Does anyone have a feel for what is going on with the Vote of No confidence with President McShane at Fordham and the issues with contract negotiations.
My D is looking to accept there for fall '17 but now I’m concerned with what has been reported.
Can’t tell if it is growing pains or a significant development.
“in reaction to the administration’s intention to replace faculty healthcare contracts, and statement against the non-tenure track faculty’s petition to unionize, noting that it “overturned 30 years of historical precedent,” and “threatened [faculty and staff’s] health, well-being and incomes.” The university stipulated this year that they would not renegotiate on salary unless the faculty accepted lower health insurance premiums and reduced coverage and benefits.”
"Currently, 92 percent of operating revenue comes from tuition and student fees, and 63 percent of the university’s costs are related to “salaries and benefits of those who work at the university to serve its students and advance its mission”
This is how I look at it.
- Fordham is a tuition-driven university. 92% of operating revenue is from tuition and fees. The school budget will therefore increases at a speed close to that of tuition and fees. It appears that Fordham sets annual tuition increase at 3.75%, which is on par with its peers whose tuition increases are set around 3.4%-3.9%. Thus, Fordham's expenditure increase will be close to 3.75% as well.
- 63% of expenditure is related to salary and benefits. Thus, the annual increase in expenditure cannot be too far away 3.75% as well. The problem is that a big chunk of benefits is related to healthcare. The cost of healthcare is expected to rise at a speed of about 5%.
- Some universities have already dealt with healthcare cost in the past. The majority of them (including my university) involved some degree of healthcare benefit cuts. There were protests and unhappiness as anyone can expect. Now it is Fordham's turn.
- I do not know the bylaws of the faculty union at Fordham. In general, college faculty unions do not have the rights to strike. Therefore, the impacts on students are generally quite small. The more visible things one can expect is that some faculty will mobilize and hold protests on campus. You will also see some students join the cause.
- The irony is that if faculty union gets what it wants, it would mean students would need to pay more. If it is not today, it would be tomorrow. For a tuition-driven university, pretty much all money come from students; money will not fall from the sky. I say this as a long-time member of faculty union at a few different universities.
- I expect that some people will point finger at administrators and fixed assets/amenities. They surely contribute to this. But the reality is that they are far smaller a factor than faculty/staffs' salary and benefits. The average annual salary increase for professors is about 3.5%. This is set in the market; no university can defy it without running into the risk of losing its best.
Seems like schools can’t win. If you don’t offer merit, you squeeze out families who don’t qualify for need based aid, but can’t come up with $60k per yr. If you offer merit, than you may not attract enough economic diversity. I guess it all depends on how you define diversity
Yeah my parents got the email that @mattblanco is talking about and it was weird because it contradicted a lot of the facts and charts that the faculty showed us. There was a protest at spring preview too that got a lot of attention