Faculty concerns were addressed by the chair and vice chair of the Board of Trustees, and faculty heard results of a 2014 survey.
The two leaders of the Ohio University Board of Trustees addressed any questions Faculty Senate members had for the board Monday night before their formal meeting next week.
Board Chair Sandra Anderson and Vice Chair David Wolfort took questions from faculty concerning their pay and cuts in staff.
Although administrative positions make up 42 percent of the university’s employees and faculty accounts for 24 percent, administrative salaries makes up 34 percent of the budget for employee pay, while faculty pay accounts for 41 percent, according to the board’s records.
The representatives also reported that the university is above the national average when it comes to full-time faculty positions.
The representatives also addressed questions on how the university plans to pay for the decay of campus buildings. Anderson said the board knows the deterioration of campus buildings will be an ongoing problem, and they have a plan to address it.
“We are a vintage campus,” Anderson said. “We’ve visited the basement of Alden Library and saw the boilers and chillers being held together with chewing gum.”
Anderson said improvements will be paid for by the Century Bond, a $250 million bond meant for construction projects that will be paid off over the next 100 years.
The Campus Climate Task Force Report revealed a gap between what the administration and faculty are trying to do, said Valerie Young, a professor of chemical engineering.
The Campus Climate Task Force was created to develop recommendations based on the data from a 2014 survey of OU employees in the spring of 2014 intended to make recommendations improving work place climate at Ohio University.
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According to the survey, the people who work at OU take pride in the mission of the university. There is also a strong sense of community within the departments of the university, Young said.
The survey did show the faculty’s areas of concern with their work place as well.
One of these concerns was with the evaluation of individual employees and whether they are rewarded or held accountable for their performance. Another concern was that the actions of different departments are often in conflict with each other, Young said.
Many of the recommendations expand on actions that are already being done to improve faculty moral, Young said.
“They are already being done, but that does not necessarily mean they are being done effectively, or that they are being done well,” Young said.
The next steps for the task force are to form three committees which will report annually to senates and the provost.
On behalf of the Finance and Facilities Committee, Joe McLaughlin, the committee's chair and a professor of English said they are working with the Graduate Student Senate to settle their current concerns.
The meeting ended with the approval of a resolution to allow qualifications for promotion of Group Two, or teaching faculty, that are beyond the basic procedures in the Faculty Handbook.
@KyraCobbie
kc036114@ohio.edu
