tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8617857852696675419.post6723536072583024630..comments2024-03-11T02:18:33.966-05:00Comments on Kritik: 15 Ways to Take Your Furlough/Voluntary Pay Cut #13"Beyond the F-word"Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200566567765991464noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8617857852696675419.post-6745411832632692062021-09-04T02:31:02.492-05:002021-09-04T02:31:02.492-05:00It is looking very informative post but sorry I ca...It is looking very informative post but sorry I can't read it now because I need <a href="https://www.contentmajestic.com/services/cover-letter-writing" rel="nofollow">cover letter writing service</a> help to write my cover letter because I have to apply for my job so I bookmarked your website, when I am free I must read this.<br />Thomas Morehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05818729046367221986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8617857852696675419.post-62995618494994148512010-04-03T12:40:36.250-05:002010-04-03T12:40:36.250-05:00Thanks, Curtis. That is helpful: I too continued ...Thanks, Curtis. That is helpful: I too continued to hear about the new budget model in fall but then, more recently, to hear that it was no longer actively under discussion--which I hope is wrong. Sure, it would be great to have the new provost (and president and chancellor) in place before undertaking this substantive fix; but then it would be great to have all of that before doing anything significant to the budget and circumstances will not admit that level of patience--as we have been repeatedly told. <br /><br />I hope we don't end up putting the cart of budget cuts before the horse of needed reforms to the budgetary model for allocations. That said, certainly it makes sense to test the impact of any new model. It would be very good to get an update this sort of thing.<br /><br />It would also be good to hear about any plans that are being made, say, to reduce energy costs on campus. In other words, we tend to get a lot of focus on cuts to instructional costs. And sometimes one even gets the impression that the budget under consideration is the salary budget alone. It would be very good to know about other kinds of endeavors that are being undertaken by way of maintaining excellence during lean times. For example to reduce energy costs. I think plenty of people on campus would be very happy to furlough our over-heated buildings and yet I know of no program being implemented (as the Chronicle of Higher Ed reports that at least one academic institution has undertaken) to lower the thermostats as a simple way of reining in out-of-control energy costs.<br /><br />(BTW: I did realize that plans for the new budget model never intended to convert us to a purely IU-driven model, but wanted to make that clear since I know this is an area of legitimate concern for programs that are vital to a comprehensive liberal arts education and/or world-class university but which do not generate large numbers of IUs.)<br /><br />Thanks again!MPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08984136164543370547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8617857852696675419.post-47734614061149282822010-04-03T09:11:29.234-05:002010-04-03T09:11:29.234-05:00Hi Lauren,
My understanding is that this was put...Hi Lauren, <br /><br />My understanding is that this was put on hold when Provost Katehi left, but that it is being opened up again. This is one area where the vacuum created by the campus leadership turnover has had an impact: the plan was put on hold because one would prefer to have a new provost hired before taking such a step. But my second- or third-hand understanding is that people see it as a necessary next step. This is all impressionistic on my part, based on conversations in the Fall--it is not something that has been formally discussed in my vicinity of late. <br /><br />The idea was never to go to direct IU compensation model, and not to departments directly, but to make IUs much more central to the formula by which colleges get their share of the system's money. <br /><br />As with everything on our campus, there was concern about unintended consequences, so my recollection (from last year) is that the original plan had been to run the new budget model as a computer simulation (or something) in parallel with business as usual for a year or so to try to get a sense of what it would mean for colleges before implementation. <br /><br />Though I don't have any privileged information about where things are with this now, my sense is that the idea is to move forward like this: cautiously.Curtishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04459922375418678120noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8617857852696675419.post-58335893651271240332010-04-02T17:48:32.837-05:002010-04-02T17:48:32.837-05:00Thanks to everyone for these really interest comme...Thanks to everyone for these really interest comments and, of course, to Curtis for this most helpful post. <br /><br />Curtis, Joyce and others who may know: I'd really love to know what if anything is being done about the new budget model (i.e., changes in the compensation for "instructional units" so that units that devote their resources to a lot of teaching are given fairer compensation for the services they provide). My understanding is that reforms have stalled or perhaps been put on hold because of concerns re the budget. And yet this time of great budgetary awareness seems to be exactly the time when we need accurate assessments of different units' contributions toward teaching as well as mechanisms for rewarding it. (To make cuts in the budget without simultaneously making the budget model a fairer and more accurate mechanism of allocation is a bit like cutting what isn't broken while neglecting to fix what is.) <br /><br />To be clear, I'm not suggesting that we should move to a wholly IU-driven model of resource allocation. That would be a very bad move for students and for research. But I am saying that for years I've heard that the budget model is out of date, inefficient and distorting. And I'd love to learn that this season of budget review will result in the long-awaited revision of the budget model. <br /><br />Please tell me it isn't true that this important endeavor has been put on hold!MPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08984136164543370547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8617857852696675419.post-34593788788496881282010-04-02T10:53:38.771-05:002010-04-02T10:53:38.771-05:00One post was deleted because the anonymous poster ...One post was deleted because the anonymous poster had accidentally published it twice.Unit for Criticismhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13327108669066779344noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8617857852696675419.post-52779221852287622312010-04-02T06:37:22.867-05:002010-04-02T06:37:22.867-05:00Why is this conversation taking place on a blog ho...Why is this conversation taking place on a blog hosted by the Unit for Theory and not by the campus? Is the campus afraid to have comments posted publicly where other people can read them?<br /><br />Here's what it says at the Stewarding Excellence website: "To make sure no viewpoint goes unnoticed, we have created an online, anonymous form to make it as easy as possible for you to share your views with us." Oh that makes me feel really welcome to discuss my views! And now they've added email addresses so I can send private messages to a "specific project team." What is a project team anyway? Does that sound like something people have at a university? <br /><br />Look, I've been to the meetings where the Interim So and So tells you all about the agenda he and some other Interim So and So has set. It's all so vague and yet so clearly about downsizing that there isn't anything to discuss. <br /><br />Kenneth, it's true that we need political will in our state and country to get more support for public education. But this idea of using the state's temporary mess to downsize UIUC isn't coming from the state and it isn't coming from the people of Illinois: it's coming from your interim administration. But don't worry. If you think they should be cutting things like construction projects, research parks, global campuses, and the huge costs of administration instead of cutting faculty lines you can send them an anonymous online form! Wow! I feel so included. <br /><br />Thanks to the Unit for Theory for having at least the common sense to include an open comments forum when setting up a website. Hello Stewarding Excellence? <br /><br />Sorry I've got to run now and email my local Project Team. (It would be more sad than it is if it wasn't so funny.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8617857852696675419.post-82776364087731208102010-04-02T06:33:55.486-05:002010-04-02T06:33:55.486-05:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8617857852696675419.post-64365375712971247262010-04-01T22:34:21.889-05:002010-04-01T22:34:21.889-05:00As a student member of the Academic Senate, as wel...As a student member of the Academic Senate, as well as several committees within the Senate, I very much appreciated this considered, well-written piece. <br />As I have seen through my service on the Senate and its committees, it is vitally important for faculty, students, and APs to be fully represented on the Senate's committees. Given the situation in which our university finds itself, involvement in shared governance becomes even more crucial, as the input and decisions made by these groups shapes our future as a University. As I participate in these committees and in the Senate, I see faculty and students choosing not to show up, or even if they do show up choose not to participate actively. While I recognize the strains on the time of faculty (and students), it is important that these members be active in governance. We each need to do what we can to participate in the governance process, whether that be through serving on standing, ad-hoc, or informal groups, or in providing feedback and comments to these groups.<br />Shared governance only works when faculty and students are engaged in active in the process. I hope this crisis serves as a call to action for more of both faculty and students throughout the University to actively participate in both formal and informal governance of the University.David Olsennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8617857852696675419.post-13793281324291803612010-04-01T17:25:46.157-05:002010-04-01T17:25:46.157-05:00I want to thank Curtis for this lucid piece. As th...I want to thank Curtis for this lucid piece. As the contributor of the third post in this series, this seems like as good a time as any to weigh in on how my thinking has evolved in the intervening months. Luckily for me, much of my thinking has been summed up in Professor Perry's post. I have found the Stewarding Illinois website full of useful information, forthright in tone and substance, and very solicitous of any advice from any source. If only the state and federal governments worked with such reasonable deliberation and transparency!<br /><br />Just because something is transparent does not make it a thing of beauty . <br /><br />I'm reasonably sure that the cuts will be equitably discussed and implemented. The trouble is that the larger problem is the political one: how may education be nurtured and protected in this country? <br /><br />The consensus supposition seems to be that public funding of public education is never going to rebound, even if the economy does. By the time we get to permanent cutting, I believe that it will be plain that it is political will that is lacking, not financial solvency. It will take political will (and action) to rekindle public investment in public education. Unless it is true that the institution is too big for its own good, the present reorganization effort represents a transparent lack of faith.<br /><br />Ken BeckKen Beckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13066547410647031342noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8617857852696675419.post-71674653834712518402010-04-01T14:55:14.635-05:002010-04-01T14:55:14.635-05:00Just a clarification to KBHC:
Can you tell us a ...Just a clarification to KBHC: <br /><br />Can you tell us a little more about the mandate you refer to that the University must admit more international students? I missed this one.<br /><br />The idea of administering ICES forms online was brought to the Senate in February by the folks who were considering it, along with the results from the extensive pilot studies the Center for Teaching Excellence did. Response from Senators was overwhelmingly negative. My understanding is that those plans have now been scrapped. In other words, they listened.Joyce Tollivernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8617857852696675419.post-34247534572749386772010-04-01T13:48:38.247-05:002010-04-01T13:48:38.247-05:00Thank you Curtis for your thoughtful post. I have ...Thank you Curtis for your thoughtful post. I have to admit I still have less faith and belief that administrators really want to know what faculty think: I have been in meetings where my feelings have been massaged and validated, but my concerns went poof the moment the administrator walked out of the room. I also, frankly, haven't been invited to many meetings.<br /><br />There seem to be a lot of university mandates floating around that faculty never saw in draft form, that they never had an town hall meeting during which they could voice their concern. Here are just two examples:<br /><br />1. I have been told that there is a university mandate to admit more international students because they bring in higher tuition. Because the College of Engineering is internationally recognized, many international students who get accepted here immediately want to go into Engineering. This has led to massive growth in engineering majors in this last admissions process, far beyond what COE explicitly told Central Admin they could bear. They simply don't have the personnel to teach all these students. Why was this corporate goal made without consideration of educational goals?<br /><br />2. ICES forms will soon be entirely digitized, and this is good in terms of keeping costs down and saving paper. However, statistical analysis of the pilot study of bringing these online has shown that instructors get lower ICES scores this way (there are lots of reasons, and simple ways to deal with them that currently it seems are not being implemented). How will this impact teaching evaluations for tenure and promotion?<br /><br />I don't want to hijack the comments so I'll end there. However it seems to me as transparency only happens after the decisions have been made, or as a reactive measure to the surprising notion that faculty want a say in the conditions of their work. This is a structural problem, not one where I could even begin to point the finger at particular administrators (and I think the way you describe things from your position highlights the structural, rather than individual, issues nicely). Again, thanks for your post.KateClancyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10266484364483890008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8617857852696675419.post-72265229251550988882010-04-01T12:33:47.154-05:002010-04-01T12:33:47.154-05:00I am very grateful to you, Curtis, for this though...I am very grateful to you, Curtis, for this thoughtful and realistic presentation of what to expect in the upcoming months, and what we, as faculty members, must do in order to ensure that budgetary decisions are made wisely.<br /><br />Above all, thank you for the many hours you have already invested, and those you will invest, in showing us how to keep the conversation productive.Joyce Tollivernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8617857852696675419.post-3889638222865088392010-04-01T09:22:48.998-05:002010-04-01T09:22:48.998-05:00I appreciate the measured tone of this piece, and ...I appreciate the measured tone of this piece, and I find myself ready to accept the challenge of good faith participation in the process of making decisions about how best to balance financial and academic values. I think that Curtis points to one of the most important areas where this process requires us humanists to raise our collective voice: graduate education. The model of how graduate education is financed is radically different in the three sectors of the university: humanities, sciences, and professional disciplines. The model for the humanities has consistently relied upon our responsibility for teaching the courses necessary for graduation (gen ed, language, etc) and the use of grad students as TAs in these classes. This model is under threat by the alternative model (in place at the University of California, for example) where lecturers assume responsibility for many such classes and where departments are given block grants of NRTF funds (non-resident tuition fee) to distribute to a very few grad students, with those who can establish residency serving as TAs in large classes run, in many cases, by the lecturers. This alternative model creates an entirely different faculty culture than what we have here. It can permanently cripple small departments that rely upon lecturers and are not given tenure-lines to replace lost positions, and in large departments it creates a two-tiered system where lecturers are disenfranchised. We humanists must think very hard about how best to maintain our model of graduate education.Bruce Rosenstockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03930152196387128481noreply@blogger.com