President's Column
Weathering Rough Market Conditions
Advancing the Profession - Call for Papers
Sunset Commission Recommendations
Association for Texas University Professionals
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July/August/September 2002 Vol. LV No. 1 |
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President's Column
My last column was a response to a lapsed TACT member who was wondering why he should rejoin. In this column I want to respond to several faculty members who have asked, “Why should I join TACT and not another faculty organization?” At the outset, let me say that if you are not going to join TACT, I believe you need to join some faculty organization. Through these organizations Texas faculty work together for the betterment of our profession. However, I also believe that there are several reasons why TACT is the best faculty organization for you to join.
First, university faculty account for the nearly all of TACT members. Other faculty organizations in the state have more members from community college faculty and public school teachers than university faculty. This makes a big difference when it comes to some key higher education issues. For example, TACT has taken a clear stand against the transferrable core and the transferrable fields of study that were supported by many community colleges. Another Texas faculty organization has been silent on those two issues because it could not risk alienating its community college members. The interests of the university faculty members of that organization were sacrificed for the interests of community college members. TACT does not have to pick and choose between competing member interests because we represent only the interests of university faculty.
Second, TACT has a strong, responsive, and effective legislative program. One well known national faculty organization has no professional staff working to represent the interests of its members in the Texas legislature. TACT’s Executive Director, Chuck Hempstead, works closely with TACT members and officers to develop our legislative program. Every TACT member has the opportunity to give input into the legislative program, ensuring that we develop legislative priorities that reflect the concerns and interests of our members. Chuck also works closely with legislators and their staffs to promote TACT’s legislative program. A good example of Chuck’s effectiveness in the legislative process can be found in his actions in reshaping legislation on Post Tenure Review. Chuck worked with Representative Henry Cuellar and his staff to incorporate protections for faculty rights and due process in the Post Tenure Review Legislation. I have walked the halls of the State Capitol Building with Chuck on many occasions and on each visit it is clear that Chuck is well respected by members of the Legislature and their staffs. Not all faculty organizations have staff who are so well received at the Capitol. TACT is lucky to have Chuck on our team and as a TACT member you have Chuck working for you.
Third, membership in TACT is a bargain. Membership in one state faculty organization costs $264 for a first time member and then goes to $356 after the first year. Liability insurance is included in the membership for that organization. The well known national faculty organization costs $146 for membership and liability insurance. Regular membership in TACT costs just $90 and with professional liability insurance membership is just $139. TACT is your best value, and when you consider the benefits of a strong legislative program, regular legislative alerts, the quarterly bulletin, the annual ORP analysis, the Academic Freedom Defense Fund, and liability insurance then TACT membership is the clear choice.
As I said earlier, if you are not going to join TACT, you need to join some faculty organization. However, I believe when you compare faculty organizations you will find that TACT is the best choice for any university faculty member in Texas.
New clothes shopping. Packing. Saying goodbye to friends and family for the first time. Heading off to campus. Meeting the roommate. Standing in line (registration, financial aid, work-study). Signing up for placement tests. Purchasing textbooks. We can still recall these rights of passage into college—provoking nostalgia tinted with both anxiety and anticipation. For students headed off to college in Texas, preparations also include assessing in reading, writing, and mathematics to determine if they are prepared for college-level work. For many of those students, that assessment takes the form of the Texas Academic Skills Program (TASP®) Test.
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board is the agency that oversees the TASP program, and has contracted with National Evaluation Systems, Inc. (NES®) to provide the TASP Test since its inception in 1989. The TASP Test assesses the reading, mathematics, and writing skills entering freshman-level students should have if they are to perform effectively in undergraduate certificate or degree programs in Texas public colleges and universities. The program also provides for developmental education for those who need to improve their skills. Over the years, TASP has continuously evolved to serve the changing needs of the students and the Texas higher education institutions. Throughout those changes, its purpose has been constant. The TASP is a program of assessment and developmental education focused on long-term student success. TASP has involved thousands of Texas educators, improved the chances of success for tens of thousands of college students, and has contributed to the educational programs of numerous institutions in Texas.
What are some of the unique components of the TASP Test?
Access to testing. TASP puts a premium on access to the test. The test is offered in a variety of settings. The state-administered TASP test is offered six times per year, corresponding with the registration cycles at the colleges and universities. Students may register for the state-administered TASP Test up to three days before the test. Colleges and universities needing additional flexibility also offer the Quick TASP Test on schedules determined by their individual institution calendar. The flexibility provided by Quick TASP has made it the fastest-growing testing component of the TASP. The TASP Computer-Administered Test (TASP CAT) is also offered on a weekly basis at twelve centers across the state. Students may register in advance up to 4 P.M. the day before the TASP CAT.
Score reporting. Timely score reporting is another key feature of the TASP. Students have the opportunity to select their test administration format based on their deadline for test scores. For the state-administered test, involving tens of thousands of students on a single test date, scores are delivered ten working days from the test date. Preliminary Quick TASP scores, consisting of math and reading scores and a writing multiple-choice score, are delivered by NES within 24 hours of receiving the test documents. Final Quick TASP scores are guaranteed within 5 working days of NES’s receipt of the writing answer document. Students who take the TASP CAT get preliminary scores on the reading and math sections immediately, and are sent a final score report within a week of the test.
The delivery of scores to institutions of higher education is another key element of the TASP Test. Institutions need a comprehensive database of their scores so they can place and monitor students appropriately and effectively. How are TASP scores delivered? Institution scores are delivered via a unique Internet-based TASP Test Score Distribution System (SDS). The SDS allows institutions instantaneous access to scores the moment they become available. Scores are delivered in both roster format and in an ASCII format that can be uploaded into the institution database. The SDS also provides access to the complete statewide TASP Test score database. This means that students transferring between institutions of higher education can request that the institution access their test scores, or students returning to school can provide a record of their TASP history. There is no fee to the institution to utilize the TASP SDS.
What is included in the test scores? The TASP Test measures a set of college-level skills in reading, mathematics, and writing. These skills were developed by committees of Texas college and university educators and are deemed important to the success of entering freshman in college-level courses. In addition to an overall scaled score and passing status, students are provided with descriptive information related to each of the tested TASP Test skills. The descriptive information is provided to both the student and their higher education institution, facilitating placement in appropriate developmental education courses.
High school reporting. At the close of each academic year, performance for graduating students from each Texas public high school who have taken the TASP Test is sent by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to all public high school districts. This information provides feedback to the public schools on areas of strength and weakness for students graduating from their high school and entering college. In addition, all public high schools in Texas have access to the TASP Score Distribution System. This facilitates the enrollment of students into concurrently enrolled or dual-credit programs.
Publications. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and NES are committed to providing updated information about program changes and test content. In addition to a comprehensive study guide and an annual registration bulletin, NES maintains a Web site at www.tasp.nesinc.com. A full-length practice test is available on this Web site at no charge.
A Faculty Manual, describing how to use TASP Test score reports, may obtained on the Web or ordered by writing NES at the address listed below. There is no fee for this publication.
A campus version of the TASP Test is available. The Pre-TASP Test (PTT®) may be used to support placement decisions. The PTT can help identify students who need special attention. Aggregated results of the PTT can also be used by administrators in making decisions about the types of programs that would benefit their students.
We encourage your feedback about the TASP program. Please feel free to contact us at:
TASP Program
TASP test dates. Recently, National Evaluation Systems surveyed institution personnel regarding their preference for TASP test dates. The dates for the 2002-03 and 2003-04 testing year are as follows:
For those who enjoy the elections side of policy-making, this fall will be an interesting political season. The traditional “most expensive governor’s race in history” line is an understatement this time, and the Legislature will be led by a new Lt. Governor and possibly Speaker of the House. In other words, it is possible that the three most powerful state officials could all be rookies as they face an enormous budget crunch.
And if we have a new Speaker, to be determined by the relative success of Republican candidates in the November general elections, we will also see wholesale House Committee chairmanship changes on top of Appropriations Chair Rob Junell’s retirement.
Additionally, what had been rumor is now making the papers: that the often-cited $5 to $6 billion revenue shortfall may balloon to $10 billion if the economy doesn’t rebound sooner rather than later. Bad things happened to higher education funding during the last recession and we must begin now to prevent such measures as flat salaries, retirement funding cuts, more expensive insurance, reduced travel and equipment budgets, and hiring freezes.
We must redouble our efforts to get to know our local officials and let them know how important higher education is to the state’s future. Make a small campaign contribution. Host a TACT candidate forum before the election or a luncheon for the winner after the election. Write a letter to your state senator reminding him of the large student enrollment increase last year and that the state’s efforts in “Closing the Gaps” requires continued funding increases or quality will diminish and the best students will leave the state, many never to return according to statistics.
We are starting to see a renewed interest in our issue to provide 8.5 percent employer contributions to all participants of the Optional Retirement Program, not just those hired before 1995. Because of the projected tight budget session coming up, our new strategy is to not ask for additional state funding, but to provide permissive legislation for institutions to be able to use “local and other funds” to make up the difference between the state’s 6 percent and the 8.5 percent target. Several university presidents have indicated to us that they would try to find the funds if it were permissible in order to eliminate the current inequity and assist with faculty recruiting. Please show this to your colleagues hired in the past seven years. They should join TACT in these efforts and contact their legislators to generate support. It could mean a six-figure difference in their retirement.
During the summer board meeting, TACT decided that, for the next year, the Bulletins will be offered electronically. Reasons include saving money, the ability to forward them to potential members, more directly pointing people to our web site, and cataloguing them for future reference on the web site. If you have not been receiving our TACT First Alert emails, you won’t be receiving the Bulletin unless you provide your email address to us or look at it on the web. If you would prefer to receive a photocopied version mailed to you, please let us know. At this time, plans are to remain with a printed version for the larger Back-to-School issue, which includes the ORP Study.
Several years ago the TACT Quarterly Bulletin provided a questionnaire to the candidates for Texas Governor and Lt. Governor on higher education issues. It was particularly well received by readers and is repeated here. Of the four major party candidates, three are represented.
Question 1. Despite the burgeoning Texas population creating additional public service demands, the popularly-quoted figure is that the next Legislature may face a $5 billion budget shortfall. With such a shortfall, how can state officials pursue such goals as that of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in its report “Closing the Gaps” to enhance participation, success, excellence and research?
Perry:
Higher education will continue to be one of my top priorities next session, and I have unveiled specific plans and funding sources for continuing to improve Texas schools, colleges, and universities. My plans for higher education will provide greater access for Texas students no matter what their economic means are or where they live. I have proposed:
§ A First Generation College Student Grant Program that will be supported by $20 million in Workforce Investment Act Funds and will focus on the recruitment, advising, and academic preparation of students who represent the “first generation” in their family to attend college. This program will enable Texas colleges and universities to work with public schools to identify “first generation students” and develop best practices for getting them to college and completing a degree.
§ Increasing the State Work Study Program by $5 million to provide additional financial aid and assist in retaining and graduating students in colleges and universities.
§ A Pilot Project for greater Middle College Partnerships between our high schools and two-year colleges. The pilot programs will be structured around a broad-based instructional program, including courses that lead to a two-year associate’s degree.
§ A zero-interest State-Supported Student Loan Program, which is envisioned to fill a void in our financial aid programs to benefit lower and middle-income students and families. My proposal is the first of its type since 1966 that would make such a program available to Texas students.
§ Expanding funding for the two-year Virtual College of Texas (VCT) to offer up to 10 basic courses for most degree programs via the Internet. The VCT makes it possible for students to enroll at their local two-year college while taking distance education courses provided by other two-year colleges throughout the state.
Sanchez:
We can preserve the integrity of the Texas education system by making education our top priority in the next legislative session. As Governor, I will
work to bring more federal grants to Texas, especially in the fields where there is great need of expertise, such as health, physical sciences, math, and
education. We need to work across party lines to develop a collaborative approach to a quality K-16 education that prepares Texans for excellence in scholarship and life. I will utilize my experience in the private sector to streamline the administrative requirements on our schools so teachers can be freed to teach. My laboratory schools program addresses the issues of accessibility in higher education while improving technologies available for teaching. When we make an investment up front in education excellence, we continue to save and become more efficient.
Sharp:
When I left office as State Comptroller in January 1999, Texas enjoyed the single largest budget surplus in history. Today, we face a budget shortfall of at least $5 billion, also the single largest in Texas history. Solving this budget crisis is our number-one priority. Everything else comes second. Next, however, comes education—and the “Closing the Gaps” report is a good place to start. Our goal should be to increase the number of college graduates in Texas because that is the quickest way to ensure our future prosperity, both individually and as a state. In the past, communities could become prosperous by drilling an oil well; today, the best way to strengthen a community is to attract a college graduate. After fixing the budget crisis without resorting to new taxes, my first priority will be to make college available and affordable to every Texas student who is willing to work hard and maintain a high grade-point average.
Question 2. Texas will lose higher education faculty to other states if all Texas faculty members are made at-will employees, subject to termination for appropriately discussing sensitive and controversial issues in class or for taking an assertive position on faculty governance. Do you support tenure for faculty, recognized in all 50 states, in order to protect due process for faculty so they can be terminated only for just causes and not for specious reasons as described above?
Perry:
I support tenure because it is critical to academic freedom. Each institution has in place specific tenure review policies that are working.
Sanchez:
The only tenure Texans have to prevent is the one that keeps career politicians in power who are not committed to improving education for all Texans. We want to create an environment in Texas that supports outstanding faculty and protects and rewards those who currently serve. They need support in a statewide strategy for attracting more grants, they need students who are held to a higher standard before they enter college, and above all, they need the respect and support of their communities and public officials. Every working Texan should enjoy their
rights under the First Amendment and live without fear of reprisal for expressing their opinions in a professional environment. Rather than threaten our top educators, let’s work to build tolerance and respect. After all, isn’t that what we want for our children?
Sharp:
Yes. I support common-sense measures to keep Texas colleges and universities competitive. Tenure—the result of multi-year, rigorous peer review—is an effective tool for reaching this goal and should be combined with periodic post-tenure reviews to help faculty with continuing professional development.
Question 3. What can be done to assure compliance with the 1987 state law (Vernon’s, Education Code, Subsection 51.908 (a)), “The governing board of each institution of higher education shall establish faculty compensation policies that, to the greatest extent possible, provide the faculty of the institution with an average salary and benefits at least equal to the average of that provided by similar institution nationwide having a similar role and mission?”
Perry:
Recruiting and retaining good faculty is critical to achieving excellence in higher education. I support funding decisions that meet this goal.
Sanchez:
In a state budget of $114 billion, Texas must make teacher salaries a priority. This law also requires the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to submit data to the Legislature that shows exactly how we compare with other states. Beyond salaries, we need to extend the benefit of respect and honor that university professionals deserve. I look forward to a day when the Governor of Texas does not aspire to be “average” when it comes to education but instead
promotes Texas as a place of excellence and an attractive choice for the nation’s top hardworking educators and scientists.
Sharp:
I support this provision of state law and believe it provides us with a clear goal to work toward once we have solved the current budget crisis. Our efforts in education should result in putting the best possible teacher in front of every student in every classroom.
Question 4. The increasing use of adjunct faculty and the decreasing hiring of tenured professors, partly as a cost-cutting measure, denies the students access to full-time career educators, increases the service requirements of full-timers, decreases job opportunities for teachers committed to the future of the institution and reduces research. What should be done to better assure a full-time, committed faculty for the future?
Perry:
The growing college enrollment anticipated by Closing the Gaps, combined with an aging faculty, means that the use of adjunct faculty is likely to continue. However, I support the recruitment and retention of a core group of full-time, tenured faculty because it is crucial to achieving excellence in Texas.
Sanchez:
Texans should never save money by short-changing our future. We need to promote research that can fund more full-time positions and create jobs for professionals who then become available to mentor the leaders of tomorrow. We must free teachers from administrative inefficiencies that prevent their contact with students. I support a process of identifying quality adjuncts and encouraging them to apply for new full-time positions. Experienced adjuncts can also play an important role in helping students make the leap from high school to higher education. Greater coordination between all levels of education can provide more full-time professionals who will commit themselves to new distance learning programs, combined research and teaching positions, and traditional avenues that lead to tenure.
Sharp:
Higher education institutions should have a full range of options to enable them to provide the best possible pay and benefits to faculty members while remaining flexible enough to retool their curriculum as needed and tap into the talent pool of the local community.
Question 5. Should voters have the opportunity to amend the Texas Constitution to permit schoolteachers and faculty to serve in the Legislature?
Perry:
During my first term as Governor, Texas voters approved amending the Texas Constitution to permit school teachers, retired school teachers, and retired school administrators to serve on the governing boards of local government entities without forfeiting pay for their service on the governing board. I would support taking this issue to Texas voters and letting them decide on whether or not to expand this proposition to include service in the Texas Legislature.
Sanchez:
In a representative democracy, no one should be prohibited from serving his or her community. Many gifted teachers have left their careers in the classroom and have gone on to serve our state with distinction. The real questions for me are why aren’t teachers’ needs considered, and why aren’t schools a priority? Why must a gifted teacher leave the classroom to have a voice in our state? The answer may
be as simple as a change in the government. As Governor, I will represent your issues as my top priority. Teachers should not have to amend the constitution to be represented by their government. When Tony Sanchez is Governor, Texas teachers will not be left wondering how to have a voice in state policy. Teachers already serve the state in a much more valuable way than career politicians do – they teach. Why wait years to change the laws when we can change the Governor in November?
Sharp:
Yes. I’m sure the constitutional provision can be drafted in such a way that taxpayers are protected against such faculty collecting two state paychecks.
Question 6. Should faculty hired since 1995 be permitted the same level of state retirement contribution enjoyed by faculty hired previously?
Perry:
I support raising compensation for faculty, but this decision must also be evaluated with other competing funding priorities such as providing funding for faculty salary increases.
Sanchez:
Everyone who works should know that they have sufficient resources to retire with dignity after their years of service to fellow Texans. It is unfair to dramatically change benefits for certain groups of educators. This only leads to feelings of injustice and suspicion within the profession. Educators deserve clearly defined benefits that remain consistent. A lot will be asked from educators in Texas, and they will continue to be invaluable to our communities in their retirement.
Sharp:
Yes. Everyone who participates in the State’s retirement systems should be able to count on an equal contribution rate as long as the state budget permits.
Question 7. Is there anything else you would like to share with Texas university professionals?
Perry:
As the first Governor in over 30 years to make higher education a top priority for our state I have a proven record of supporting higher education in Texas. I created the Special Commission on 21st Century Colleges & Universities to help meet the challenges of changing demographics and the rapid growth of a “knowledge-based” economy. Since 1999, I have supported almost $3 billion in increased funding for higher education, tripling the funding for the TEXAS Grant Program, increasing funding for Teach for Texas by an additional $15 million, and providing $10 million in funding for the Texas Grant II Program. In addition, I have proposed new programs to attract more “First Generation” College Students, a State Sponsored Work Study Program, a Middle College Partnership, a State-Supported Student Loan Program, a Middle College Partnership, and expansion of the Virtual College of Texas to provide greater access and opportunity in higher education for more Texas students.
Sanchez:
Some would say that the future of higher learning in Texas is bleak, with low salaries, decreasing student aptitude, and political challenges to the very cornerstones of our institutions. This culture of disbelief is often advanced by career politicians, who are too far removed from the commitment and conviction of the Texas people. It’s time to turn toward the spirit of Texas, which defies pessimism and creates opportunity. Already in the hearts and minds of our citizens there exists a commitment to a better future and a desire for Texas to excel in all areas of academic endeavor. The first step is to protect the institutions and professionals we have worked so hard to cultivate, and then we can change the direction of our future toward one of greater promise and ambition. For this task we need new leadership that will use excellence in education as the core value from which all other values follow.
Sharp:
The Texas Association of College Teachers is on the cutting edge of the new Texas economy, because your members play an increasingly important role in the State’s prosperity. In the past, natural resources -- cotton, cattle, crude oil – could ensure a community’s economic success. Today, and in the future, the best way to ensure a community’s success is to produce a college graduate. That’s why, once we solve this current budget crisis, our efforts must be turned toward making sure every Texas student who wants to pursue his or her college career has that opportunity.
Starting a new job at a new school is busy and exhilarating, but don’t delay another moment in considering the consequences of today’s retirement decisions on tomorrow’s financial comfort!
Within 90 days of employment, you must decide whether to trust your economic future with the Teacher Retirement System or the Optional Retirement Program. This decision is irrevocable.
TRS – Texas Retirement System
The Texas Legislature, at the continued urging of TACT and others, has regularly improved the benefits of TRS. Most recently, the benefit formula for future retirees was increased to 2.3% of salary times the number of years of service times the average of the three highest years’ salaries. Like other defined benefit plans, this is most beneficial to individuals with full careers within the System, though the vesting period is five years.
ORP – Optional Retirement Program
Alternatively, the ORP is available as a self-directed, defined contribution plan into which funds are deposited into investment vehicles similar to a 401(k). Presently, the state contributes 6% of your salary and you contribute 6.65% of your salary. This may be the best choice if your investments perform well or if your career takes you away from Texas higher education. Regardless of the primary investment plan selected, faculty may make additional contributions to a Tax Deferred Account, which operates similar to the Optional Retirement Program except that no state matching funds are contributed. For 27 years, in order to assist in the ongoing management of these investments, TACT has provided its members with the Annual Analysis of Possibilities for ORP/TDA. This publication is free with your membership.
As you can see, TACT safeguards not only your retirement interests as a faculty member in Texas, but also your academic freedom, personal liability, working conditions and much more. Best of luck in your new position and welcome to the fraternity of Texas faculty. Your dedication to our State and students is appreciated, but don’t forget to take care of yourself, too.
The Texas Faculty Watchdog
by Elizabeth Lewandowski
Fall is already upon us with the hot and sultry days of summer beginning to slip away. College students are packing their school backpacks and suitcases, proud parents are taking memorable “first day of college” pictures, and mothers and fathers are buying new school clothes for their college bound teens who all mysteriously grew two inches over the summer!
Those of us in academia are reminded with the beginning of each new semester of the excitement that we felt as children as we looked with both thrill and dread toward the first day of school. The smell of new pencils, the pristine sheets of paper in the new notebooks, the fresh crayons with their factory-fresh sharp tips were all harbingers of the beginning of school. As we prepared to enter a new grade with a new teacher, we felt the thrill of the unknown – new teacher, new classmates, new knowledge just waiting for us. We also felt some fear – would we be popular, would we succeed in our classes, would we learn.
What has changed? Each new semester we now prepare our briefcases and laptops, buy new red pens and gold stars and open a new grade book. We still face the thrill of the unknown – will the chemistry in our classes be condusive to a positive learning atmosphere, will our students accept the new paradigms that we offer, will we grow along with our students. We still feel some fear – will we be outstanding teachers or just average, will our students learn all that we hope.
It has been posited that professors are just students who didn’t grow up. I disagree. Professors are students, yes. To be successful in our careers, we must continue to grow and learn, not only in our field of expertise but also in our skills as educators. We have certainly grown up. We are teaching and training the future generations who will run our businesses, our country, our world. We are teaching future engineers, artists, writers, scientists and yes, future college professors.
In our classrooms, we face some of the brightest young people in the world. Our challenge is to ask them to reach beyond their present paradigm of life and knowledge to explore possibilities that they have not yet considered. We share our knowledge, experiences and expertise and, when we are very lucky, we learn something back from them about their experiences and life. Those of us who consider ourselves first and foremost as educators are lucky indeed.
When we prepare for each new class, we consider the knowledge of those who have come before us, research that is currently underway and new ideas on the horizon. We are teaching, not just about what we learned in school, but about all the changes and new discoveries in the years since we were students. We are offering our students the opportunity to help change the future.
As educators, we have an obligation to the future – we must give our all to our students to ensure that the opportunities they have are enhanced by the best education that we can offer. We want them all to succeed and to work in a world where they have hope for successful, fulfilling careers.
Many of us choose to belong to and participate in professional organizations in our individual areas of expertise. We attend conferences, do research, read journals, publish articles and books to enhance our field of study. We hope that the work we do will help to provide a stepping stone for the people who succeed us, enhancing their experiences and growth.
What does all this have to do with TACT? TACT is the professional organization that works on behalf of all university faculty in Texas. The work TACT does in pursuing our legislative agenda works to continue to provide benefits, salaries and retirement for not only those of us teaching today, but also for those who will follow in our footsteps. Without TACT speaking on our behalf to the legislature, that positive future we desire for ourselves and for those who will teach after we retire may not happen. Salaries and benefits in Texas do not compete satisfactorily with those offered in other states. For universities in Texas to continue to thrive and develop the best in our future leaders, someone must speak clearly and loudly on our behalf. To ensure a positive future for higher education in Texas, we need TACT.
As you prepare for your fall semester, as you pack your briefcase and charge the battery on your laptop, be sure that you are doing all that you can for your students and their future by staying an active member of TACT. I wish you a challenging and rewarding fall semester.
During the last decade, the S&P 500 Index was up over 20% for five consecutive years; then it fell for the first time since 1990. When stocks decline in this way, do you wait for stocks to rebound, or are stocks currently a “bad bet”? Here are some guidelines for handling market volatility:
At least once a year, review your financial goals, asset allocation & risk tolerance level. Long-term financial goals such as retirement should extend well beyond the day you retire. Consider the level of risk that you’re comfortable with. Don’t make drastic portfolio changes based on current market conditions. And stay within this level with respect to risk.
Diversify and maintain your risk tolerance. Different types of investments can perform well at different times. By investing in a variety of securities, you can achieve a higher expected rate of return for any given level of risk, and can also reduce risk for a level of expected return.
Select guaranteed, fixed-income, or real estate asset classes to balance your portfolio. Guaranteed investment options like the TIAA Traditional Annuity—which guarantees principal and a specified rate of return, based on TIAA’s claims-paying ability—are the lowest-risk alternative for building long-term savings. Guaranteed accounts usually provide both greater stability than bond funds and higher long-term yields than money market funds.
The fixed-income asset class includes bonds, which generally pay a set rate of interest over a specific time period, and money market investments. The market value of fixed-income investments can fluctuate in response to changes in interest and inflation rates and are not guaranteed.
Real estate accounts can help protect your portfolio from extreme market volatility and inflation. The TIAA Real Estate Account is invested in commercial and residential properties that can appreciate in value and generate rental income. Real estate is subject to fluctuations in property values, expenses, and income, and is subject to environmental liabilities.
©2002 Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF), New York, NY
Spring Conference
The Texas Association of College Teachers invites papers, discussion panels, and workshops on all aspects of the professional activities of university faculty members. Papers, panels, presentations, and workshops related to the conference theme, “Advancing the Profession,” are encouraged. TACT especially solicits completed papers, panel proposals, and workshops related to the following areas: academic freedom, legislative issues effecting higher education, shared governance, pedagogy, the use of technology in the class room, distance education, creative teaching methodologies, research on effective teaching, tenure, post tenure review, the place of service in the profession, the importance of research in the profession, faculty pay, faculty benefits, publishing research, and the college professor as a member of the community.
Papers should include a detachable cover page with the title, author’s name, affiliation, address, phone/fax number, e-mail address, all audio-visual requests, and a 50 to 75 word abstract. Papers authored solely by graduate students should be marked “student” in the upper right hand corner of the removable title page. Papers must be typed, double-spaced, and use 12 pt. font.
Panel and workshop proposals should include a detachable cover page with the panel/workshop title, complete identification of all participants (name, affiliation, address, phone/fax number and e-mail address of each participant). The remainder of the proposal should include a rationale for the panel/workshop, a 50 to 75-word abstract of each paper or presenter’s topic, and all audio-visual requests.
Audio-visual equipment will be limited to VCR/monitor, overhead projector, and slide projector only. Other equipment must be supplied by presenters.
Three copies of each paper or panel and workshop proposal must be received no later than November 1, 2002. Please send papers and proposals to:
The Texas Sunset Advisory Commission met recently and voted to continue the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board for an additional 12 years. This recommendation will be voted upon during the upcoming legislative session. Among the recommended changes are:
How TACT Works For You
by Dr. Larry King, TACT President
Welcome Back!
How TASP Works
by National Evaluation Systems, Inc.
P.O. Box 140406
Austin, TX 78754
Executive Director’s Report
by Chuck Hempstead
Make an Informed Choice
Candidates Respond to TACT
From…The Texas Association of College Teachers (TACT)
Memo To…All New Texas Faculty
Subject…Your Family’s Financial Future
Tools for TACT
WEATHERING ROUGH MARKET CONDITIONS
by John Douglas, TIAA-CREF.
Call for Participants!
“Advancing the Profession”
Four Points Hotel
Austin, TX
February 21-22, 2002
Larry J. King, PH.D.
Department of Communication
Stephen F. Austin State University
P.O. Box 13048
Nacogdoches, TX 75962
lking@sfasu.edu
Sunset Commission Recommends Reauthorizing Coordinating Board
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