The Missouri Conflict; Parents How Would You Advise Your Football Player Student?

[Gator88NE]

AAUP threatens investigation, censure of University of Missouri over Melissa Click firing

http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/education/turmoil_at_mu/aaup-threatens-investigation-censure-of-university-of-missouri-over-melissa/article_e2503e9f-26dd-5753-9f1b-1ac264271fc6.html

Oh…oh…looks like the UM Board of Curators are in trouble now…

Two to four tenured faculty members from other institutions would conduct the association’s investigation, Tiede said. They would visit Columbia to meet with administrators, curators, faculty leaders and Click, he said. The association’s Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee would consider a written report after the university and Click had a chance to review it and respond.

The association would publish the report if the committee approved it, Tiede said, and the association would consider a resolution on censure during its annual meeting in June. The censure serves as a warning to prospective faculty that their rights might not be respected at the university, he said.

“It is primarily a moral issue. It is also a public relations issue,” Tiede said. “Universities don’t necessarily like to receive bad press because it brings attention to something they did outside the norm of academic conduct.”

The most recent censure action was against the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for withdrawing a faculty appointment from Steven Salaita, an associate professor of English who had resigned his previous position to take a new job. Salaita used Twitter to vent his outrage over Israeli military action in Gaza, prompting supporters of Israel to denounce it as hate speech.

From a PR standpoint (and trying to win back alumni and the legislature support) a “censure” would be welcomed by the UM Board. At least they could stand up to the AAUP.

[Gator88NE]

And this is why the UM Board could care less about an AAUP censure…

University of Missouri plans for cuts up to 8 percent on Columbia campus

An enrollment loss of as many as 1,500 students and potential legislative cuts could result in an overall budget reduction of 5 to 8 percent for the University of Missouri’s Columbia campus.

The likelihood of cuts is the top agenda item for meetings of the Council of Deans, College of Arts and Science Dean Michael O’Brien said Friday. O’Brien is trying to protect course offerings and keep department chairs informed as the cuts’ magnitude becomes clearer, he said. O’Brien likely will have to keep faculty positions open to achieve the reduction, he said.

A lot of folks, other than Click, are going to be impacted by last falls fiasco.

http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/education/turmoil_at_mu/university-of-missouri-plans-for-cuts-up-to-percent-on/article_5f26578a-21ae-5e24-87cb-d334590c929d.html

[Gator88NE]

This should be interesting…

Spike Lee reportedly working on MU football ‘30 for 30’

Director Spike Lee is working on a documentary for ESPN’s “30 for 30” series about the Missouri football team’s boycott in the fall, according to a report from Indiewire.com.

Lee was in Columbia on Saturday night to attend a screening of the student-made documentary “Concerned Student 1950” at the True/False Film Festival and, according to Indiewire, he “is interested in using some of the footage from the documentary for his own ESPN 30 For 30 project about the Missouri football teams’ role in the protests.”

http://www.columbiatribune.com/blogs/behind_the_stripes/spike-lee-reportedly-working-on-mu-football-for/article_599989d6-e3ff-11e5-a9a2-cb3a2064c82b.html

The student-made documentary should be available online in about 2 weeks.

[CE527M]

Yep, it’s confirmed that he is. Lee was on campus this morning talking to Jonathan Butler and filming a demonstration that occurred today. It was reported that yesterday he talked to a couple other of the founding members of Concerned Student 1950 as well.

[LakeWashington]

Regarding a possible “academic bankruptcy program,” some colleges have done this in the past for individual students, despite what the university guidebook may say. It may be a formal policy at some colleges and applied on a case-by-case basis at other schools. I know of a student at a very elite university whom was allowed to repeat an entire semester (he/she had failed every class). Word was that he/she threatened litigation and thus the school permitted the student to repeat the semester at no cost. I think the fact that the student was an athlete and this particular school had (still has) a high profile athletic department, was one reason why that particular resolution occurred.

[Gator88NE]

Concerned Student 1950 protesters march through University of Missouri campus

http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/education/turmoil_at_mu/concerned-student-protesters-march-through-university-of-missouri-campus/article_03f0d92b-d946-52ff-9c82-ca61185f8405.html

Demonstrators with Concerned Student 1950 on Monday encountered a locked door at University of Missouri interim Chancellor Hank Foley’s office and had an impromptu meeting with interim Vice Chancellor Chuck Henson cut short after a message was whispered in his ear.
…
With Academy Award-winning director Spike Lee filming for ESPN, the demonstrators marched from the Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center to Jesse Hall, passing through the MU Student Center and Memorial Union along the way.

“A lot of people don’t see that we are trying to reach out, and they shut the door on us all the time,” said Imani Simmons-Elloie, a member of Concerned Student 1950, after the demonstration. “We’re the black kids that are crying wolf to everybody else.”

The demonstration was sparked in part by a Feb. 25 letter from Henson, interim vice chancellor for inclusion, diversity and equity, that said Concerned Student 1950 members had not responded to invitations to meet. In his letter, Henson said a working group of faculty, staff and students was the proper venue to deal with race issues.
…
In Jesse Hall, the group chanted “Hey Foley! You in there?” before discovering the door to the interim chancellor’s office was locked. Henson emerged from his upstairs office to meet with the demonstrators and tried to explain the activities of the working group, which he said has met three times since its formation.

It was about “3 dozen protestors” (on a campus of about 35,000+ students). Video at the above link.

[HarvestMoon1]

In the video linked above one of the demonstration leaders says of the working group “it’s not working, ideas are not being shared.” Then in the next breath says “and our demands have yet to be met.”

This is not an individual interested in “sharing ideas” and formulating solutions - she wants what she wants and nothing else will do. The world just does not work that way - for anyone. These kids need a dose of reality.

[Gator88NE]

Wow

**Hiring freeze, department cuts ordered at University of Missouri **

The University of Missouri will use a hiring freeze and a 5 percent cut to all recurring general revenue budgets to close a projected $32 million shortfall for the coming fiscal year, interim MU Chancellor Hank Foley wrote in a memo to campus Wednesday.

Foley wrote that the need to cover a projected fall enrollment decline will leave the campus $32 million short in the year that begins July 1.
…
A 5 percent budget cut would eliminate about $20 million from the budget, still leaving the university with a $10 million shortfall. He emphasized the decline was independent from legislative threats to cut state funding. On Tuesday, the Missouri House cut $1 million from the campus’ allocation of state money and $7.6 million from UM System administrative funding. The measure still needs a final vote and consideration in the Senate.

“Realize most of our expenses are people,” Ward said. Take “$32 million, and look at an average salary of $40,000, $50,000, and we’re talking about hundreds and hundreds of positions impacted.”

The are also eliminating raises and pulling 10 million from the reserves. If next year’s enrollment gets impacted…

[soccerguy315]

Enrollment for next year will be down:

"Dear university community,

I am writing to you today to confirm that we project a very significant budget shortfall due to an unexpected sharp decline in first-year enrollments and student retention this coming fall. I wish I had better news.

The anticipated declines, which total about 1,500 fewer students than current enrollment at MU, in addition to a small number of necessary investments are expected to leave us with an approximate $32 million budget gap for next year. A smaller entering freshman class will have continuing impact on finances as they progress toward their degrees at MU…

[CAMidwestMom]

Do you have a link to the full text of this letter?

[CE527M]

http://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/higher_education/update-mu-will-enact-hiring-freeze-budget-cuts/article_dc61b37a-e652-11e5-ba38-777268aa64b9.html

I’m not doubting that the events of the fall have had an impact —they clearly have and the admissions office has admitted it —but the admissions office is also adamant that they’ve expected somewhat of a decline because the number of high school grads is down and that this isn’t solely due to CS1950.

[Gator88NE]

@CE527M Mizzou is the state flagship university, any slight declines would have impacted the directional schools far more than the main campus. That’s really spin by admissions.

Freshman Enrollment has recently fluctuated at Mizzou, but the trend has been up. The number that have applied has increased each year since 2007-08 (until this year reversed the trend).

2005-06: 4,718 (328 Black, non-Hispanic): Number that applied: 12,404
06-07: 4,838 (355) Number that applied: 13,102
07-08: 4,982 (332) Number that applied: 12,089
08-09: 5,782 (422) Number that applied: 14,491
09-10: 5,569 (482) Number that applied: 16,436
10-11: 6,089 (532) Number that applied: 17,465
11-12: 6,138 (535) Number that applied: 18,125
12-13: 6,501 (657) Number that applied: 20,564
13-14: 6,194 (582) Number that applied: 20,956
14-15: 6,515 (552) Number that applied: 21,163
15-16: 6,191 (509) Number that applied: 21,988

http://ir.missouri.edu/data-set/

If enrollment ends up being less than it was in 2006-07 (assuming 6,200-1,500=4,700), then you really have to point to CS1950 for the drop, not state demographics.

Keep in mind that Mizzou will now be short 1,500 for the next 4 or 5 years, as this cohort moves toward graduation. The financial pain will be long lasting.

Since many of the students they lost were part of the higher performing cohort, it also will end up hitting Mizzou’s rankings in 2017 (or 2018). However, at this point that really doesn’t matter, compared to the financial impacts.

By the way, earlier Admissions said applications are down by a bit less than 5%. How does that lead to a 1,500 drop in enrollment? A lot of folks must have applied in the fall, and then after the negative press, decide not to accept an offer Yield must have tanked, and that has nothing to do with the number of high school grads being down.

[Gator88NE]

Lee’s film, titled “2 Fists Up,” is planned for digital release May 31 and is “an examination of how the Black Lives Matter movement sparked activism at the University of Missouri, its football team, and across the rest of The United States,” according to an ESPN release.

From an enrollment standpoint, better this film comes out in May/June and not in the Fall…

[Gator88NE]

And the cuts have started…

College of Engineering faces $900,000 in budget cuts for 2017

The College of Engineering will face about $900,000 worth of budget cuts — 5 percent of the college’s total budget — for fiscal year 2017, Dean Elizabeth Loboa announced at a faculty open forum in Lafferre Hall on Thursday afternoon.

The cuts come a day after MU Interim Chancellor Hank Foley announced hiring freezes and 5 percent cuts to MU’s total 2017 fiscal year budget.

The engineering dean’s office announced the open forum Monday and said there would be both human resources and benefits representatives present. The announcement and Foley’s “bummer memo” made staff and faculty members fear massive layoffs, Loboa said.

Loboa said one faculty member joked: “Are you going to have security at the meeting?” But she reassured the group at the meeting that there’s “nothing like that going on.”

Instead, Loboa listed 11 cost-saving measures and goals amounting to roughly $500,000 to $700,000 in cuts. The college still has to come up with between $400,000 or $200,000 more to meet the $900,000 mark.

Six non-tenure-track faculty members were told prior to the meeting that their contracts would not be renewed , Loboa said. Even after those, “we may still have to do layoffs,” Loboa said.

http://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/college-of-engineering-faces-in-budget-cuts-for/article_c3f171c8-e728-11e5-a672-979e74b4fd6f.html

Loboa acknowledged that the cuts came at a politically difficult time when the university is fighting for money with the state legislature.

“We got here because of the protests and the backlash and Melissa Click,” she said. “This university is a 177-year-old institution. We’re a great university, and we’re going to survive that.”

While the Dean is willing to point out the elephant in the room, Admissions still finds other reasons for the drop in enrollment…

Interim Vice Provost for Enrollment Management Barbara Rupp said the university has received 3,733 deposits for fall 2016, down 23 percent from the amount it had at this time last year. A deposit is the fee admitted students pay to enroll at MU and access housing and orientation, but it doesn’t guarantee the student will attend.

“The situation for next year is grim,” MU Faculty Council chair Ben Trachtenberg said.

Rupp said a lower number of high school graduates and competition from other universities were among the factors driving the decline.

Although students can enroll at MU through late summer, the university has about a month to increase total enrollment, she said. Most students make their final choice at this time of year, she said.

“It’s not a very rosy outlook,” Rupp said.

http://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/higher_education/mu-faculty-council-discusses-enrollment-decrease-and-budget-issues/article_e6dbaa34-e717-11e5-a9a7-23e6779ba09e.html
The huge decrease in enrollment is due to competition and that drop in the number of high school graduates, nothing to see here, move on…

[cobale]

I live in St Louis MO and have two daughters (a senior in high school and a freshman in high school). My senior daughter applied to Mizzou late last fall and got accepted into the honors college but then two things happened:

1. The administration caved in to ridiculous demands from protesters and from the football team.

2. The journalism school as well as academia as a whole at Mizzou became an embarrassment thanks to Melissa Click.

Neither of my daughters will be going to Mizzou.

If I hear “safe space” or “academic bankruptcy program” one more time I think I’m going to be sick. I have no doubt that racism and bigotry exist at Mizzou just like they do everywhere. It’s important through education and communication to work towards eliminating those problems. But the way this was handled at Mizzou by high-level administrators and by some of their educators tells me that Mizzou is not the right place for my daughters.

[CAMidwestMom]

@cobale Can I ask did your daughter come to this decision on her own? I’m struggling reading all of this here and wondering how to share it all with my son, who wants to go to the J school and will be in the Honors college. I live near STL too and we have a lot of friends with kids at Mizzou. One of those kids is leaving after this year and says events of last fall played a role in the decision. But, others seem very happy. I know the J program and the school are good, but there is also a lot of unknowns at this point imo. I am hopeful but also worried.

[cobale]

Hi CAMidwestMom. My daughter came to this decision on her own. To be fair, Mizzou was one of a half dozen schools she was considering. My guess is even if none of this mess had happened, she would have chosen one of the other schools on her list (for biochem). I have spoken with several families that have students at Mizzou. Generally those students feel that the negative perception that Mizzou now has is unfair and does not accurately reflect the experience that they are having.

[CAMidwestMom]

Thanks for the reply @cobale! I decided to send him the articles and just suggested it was important to stay informed. He also has other choices but is really drawn to the J school. I feel like he will do well there, but part of me just doesn’t want to deal with it. That said, stuff can happen anywhere and I realize that!!

[CE527M]

@Gator88NE I’m not at all feeding into what the admissions office is saying at face value. It’s well-known that CS1950 had something to do with this drop. All I’m saying is that I don’t think it’s 100% that. Applications have been up, but this year’s freshman class was smaller than last year’s ( 6,191 vs. 2014 fall semester 6,515 students). So a decline in fall 2016’s freshman class would make sense, albeit not such a big one. They’ve said that there’s competition between peer institutions; other schools (like Alabama) offer better financial aid packages, so people choose elsewhere (which also makes sense). But again, I’m not trying to say the events of the fall had no impact. Just that I don’t think all 1,500 fewer students are contributing to the decline.

Also, whoa whoa, @cobale. The j-school’s reputation is fully intact; anyone who thinks the j-school had anything to do with the Click incident is 100% wrong. Click worked for the Communication Department in the College of Arts and Science. Not journalism. She had a courtesy appointment with the j-school (as they require some non-journalism faculty to sit on some board, or something to that effect), and I believe the day or two after the infamous Click incident, they dropped her appointment. The j-school has been very clear that they care about freedom of speech and denounced Click’s actions. There’s honestly no better time to be a journalism student at Mizzou — the amount of real experience my peers and I have gotten reporting on this national issue is second to none. As much criticism as I’ve heard about Mizzou, none of it has been about the School of Journalism.

There’s a lot of misinformation out there. Yeah, people have their opinions about what was right vs. wrong, but there’s also a lot of misinformation about all of this that people who aren’t on campus don’t see. Not trying to get on a high horse and tell people they’re wrong, just saying that people act like Mizzou is a terrible place to send their children (either out of fear of racism or fear of bad administration), but that’s not true. Maybe for some majors where other schools have better programs, but I can say at least for journalism I recommend the j-school just as much as I did before last semester happened.

[ucbalumnus]

@Gator88NE

Keep in mind that Mizzou will now be short 1,500 for the next 4 or 5 years, as this cohort moves toward graduation. The financial pain will be long lasting.

Could be more like 2-3 years, if they increase transfer admissions to refill the “missing” students. Of course, that depends whether there is a well established transfer pathway with plenty of potential transfer students willing to apply and enroll.