Updates to faculty layoff plan and other stuff

[ST_Lawson]

I think that part of the "disconnect" is that you have a number of professors over the $150k range, but you also have instructors making poverty-level wages. Now, I don't know all the details of what the faculty want vs what the university wants...each side has their own story and likely the truth is somewhere in the middle...but one of the things that the faculty are asking for is to essentially keep the minimum salary levels for starting instructors, which really has little to no effect on the ones who are comfortable, but can improve the lives of the lowest-paid of the faculty members.

Personally, I can see both sides of things. There are definitely faculty members who do a ton of work, put in a ton of time on their jobs and with their students, and are significantly underpaid for what they do. There are also faculty members who don't put in anywhere near as much time or effort and are paid 3 to 4 times what the lower-paid faculty members are. The threat of a strike could accomplish the faculty goals of improving salaries for the lower-paid members, but also look bad to many people considering the current financial situation at the university and in the state. It's a messy situation and I don't think anyone is going to come out of it completely happy. There's plenty of blame to go around on this...from the top-level leadership in the state all the way down the "chain".

For reference or if anyone is curious, here is a spreadsheet of all the Administrators and Faculty members salaries (no civil service):
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... ingle=true

[Tere North]

Scott, UPI has not suggested increases to just the lower tier, e.g., Instructors and Lecturers, rather, they want the same % increase for all, which would keep the same gap instead of narrowing it. Beyond % raises, faculty also get an increase added to their base with the move from Asst to Assoc Professor, usually after the 3rd year; when they get tenure, usually after the 7th year; when they move from Assoc to Full Professor, and roughly every 5 years they are Full Professors. Those are lump sum boosts over and above any annual % change.
Consider the following of the listed salaries for the UPI negotiating team
Dan Barclay, FY17 & FY18, $37,440 as a 9mo-contract Assistant Professor of English
Rich Filipink, FY17 & FY18, $91,413 as a 9mo-contract Full Professor of History
Molly Homer, FY17 & FY18, $55,630 as a 10mo-contract Academic Advisor for the Honors College
Kristy Keefe, FY17 $57,213, FY18 $58,743, for a 2.7% increase in base pay as a 9mo-contract Assistant Professor of Psychology
Dana Lindemann, FY17 $73,944, FY18 $81918, for a 10.8% increase in base pay as a 9-mo contract Associate Professor of Psychology
John Little, a new 9mo-contract Assistant Professor of Broadcasting & Journalism in FY18 at $57,861
Duke Ousler, FY17 $59,112, FY19 $74,113, for a 25.4% increase in base pay as a 9mo-contract Associate Professor of Art
Bill Thompson, FY17 & FY18, $106,931 as an 11mo-contract Full Professor of Libraries

Salary minima only apply to the minimum possible starting salary for new faculty at each faculty level and affect very few. PAAs, however, affect all faculty and using them as permanent salary boosts rather than 1-time bonuses can add up.

If UPI truly wanted a "fair and just" contract, they should focus on the underpaid groups, not demanding increases for all.

[Neckfansince71]

A week ago, a delegation from WIU visited with legislators and the representatives of the Illinois Board of Higher Education. At the end of the meeting the president of the IBHE was asked if he saw a scenario in which a regional state institution would close its doors? He said absolutely not! In the studies they have done the small amount of savings wouldn't be worth the economic chaos it would create in those regions! So that answers a fundamental question which has been debated and discussed here for maybe a year or more. WIU will survive! The question is, where to we go from here and do we have the people in place to bring that about. Its obvious that for some of you, the answer is no! There have been philosophical remedies discussed and debated but movement is needed. Its one thing to talk direction and another thing to move in that direction. And besides that, as I stated earlier, there is a true disconnect between town and gown in a whole lot of ways. Obviously the faculty is guilty of that too. But ladies and gentlemen, its a labor dispute, not an infection from a new pathogen. The budget impasse, decline in available seniors in Illinois, along with the unhappiness from the faculty union and the continued use of furlough days along with the lack of proactive vision has created a "boil" that has got to be lanced and drained in order for new growth to begin. Its all part of the process. I refuse to desert my alma mater both financially and emotionally. I am not going away! jc

ps. Redneck, I have some answers to your questions and some thoughts which I will share shortly. We all love WIU! Lets not forget that!

[ST_Lawson]

Posted on UPI's facebook page (that's the faculty union) a couple of hours ago...

"Following the April 23 mediation session, Western Illinois University and the University Professionals of Illinois Local 4100 are able to report that the two groups are close to reaching a tentative agreement, subject to finalizing the specific language contained within the new contract. Details will not be disclosed until the final language has been approved by both sides."

So, that sounds promising.

[wiu712]

We have a proud football tradition with a stadium that is so partially decrepit it is crumbling apart.

At Friday's spring game, I did notice that some of the crumbling stairs on the west stands have been repaired.

The back side of the west stands is in sad shape with peeling paint. The row of pine trees on the west side of Hanson Field does help to block that view.

[Neckfansince71]

This is what Matt T. had to say at the beginning of the Alumni Golf Outing on Friday morning.

"We are continuing to move forward on the west side and have roughly 40% of total funds committed. More details to come in next few months."

jc

[meganeck]

This is what Matt T. had to say at the beginning of the Alumni Golf Outing on Friday morning.

"We are continuing to move forward on the west side and have roughly 40% of total funds committed. More details to come in next few months."

jc

thanks for that update!

[wiu712]

A single state board for higher education has been proposed.

From Tom Cross, Illinois Board of Higher Education:

Sen. Chapin Rose has introduced a legislative proposal for the creation of a single state board with responsibility for higher education (SB 2597). I believe it outlines a positive means toward the end of a stronger administrative structure for facilitating useful steps to address priorities for Illinois' higher education system. I urge members of the Illinois General Assembly to join with Rose in reviewing this proposal further.

As a single board of higher education, leading a strategic process for development of statewide goals and recommendations for allocating state resources will be more effective. Simply put, one board, one staff and one organizational structure streamlines the effort.

Illinois higher education faces challenges concerning college costs; enrollment shifts resulting from increasing outmigration and changing needs of college students who are older, parenting and working; and establishing effective and forward-looking governance of Illinois' higher education system.

A unified board and staff organization can better focus on these challenges by being inclusive in representing the needs of students, public community colleges and universities, private institutions of higher education; and the faculty and staff serving the higher education system.

The legislation proposes a merger of boards and administrative operations of the Illinois Board of Higher Education, the Illinois Community College Board and the Illinois Student Assistance Commission.

From my role as chairman of the Illinois Board of Higher Education, I am convinced that collaboration of common activities is not only necessary but also should prove to be more efficient.

I have requested the General Assembly Higher Education Working Group, a bipartisan group of legislators looking comprehensively at ways to improve higher education, to include the proposal on its agenda. I know this conversation will not be simple or without strong sentiments for the status quo, but I commit my attention and our agency to assist in any way we can.

[Tere North]

The proposal is for one state board combining universities, community colleges, and financial aid, a true IBHE instead of 3 separate entities.

I'd like to see an extension of that consolidation, and have a single public university Board of Trustees and a single community college Board of Trustees. I realize the privates have different missions so will likely need to keep their own, and they aren't funded, or really governed by the state anyway. Only then can we really get all public higher ed to work together instead of in isolation to benefit higher ed in the state.

[wiu712]

Vice President for Quad Cities and Planning Dr. Joe Rives said on Tuesday that Western "looks perceptually like an institution in chaos...and to not have a strategic plan, I don’t know how many more times I can for lack of better words defend the institution to the Illinois Higher Learning Commission.”

WIU Faculty Senate endorses 10 year strategic plan.
From today's McDonough County Voice:
http://www.mcdonoughvoice.com/news/2018 ... tegic-plan