It has not been a positive start to the fall semester at Texas A&M for some faculty members.
Comments from the September meeting of the A&M faculty senate began with speaker Dale Rice stating some educators who had not contracted COVID during the first two years of the pandemic have recently dealt with the virus.
Rice also brought up what has happened since the senate last month passed a resolution questioning the administration’s belief in the idea of shared governance with university educators. Rice says steps are starting in the right direction.
Rice was one of nine people with questions and comments about educators…including teaching assistants and graduate students…starting work in August but not getting paid until September.
In a related item, Rice responded to some faculty members who received an employment contract for the new school year while others did not. Rice said this may be the result of the university’s reorganization plan and is something Rice said he has repeatedly communicated to A and M’s new vice president of faculty affairs.
Another topic that drew comments from nine members of the faculty senate was A&M’s new fall semester schedule. Supporters and opponents talked about the fall semester starting on a Wednesday instead of a Monday, then having no classes on Labor Day for the first time in recent history, and taking a fall break.