Dear Colleagues:

Our Board of Governors met this past weekend under the leadership of Nancy Gingrich, Board Chair.  Board members participated in a working session, committee meetings, a tour of the Kirk Building renovation, and their regular board meeting.

2025 Board Officers and Committee Membership
The Board elected officers and assigned committee membership for the 2025 calendar year.  New officers who will take office for one year commencing at the first regular meeting of the calendar year are Philip J. Christofferson, Chair; William B. Lovegreen, Vice Chair; and Jennifer Kopp Dameron, Secretary.

2025 Salary Policies 
Salary policies for the 2025 calendar year were approved.  The approved salary increases take effect January 1, 2025, for employees on the payroll as of that date unless a previous employment agreement indicates otherwise.

The Faculty Compensation Committee made several recommendations regarding full-time faculty salaries designed to make Truman’s compensation policies more competitive.  The primary focus for 2025 is raising starting salaries.  Utilizing data from a national survey, the committee recommended several steps to make faculty starting salaries more competitive and establish salary floors for each rank and appointment type.  For non-tenure track faculty, the minimum increase is $1,500, and the maximum raise is $9,450.  The minimum increase for tenure track and tenured faculty is $1,500, and the maximum raise is $3,700.  Both maximum raises result in faculty of all ranks and appointment types reaching their respective salary floors.  The Board will consider faculty promotion adjustments at the June 2025 meeting.

In terms of staff salaries, our approach is to either apply across-the-board increases to raise the lowest staff salaries more significantly or percentage increases to ensure that those with higher staff salaries do not always receive relatively small increases.  After two years of percentage increases, for January 2025, the increases for staff will follow the goal of raising the lowest staff salaries more significantly.  Full-time exempt and salaried/comp time eligible staff will receive an annual increase of $2,180.  Current non-exempt staff starting salaries, not covered by the hourly schedule, will receive an increase of $1.05 per hour.  All starting salaries will be $15 per hour or higher.

Each employee’s Employee Position and Composition Information, found on TruView under Employee Tools, will be updated after the first of the year.  Faculty will receive an email from Provost Freedman reflecting the amount that their base salary will increase.  For questions, staff should contact Payroll, while faculty should contact the Provost Office.

Housing and Meal Plan Charges
Housing and meal plan charges effective with the 2025 Fall Semester were approved.  The Board approved an average increase of 4.5% for apartment and single and double room rates and an increase of 4% for meal plans.  The most common combination students select is a double occupancy room with a 15 meals/week board plan.  The overall increase proposed for this configuration is 4.3%.  These increases will keep Truman’s meal plan prices competitive with other colleges and universities in the region while offsetting increased costs related to utilities, salaries, and fringe benefits for staff.

McKinney Center and Blanton-Nason-Brewer Annex Demolition Project

The McKinney Center and Blanton-Nason-Brewer Annex Demolition Project was approved.  The McKinney Center will be vacant after the completion of the Kirk Building project, and the BNB Annex has been utilized for storage for many years.  Funds are available from the state appropriation for the Kirk Building project.

Abatement and Remediation of McKinney Center and Blanton-Nason-Brewer Annex Project

As part of the demolition process for the McKinney Center and the Blanton-Nason-Brewer Annex, abatement remediation must be performed in the structures.  The board approved this work, which will occur in the mid-spring semester after functions in these buildings have been relocated.  Funds for this project are available from the state appropriation for the Kirk Building project.

HVAC Upgrades Phase 2 Construction Project
The board approved the second phase of the HVAC Upgrades project, which includes work in several locations.  The cooling tower at Pickler Memorial Library, HVAC valves in multiple locations, and the boiler and gas line at Barnett Hall will be replaced.  Funds are available from the FY2025 state appropriations for HVAC improvements and local capital improvement funds.

Professional Leaves
The Board approved faculty sabbaticals for the 2025-26 Academic Year.  Please join me in congratulating the following faculty members.  We look forward to hearing about the impactful outcomes of their sabbatical work.

2025-26 Academic Year
Joanna Hubbard, Associate Professor of Biology
Laura Naioti, Associate Professor of Art
Torbjorn Wandel, Professor of History

2025 Fall Semester
Rebecca Dierking, Professor of English Education
Oscar Sendon, Associate Professor of Spanish

2026 Spring Semester
Dean DeCock, Professor of Statistics

Finally, regarding reports, Enliven Agency, Inc. provided an update on Truman’s marketing strategy at the working session.  During the board meeting, Kerrion Dean provided the annual Staff Council report, and I offered a President’s Report.  Within my report, I highlighted work being done in anticipation of the upcoming Higher Learning Commission (HLC) Open Pathway Comprehensive Evaluation Team Visit scheduled for March 24-25.  I reported on my recent trip to Washington, D.C., where I met with various members of Congress and/or their staff, the continued work of the House Interim Committee on Higher Education Workgroup, and the status of various on-campus searches.  Finally, I noted the Bulldog football program’s return to America’s Crossroads Bowl and that two Truman Theater productions, The Rocky Horror Show and Ride the Cyclone, are being considered to perform at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre festival in January.  Committee meetings included a review of financial reports and status reports on enrollment, student engagement, career services, international education, study abroad, and construction projects.

A copy of the open session agenda can be found on the Board of Governors website.  The next regular meeting of the Board of Governors is scheduled for Saturday, February 8, 2025.

I wish you a fantastic end to the semester and a joyful holiday season!

All the best,
Sue