There are only few jobs that are open to students. And students aren’t the most reliable long term substitutes of essential workers for the long term health of an institution. There needs to be a balance and now essential workers seem to be in a position of leverage. I’m interested to see how it all shakes out.
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It will be interesting to hear her thoughts when they do their quarterly protest at 5:30 am with bullhorns in the dorm area during midterms.
That’s surprising. At my D’s college, students manage the front desk in residence halls and the university guesthouse (including doing cleaning), manage the recreation facilities, work in the dining hall, etc. I’d guess they are easily the majority of the unskilled workforce.
It’s an easy option at a state U where the vast majority of students expect to work part time during college. Perhaps less acceptable when you are paying for a luxury experience at an expensive private.
Can’t be much louder than the a capella groups practicing outside at all hours of the day and night (or maybe it’s serenading, not sure…)
Universities are non-profit entities. If their costs of labor increase, they either need to cut other expenses or increase tuition. What would the students like to be cut or would they prefer tuition increases?
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A good place to start would be to cut middle management. And consultants. And marketing. The list could go on and on. But let’s not derail the thread. I’m partially (or maybe wholly responsible) so I’ll stop. My comments were in response to the hubris of meritocracy on a video shared above.
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I think its all relevant. If you think people should make more, you have to figure out some way to cover it. And in the broader subject of this thread, if the author of the piece the subject of this thread is to be believed in the story telling (assuming what is said is true even though as I and others have noted, its not been proved it is), what do you do about it? Easy to say you think x, y or z is a problem, but then you have to determine what to do about it.
It’s so easy to cut “middle management”. Who goes- the team of dieticians who work to make sure that the meals in the cafeteria cover every option that students need- gluten free, nut free, egg allergic, vegan? They’re “middle management” in the org structure.
or what about the Director of Housing (surely middle management) who works with disabled students to make sure that their dorm assignments match their requirements based on their illness/chronic disorder?
Or what about the lawyers (all middle management) who make sure that when a drunk kid slips and falls on a patch of ice the insurer has all the facts-- including a video made by campus police where the kid mumbles “I’m so wasted I can’t see where I’m going” before coming up with a settlement offer for the family after the inevitable lawsuit?
Who do we fire first?
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I can think of some places:
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You should read the “Nanny Diaries.” It’s a great vacation read! The authors are former nannies, so even though it’s fiction, there is some truth to it. It’s also kind of sad, the nanny in the book is basically raising the kid. The dad is always working and the mom doesn’t work, but is always at the spa and doing who knows what. It was also made into a movie staring Scarlett Johansson, but it wasn’t very good. The book is much better.
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The ratio of administration to faculty at all US universities is steadily rising. And so are educational costs. It’s not up to me to hire or fire anyone. But as someone who was educated in pretty bare bones (in comparison to the US) universities that focused on education and not a residential experience I find your examples full of pathos. The fact that a drunk kid slips on ice at a university should not be reason for a new lawyer to be put on staff. Here we are talking about meritocracy and the anxieties of the top 10% of income earners but yet their kids are not encouraged to develop self agency? If you do well it’s all on your own merit but if something bad happens to you it’s always someone else’s fault.
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And don’t forget the mental health professionals needed to help all these stressed out kids. They are administration too.
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And all of the administrators necessary to fulfill governmental reporting requirements, including TitleIX, FERPA, and Clery Act. This article is a few years old, but discusses some of the whys behind the increase in administrative burden for the colleges. Bureaucrats And Buildings: The Case For Why College Is So Expensive
Just to be clear- I am not advocating that colleges need for all these risk management folks who essentially exist because we live in a litigious society where folks sue rather than accept the consequences for poor decisions. I’m just pointing out who these “middle management” folks are. They don’t exist in a vacuum- they exist in response to external factors.
I know folks who call the university president to complain that towel service was suspended (temporarily) in the athletic center after a Covid outbreak. No, the employees who wash the towels are not middle management. But I just could not imagine elevating a complaint like that to a university president. Maybe that’s why universities need SO many “assistant director of athletics” (middle management) because everything they do- closing the weight room at 9 pm whereas it used to be midnight now triggers calls and emails and snarky postings on the parent Facebook page?
Who knows. But if you saw the dockets of pending litigation (and the settlements) for a big university it would really curl your hair. The usual stuff like any big employer- unlawful termination, various employee relations stuff. And then- sadly- the usual stuff like any theme park, hotel or retailer (slip and falls). And the Title IX stuff- beyond a college’s control, that’s a federal mandate. Sexual assaults. PETA lodges a complaint and pickets the home of a university trustee over the use of genetically modified mice in a university lab creating new chemo compounds- how many “middle managers” does it take to sort that thing out?
Just saying- it’s a lot of people.
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Does it really matter whether colleges have bloated cost structures due to regulations or demands from “semi-rich” parents? The higher cost helps make the well-financed elite privates more “desirable” for many students and their families, does it not?
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I’m not sure how this discussion veered off to things we should eliminate at colleges
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At the onset of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, Rutgers declared a fiscal emergency and aimed to reduce the budgetary shortfall. The Athletics Department, though, continued spending money largely uninterrupted — purchasing everything from a $12,400 power nap machine, to $470 laser pointers for the football coaches, to a car service for a single track athlete totaling $4,400. The Daily Targum
Cutting the above and purchasing a few extra buses would work wonders for the students.
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Athletic budgets, especially in power 5 conferences, are separate from school budgets. If the football team didn’t buy $470 laser pointers, they would have bought something else FOR THE FOOTBALL TEAM, not buses for the rest of the school.
Usually the athletic budget gives a set amount to the school and that’s it. The rest of the money stays in athletics, because it was generated by athletics (game day fees, TV contracts, ticket sales, merchandise).
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It makes sense that we’ve gone there only because those who are in the 9.9% (household income above $200k) are the most likely to be full pay and complaining about it on CC!
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… and obsessing with college prestige, college financial ROI, middle and high school planning to build a college admissions resume, middle and high school athletics, etc., as indicated by various threads in the forums.
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