By Derek Spellman
dspellman@joplinglobe.com
Hiring one-year contract and adjunct faculty members instead of tenure-track faculty will likely be among the discussion items brought before Missouri Southern State University’s Board of Governors this afternoon.
The meeting will be the board’s first since the faculty gave a no-confidence vote regarding President Bruce Speck’s leadership by a margin of 140 to 44 on Nov. 2. Faculty senate President Roger Chelf told the Globe earlier this week that his plans for the board meeting today are to officially report the results of that vote. He said he does not expect the board to make any decision today regarding the Nov. 2 vote.
Chelf said his report would highlight the issue of hiring one-year contract faculty as opposed to tenure-track faculty, a dominant topic during a series of meetings Speck held with faculty members in the week preceding the no-confidence vote.
Chelf said a number of faculty members are concerned about the impact of the hiring freeze on tenure-track positions. The tenure track, they said, helps attract more qualified applicants with the opportunity for long-term job security through tenure.
Otherwise, Chelf said, a number of applicants could spend their one year at Southern looking for a permanent position elsewhere.
“It’s beginning to get crucial here,” he said of what he sees as the need for tenure-track faculty.
Speck could not be reached for comment Thursday.
He told the Globe earlier in the week that some of the issues raised during his meetings with faculty members, including tenure-track hiring, tied in with the university’s financial resources. Missouri Southern next year is looking at a cut of about $1.2 million in state funding, and Speck said funding for higher education will further erode in 2012 when federal stimulus money runs out.
In his “Notes from the Prez,” which are included in the Board of Governors’ packet for today’s meeting, Speck cites the funding situation for higher education.
“The economic news for higher education in (fiscal 2011) and (fiscal 2012) is disheartening,” he wrote. “I suspect that we will take permanent cuts to our state appropriations in both years.”
Speck’s “Notes” also mention the “failed search” for a new vice president for academic affairs. Speck declared that search “failed” on Monday after the second of three finalists withdrew.
A phone message left for Rod Anderson, president of the Board of Governors, was not returned Thursday.
Other discussion items on the board’s agenda include possible dates for a board retreat, with suggested dates in late February.
The potential topics for that retreat include strategic planning, which could determine the future funding levels of the university’s international mission and other long-term funding priorities.
Chelf previously told the Globe that he thought the retreat, which he thought originally was to be in December, would be an “appropriate time” for the board to discuss the direction to take in the wake of the no-confidence vote. Ahead of the vote, a faculty senate committee formulated a list of 23 grievances against Speck, most having to do with his management style. The list was submitted to the Board of Governors, which instructed Speck to mend fences with the faculty. Chelf has said he does not think that is plausible.
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