© 2024 University of Missouri - KBIA
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

MU Chancellor Touts Working Groups as a Way Forward After Climate Survey

Adam Procter
/
Flickr

MU is addressing the chief frustrations raised by faculty, staff and students in a fall 2016 campus climate survey — including low salaries and lack of institutional support — by forming working groups.

The groups — one for MU faculty, one for staff, and another of students — will begin meeting this month.

Each group is tasked with finding three to five actions they can commit to accomplishing in the next year in response to some of the concerns raised in the survey. Provost Garnett Stokes will lead the faculty work group.

MU Chancellor Alexander Cartwright made the announcement Wednesday to a room of about 90 at a fall general faculty meeting.
In addition to the specific concerns, 60 percent of faculty respondents in the survey said they had seriously considered leaving MU, and more than half of that group cited pay as a reason.

“Things have gotten a little bit too far out of balance,” Faculty Council on University Policy chair Bill Wiebold said. “It’s one thing to say that faculty salaries are a priority. It’s another thing to make them a priority.”

After presenting the plan, Cartwright took questions from those in attendance.

Stephanie Shonekan, an associate professor of ethnomusicology and the chair of the Black Studies Department, asked why the university recently hired branding agency 160over90 for a $1.3 million, three-year contract. She and her colleagues were disturbed by the news, especially amid budget cuts that caused some of their peers lose their jobs. She said it hurt to hear that they needed to be repackaged by someone who does not know them.

“We are not sure what’s wrong with our brand,” Shonekan said.

Cartwright assured Shonekan that the branding agency will tell stories that reflect what MU already is.

“They don’t define our brand,” Cartwright said. “We define our brand.”
Shonekan later said she appreciated Cartwright’s answer and understood the importance of getting the message out about MU, though she still believes help may be right in front of the university.

“We have so many experts here that could work on telling that story,” Shonekan said.

Peter Vallentyne, who is the Florence G. Kline professor in the Philosophy Department, asked why faculty meetings were not dedicated to talking about concrete issues and how to address them. He was met with applause from the crowd. Cartwright responded that he would personally work alongside Wiebold to open up the format of future faculty meetings to allow for more direct feedback. He added that working groups are a key component to facilitating conversation.

“I’m a big believer in understanding what the problems are,” Cartwright said. “Unless we get them out there, we can’t solve them.”

Supervising editor is Dylan Jackson