Written by Reader •
Issue: March 8, 2012
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Doing more with less can’t continue indefinitely
Dear “Leadership” of the University of Colorado-Boulder,
I do not disagree with the philosophy that in order to retain good employees that care about the greater good of the institution you need to pay them a fair wage. What I have a problem with is the fact that instead of giving a non-base-building bonus to the top level administration like the rest of us got, they received base-building raises.
In his defense of the pay increases President Benson said, “I’ve got to pay for good people, I want quality. You’re not going to have quality if you don’t have quality people working for you.” I have news for you, Bruce. This place is loaded with quality people who do top-notch work in all aspects of their profession, all while making less or the same as they did three to four years ago. I work with these people and see the pride they have and the top-level craftsmanship they put into their jobs on a daily basis. These are overworked people who in many cases are up here because they have a passion for this university and what it should represent, not just for the pay. To make a statement like you did after throwing the front-line staff some crumbs, in comparative terms, is appalling. You can’t buy loyalty. If the only thing keeping some of the top-level administrative people here is the pay, do you really think they have the university’s best interests in mind?
If funding has increased by the sizable numbers, no doubt impressive, under DiStefano’s leadership while he was being under-compensated, what can we expect now that he is getting what you consider a fair wage? What is happening on the front lines is a far different story. In the last few years we have added hundreds of thousands of square feet of new buildings as well as the challenges that are coming from upkeep of the current older systems. And instead of getting more bodies or more pay, what we got was less of both. We have watched as positions were not filled or eliminated as part of budgetary concerns. We have been asked to do more with less but we are nearing a time when that isn’t feasible.
If the people you are relying on to keep this place operating at a top level feel like they are being taken advantage of now, how do you think they will react when called on to go above and beyond? I can tell you how: They will get the job done. Without us you have failing buildings, an ugly campus and a lot of very well-paid administrators in a dark office with peeling paint and no heat because the people who take care of that stuff are too busy trying to do the work of the unfilled positions as well as their normal tasks, all while being paid less than they were making a couple years ago.
Jordan Leedy
Facilities Management
CU-Boulder
4 Responses to Doing more with less can’t continue indefinitely
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Jordan,
Thank you very much for your letter. I’m hopeful that if enough of us point out that the staff – and I’m speaking of classified staff as we are not part of the faculty/professional exempt merit pool – have been, and still are, doing an excellent job and should be considered when discussions on retaining “good people” are broached.
To reiterate and add to some of what you said, we are expected, not asked, but expected, to do more with less. What I find distasteful is there is the added expectation that we should be happy about it. “Hey, at least you have a job.” Yes, I do. And in this economy, for that I am grateful, but I don’t feel we should be expected to continue on at the level we’ve been operating for the past several years. Yes, we will get the job done, because we are “good” employees, and we take pride in our work. But at some point people will balk at having more work added to their already full plate, and I believe the administration needs to recognize this.
Again, thank you for your letter pointing out what is a very real concern for the staff here at the university.
Ruth Covington
MCD Biology
Cu-Boulder
As one wag put it – higher salaries don’t necessarily attract the best people but they do attract the greediest. I have no problem with folks being fairly compensated, but there has to be some consideration to the relative levels of compensation across the spectrum of University employees, with particular attention to the core function of a university (which is neither administration nor athletics – Embree and his top two assistants made more this year than I did during my 20 years as a biology professor and department chair). Most of us are not engaged in the work of the university primarily for the money – what we want is a real fair and balanced (not of the Fox News type) compensation structure. When folks played the ‘more-pay-or-I-am-leaving’ card, the late Dwayne Nuzum, former UCCS chancellor, would say, “Don’t let the screen door hit you on the butt on your way out.” It is a wise administrator who understands the delicate balance between too much and too little compensation.
Douglas Swartzendruber
Professor Emeritus
CU Colorado Springs
It is hard to grasp the comparison of Professors to Coaches with regards to pay scales. Professors are never fired; they have tenure and their salaries are paid by tuition. Students’ success is rarely even a gauge of their ability. Coaches on the other hand are easily removed if they don’t win or if any of their “students” don’t live up to the standard expected of Student Athletes. Their salaries are paid by ticket purchasers and donors. These are in fact two separate enterprises even though they operate under the same umbrella. The marketing exposure athletics provides and the fact that student athletes represent the best of potential citizens to our communities speaks for itself. Professors never give athletics credit for the $9 million in tuition that is added to their enterprise thanks to athletics.
Jodi,
You are forgetting the purpose of tenure track – so that professors are able to conduct their research without worry of being unjustly fired.
You also do not mention how long it takes to even get a tenure-track position.
How about we compare the coach’s salary to the student athletes’, or even the folks who pick up garbage after the game.