The (atrocious) business of higher education

The Great Recession is causing quite a havoc, and the unemployed millions begin to wonder whether there will be daylight anytime soon. Angry and frustrated people are beginning to protest.  Homes are in foreclosure.  Things are awfully sucky, right?

Against such a background, one would think that university faculty and staff will be happy to simply hold on to their jobs.  Particularly at the public universities.

Not so fast.

As University of Oregon tenured professors pocket an average $4,800 pay increase this year, faculty at other Oregon campuses want fat raises, too....
The UO pay raises have complicated salary negotiations on some of the seven state campuses, giving faculty leverage to demand more money and putting pressure on administrators to deliver it. ...
WOU's faculty union settled earlier this month for a 6 percent salary increase over the next two years with another 2 percent kicking in as the biennium ends. The faculty recognized Western did not have the tuition reserves to grant pay increases on the scale of UO's and were largely satisfied, Plec said.

So, is there any overflowing coffer from where money will miraculously appear?

Nope.

The state government has been drastically reducing its allocations for years now.  WOU, where faculty (that includes me) "settled" for a six percent salary increase is now forced to abandon its tuition promisebecause it won't be able to balance books otherwise:

declining state appropriations for higher education make continuing it a risk, WOU Interim President Mark Weiss said.
"The Promise was premised on sustained and constant state funding," Weiss said. "In a down economy, it serves as a recipe for financial instability."

Let us recap the situation, shall we?

1. State allocations are decreasing
2. But, salary raises of six percent over two years
3. However, such a raise isn't enough, because over at UO the raises were larger

So, we know how this story will develop, right?  The budget will have to be balanced on the backs of students:

OUS schools may increase tuition rates every year -- and have hiked rates accordingly to compensate. Tuition on other campuses grew between 6.5 percent and 9 percent for 2011-12. Western's increased by 5 percent. And that's only for freshmen or new transfer students.

Meanwhile, WOU is hiring a Director of Athletic Compliance, so that we can make sure that NCAA protocols are being followed.  You want to understand how this came through?  For years, WOU wasn't in Division II.  But, you know the formula--sports are the most important aspects of a college.  So, to Division II we went.
However, playing at Division II level meant WOU is required to provide more scholarships and have better facilities.  Which is how we also ended up constructing the multimillion dollar Taj Mahal.  The university president offered reasons for why such an investment is needed:

Since moving from NAIA to NCAA Division II in 2000, Western Oregon University has been adjusting to the economic realities of competing at a higher level.More money was needed for scholarships, travel and increased investment in facilities, such as the new Health and Wellness Center opening this year, that will relocate the football team from the Old PE Building on campus.

Well, wouldn't it have made economic sense then to have stayed in NAIA and, therefore, not have incurred all these additional expenses?  Taxpayer and tuition monies could have been put to better use if we had stayed back in NAIA, right?

This is simply terrible how students are being screwed.   I feel awful when I see them in the classroom--most of them are there, as one student put it, "to game the system."  They see this as the only way to that promised land of a successful middle class American life. 


Little do they realize that the higher education system, which includes me, is out to suck their blood.