Thanks for the copy of the report. I was disappointed that it provided so little new (i.e., not previously provided at the town meeting) information. However, given the poor turnout at that meeting, the report is very useful for those who were unable to attend. Would it be possible to make it more quantitative? Although I find the reasons for leaving to be very interesting, I would be more comfortable knowing how widespead a given concern was. Afterall, there will always be a few unhappy people.

A second shortcoming of this report is the failure to at least acknowledge the distinction between functional and dysfunctional turnover. Functional is when you lose people that the university is better off without. A third shortcoming of the report is it does not give credit to the administration and faculty at Truman for the initiatives that have been taken to address some of the concerns listed. For example, "Lack of family medical benefits" is being examined by my new sub-committee on faculty salaries. Jack and Garry are both very interested in learning about benefits at comparable schools. Although they may not have been in the past, they are now well aware of the hardship caused by the high health insurance premiums for families. "Low pay" has been addressed, to some degree, by writing a Mission Enhancement proposal that explicitly included increases to faculty salaries. We were the only state institution to do this. "Sabbatical and leave policy" has been somewhat revised in the past few years. I don't know how exactly but I am sure Garry would be willing to explain. "Personality Issues" is not under the control of the administration. [As I said in my reply to Teresa, when "personality issues" becomes a matter of extremely unethical and unprofessional conduct, the administration does have a duty and moral responsibility to control the situation. Transgressions of professional norms and responsibilities cannot be ignored by psychologizing them. And Teresa subsequently agreed with me. Note by Keith Doubt] I also want to voice a personal frustration that I have with some of the AAUP's reports on this campus. There seems to be a tendency to condemn "the administration" for their failure to deal with certain problems on our campus. In my experience, Garry and Jack are extremely receptive to concerns raised by faculty. In my opinion, we, the faculty, share some of the blame, with the administration, when it comes to facing problems here.Why don't faculty use their elected representatives more often? If someone has a concern, why does it show up in Garry's or Jack's evaluation but nothing is said to the undergraduate council rep. or faculty senator. Faculty Senate is the elected voice of the faculty. In my experience, albeit limited, the administration is very interested in faculty input and opinions. However, getting some faculty to serve on committees to address issues is often quite difficult. On the other hand, we see the same faculty members serving repeatedly on several committees. In addition, I have been surprised by how little Faculty Senate has been used for faculty issues outside of curriculum approval. In a nutshell, I am frustrated by those who gripe but are not willing to do anything to change the situation. (I am happy to say that AAUP members on this campus do NOT fall into this category.) I am also uncomfortable by statements that reinforce an "us-them" thinking when it comes to faculty "versus" administration. As a social psychologist, I am sure you are familiar with the literature demonstrating that this thinking is related to prejudice.

Please understand that my comments are not meant to say that I don't take these concerns (i.e., reasons for leaving) seriously. I will do what I can to address them. However, I am only one person and can only stretch my resources so far. If you can get other Faculty Senators, UGC reps, AAUP members, and/or other members of the faculty involved in solving these problems, I would be grateful. I will share the report, via e-mail with the Faculty Senate and members of the Executive Committee.

Thanks for all you do for Truman. This information reported at the town meeting and again in this report is very valuable. These forums encourage us to take an honest appraisal of life at Truman and determine ways to improve 'living conditions.' Feel free to share this response with AAUP members.

-- Anonymous, January 14, 2000