Financial management detrimental at Drexel
By: Robert Zaller
Issue date: 7/23/04 Section: Ed-Op
Originally published: 7/22/04 at 9:25 PM EST
Last update: 7/22/04 at 9:30 PM EST
Originally published: 7/22/04 at 9:25 PM EST
Last update: 7/22/04 at 9:30 PM EST
The President announced the cuts in the medical school because, he said, he did not want us reading about it first in the papers. That seems to be the administration's approach to informing the faculty: if bad news isn't about to become public, there's no reason for them to hear about it. So much for collegial governance. The President also explained that MCP Hospital was not a viable proposition because 42 percent of its patients were indigent. Was this a recent discovery? If you don't know in advance that nearly half your customers aren't paying, you're apt to find your revenue stream a bit short.
The fact is that neither the faculty nor, to my best knowledge, anyone in the main campus academic administration really knows the extent of the medical school's present crisis, or its full cost to the institution as a whole. Some of the costs are obvious enough. The library, it seems, no longer needs books. Main campus hiring has been frozen. And has anyone seen a working elevator on campus lately? That, too, seems a luxury we can no longer afford. Gives a new twist to the concept of the Drexel shaft, doesn't it?
The President does have some suggestions for us. Last month, he came to the College of Arts and Sciences, and opined that it might increase its revenues by following the lead of Rensselaer University and converting all its three-credit courses to four-credit ones, while maintaining the same course load for the faculty.
I did the math on that one, and pointed out to the President the implications of his suggestion. Did he really want the faculty to teach a third more at the same pay? Of course, when the administration unilaterally raised the staff workload from 36 to 40 hours last year without compensation, he didn't pay anyone the courtesy of a visit. But that is the privilege, it seems, of a self-governing faculty. For the record, the President said that he was only offering a suggestion, something for the faculty to "think about." I would suggest in turn that the next time he floats a trial balloon, he fill it with something other than lead.
There is, of course, the universal faculty pacifier, the five per cent raise, or, in former Provost Eaton's phrase, the "hefty" five per cent raise we have all notionally been receiving for the past several years. The only problem is that I can't seem to find anyone who has actually had, let alone averaged this raise lately. In response to this, I am now announcing the formation of the Five Per Cent Club. All qualifying faculty are urged to contact me immediately at zallerrm@drexel.edu. Names and numbers will be held in strictest confidence, but you will all receive the Drexel ten-year service award, a billfold to hold all that extra cash.
Robert Zaller is a professor of history.
The fact is that neither the faculty nor, to my best knowledge, anyone in the main campus academic administration really knows the extent of the medical school's present crisis, or its full cost to the institution as a whole. Some of the costs are obvious enough. The library, it seems, no longer needs books. Main campus hiring has been frozen. And has anyone seen a working elevator on campus lately? That, too, seems a luxury we can no longer afford. Gives a new twist to the concept of the Drexel shaft, doesn't it?
The President does have some suggestions for us. Last month, he came to the College of Arts and Sciences, and opined that it might increase its revenues by following the lead of Rensselaer University and converting all its three-credit courses to four-credit ones, while maintaining the same course load for the faculty.
I did the math on that one, and pointed out to the President the implications of his suggestion. Did he really want the faculty to teach a third more at the same pay? Of course, when the administration unilaterally raised the staff workload from 36 to 40 hours last year without compensation, he didn't pay anyone the courtesy of a visit. But that is the privilege, it seems, of a self-governing faculty. For the record, the President said that he was only offering a suggestion, something for the faculty to "think about." I would suggest in turn that the next time he floats a trial balloon, he fill it with something other than lead.
There is, of course, the universal faculty pacifier, the five per cent raise, or, in former Provost Eaton's phrase, the "hefty" five per cent raise we have all notionally been receiving for the past several years. The only problem is that I can't seem to find anyone who has actually had, let alone averaged this raise lately. In response to this, I am now announcing the formation of the Five Per Cent Club. All qualifying faculty are urged to contact me immediately at zallerrm@drexel.edu. Names and numbers will be held in strictest confidence, but you will all receive the Drexel ten-year service award, a billfold to hold all that extra cash.
Robert Zaller is a professor of history.
