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Subject:RE: Salary at a State University From:"Latella, Vincent" <VINCENT -dot- LATELLA -at- saic -dot- com> To:<techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Fri, 7 Aug 2009 10:17:49 -0400
Richard G. Combs wrote:
"Actually (at least here in Colorado, and I suspect elsewhere),
enrollments at colleges and universities are up. Many of the recently
unemployed are using the opportunity (and the fairly generous extended
unemployment benefits) to go back to school, either to prepare for a
career change or just to make themselves more marketable.
I saw a story about this on the news not long ago. Higher education is
apparently something of a counter-cyclical industry."
I used to work in higher ed. administration, and I still subscribe to
The Chronicle of Higher Education, which is a very highly-regarded
periodical. The Chronicle regularly reports on the budget increases and
decreases of each state's higher education appropriation, and I can tell
you with near certainty that *many* states are aiming big budget cuts at
higher ed.
Now - that doesn't mean that enrollment isn't up; it may very well be up
in many states, but with budget shortfalls, the end result at many
institutions is administrators and faculty being asked to do more (e.g.
teach more sections of classes, and/or more students per section) with
less.
Taking these budget cuts into account, I would expect far less "wiggle
room" from a higher ed. salary, especially if *that* is simply posted as
*the* salary, and not the start of a range. When I worked in higher
ed., I recall one scenario in which a department head was given only $4K
worth of "wiggle room." If a candidate wanted more than that, they were
out of luck.
(Disclaimer: A *few* states have actually seen higher ed. appropriation
*increases* in the wake of the current economic climate, but they are
the exception rather than the rule... and anyway, with enrollments up as
Richard pointed out, institutions are still in a hole.)
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