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Letters to the Editor

Staff Assembly valuable voice for all staff members

As a member of the original committee that created the Staff Assembly and wrote its Constitution and bylaws, I wish to take exception to most of what Dave Mestemaker addressed in his guest column.

True, TCU can’t and shouldn’t be expected to support large families on one salary, but that is not the issue. Much research went into the resolution presented to the Staff Assembly concerning poverty level salaries and the fact some parents (father and mother) of even two to three children have to moonlight to provide essentials for their family. Perhaps it is not unethical to pay certain salaries to certain jobs, but it is something worth looking into. These employees are not expecting to get rich working here, but they would like to receive a salary that is enough to enable them to provide essentials for their family and still allow them time to be a family.

All of the Staff Assembly acknowledges that the administration has taken tremendous strides in making benefits for nonexempt staff but more on the level of exempt staff and faculty as shown in the increase in retirement percentages and looking into equalizing time-off benefits. Still, as the administration would probably admit, there is much to be done. Also, much has been accomplished in other areas too numerous to mention. The Assembly gives a voice to many employees who in the past had no voice, including exempt staff! Let us look at the broader picture of what the university and the Staff Assembly have accomplished (and can and will accomplish) — not be insulted by unintentional slurs such as “unethical” in relation to some salaries at TCU.

— Harriet Hunt
Library Assistant at the Mary Couts Burnett Library