Ohio University’s Board of Trustees visited Faculty Senate on Monday night to acknowledge their concerns.
Faculty Senate Chairwoman Elizabeth Sayrs collected questions from OU faculty to ask Board Chair Sandra Anderson and Vice Chair David Brightbill.
Some of faculty’s popular questions sent via email included those concerning faculty compensation, the diminishing number of Group I tenure-track faculty, the difference between faculty and lower-level administrator pay rates and the funding structure of Intercollegiate Athletics which is supported by students’ general fees.
“There’s a number of benefits that you see from athletics. It is true that it’s very rare in the intercollegiate athletic programs that they can sustain themselves, so it has to be through student’s (general) fees,” Anderson said.
In order to explain the Board’s priorities, Anderson placed the Senate’s concerns in the context of the board’s committee meetings and explained the board’s role as representatives of Ohio citizens.
“I don’t think they answered any questions specifically, but they acknowledged the issues that were raised,” said David Carr, a professor of recreation and sport pedagogy. “I think they’re aware of the things that are going on.”
The board uses data to analyze the state of the university, and Anderson said they would be looking for follow-up information, specifically from the faculty compensation task force, to provide options to increase OU’s standards of faculty total compensation.
“I know (the salary pool increase) is not as much as we’d all like to have and we’d all like to give you, but that’s at least a step in the right direction,” Anderson said.
Once the floor opened for discussion, Anderson looked to senators’ responses for a gauge of faculty morale.
“Complaints get swept under the rug,” said Bill Reader, associate professor of journalism. “That is affecting morale more than compensation. I don’t think the people know what’s going on down in the trenches.”
Although Sayrs said she was not able to ask every question from the faculty to the trustees, she compiled a list of the all faculty questions some of which were discussed before the meeting.
The trustees’ responses will be displayed on Faculty Senate’s website.
dk12311@ohiou.edu
@DanielleRose84
