16 Comments - Ray del Camino - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 9:11 am: I just don’t believe he’s serious about governing. The damage being done to Illinois’ universities–and university towns–is unconscionable. I hope Rep. Terri Bryant in Southern Illinois still has her union public-sector job waiting for her after November. - Honeybear - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 9:16 am: One of my first jobs out of college was as a Catering Supervisor for Tulsa University ( I worked for food service during school, work study) Anyway, TU got a new Development Director. Guy was pulling down 250k a year. We catered a private party for 12 were the total bill was about 12,000 dollars. We had lobsters flown in from Scotland. I get what you are saying Rich. But the hostage taking has got to stop especially with the K-12 kids. I’d be fine because mine are now teens. But the poor kids here in East St. Louis would be in bad shape. No school means no work. People can’t work hours with young kids at home. It’s as simple as that. People are going to get fired over this. Rauner has ruined so many lives and families of private social service workers. When someone has the guts to find and publish the numbers of job losses because of him it will be astounding and turn the public against him. Or maybe it won’t because people already turn their head away from suffering. - MSIX - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 9:32 am: I’d really like to see specifics about administrative bloat at universities in IL, especially for the regionals. I suspect there are varying standards of what compromises an “administrative” position. For instance, is a department chair who also teaches classes an administrator or a faculty member? Are there clerical or support staff being classified as administrators by those conducting the survey so the results fit their intended slant? Define administrative positions and be consistent with the count. Two areas I can think of that would have naturally seen an increase in positions between 2004 and 2010 are IT and student support services. The increase in online course offerings dictates a more robust learning management system (LMS), which requires more support staff to run. And as universities lower admission standards in a desperate search for enrollments, the need for remedial instruction has grown tremendously. If employees supporting those two areas are being counted as administrators, then the numbers will look worse than they actually are. - WIUoblivion - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 9:47 am: Following up MSIX @ 9:32 — Good points that can be extended further. Universities have had to respond to federal mandates growing out of Title IX (which includes much, much more than gender equity in athletics) and Title VII. These mandates have expanded the number of student services staff working directly with students and associated legal staff. No doubt at all that there’s admin bloat in academia, but caution is needed when addressing causes. - wordslinger - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 10:01 am: –“The one important difference between K-12 schools and our university system—and, frankly, our community colleges—is the universities have other funding sources that are very, very significant that our K-12 schools do not have,”– Pay attention when the governor has momentary fits of candor. He just dismissed out-of-hand public funding of higher education, the underlying governing philosophy going back to Lincoln and the Morrill Acts. I missed that promise during his campaign. - DuPage - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 10:13 am: @MSIX 9:32 ==If employees supporting those two areas are being counted as administrators…== Many employees are (mis)classified as administrative to prevent them from having union representation. - Pot calling kettle - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 10:21 am: ==Rauner has told me he wants to create a state fund universities can access after cutting their administrative costs, dollar for dollar. == I agree that administrative growth has been excessive, but the devil is in the details. Who decides which admin costs are excessive? And, unless we assume that all institutions are equally bloated, each college and university would need to have some sort of starting score and target for reduction. Further complicating the problem is that the administrators are the folks assigned to identify excess and make cuts. How many will see themselves are unnecessary? If we look around the state (and the country), what we see actually happening is that, to save money, administrators convert full-time faculty positions into adjunct positions, especially for the lower-level courses. This move increases the need for administrators to manage the additional employees and to take over the institutional management that was previously the responsibility of faculty. It’s hard to see how this trend will reverse. - Hedley Lamarr - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 10:35 am: I for one am tired of the daily smilin’ photo-ops. - Cubs in '16 - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 11:10 am: ==Rauner has told me he wants to create a state fund universities can access after cutting their administrative costs, dollar for dollar. == My question is: Why didn’t he mention this months ago? If he was truly interested in ‘fixin’ things this should have been brought up months ago. From where I sit it seems as though Rauner has a need to ‘punish’ the systems he sees as corrupt/fiscally irresponsible before a humane way of dealing with a problem is put forth. - GA Watcher - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 12:23 pm: Doesn’t anyone in the Governor’s camp realize that if they provided sound data on the benefits to the State of their various ideas — instead of just rhetoric — they could really back the Dems into a corner? We’ve got to get beyond the war of words. - MSIX - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 12:55 pm: =Doesn’t anyone in the Governor’s camp realize that if they provided sound data on the benefits to the State of their various ideas — instead of just rhetoric — they could really back the Dems into a corner?= The lack of sound data may be to blame here. - Triple fat - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 12:56 pm: I still say he’s only interested in funding K-12 is to keep the public education money flowing to the private equity firms and hedge funds leveraging the Charter School system. - Pot calling kettle - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 1:18 pm: =Doesn’t anyone in the Governor’s camp realize that if they provided sound data on the benefits to the State of their various ideas — instead of just rhetoric — they could really back the Dems into a corner?= Unless the “sound data” does not support your position. There is pretty good data out there already that undermines some of the Governor’s most important ideas. For example, dumping prevailing wage requirements will lower construction costs a little but have a big impact on local workers, same with right-to-work. The Governor has a lot of ideas that sound good in the abstract, but once there are hard numbers attached, they are much less appealing. - wordslinger - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 1:34 pm: =Doesn’t anyone in the Governor’s camp realize that if they provided sound data on the benefits to the State of their various ideas — instead of just rhetoric — they could really back the Dems into a corner?= If the couldda, they wouldda. Two weeks ago, the governor’s peeps put out numbers purporting to show the statistically insignificant on a graduated income tax going out 14 years. On the Turnaround Agenda….. crickets. It’s a political agenda, not an economic or fiscal one. - Mama - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 1:49 pm: “General Assembly must approve a funding bill by the end of this month for kindergarten through 12th grade.” This statement tells us where Rauner stands. He is not interested in a budget. He wants to continue the game he played last year. Fund PK-12 and nothing else. Only this year, he won’t be able to get the courts to pay the workers. - Mama - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 1:53 pm: “The Governor has a lot of ideas that sound good in the abstract, but once there are hard numbers attached, they are much less appealing.” Pot calling kettle - +1 This is why no factual numbers are attached to their ads. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.