjunct issues?
Answer: Not at the retreat but the Task Force has talked about the
issue and there are adjuncts on the Task Force. Comments: The
idea that adjuncts are not “good” faculty should not be in the Task Force
report. There were several troubling comments about adjunct faculty
at the retreat.
Comment: What does “buying diversity” mean? Before we start
talking about this we should make sure we are competitive before we try
to be more than competitive.
Comment: The retreat seemed to minimize the role of faculty on
campus. For example, the idea that everyone on campus is a teacher.
It is ironic that R. Noya was the person who pointed out the significant
and distinctive role of faculty.
Question: Was the issue of support (both money and time) for
faculty research and development discussed at the retreat? Answer:
Some, but not extensive. The issue will be on the survey soon to
go out to the community.
(3) Focus issues for Drew AAUP
Co-Chairs Fred Curtis and Sandra Jamieson presented a list of possible
issues for AAUP to deal with during the next two years. Members are
encouraged to think about these issues and bring any additional issues
to the attention of the Chairs. The proposed issues are
(1) Merit pay. Dean Cucchi recently formed a committee to look
at merit pay but this committee was not directly elected. This raises
some concerns for AAUP about the process.
(2) Adjuncts. Given the discussion at the Retreat and at other venues,
AAUP should begin to look seriously of the issues involving adjuncts on
campus.
(3) Distance Learning. This is already begun at the Theological
School and is an issue on many college campuses throughout the country.
Drew AAUP should be prepared to deal with the issue as it relates to Drew
faculty. Fred also noted that the faculty personnel policy is out
so members should look at it carefully. Janus/depts/cladean/faculty
look here/proposed fac pers policy.wpd
(4) Announcements
a) Meetings will be on an alternating MW and TT schedule. The
next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, March 22, 2000 in UC 209-213.
b) A Drew AAUP website will be available soon.
c) Proposed Bylaws, based on national AAUP guidelines, were distributed for comment and approval at the next meeting.
d) Reminder of the special faculty meeting on compensation on Friday, February 25, 2000.
e) Forms are available for membership in AAUP. Please encourage your colleagues to join. Payroll deductions and decreases during sabbaticals make the dues nearly painless. Question: Has membership gone up? Answer: Yes, by about 10.
(5) New Business
a) A question was raised about AAUP support for the custodians in their
attempt to have safety issues addressed. Students are drafting a
statement about safety concerns on campus which will be circulated via
email to AAUP members for a vote of support.
b) Fred gave a brief report on the Town Meeting about the 2000-2001 budget on February 16, 2000. Attendance was light and there were no surprises in the presentation intended for the Trustees.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:03 pm.
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