Dear Colleagues:<\/p>\n
Our Board of Governors met this past weekend under the leadership of Nancy Gingrich, Board Chair.\u00a0 Board members participated in a working session, committee meetings, a\u00a0tour of the Kirk Building renovation, and their regular board meeting.<\/p>\n
2025 Board Officers and Committee Membership<\/u>
\nThe Board elected officers and assigned committee membership for the 2025 calendar year.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
2025 Salary Policies<\/u>\u00a0
\n<\/u>Salary policies for the 2025 calendar year were approved.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
The Faculty Compensation Committee made several recommendations regarding full-time faculty salaries designed to make Truman\u2019s compensation policies more competitive.\u00a0 The primary focus for 2025 is raising starting salaries.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 For non-tenure track faculty, the minimum increase is $1,500, and the maximum raise is $9,450.\u00a0 The minimum increase for tenure track and tenured faculty is $1,500, and the maximum raise is $3,700.\u00a0 Both maximum raises result in faculty of all ranks and appointment types reaching their respective salary floors.\u00a0 The Board will consider faculty promotion adjustments at the June 2025 meeting.<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Full-time exempt and salaried\/comp time eligible staff will receive an annual increase of $2,180.\u00a0 Current non-exempt staff starting salaries, not covered by the hourly schedule, will receive an increase of $1.05 per hour.\u00a0 All starting salaries will be $15 per hour or higher.<\/p>\n
Each employee\u2019s Employee Position and Composition Information, found on TruView under Employee Tools, will be updated after the first of the year.\u00a0 Faculty will receive an email from Provost Freedman reflecting the amount that their base salary will increase.\u00a0 For questions, staff should contact Payroll, while faculty should contact the Provost Office.<\/p>\n
Housing and Meal Plan Charges<\/u>
\nHousing and meal plan charges effective with the 2025 Fall Semester were approved.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 The most common combination students select is a double occupancy room with a 15 meals\/week board plan.\u00a0 The overall increase proposed for this configuration is 4.3%.\u00a0 These increases will keep Truman\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
McKinney Center and Blanton-Nason-Brewer Annex Demolition Project<\/u><\/p>\n
The McKinney Center and Blanton-Nason-Brewer Annex Demolition Project was approved.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Funds are available from the state appropriation for the Kirk Building project.<\/p>\n
Abatement and Remediation of McKinney Center and Blanton-Nason-Brewer Annex Project<\/u><\/p>\n
As part of the demolition process for the McKinney Center and the Blanton-Nason-Brewer Annex, abatement remediation must be performed in the structures.\u00a0 The board approved this work, which will occur in the mid-spring semester after functions in these buildings have been relocated. \u00a0Funds for this project are available from the state appropriation for the Kirk Building project.<\/p>\n
HVAC Upgrades Phase 2 Construction Project
\n<\/u>The board approved the second phase of the HVAC Upgrades project, which includes work in several locations.\u00a0 The cooling tower at Pickler Memorial Library, HVAC valves in multiple locations, and the boiler and gas line at Barnett Hall will be replaced. \u00a0Funds are available from the FY2025 state appropriations for HVAC improvements and local capital improvement funds.<\/p>\n
Professional Leaves<\/u>
\nThe Board approved faculty sabbaticals for the 2025-26 Academic Year.\u00a0 Please join me in congratulating the following faculty members.\u00a0 We look forward to hearing about the impactful outcomes of their sabbatical work.<\/p>\n
2025-26 Academic Year
\nJoanna Hubbard, Associate Professor of Biology
\nLaura Naioti, Associate Professor of Art
\nTorbjorn Wandel, Professor of History<\/p>\n
2025 Fall Semester
\nRebecca Dierking, Professor of English Education
\nOscar Sendon, Associate Professor of Spanish<\/p>\n
2026 Spring Semester
\nDean DeCock, Professor of Statistics<\/p>\n