[dated 11/25/08]

Dr. Templin,

First, let me thank you for coming to the Annandale Campus yesterday (11/24) and giving us an update on how things stand and what we might face in the future.

Second, I do understand that many of the items you mentioned that might have to occur depending on circumstances are still tentative and in the discussion stage.

Third, I would like to make a comment on one of those planned actions – that dealing with Summer Session compensation for teaching faculty. I sincerely hope that this is a very low probability event and that reconsideration of its implementation is still possible. I would like to draw your and the [Ad Hoc] committee’s attention to the fact that summer teaching, for many faculty who are the sole breadwinner’s of their families, is not an optional source of income but is essential to their economic well-being. For those of us living in Fairfax County and other parts of our region the basic 9-month salary we earn is not sufficient to cope with the extremely high cost-of-living we face. Any cut in our compensation would be a very painful event.

Fourth, I do hope that the committee is thoughtful of “sharing the pain” equally. The afore-mentioned change in summer session compensation would certainly not be in that spirit, as a significant population of the College would be totally unaffected while another population would be substantially harmed.

Thank you for your consideration of my input.

Robin Wilson Gorham

Professor of Biology
Annandale Campus