Stephen,

Thank you for your thoughtful post on this complex and difficult  
issue. Of late I have been wrestling to reconcile my own deep rooted  
sense of institutional pride with the message implicit in the state's  
(and yes, the institution's) stance on faculty salary adjustments. I  
too found the recently distributed pledge card to be a kind of  
catalyst for introspection along these lines.

You are correct to acknowledge the layers of complexity that shroud  
the mechanics of this policy at the legislative, system, and  
institutional levels. This complexity makes it difficult to assign  
specific blame (I'm personally beginning to wonder whether the entire  
point of a legislative democracy is to obfuscate blame, but I'll save  
that for another time). Is the legislature to blame? The voting  
majority of the state of Tennessee? Is President Peterson to be  
blamed for presenting this as a viable model for compensation or is  
Peterson simply working to repair the low opinion of higher education  
held by the legislature through an ill-fitting corporate compensation  
model? Should our local administration be held accountable for not  
taking a more public stance on this issue?

Regardless, the end result (and it's inherent irony) is clearly  
articulated in the two cards that you have in hand. Through all of  
this, it's easy to draw the conclusion that this institution means  
much more to me than I to it, and to then recognize the the classic  
symptoms of a dysfunctional relationship. For all of this is,  
ultimately, about my relationship to this institution. Accordingly,  
my response is as emotional as it is rational.

Having said as much, I readily acknowledge all that UTC has done for  
me both personally and professionally, and for this I credit the  
close and rewarding working relationships with my colleagues in my  
department, my college, and my peers throughout this institution. I  
take great satisfaction from these relationships and a great deal of  
pride in the work of my department and of this institution IN THE  
FACE of a perpetual funding crisis.

A crisis which not only effects compensation, but everything we hope  
to accomplish as an academy.

A crisis which stunts our growth and obscures our vision.

So I've been carrying around my pledge card for a week or so now,  
wondering what to do with it and I'll be honest in saying that I have  
not yet decided. From what position will I be best able to advocate  
change? If I do give, I will be sure to direct my gift towards those  
things on this university that I can believe in absolutely. I will  
give in service to my department and to the students whom we strive  
to serve.

············

Matt Greenwell
Head, Department of Art
UT Chattanooga

www.utc.edu/art
423.425.4178 ph




On Jul 17, 2006, at 3:39 PM, Steve Kuhn wrote:

> I have in front of me two cards from the University of Tennessee.
>
> On the one card is a request to donate money to the university. I have
> donated money to the UTC Faculty & Staff Campaign for many, many  
> years and
> so my first reaction was to just continue my pledge from last year  
> into the
> coming year. However…
>
> On the other card is a description of the salary increases for  
> university
> faculty and staff which tells me that higher education employees  
> are less
> important to the state than other state workers. Those other state  
> employees
> will receive 3% increases (below the inflation rate), but the  
> overall raise
> pool for faculty is 2% (less than half the inflation rate); and,  
> worse,
> non-star faculty members should only expect 1% increases  
> (significantly
> below the inflation rate).
>
> I realize that the low overall percentage increases are due to the  
> action of
> the legislature and not the university. But the reduction of the  
> raises for
> merely “good” faculty to half of that percentage, already below the  
> increase
> in the cost of living, is only adding insult to injury. And this is  
> the
> result of a university decision.
>
> There are many considerations (including the fact that the state,  
> UT, and
> UTC are different entities) and I could go into much more detail  
> here but I
> think it best to jump to my conclusion.
>
> The state of Tennessee has inadequately funded higher education for  
> years,
> reflecting a continuing low opinion in the legislature of higher  
> education.
> What I hear from the university is that their commitment to me  
> amounts to a
> pay cut but that I should be sufficiently committed to the  
> university to
> contribute financially to the university – a contribution that the  
> state
> itself is unwilling to make beyond a bare minimum.
>
> Though I will continue to give my time and effort to my students  
> and to
> serve my department and university in as many ways as I can, I will  
> not make
> any additional monetary contributions to the university until the  
> state and
> university are willing to adequately fund and show appreciation for  
> the
> contributions of the faculty and staff who are at the heart of the
> university.
>
>
> _________________________________________
> Stephen Kuhn
> Mathematics Department #6956
> University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
> Chattanooga, TN 37403
>
> Office: EMCS 413-D
> Phone: 423-425-4577     FAX: 423-425-4586
> Email: [log in to unmask]
> URL: www.utc.edu/Faculty/Stephen-Kuhn
>
> * UTCSTAFF home page:  http://raven.utc.edu/archives/utcstaff.html *
> * unsubscribe:  mailto:[log in to unmask]  *
> *   subscribe:  mailto:[log in to unmask]    *
>


* UTCSTAFF home page:  http://raven.utc.edu/archives/utcstaff.html *
* unsubscribe:  mailto:[log in to unmask]  *
*   subscribe:  mailto:[log in to unmask]    *