Colleges in Dire Financial Straits

[spork]

Ursinus goes public with a 66% discount rate. They don't make it clear if that is the first-year discount rate or the average discount rate. At some point it doesn't matter if you maintain that trend for 4 years.

https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2020/06/29/ursinus-college-met-its-admissions-goals-money-and-faculty-attention

It says in the article that one of the reasons they have attracted as many students as they have is that faculty were asked to call prospective students to answer questions, talk the place up, etc.

We did that a couple of years ago at Artem U and I called around a dozen admits who had not yet tendered a deposit.   If the number I had was a land line, I usually had to leave a message with mom or dad since the student was never home.  If the number I had was the student's cell phone, it went straight to voice mail since nobody picks up for a number they do not recognize. 

I came away from the experience feeling like a stalker and ended up not convincing anybody to attend Artem U.

I don't know what secret sauce Ursinus used, but in my experience this was just a waste of time.

It was a waste of time for Ursinus too if its discount rate is now 66%. The school is bottom feeding.

[Hibush]

He also set a number of majors that every program had to have each year (based on the goal of ensuring 60% of Illinois adults earned a college degree), regardless of size or status as a discovery major. The result was the elimination of philosophy, religious studies, women's studies, and Afrian American studies ...although some of these programs did manage to grow to meet the required numbers once the targets were set.

A bit OT, but this looks like a nice case of using a supposedly unbiased algorithm to disempower the underempowered. Some people don't even realize they are reinforcing systemic racism when they do that.

[spork]

The president of the Rhode Island School of Design is predicting a $50 million deficit from losses in spring 2020 through the end of fiscal year 2021.

[spork]

The president of the Rhode Island School of Design is predicting a $50 million deficit from losses in spring 2020 through the end of fiscal year 2021.

Here is the news story about RISD; forgot to include it earlier:

https://www.providencejournal.com/news/20200629/risd-facing-50-million-deficit-to-lay-off-full-time-faculty.

[polly_mer]

The president of the Rhode Island School of Design is predicting a $50 million deficit from losses in spring 2020 through the end of fiscal year 2021.

Here is the news story about RISD; forgot to include it earlier:

https://www.providencejournal.com/news/20200629/risd-facing-50-million-deficit-to-lay-off-full-time-faculty.

The union rejected plans so now there will be layoffs of full-time faculty.  That reads like faculty didn't want to accept realty and now will be smacked in the face.

[apl68]

He also set a number of majors that every program had to have each year (based on the goal of ensuring 60% of Illinois adults earned a college degree), regardless of size or status as a discovery major. The result was the elimination of philosophy, religious studies, women's studies, and Afrian American studies ...although some of these programs did manage to grow to meet the required numbers once the targets were set.

A bit OT, but this looks like a nice case of using a supposedly unbiased algorithm to disempower the underempowered. Some people don't even realize they are reinforcing systemic racism when they do that.

Or, to put it another way, algorithms might be impartial, but deciding how to weight what in creating the algorithm involves making value judgements.  What values are driving the judgement?  In this case, presumably issues of dollars and cents.

[Wahoo Redux]

The president of the Rhode Island School of Design is predicting a $50 million deficit from losses in spring 2020 through the end of fiscal year 2021.

Here is the news story about RISD; forgot to include it earlier:

https://www.providencejournal.com/news/20200629/risd-facing-50-million-deficit-to-lay-off-full-time-faculty.

The union rejected plans so now there will be layoffs of full-time faculty.  That reads like faculty didn't want to accept realty and now will be smacked in the face.

Our union is snarling about "a vote to strike." 

On the one hand, our admin are being wankers.  They seem to be trying to take advantage of the pandemic tragedy.  Very unethical.

On the other hand, the union seems unable to comprehend current events.  Some of the faculty, including some "term faculty," are already rushing to the battlements. 

It is very frightening. We have a little bit of savings, but neither of us particularly wants to move in with our elderly parents.

[polly_mer]

That's a tough situation, Wahoo.

Has anyone looked up all the NLRB rules and contacted the national association for a reality check on local conditions?

It is simultaneously possible for the admins to generally be wankers and still be faced with a very stark budget with valid-to-keeping-the-whole-institution-open constraints that fall more heavily on certain faculty groups.

[secundem_artem]

The president of the Rhode Island School of Design is predicting a $50 million deficit from losses in spring 2020 through the end of fiscal year 2021.

Here is the news story about RISD; forgot to include it earlier:

https://www.providencejournal.com/news/20200629/risd-facing-50-million-deficit-to-lay-off-full-time-faculty.

The union rejected plans so now there will be layoffs of full-time faculty.  That reads like faculty didn't want to accept realty and now will be smacked in the face.

Perhaps the union did not accept reality and was, indeed smacked in the face.

Or, just as likely, members heard of all these "temporary" cuts, layoffs, furloughs, decreased pension contributions etc. and said "If we say yes to this, we're not ever getting any of it back.  So screw it, we stand firm and see what happens."

I know, Polly, that you are entirely data driven.  Not everybody is, and the logic of their lives makes as much sense to them, as the numbers do in your life.

My own practice as we face similar decisions at Artem U is, "As long as I got a job, I can live with this."  But I would not fault people who make different decisions.

[polly_mer]

That "as long as I have a job" mentality is how people ended up unemployed  and generally unemployable in the tight market in their late-fifties/early-sixties at Super Dinky when the programs were cut.

I understand not wanting furloughs and pay cuts ever, because it's true that sometimes they just get worse until the institution closes.

However, refusing to believe that the numbers really do matter and your institution can really, truly, no-foolin' close, even with assets, is a much less sympathetic case.

An art place at the moment is in dire straits and will need to face the numbers.

Playing chicken with the speeding train by sticking tight less than a mile in front of the engine is a sucker bet, even for those who refuse to do the math.

[secundem_artem]

That "as long as I have a job" mentality is how people ended up unemployed  and generally unemployable in the tight market in their late-fifties/early-sixties at Super Dinky when the programs were cut.

I understand not wanting furloughs and pay cuts ever, because it's true that sometimes they just get worse until the institution closes.

However, refusing to believe that the numbers really do matter and your institution can really, truly, no-foolin' close, even with assets, is a much less sympathetic case.

An art place at the moment is in dire straits and will need to face the numbers.

Playing chicken with the speeding train by sticking tight less than a mile in front of the engine is a sucker bet, even for those who refuse to do the math.

The belief that the wolf is no foolin, truly-ooly, pasta-fazooli at the door may well be the case.  But it's not as if administrators have always been transparent with the data.  And no doubt some of them will flat out lie as a negotiating tactic. 

Most of us can probably "do the math" but said math is only as good as the numbers all the tall foreheads and deep thinkers in the C-suite see fit to release to us peasants.

As my dear old dad used to say, figures don't lie, but liars can figure.

[Wahoo Redux]

That's a tough situation, Wahoo.

Has anyone looked up all the NLRB rules and contacted the national association for a reality check on local conditions?

It is simultaneously possible for the admins to generally be wankers and still be faced with a very stark budget with valid-to-keeping-the-whole-institution-open constraints that fall more heavily on certain faculty groups.

Indeed.  And to their credit the admin have been making difficult reordering decisions, cutting non-essential positions (some of which are going to hurt), and taking pay cuts themselves----something the faculty simply don't recognize, particularly that admin cut their own salaries.  I considered sending these folks a thank-you email but didn't want to come off as a brown-noser. 

On the other hand (which always seems to be ready with the smack-down), as I've posted before, admin resolutely refuse to bargain on a 1-year contract which the union suggested with concessions.  No one knows what's coming in the future, so a year's stalemate is entirely appropriate.  In other words, sure, we peons are willing to do our share but admin are apparently unwilling to let us catch our breath. 

I have no idea what the union has checked or not.  Part of the problem with having a union, I guess.

[polly_mer]

Yeah, I remember you mentioning the one-year thing before.

As secumdem_artem mentions, one has to know the real numbers to make a judgment on any given case.

However, because of my experiences with faculty who flat out refused to believe even when given the stark reality in the clearest, bluntest terms (oh, people have been crying wolf for two decades, it's probably not that bad this time), I'm more inclined to believe that the next year is looking really bad in the true finances.

There's no way Super Dinky survives the next year.

[Wahoo Redux]

Actually, compared to a great many other schools, our finances are not that bad.  Our enrollment is not that bad either.  We are the cheapest school in the state and one of the larger campuses.  We are paid diddly.  So we're not in danger of sinking quite yet.

I have faith enough in our solid but not dynamic admin to think that they can guide us.

And again, my question is always the same: Why not share the numbers so we comprehend the choices, not just now, which we already know is bad, but for the long term?

I just hope that the union members are not so paranoid that they become hotheads and aggravate our admin. 

I hope our admin will remember that we are the real producers of the university's products.

[polly_mer]

And again, my question is always the same: Why not share the numbers so we comprehend the choices, not just now, which we already know is bad, but for the long term?

As a public institution, much of that information should be publicly available.  Have you consulted a university librarian or the president's office with a request?

Where would a FOIA request be filed to get access to the detailed budget and the strategic plan?

While faculty are important and absolutely necessary, few students with options will attend somewhere with terrible technical and physical infrastructure.  Maintaining enough bandwidth and WiFi coverage has become increasingly expensive.  Deferred maintenance eventually comes due.  CUNY is notorious for serving large numbers of students in dangerously neglected facilities.

Many states were already low on contributing dollars per student or other budget contributions.  Having the same number of students, but another cut this year in state funding while having additional expenses is a big problem for many institutions this year.

I hope our admin will remember that we are the real producers of the university's products.

Who is included in "we"?  For example, the faculty teaching general education are unlikely to be a big driving factor for enrollment, especially at a large R2.

How much of your enrollment is foreign nationals in engineering and CS?  There are many non-elite places that propped up their enrollment in recent years with those full-pay students.  Having a drop there, but a gain from other regional institutions may mean enrollment is about the same.  However, replacing full-pay-out-of-state students with in-state-additional-discounts is a hit to the budget.

How much faculty turnover or just empty faculty slots exist in the fields that do drive enrollment?  CS immediately comes to mind as having a national mismatch.

. About a third of 4-year institutions reported a failed CS search in 2018.

The mismatch in CS is exacerbated by lack of teaching interest by qualified people as well as excellent options outside of academia.

If it turns out your institution can't meet demand in certain majors, then the long-term outlook is not good as students vote with their feet to other institutions.  Having fabulous gen ed faculty will not help.

Some majors are also expensive to operate, but closing the programs is not an option for an institution serving the needs of the region.  For example, nursing needs up-to-date facilities and that's not cheap.  An accredited nursing program has strict and pretty low caps on many courses. Nationally, the number of student slots are too few for either the projected needs or students interested in studying.  This is another area where too few qualified people want to teach and money is only part of the equation.


If you spend most of your time talking with other humanities faculty, then you won't know about these expensive problems that won't be fixed by focusing on preserving humanities faculty jobs.

If your campus is mostly humanities majors, then that's another looming long-term problem for the campus as student demographics shift.