Story by Ashley Traylor, Staff writer
During Tuesday’s Faculty Senate meeting, President Bob Davies was in favor of performance-based funding for Murray State but said it should be based on quality rather than solely on quantity.
A rumored payroll tax, a United Way campaign and senator reports were also discussed at the meeting.
PERFORMANCE FUNDING
Davies said performance funding will happen at Murray State. Beginning July 1, 2017, at least 5 percent of the budget will be performance-based funding, and the number is expected to grow in 2018.
Davies said he is not opposed to performance-based funding, but he said he believes that it should be a blend of quantity and quality.
“To be honest, I think we should meet some place in the middle,” Davies said. “I think numbers, number of graduates and things, are important, but they have to be based on quality.”
PAYROLL TAX
Davies said payroll tax is rumored to replace city stickers. Davies said he does not believe it helps, and it only harms. He encouraged everyone to contact all 12 city council members to express their opinions on the payroll tax, whether for or against it.
UNITED WAY CAMPAIGN
Gerald Washington, executive director of United Way, spoke briefly about the programs United Way provides, such as education, health and wellness and financial literacy. He said by providing these programs, our community can collectively be a solution to the problems in society.
United Way will have a campaign on campus Oct. 1-15, and they will be collecting money contributions.
REBRANDING
Adrienne King, vice president of university advancement, spoke about the university rebranding initiative. King said she met with focus groups, sent out surveys to current students, alumni, faculty, staff and parents of students and researched trends in enrollment. From there she created a situation analysis to evaluate the brand attributes of Murray State, that would lead into what is now “Opportunity Afforded.”
King said the shield was redesigned into a more simplified version that would realign with the rich history and tradition of Murray State.
King said their goal was to create a brand that was mobile and user friendly.
NEW MARKETING TOOLS
Other new changes to Murray State marketing include a View Book: Experience Piece, which is for students who show interest in Murray State. King said in the surveys sent out to students, alumni, faculty, staff and parents, the parents requested one publication that has all the information they need.
A parent communication piece is a new marketing tool to target students’ parents. The target cover letter will discuss the return on their student’s education investment. King said education is a family investment and they will receive return investment.
“If a student says ‘I might be interested in studying biology’, their parents are going to get a letter from an alum [sic] from the college of science and engineering and technology talking about what a worthwhile investment that was for them,” King said.
King said six outdoor ads have been posted from north of St. Louis to Bowling Green, Kentucky, to promote Murray State.
SENATOR REPORTS
The Faculty Senate is discussing flexible office hours for professors, but need to gather constituencies opinions to present to deans.
David Roach, Faculty Senate finance chair, said the finance committee is keeping cost of living adjustments in line with inflation. The committee is discussing how to handle merit raises, without cost of living adjustments being lost. He said the committee is evaluating summer to see if they can expand the amount of hours a professor can teach in the summer.
The Faculty Senate meets the first Tuesday of every month in the Barkley Lecture Room in the Curris Center. The next meeting will be Oct. 4.
