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Post by Raider Alumni on Feb 4, 2019 8:41:33 GMT -5
If I had a "Cadillac Plan" I would have been grateful to have received such a plan, but I couldn't justify (to myself) holding an institution hostage for my superior plan and letting others suffer in many different ways. All in a effort to keep my special plan (unlike most others). If that's what it really comes down to then I find it simply unconscionable to defend the strike. It can’t just be about the union wanting their Cadillac insurance policy. The strike was all for the students. Oh wait, it was all about the soul of the University. I am so sick of the union’s BS. Can’t wait to see how they spin this one in the media.
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Post by hhgreen on Feb 4, 2019 11:22:41 GMT -5
To some the healthcare plan might be the only reason they stay at the university. If it weren’t for that they would leave. Are the salaries negotiated like benefits or are they paid by the state? If the salaries are negotiated just raise the current salaries for current members by 20-25% over the next 5 years and put them in the current healthcare plan with everyone else. They both save face. The university would save millions by incorporating the union into the plan over 5 years.
Plus there is a plus for the union in the next contract negotiations with the university. Medical benefits will not have to be negotiated since the university offers the same plan to everyone else. That leaves other areas to get gains in. Get more paid vacation time or paid holidays.
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Post by raiderrunt on Feb 4, 2019 13:06:20 GMT -5
If I had a "Cadillac Plan" I would have been grateful to have received such a plan, but I couldn't justify (to myself) holding an institution hostage for my superior plan and letting others suffer in many different ways. All in a effort to keep my special plan (unlike most others). If that's what it really comes down to then I find it simply unconscionable to defend the strike. It can’t just be about the union wanting their Cadillac insurance policy. The strike was all for the students. Oh wait, it was all about the soul of the University. I am so sick of the union’s BS. Can’t wait to see how they spin this one in the media. Well said, guys.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2019 14:03:19 GMT -5
To some the healthcare plan might be the only reason they stay at the university. If it weren’t for that they would leave. DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! It might not be the only reason, but it is a big reason why good professors have decided to come to WSU and stay. I understand the current financial situation of the school, but you get what you pay for. And these are people with PhD's who we are trying to attract. Hate to say it, but this strike has really damaged Wright State’s brand. The University has lost its shine and I fear that it will be in a downward spiral for the next decade or so.
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Post by mrose on Feb 4, 2019 14:29:23 GMT -5
To some the healthcare plan might be the only reason they stay at the university. If it weren’t for that they would leave. DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! It might not be the only reason, but it is a big reason why good professors have decided to come to WSU and stay. I understand the current financial situation of the school, but you get what you pay for. And these are people with PhD's who we are trying to attract. Hate to say it, but this strike has really damaged Wright State’s brand. The University has lost its shine and I fear that it will be in a downward spiral for the next decade or so. There's actually a PhD glut in many fields. I'm sure there are many underemployed PhD's out there who would love a full-time job at WSU and take the benefits the rest of the employees have.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2019 14:46:04 GMT -5
MRose,
Actually, there is a glut of all kinds of college degrees everywhere. These schools are pumping out more degrees than the job market can support. I know of several kids, with BS degrees who are working for minimum wage, in totally unrelated fields from what they spent four years of their life pursuing. But like everything else, these universities are in it to make a buck too, so they over-promise and over-enroll.
Might some downsizing of unprofitable programs be one possible solution to WSU’s financial situation? There was supposed to be a major reorganization plan announced for WSU last summer, but it did not happen.
Finally, at the rate that negotiations are going, some of those underemployed PhD’s might be about to get their chance at WSU. I know of a few Wright State faculty members who have mentioned that they are waiting to see what the final contract looks like, before making the move to look elsewhere for employment. It will be other universities who will get WSU's best, while Wright State gets the underemployed. I am not sure that I want to see that here.
This school is in a world of hurt, and it is the majority of the current Board of Trustees who got us here. Anybody for spending $5-million dollars on a presidential debate that we never hosted? How about a provost and several others who we paid millions of dollars to stay away and do nothing? What a mess. Hopefully, we will eventually clean it up and recover, but it will be awhile, especially with the current Board.
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Post by raiderrunt on Feb 4, 2019 16:41:37 GMT -5
This makes a point from the movie Ghostbusters (the real one)
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Post by Big D on Feb 4, 2019 18:36:01 GMT -5
Might some downsizing of unprofitable programs be one possible solution to WSU’s financial situation? There was supposed to be a major reorganization plan announced for WSU last summer, but it did not happen. Are you serious? Wright State has been trying to eliminate non profitable programs and combine some of our colleges for the past year to save money. Who in the hell do you think has been fighting this the entire way? It isn't our president or current board. the union has fought that tooth and nail because it would eliminate some union faculty members in the process. Finally, at the rate that negotiations are going, some of those underemployed PhD’s might be about to get their chance at WSU. I know of a few Wright State faculty members who have mentioned that they are waiting to see what the final contract looks like, before making the move to look elsewhere for employment. It will be other universities who will get WSU's best, while Wright State gets the underemployed. I am not sure that I want to see that here. We are what we are. We are a low cost local option for kids that want to go to college in Ohio. We are still to a large part a commuter school. I wish we were more than that after being here for 50 years but we are not. Wright State is fighting the union right now because they want to remain a cost effective option for kids that want to go to college. They don't want to raise tuition to meet the union's demands. If we lose every single union faculty member that is on strike I hate to break it to all of them but they are all replaceable. Our faculty is not Harvard level professors. They are professors that teach at a commuter school in Ohio. They can all be replaced and a good part of them can easily be replaced by current part time faculty members that have been waiting for a full time spot to open up. Wright State is offering similar salaries and health care benefits that every other college in Ohio offers their faculty. If any of the union faculty decides to look for employment elsewhere I think they are going to find that the grass isn't greener somewhere else. As you pointed out, the damage from this strike is already done. It is going to hurt our enrollment the rest of this year and next year at the minimum. It will most likely take several years to a decade to fully recover. At this point, Wright State has nothing to lose by holding out until the union accepts their offer.
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Post by raider85 on Feb 5, 2019 9:16:59 GMT -5
Actually Wright State is not as much of a commuter school as it once was. I read somewhere that 90% of freshmen live on campus. Also there are students from all over the country here. I have always thought they need to market these facts better
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Post by mrose on Feb 5, 2019 10:27:08 GMT -5
Actually Wright State is not as much of a commuter school as it once was. I read somewhere that 90% of freshmen live on campus. Also there are students from all over the country here. I have always thought they need to market these facts better According to last year's US News rankings only 19% of WSU students lived in university-owned, operated, or affiliated housing. Now, maybe that's mostly the Freshman class, but 19% sounds about right. Why? Because nearly 75% of our student body still comes from "Raider Country." That's the 16 contiguous counties in Southwest/West Central Ohio, A.K.A., The Miami Valley. In other words, commuting distance. Only 2% of the student body is from out-of-state and I'm guessing many of them come from Indiana due to our Reciprocity agreement. In fact, there are more international students at WSU than out-of-state domestic students, but that's pretty typical of America's university system today.
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Post by keithfromxenia on Feb 5, 2019 12:47:03 GMT -5
two things really piss me off. first, what the top dogs of this university did to spend us into virtual bankruptcy without regard to all the damage they were doing to WSU. the national disgrace of cancelling a presidential election debate. the humiliating phony visa scam . all the damage done by people who for the most part have not been punished at all. all of them getting away pretty much unscathed. only the university has had their reputation damaged and had to pay the price for all those transgressions.
but I am also pissed off at a bunch of well paid folks, many of whom have spent most of their careers in academia, who know the financial situation of the u and yet insist on doing more damage by dragging this thing out because they are in a snit over a change in their insurance plan . lots of folks have had to make similar adjustments and they should too.
klinger is right. an incredible amount of damage has been done and it may take a decade to recover. I am not nearly as close to WSU s I once was but I still hate like heck to see this happening.
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Post by raiderratt on Feb 5, 2019 14:16:58 GMT -5
This strike will achieve the exact opposite of its aims. Yes the leaders of the the University were grossly negligent in planning and financial oversight but this strike will only deepen the downward spiral. I see classes are now being cancelled for the semester; the financial cost will be bad enough but the loss of many students permanently will be worse. Honestly I don't see how the University will recover anytime soon and for sports fans I think it is a real question as to how many sports survive and at what level.
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Post by raiderrunt on Feb 5, 2019 17:54:07 GMT -5
I think WSU is in this so deep, they are going to have to fight their way out. I think WSU should let the striking employees know that as of 2/15, the strikers no long have a job. That gives them 10 days to start hiring new employees. I think to let this go on further is going to hurt worse than moving on. I believe WSU can legally do that, now that the strikers have rejected the arbiter's ruling.
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Post by Big D on Feb 5, 2019 18:08:26 GMT -5
This strike will achieve the exact opposite of its aims. Yes the leaders of the the University were grossly negligent in planning and financial oversight but this strike will only deepen the downward spiral. I see classes are now being cancelled for the semester; the financial cost will be bad enough but the loss of many students permanently will be worse. Honestly I don't see how the University will recover anytime soon and for sports fans I think it is a real question as to how many sports survive and at what level. Wright State cannot eliminate another sport. We are at the minimum to compete at the D1 level
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Post by Raider Alumni on Feb 5, 2019 18:17:22 GMT -5
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