|
Post by Glory Days on Jan 24, 2019 22:24:00 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by keithfromxenia on Jan 25, 2019 5:03:41 GMT -5
so it is whining to acknowledge that our finances stink! hmm. very interesting! truth is there is blame enough to go around for our financial situation being what it is. administration, teachers, non teaching staff. everyone!
the truth is that most folks in the public sector have no comprehension of the need to have more money coming in than going out. they view the tap that provides tax dollars as an unlimited resource that can be accessed at any time. so they cannot understand why you cannot hire more administrators when you want them, pay higher salaries to staffs when they want pay increases, give benefits way better than most private companies.
what’s the problem. just give us more tax dollars and we will be fine. taxpayers are starting to wake up to what goes on in the public sector and are resenting it. May lead to trouble down the road.
one of the universities down here, may have been central Florida, had a similar situation go on with excessive spending. guess what happened. people got fired. does anyone know how many people have actually been fired at WSU over our profligate spending habits?
|
|
|
Post by wsutommygun on Jan 25, 2019 5:46:09 GMT -5
Can't speak for anyone else but, it has been administration and trustees that have made statements to turn me off on how Wright State operates. Then they always finish it off by saying we need to increase enrollment. You can say that a union needs to do their part but, heads that roll need to come from the people in charge.
It's nice that a governor can choose someone from the party but, that doesn't make them the best option.
Schrader has been at WSU about a year and a half. You have to decide for yourselves about a confidence level or competence level for the job.
This thread has made me wonder if the school has been acting in good faith and if the union believes anything they have heard. Hope it gets resolved soon.
|
|
|
Post by Big D on Jan 25, 2019 6:37:48 GMT -5
Can't speak for anyone else but, it has been administration and trustees that have made statements to turn me off on how Wright State operates. Then they always finish it off by saying we need to increase enrollment. You can say that a union needs to do their part but, heads that roll need to come from the people in charge. Tommy, those heads already rolled. Wight State got rid of their former president and the 2 board members most responsible for our financial woes. They have also cut close to 60 million out of the budget and the vast majority did not affect the faculty at all. The board was mislead about our finances and when they found out the truth we were already in the position we are in. The only solution to this problem is to bring in more money than we are spending. You do that by lowering your expenditures and increasing your revenue. The only way to increase revenue is increase donations, increase enrollment, and/or increase the cost to attend Wright State. Our new board and president are doing everything they can to lower expenditures, increase donations, and enrollment so that they don’t have to increase the price to attend Wright State and put that burden on the students. You are turned off by comments from admin and the trustees. I’ve been absolutely livid with the orchestrated smear campaign that the faculty union has put on against Wright State for over a year now. That campaign has made it harder to increase donations and enrollment. If they would have been trying to be part of the solution instead they could be helping Wright State become a great affordable option for students again AND get all of the things they want. They just don’t seem to give a damn about further harming our reputation and as an alumni I take great offense to that.
|
|
|
Post by Big D on Jan 25, 2019 6:43:35 GMT -5
One last note and then I am done with this topic. Our faculty salary is above the median for the state of Ohio. Our president’s salary is one of the lowest of any in the state of Ohio. The insurance that the union says isn’t good enough for them is the same insurance our president and every other employee at Wright Stste gets.
|
|
|
Post by wsutommygun on Jan 25, 2019 7:02:51 GMT -5
So, the goal is to get rid of unions?
Never met Schrader and haven't spent time on campus in the past couple of years to form any opinion. Appreciate your input, Big D.
Can usually walk through a couple of buildings to know if there is a problem but, don't have a reason to do that anytime soon.
There have been changes made to be sure but, I have had more negative feelings about WSU in the last 2 years than ever before. The new talking heads seem to have a grasp on dragging the school through the mud and hoping you'll send little Jack and Jill to increase enrollment. No matter what the union has done, that much is not on them.
|
|
|
Post by Willie on Jan 25, 2019 11:09:59 GMT -5
So, the goal is to get rid of unions? I don't see where you are making that jump from anything anyone has said in this thread but personally I think unions have run their course and do more harm for workers now than they help them. Unions were started in this country to create safe working conditions for workers in factories and to get fair compensation for those workers. Over the last 100 years in this country they have morphed into groups that look out for their interest over that of the people they represent. This strike reminds me so much of the GM strike in Moraine a decade ago. GM was struggling to make a profit in the early 2000s. They were trying to negotiate a new contract with the union for the workers at the Moraine plant. They told the union they couldn't afford to keep the plant open if they met the unions demands and if the union decided to strike they would be forced to close the plant and move it somewhere else. The union striked and GM is no longer in Moraine and a lot of people lost their jobs. Wright State has been in a financial crisis. They turned a profit for the first time last year in several years by cutting 50-60 million from their budget. They are trying to keep the university afloat so kids have a place to get an education and so all of the people working at WSU have jobs. Like most people that actually look at the facts of this matter I don't have any sympathy for these union faculty members. They make on average 115K for working 2/3 of the year and they receive health insurance and good retirement benefits. The median household income for the Dayton metro area was $52,745 in 2017 and I don't know how many of those people even had health insurance. They make more than the average educator in the state of Ohio. They make more than double the average household in this area. They are really hurting the university with this strike. I don't understand why they would piss on the hand that feeds them like this.
|
|
|
Post by Raider Country on Jan 25, 2019 11:25:45 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by wsutommygun on Jan 25, 2019 12:00:52 GMT -5
Willie, I am making the jump because the union isn't continuing to work under the old contract. The school said after such-and-such date the working conditions would be XYZ. So, I guess that anyone still working is doing it under the new conditions and not something bargained and agreed by both sides.
Seems like it would make life easier if there were no more unions on campus.
Never been an employee of WSU and never been in a labor union. Hope it is settled soon.
|
|
|
Post by raiderrunt on Jan 25, 2019 13:23:28 GMT -5
I am pretty far removed from the situation but I suspected the things outlined by Big D were pretty much the problem. The union seems to be the problem coming on the heels of financial mismanagement. When public employees unionize the taxpayers get screwed. The taxpayers are paying both sides of the equation.
Willie--in addition to the GM plant closing, we can look down the road to GE Aviation. The UAW at that plant was particularly militant. By the late 90s Jack Welch had enough. He sent all the manufacturing to a South Carolina, a right-to-work state. Now the Cincinnati plant has just engineering and testing. The number of employees went from about 17,000 to 6000.
I just wish the union would behave with honor, which means not telling their members to lie and not running down the university. They have got to understand this is not the time to push for costly upgrades in their contract. I would think they could make an offer that is close to what the school is offering with the understanding they will revisit this when WSU is on solid financial ground.
But, what do I know, I am just a basketball fan.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2019 15:05:28 GMT -5
Remember one thing. There is a REASON why there is a faculty union on campus. It originated to keep administration accountable because of certain past practices. Unions don't simply pop up for no reason. This school made some mistakes over the years and that is why we have a union.
Both sides have been misleading the public with various statements. I take issue when President Schrader says that FULL-PROFESSORS at WSU make an average of $119K/year. She wants you to believe that all faculty make $119K. But the truth is that not all faculty on strike are full-professors. And the $119K figure includes teaching class overloads above and beyond their normal course load. That $119K figure is not a base salary. It is base plus extra work. And most faculty on strike that I know (and I know a lot), don't make the $119K that President Schrader so often likes to quote. And now that WSU is on strike, we've got somebody teaching two engineering classes per week who makes $650K/year. How cost efficient is that?
Sure, it is hard to feel sorry for somebody making better than average money and benefits, but then again the average worker did not spend 12 years of his life trying to earn a PhD like these people did. They are high achievers who came to Wright State based upon promises made in order to convince somebody with their expertise to come here. I understand the current financial situation at the school, but those promises are being broken with a crap contract that was imposed with no union negotiation. You can't blame the union for being upset. If you want to keep them here, you better be careful about jerking them around.
Sadly, the administration has shown their true colors by strong-arming students with attendance requirements in classes where no instructors were present. The threat of losing financial aid was held over their heads. The truth is ... financial aid is rewarded based upon a passing grade ... not attendance. The administration totally misled the students with this fear tactic. In other words, they lied.
This strike is the result of a failure of both the administration and the union. But the biggest losers in all of this has been our students, who had nothing to do with it. And the damage from this fiasco will be felt for a very long time. I am certainly less proud to be an alum of this university than I was before the strike.
|
|
|
Post by mrose on Jan 25, 2019 15:24:40 GMT -5
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2019 15:29:22 GMT -5
True, MRose, but she wants you to believe that all union faculty are FULL-professors when a lot of them are ASSOCIATE-professors or lower. There is a big difference in salary between these levels.
In either case, I hope that both sides can settle this thing soon.
|
|
|
Post by mrose on Jan 25, 2019 15:53:16 GMT -5
I didn't get that feeling, but I'm not reading everything the school or AAUP put out. That said, I presumed most people that have had any experience with today's university system in the States knows it takes years to get tenure, become full-professors, and that having an Instructor, Teaching Assistant, or Grad Assistant, etc., is common in the lab/class room---especially at large universities. Unfortunately, what was a safe presumption on my part 30 years ago about people's general knowledge isn't such a safe bet anymore...
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2019 16:14:08 GMT -5
Absolutely, MRose. Because of all of the educational requirements and professional steps along the way, most faculty members are in their 40’s, 50’s, and even 60’s before they reach full-professor and that average $119K/year level. For all that they have to go through to get there, who can blame them for being upset when a non-negotiated contract has been imposed. They might make a lot more money than most of us, but I understand why they are striking.
|
|