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Posted on Mon, Jan 4, 2010 : 6 a.m.

Public university systems around the country cutting pay, jobs

By Juliana Keeping

The University of Michigan announced pay freezes for most top administrators at the university and lower increases for some faculty and staff. Other public universities around the nation are trying to tighten budgets, too. 

Here's a look at what they're doing.

100 administrators at Eastern Michigan University take a pay freeze

EMU froze the salaries of the highest compensated 100 administrators this academic year and delayed merit increases for some administrative and professional staff until Jan. 1, 2010.

EMUGraduation.jpg

File photo | AnnArbor.com

All faculty at University of Hawaii hit by pay cut

The University of Hawaii has decided to cut all faculty salaries by 6.7 percent, including union members' pay, the Associated Press and the Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported.

No raises at Arkansas public universities for support staff?

The AP reports legislators gathering in Little Rock, Arkansas, next month will likely discuss the decision by all but one of Arkansas' four-year universities to withhold full pay increases from classified employees. That's despite a law that provided for the raises this fiscal year, a co-chairman of the Joint Budget Committee said this week, the AP reported. A classified position is part of a group of employees, such as accountants or administrative assistants.

State university system budget crisis leads to protests, arrests in California

A 32 percent tuition hike at California State University system led to the arrest of 26 students at San Francisco State University in December, the New York Times reported. They barricaded themselves inside a building at San Francisco State University for 24 hours to protest budget cuts and the hike.

In July 2009, members of the faculty union voted to approve furloughs that amounted to a 10 percent pay cut over this academic year, the New York Times reported.

Survey says: cuts all around

According to a survey by the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, two-thirds of public universities across the country are planning strategic cuts in core activities as they look toward the future. Eighty percent of institutions responding reported reductions in permanent and temporary staff reductions, while half of those respondents reported plans for staff layoffs.

Juliana Keeping covers higher education for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at julianakeeping@annarbor.com or 734-623-2528. Follow Juliana Keeping on Twitter

Comments

scooter dog

Tue, Jan 5, 2010 : 12:55 p.m.

I know what a endowment is for,I also know for fact they use it for anything they feel the need to use it for.I have first hand knowledgd of what I am talking about.

Mr. DB

Mon, Jan 4, 2010 : 6:50 p.m.

It is funny how they are instituting pay freezes. Didn't the U of M recently hire a new VP for Medical Affairs, and gave her a pay increase compared to the old one? The Education business is complicated. If they raise tuition too much, they risk losing students. Students will not want to pay 50K a year, if they know that they are not guaranteed a job after graduation. They can't lower operating costs, because the bulk of operating costs come from staff compensation. If you lower the compensation, you risk losing the good teachers, and that lowers endowment and prestige. Since Americans are not willing to pay the price, they can always get international students who will. So these tuition increases are going to continue.

notnecessary

Mon, Jan 4, 2010 : 5:21 p.m.

@scooter dog - you obviously don't understand an endowment and its purpose

scooter dog

Mon, Jan 4, 2010 : 4:03 p.m.

WOW only got 6 billion to spend,please,what a farce

David Paris

Mon, Jan 4, 2010 : 3:22 p.m.

Cheers to blueprof, resentment and envy are always misplaced! As you noted enrollments are up as the unemployed and underemployed are looking to increase their education to improve their chances in this lackluster job market. Because of this, I'd rather not see decreases in wages & bennies simply because the economic climate allows them to get away with it. Education is one of the very few shining spots we have in this state, I'd like to keep it that way.

treetowncartel

Mon, Jan 4, 2010 : 3:09 p.m.

I grew up here and went to school at the U and I witnessed plenty of waste and excess first hand. Also, with respect to out of State students subsidizing lower income in-state students, that sounds a tad bit like an ism of some sort to me. The real problem is that kids in this state whose parents lived here and pay taxes are excluded from attending universities. I am not saying those with a 1.7 GPA should get into Michigan, but certainly they could be a little more welcoming of the flock around them. Everyone talks about the brain drain of the college educated leaving, do you really think the majority of out of state students, particularly those on a student visa, are going to stick around and help Michigan recover?

scooter dog

Mon, Jan 4, 2010 : 1:08 p.m.

What I want to know is WHY is this state as broke as it is giving aid to the u of m who has a 7 BILLION dollar endowment they can use to pay for their higher than the devil wages and fat cat budget.WHY?

blueprof

Mon, Jan 4, 2010 : 12:56 p.m.

All of the resentment and envy in these comments seems misplaced. Universities aren't cutting back b/c they overspent wastefully (though they're looking for efficiencies, as all organizations do, in hard times). They're cutting back b/c the bad economy means investment returns are down and the public, through its elected representatives, is trimming public education budgets (due to lower taxes b/c taxpayers are earning less). So, universities in a sense are victims like many of us of those who caused this crisis by taking out mortgages you couldn't afford or investing in risky schemes. One source of university funds that did not drop off as much is tuition, not just because rates are raised to compensate, but also because demand remains strong or even higher during tough times. (People realize even more the value of having a good education at times like these.) This doesn't help universities escape budget cuts, however, because they are sympathetic to low income families and redistribute even more dollars into financial aid. You can thank wealthy out-of-state families and foreign students for their willingness to subsidize a big chunk of the education received by low income Michigan residents. But we'll all be better off when the economy is stronger, so let's get back to work and help make that happen (lunch break is over).

treetowncartel

Mon, Jan 4, 2010 : 11:21 a.m.

The pig went to the trough a litttle too much, and now everyone can see how good an apple will look in its mouth, about time.

jondhall

Mon, Jan 4, 2010 : 9:59 a.m.

It is about time that "Public Universities" go on a strict diet! I mean not "fat" at all, these funds belong to the "public" and not the administrators or the so called "educators". They need to learn now and learn "fast" they are not exempt! As for the MEA (Michigan Education Association), there time has also come. I say they all lose their so called DBP ( Defined Benefit plan), then we start with pay decreases. Either that or we sublet our educational system to the Japanese or India. I would prefer India as they make not vehicles as yet that they are "dumping" on this country! Wake up America, wake up if you are an educator you may want to look for a greeter job at Walmart, as the public is fed up! Your time has come.

vance g wiseman

Mon, Jan 4, 2010 : 9:07 a.m.

If schools bought steel desks and not $2000.00 oak desks. Trimmed rooms in pine not oak. And left floors bare and not carpeted. Then maybe we could afford education in this country. Lets face it we trusted thieves and con men with our tax money to support college education. The time has come to do,"what we need,not what we want!". It's time the fat cat Administrators go on a Darn diet. They laugh at us behind their big oak desks and say,"Let them eat Cake!". Then go home to their 5000 sq ft mansions and eat their Steak and Lobster, while we do rice and Hot Dogs. And they wonder why we might not love them!