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PSU-AAUP

President’s Weekly Message: Year of Crises Created to Change PSU’s Direction?- January 5, 2014

January 06, 2014 / PSU-AAUP

Announcements:
1.  Faculty Senate Vote - Resolution Calling for Access to All-Funds, Line-Item Budget,
     Jan 6th, 3 - 5 pm, CH 53
2.  Flyer Party - Meet in CH 265 at 5 pm, Mon Jan 6th!  Stay for Pizza & Beer, if you can!
3.  Mediation, Jan 8 and Jan 13:  Plan to Wear Red and PSU Lanyards around Campus!
4.  Join the PSU-AAUP Info Picket, Jan 14 & 15:  Time to Push PSU Back on Track!
     Save as Much of 11 am - 2 pm on the 14th and 15th as Possible;  PSU Needs You!
5.  Save the Date:  Jan 24, Noon to 1:30, SMSU 333, AAUP Membership Meeting
     Howard Bunsis "No, PSU is NOT Broke!" and Bargaining Update

What's Going On at PSU?
2013 Felt Like a Series of Crises Created to Shift Spending from Academics, Undermine Faculty Power & AAUP

Jan 2013         Winter Symposium Brings Speaker to Tell Faculty
                        "Universities are the Pony Express, Doomed to Oblivion
                         by Tech Advances"

                         But San Jose State's MOOC Experience is just one, high-profile
                         example of the poor fit between some highly touted tech-based
                         "fixes" for sale and access universities like PSU

April 2013       Admin Demands End to AAUP Contract Protection of Shared
                        Governance, Full Control for President

                        But can cite no problems in 35 years of contract language                     
                        Admin Bargaining Team:  "Pres. Wiewel is President of the Faculty, so
                        should have ability to change Faculty Senate processes without having to
                        negotiate with the faculty union"

June 2013       81 Summer Classes Cut Just Before Term Starts
                         PSU Students and Faculty Left in the Lurch, Rumored $1 million Lost

Aug 2013        Administration Suspends Faculty Travel Grant Program
                        Despite claiming falsely that “we’ve always done that during bargaining,”
                        the Admin had to re-instate travel funds when challenged.

Oct 2013         Call to ID 8% of Academic Budgets for Possible Cut
                         Now Reduced to 5% in Face of Faculty Opposition and Budget Forum

                         Shaky Case for “Structural Deficit” and Cuts
                         Figures Don’t Agree with those Published by State Board of Higher Ed
                              Tuition Growth Understated by $5m, State Contribution by $1.4m
                              Other Questionable Assertions                            

                          Provost:  We Must Eliminate Degree Programs by June
                          No apparent recognition that this may save NO Money, since we’ve
                          spent 15 years leveraging existing resources supporting current
                          programs to create new programs 

                          CLAS: Replace Dept. Chairs & Staff with Managers in Summer
                          Huge Pushback and the Dean Backed Off

                          Pres Wiewel tells Student Delegation Faculty Pay is Source of
                          Tuition Increases, Neglects to Mention

                              * Big increase in Number and Real Pay Rate of Exec Administrators
                              * Falling Faculty/Student Ratio, Flat or Falling Faculty Real Pay
                              * Millions of Tuition Dollars Used to Subsidize “Auxiliaries”

Nov & Dec        Pres Wiewel Finds Way to Cut Asserted “Structural Deficit’ in Half
                          No mention of why he would first have sought cuts in academic
                          budgets, or what else could be pared to pay for academic investments

Dec 2013          CLAS:  Drastically Cut Summer Session Faculty Pay & Budgets
                          But Summer Session, when independent, always made money for PSU

                          Chairs & Deans Directed to send Letters of Non-Renewal to
                          Nearly All Fixed-Term Faculty – with Suggestion to Blame AAUP

                          Notice of renewal or non-renewal by Jan 1 is actually required by  the
                          P & T Guidelines
                          Admin chooses to formally “non-renew” a HUGE proportion of
                          fixed-term faculty members, many of whom will be re-hired and some
                          of whom have taught at PSU as long as 25 years!

What the heck?  No wonder we're feeling battered!

Why isn't the PSU Admin working with and for us, building on what we do well, and focusing lean resources on critical academic priorities?

What if each of the 20 Exec Administrators - Vice Provosts, Vice Presidents, Associate Deans, etc - added in the past 10 years had been new, well-paid faculty chairs, anchoring grad programs?

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