All faculty are invited to meet with Faculty and Staff Search Committee Members, and UK Faculty Trustees. Please mark your calendar for Wednesday 26 April, 3:30 -- 5:00, Whitehall CB 106. The choice of the next president might be the most important decision made at UK this decade. So far it is going our way. We know this is the end of the semester and you're busy, but please consider how much large attendance and good ideas might mean to the process of choosing the next President, and how much a good choice would positively affect all of us.
 

Your Health: Prices UP, Care DOWN.
UK-AAUP to take on those who administer our "Benefits"

Every year UK tells us about our pay raises but says nothing about pay cuts. However, it was hard to miss this year’s pay cut in the recently arrived Benefits Booklet.

What were those cuts? To start with our health insurance coverage diminished dramatically due to about doubling of the annual deductible. This comes on top of recent increases in drug co-payments.

We have less coverage, but substantially higher premiums. It is true that medical costs are going up, but at a fraction of the rate of our premium increases. From February 1997 to February 2000, medical expenditures rose 10.3% on the Consumer Price Index. In comparison the UKHMO premium increased 30% from 1997 to 2000-01 for coverage for an employee and spouse and 33% for those with family coverage. (UK says it spends $182.95 for individual UKHMO coverage, a 27% increase over the premium it said it paid in 1997.) The premium increase for Option 2000 coverage has been even more outrageous: 45% for individuals, 57% to include a spouse, and 80% for family coverage.

Despite the high cost of our health insurance, the Chapter’s 1998 survey showed that none of the offered plans meet faculty needs for dependents living elsewhere or faculty engaged in sabbatical, summer or other extended stays outside Kentucky.

President Wethington’s contract provides full payment for family health insurance of his choice. Perhaps faculty will do better if the new President receives the same benefits options as the rest of us! (See the 1988 study on our web page: www.uky.edu/OtherOrgs/AAUP. The address is case sensitive; use lower case and capital letters where shown.)

Alvin Goldman, College of Law
 

The Summer of Our Discontent
Report available (free) on the events of the Wethington
non-reappointment and the subsequent UK-BoT transformation

UK-AAUP has prepared a brief report on the events of last summer and fall that resulted in the UK Board rescinding its decision on re-appointing Dr. Wethington for an additional two years and the installation of a new set of officers. It is available on the UK-AAUP web page (www.uky.edu/OtherOrgs/AAUP) or, if you want a paper copy, e-mail kennedy@pop.uky.edu.
 

Detailed UK Salary Report Available
Salaries at the Departmental Level Published by UK-AAUP

The standard salary report (approximately 50 pages) that UK-AAUP provides each year will be available for sale at the 26 April All-Faculty Meeting. The cost is $3.00 for AAUP members, $5.00 otherwise.
 

We Support the "No-Sweat" Students

This resolution was passed unanimously by the UK-AAUP Executive Committee: "We join in Dr. Wethington’s statement of being heartened by the recent student group expression of concern about the welfare of workers. We are disappointed, however, that the Administration did not show greater patience before calling in law enforcement authorities to end the sit-in which, at most, caused only marginal inconvenience or disruption."
 

Appoint A New Permanent Chancellor Now?
We Don't Think So. UK-AAUP, Senate Council, Senate,
and Emeriti Faculty Blunt the Attempt.

The following is an excerpt of the resolution adopted by the Executive Committee UK-AAUP on 28 February 2000:

"In ordinary circumstances, because of the Chancellor's very important role, the appointment of a new Chancellor requires a careful national search to identify the very best qualified candidates. Such a search cannot be accomplished in the few months proposed by Dr. Wethington. Moreover, even after a thorough search for a new Chancellor, it would be unwise to make such an appointment under the present circumstances in which the University is in the midst of a search for a new President because it would seriously encumber the new President's ability to assemble his or her cabinet of choice. Indeed, such poorly timed action undoubtedly would discourage many fine potential candidates from being available for either office at this university."

A copy of the complete resolution was sent to each Trustee individually. The cover letter said in part:

"We are taking the unusual step of sending you a resolution, passed unanimously by the AAUP Executive Committee, because . . . this issue is of great concern to the UK faculty. We sincerely hope that you can take action to defuse this situation. We cannot understand why Dr. Wethington would presume to appoint a permanent chancellor in his last year in office and we hope the Board will prevent him from doing so."

The complete text of the resolution and the cover letter are available on the UK-AAUP web site: www.uky.edu/OtherOrgs/AAUP. It now seems unlikely that a new Chancellor will be named this summer.
 

"Post-Tenure" Review

The Tenured Faculty Review and Development Policy, passed by the University Senate and containing amendments proposed by UK-AAUP, is now in the hands of the Administration. There is currently no word as to when it will be presented to the University Board of Trustees by the President's Office. However, the Policy's Implementation" section states:

"This policy is submitted for administrative review with the formal condition that any substantive change in the policy nullifies Senate approval and requires reconsideration by the full Senate. Effective Implementation is Fall 2000."

Printed copies of the ten-page policy may be obtained from AAUP for $0.50 at the 26 April All-Faculty Meeting. Or print from the UK-AAUP web page: www.uky.edu/OtherOrgs/AAUP. Or obtain an E-mailed copy, in MS Word format, free. Request from kennedy@pop.uky.edu.
 

In This Critical Year, Join AAUP for Half Price
An Offer You Can Refuse But Probably Shouldn't

Seventeen cents a day gets you membership in national AAUP (including the publication Academe and a number of other benefits), the Kentucky Conference, and UK-AAUP. The most critical decision UK will make in years -- the choice of a President -- is coming up quickly. UK-AAUP intends to make the voice of the faculty heard. We need your ideas, your help, and your membership. You can pay the $60 ($30 for non-tenured faculty) for the year in a lump sum or have $5 ($2.50) per month deducted from your checking account. (We did have a UK payroll deduction program but UK cancelled that because of its fear of unions.) To join please e-mail kennedy@pop.uky.edu or call 257-6494.

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CAMPUS
UK-AAUP
P.O. Box 730
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