Erik,

I appreciate your message. I am not an alumnus of UTC. But I am a faculty
member who is working on his 30th year of teaching at this school. What
you describe is the typical pattern in the UT system. We have always been
an afterthought. This may sometimes work to our advantage, but, for the
life of me, I can't think of a single instance when this has been true.

The latest arrogance is the big salary increase, two/thirds of which went
to already highly paid UTK administrators. Very little went to faculty.
And this raise was only for UTK personnel. Not a dime came to UTC. This
story came out in our local newspaper and it still has me steaming.
Granted, most of the pay increase was generated by their higher tuition
increase than we imposed on our students. But it still says something
about how they are runing the system.

So my response to the leaflets enclosed in my pay envelope was the same as
yours. They found a resting place in the roundfile.

Mike Russell

On Fri, 29 Oct 1999, J Erik Gray wrote:

> I wanted to air a little something out on this gorgeous Friday afternoon, and
> hope you will understand where I am coming from on this.
>
> When I opened my paycheck envelope this afternoon, I sifted through all the
> inserts to find my paycheck. After finding my paycheck, I happened to see the
> "Crossroads" brochure, the same one (I thought) I got at home.
>
> You see, I am an alumnus of The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and
> was proud to see such a great brochure come to my house. The brochure
> featured UTC faculty salary ranges compared to our peer institutions and
> information about the Chattanooga effort.
>
> The brochure featured the endorsement of our new president, Dr. Gilley, our
> chancellor, Dr. Stacy and our SGA President, Eric Larson.  I read a nice form
> letter signed by the UTC Alumni Council President, Angelo Napolitano, and Mr.
> Larson. I promptly filled out the complimentary postcards, paid for the
> stamps and sent them to my legislators to "Take a Stand for UT."
>
> However, I was quite disappointed to see the information I got in my paycheck
> envelope was geared toward The University of Tennessee at Knoxville!  C'mon,
> people!  I could not believe I was reading a letter signed by the UTNAA
> President and the UT-Knoxville SGA President. Furthermore, the brochure
> featured faculty salary ranges for UTK and its peer institutions and was
> endorsed by UTK Chancellor Bill Snyder and some guy named Phillip Fulmer.
>
> I would like to think that if this campaign really meant something to the
> campaign managers, a little effort would have been made to insert the
> Chattanooga information in the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
> paycheck envelopes.
>
> I am a proud alumnus and proud to be working for my alma mater.
>
> And I proud to support such a much needed campaign for making The University
> of Tennessee a better place for all faculty, staff, students, alumni and
> friends.
>
> I hope you understand my frustration, but at the same time realize I am all
> for "Taking a Stand for UT."
>
> Sincerely,
> Erik Gray
> UTC '96
>