Execs get high pay, students told paper's too expensive

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Monday, August 17, 2009

News Execs get high pay, students told paper's too expensive

Posted By Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman on Mon, Aug 17, 2009 at 3:18 PM

Maybe things will be different this school year, but I doubt it.

Last year at UNC Charlotte, nearly every one of my professors told the class they were sorry, but the department couldn't afford to print our syllabus, or a handout, or an assignment.

Instead, we had go to the library and pay seven cents per page or print the documents at home. Oh, and don't write on the test -- they need those back mark-free.

Considering the price of tuition and fees, not to mention books, it's grating to hear that sort of thing only to watch the school erect building after building and brick walkway after brick walkway. (Oh, I know, that's a different budget. STFU. It's all coming from the same pot.)

And, now, we're learning that while the school can't afford to print a two-page syllabus for a class of 20, they can most certainly afford to pack the school's administrative offices with highly paid executive who do ... well, what is it they do again?

Meanwhile, of course, students can expect their tuition bill to go up this year.

A (Raleigh) News & Observer analysis of university payroll data and similar work done by the UNC General Administration shows that many of the 16 campuses have expanded their bureaucracies at a big expense. Administrators are among the best-paid people on the campuses, typically earning $100,000 or more.

Systemwide over the past five years, the administrative ranks have grown by 28 percent, from 1,269 administrative jobs to 1,623 last year, UNC-system data shows. That's faster than the growth of faculty and other teaching positions — 24 percent — and faster than student enrollment at 14 percent.

The number of people with provost or chancellor in their titles alone has increased by 34 percent the past five years, from 312 in 2004 to 418 last year. The cost was $61.1 million, up $25 million from five years before.

UNC President Erskine Bowles, other UNC-system chancellors and state lawmakers say they are looking to prune the disproportionate administrative growth. The state budget, in seeking a $73 million cut from the universities this year, listed cutting “senior and middle management positions” as its top priority.