The Red and Black

Issue date: 4/9/09 Section: Opinions

Administration should be included in furloughs

In Monday's article on possible pay cuts, where was any consideration of the most cost-effective option - that is, furloughing upper administrators? One furlough day by President Michael Adams would equal roughly six weeks of furloughs by an office staff member, or two weeks of furloughs by an assistant professor in the classroom.

Many faculty members, myself included, are willing to share in the temporary pay cuts that so many state employees are facing; what's missing is leadership from the most highly paid. Just as we are all astounded to see the managers of major corporations take public bailouts and then reward their own poor performance with lavish bonuses, the 100,000 state employees braced for pay cuts are looking to those at the top to lead off. These were the decision-makers who shaped spending priorities during the last decade, leaving us with vast new building projects while shrinking the professoriate by more than 500 tenured positions and increasing student enrollment by more than seven hundred.

In 2003, our student-faculty ratio was 14:1; by 2007, it was 18:1. Faculty and staff have already taken cuts for years by this measure. It's time to start at the top.

Bethany Moreton
Assistant Professor
History and Women's Studies

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