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MU faculty have voted overwhelmingly to ask University of Missouri President Mun Choi to reverse a decision that could cut tenured members’ salaries by up to 25%, according to a poll by the MU Faculty Council.
About 78% of poll participants voted in favor of a resolution calling for Choi to reverse his decision from May 2020 giving UM System chancellors power to reduce salaries, according to the poll results.
The poll was conducted online and, though it provides insight into faculty members’ attitudes on the issue, is not binding upon the MU administration.
Faculty members also voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution asking Choi to practice shared governance with faculty and publish any significant policy or procedural changes to faculty-accessible websites prior to their official adoption.
In an email to Faculty Council chair Kathleen Trauth, Choi said that while he appreciates the dedication of the faculty and staff, he will not be adopting their resolution reversing the authority to make tenured faculty pay cuts.
“Individuals who work for the university, whether faculty or staff, must fulfill important responsibilities that contribute to the mission of the university,” Choi said in the email.
The poll was conducted online Feb. 7 through Monday. The poll was sent to 2,229 faculty members, and 1,045 people responded, though not all participants answered both poll questions. On the resolution calling for a reversal of the pay cuts measure, the vote was 782 in favor of the resolution, 110 against and 112 participants abstaining.
The resolution calling for shared governance passed with 912 votes in support, 60 votes against and 73 abstentions.
The Faculty Council met again Thursday, and members discussed what to do next with the information from the polls. Some members favored doing more to publicize the poll results and to request further action from the MU administration.
“At yesterday afternoon’s Faculty Council meeting, representatives expressed a desire for an expanded response from President Choi to the recent poll results,” Trauth said Friday in an email.
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