Ohio University’s Faculty Senate convened Monday night, bringing updates on faculty compensation, admissions statistics and the election of new officers to the senate floor.
Associate Provost for Faculty and Academic Planning Howard Dewald made several announcements prior to the bulk of the meeting that occurred Monday night, including a discussion of admissions statistics.
OU had 20,777 applications, which Dewald said was 174 more than the 2012-13 academic year applicant pool. Within the applicants, there were 15,113 admitted into the university.
“This is a record number of applications,” he said. “Our quality is maintained.”
Despite the university’s growth in applicant numbers, there were unhappy murmurings from various senators as time passed when conversation shifted to faculty compensation.
The Implementation Plan on Faculty Compensation was read twice, with an explanation that faculty salaries have not kept up with inflation, and that many salaries have been below its value, according to the senate agenda.
“Our performance put us in the top three (of the state),” said Ben Stuart, chair of the Finance and Facilities Committee within Faculty Senate. “Why are we getting compensated like we’re in the bottom three?”
Stuart presented the resolution and communicated to the senators present in the room regarding rising health care benefit costs and the Provost Office’s apparent rapid distribution of funds without consultation of the senate.
Dewald said during the meeting that the distribution of funds from the raise pool would be left in the discretion of each college’s respective deans.
“It’s left up to the deans to determine the distribution,” he added.
The plan would attempt to correct the loss of faculty salaries that many faculty members experienced under financial strain OU experienced during the recession.
Outgoing Faculty Senate Chairwoman Elizabeth Sayrs then began elections for the new officers of senate.
Beth Quitslund, from the College of Arts and Sciences was elected as new chair, David Thomas from the College of Fine Arts was reelected to vice chair and Katie Hartman from the College of Business was chosen for secretary.
Quitslund expressed her excitement for being elected into her position, and she said she hopes to carry on Faculty Senate in the years to come.
“It’s a great honor and a large responsibility,” she said.
Editor's note: a previous version of this article incorrectly stated this meeting was Faculty Senate's last for the year.
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