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COMPETING PRIORITIES
Spring 2009
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CSU Chancellor Charles Reed insists that "competing priorities" prevent him from paying the promised raises to faculty.
Since resources are not being properly utilized to meet the needs of faculty, students and staff, the CSU community is left to wonder which competing demands are actually getting the attention.
In this webpage, CFA will attempt to shed light on what the Chancellor's true priorities might be.
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LECTURER POSITIONS DISAPPEAR AS
MANAGEMENT POSITIONS GROW
February 24
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The current budget crisis is making it clear what the “competing priorities” are that prevent Chancellor Charles Reed from paying the promised raises to faculty.
Between Fall 2007 and Fall 2008 the Chancellor chose to devote more of the CSU’s already-scarce resources to management. At the same time, cutbacks to instruction budgets were starting to take effect across the system and the CSU Trustees unveiled plans to reduce enrollment by 10,000 students.
During this period, there was a net loss of instructional positions in the CSU. In Fall 2008, there were 477 fewer Lecturers (headcount) teaching in the system than in the prior year and 242 fewer full-time equivalent (FTE) Lecturer positions.
Unfortunately, management did not share the pain as Chancellor Reed and the campus presidents increased the number of CSU management positions by 3% (full-time equivalent), despite the state’s worsening financial situation.
To learn about Lecturer vs. MPP trends on your campus, click here
At some campuses, the evidence that students and instruction are losing in the management game of “competing priorities” is shocking:
At CSU Fullerton, there was a net loss of 69 FTE Lecturer positions, or 11%, between Fall 2007 and Fall 2008 while at the same time the number of managers increased by 7% (FTE).
The Cal Poly Pomona administration eliminated one out of every five FTE Lecturer positions held in 2007 while it increased the number of (FTE) management positions by 6%.
At CSU Bakersfield, FTE management positions grew by a whopping 21% but FTE Lecturer positions declined by 3%.
The real impact on Lecturers may even be worse than this as many more have lost work or received involuntary reductions in time base.
“Losing Lecturer faculty directly impacts students. It’s a tragedy not just for Lecturers who lose their jobs but for the students who lose their classes as a direct result,” said Elizabeth Hoffman, CFA’s Associate Vice President Lecturers.
To learn about Lecturer vs. MPP trends on your campus, click here
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MANAGEMENT POSITIONS CONTINUE TO GROW
WHILE NUMBER OF FACULTY DWINDLES
February 18
In the latest example of Chancellor Charles Reed’s misplaced priorities, data analyzed by CFA show the CSU Administration increased its management expenditures during the budget crisis, at the expense of instruction.
Between fall 2007 and fall 2008 – a period during which the worsening state budget crisis was common knowledge – the chancellor chose to devote more of the CSU’s already-scarce resources to management. At the same time, cutbacks to instruction budgets were starting to take effect across the system and the CSU Trustees unveiled plans to reduce enrollment by 10,000 students.
To view larger versions of these charts, click here
Specifically, during this time period, Chancellor Reed increased the number (full-time equivalent) of CSU management positions by 3% while he eliminated 184 faculty positions (also full-time equivalent), systemwide, for a decrease of 1%. And, with the increased demand for spots in the university, the number of students enrolled increased by 2% (5,400 FTES) in spite of efforts to prevent enrollment growth this year.
With student enrollment growing and a reduction in teachers and course offerings, students are unable to find spots in core courses they need in order to graduate and faculty workload is increasing on all CSU campuses.
“It is disturbing that during this time of economic crisis, the Chancellor sees fit to hire more managers while students are forced to compete for time with fewer teachers,” said John Travis, Chair of CFA’s Bargaining Team.
Since 2000, the number of faculty positions has increased by only 12%, while the number of students has increased by 27% (all FTE). The number of management positions grew by 23% - twice as much as faculty and almost at the same rate as students.
To view a pdf of this data, click here
SEND IN YOUR EXAMPLES OF WHAT THE CSU'S
'COMPETING PRIORITIES' MIGHT BE
February 10
CFA invites the CSU community to send in examples of projects and priorities that ARE getting funding on your campus, even as class sections are being eliminated.
Send your suggestions on what might be the CSU's 'competing priorities' to editor@calfac.org
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