Hey CTO...I Originally Posted this on the OT Forum

[OrangeinBoston]

but maybe you didn't see it. What do you make of the DO article very critical of Cantor? It's not just a few disgruntled employees. Rather large numbers of faculty and staff are highly critical. This, and the ratings decline, would be cause for concern, no?

 

[upperdeck]

come down to CU and see how happy the staff is with our leader.. pretty much the standard at every college. prof's make too much money and complain, staff make too little money and complain, students want free everything.

 

[Faegan]

but maybe you didn't see it. What do you make of the DO article very critical of Cantor? It's not just a few disgruntled employees. Rather large numbers of faculty and staff are highly critical. This, and the ratings decline, would be cause for concern, no?

I think CTO is probably looking for her 10 foot pole, which likely still isn't long enough.

 

[jekelish]

Yeah, I'm going to go ahead and assume a BoT member probably isn't going to comment too much on the Chancellor on a public internet forum that anyone can read.

 

[OrangeinBoston]

Yeah, I'm going to go ahead and assume a BoT member probably isn't going to comment too much on the Chancellor on a public internet forum that anyone can read.

Oops...my bad. Well-connected for sure, but I didn't reallize she was a BoT member. Feel free to delete.

 

[JoeSU]

come down to CU and see how happy the staff is with our leader.. pretty much the standard at every college. prof's make too much money and complain, staff make too little money and complain, students want free everything.

I don't know where the misconception comes from that university professors are overpaid (no, I am not a professor, but I am employed as a university administrator).

Bear in mind that the average Assistant Professor has invested 5-7 years in graduate school, and in many instances, has another 1-4 years working as a post-doc. And for all they have invested in their education, their median salary is $59K a year. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professors_in_the_United_States

The 30% of faculty whose academic achievement eventually earns them the rank of Full Professor (typically late in their careers, with a median age of 55), draw an average salary under $100K/yr.

Obviously, the salaries of the best and brightest at major universities are greater, but when you consider the brutal competition for jobs, and compare faculty salaries with positions requiring similar education in the private sector, you have to ask why anyone would ever want to go into academia.

 

[A Clockwork Orange]

come down to CU and see how happy the staff is with our leader.. pretty much the standard at every college. prof's make too much money and complain, staff make too little money and complain, students want free everything.

Hah, yeah because we college professors make a crapload of money. I'm an assistant professor and make less than your average factory worker. Great secondary benefits (lots of time off, etc...) but the salary isn't really all that great. It does leave you time to work other jobs though. Since I work for the state, I also haven't had a raise in 5 years. Similar to the private sector, but the private school I moved from has been giving raises for the last three years after stopping for two.

Not a gripe, I love teaching, it's a passion, and it's an amazing career. The pay however, is not the reason I'm doing it.

 

[jekelish]

Hah, yeah because we college professors make a crapload of money. I'm an assistant professor and make less than your average factory worker. Great secondary benefits (lots of time off, etc...) but the salary isn't really all that great. It does leave you time to work other jobs though. Since I work for the state, I also haven't had a raise in 5 years. Similar to the private sector, but the private school I moved from has been giving raises for the last three years after stopping for two.

Not a gripe, I love teaching, it's a passion, and it's an amazing career. The pay however, is not the reason I'm doing it.

Trust me, a lot of private sector schools have had salary freezes as well. I work for a private college and not only have our pay increases stopped for the last few years, but our TIAA-CREF contributions from the school have been drastically cut.

 

[upperdeck]

Hah, yeah because we college professors make a crapload of money. I'm an assistant professor and make less than your average factory worker. Great secondary benefits (lots of time off, etc...) but the salary isn't really all that great. It does leave you time to work other jobs though. Since I work for the state, I also haven't had a raise in 5 years. Similar to the private sector, but the private school I moved from has been giving raises for the last three years after stopping for two.

Not a gripe, I love teaching, it's a passion, and it's an amazing career. The pay however, is not the reason I'm doing it.

umm.. the avg salary of the profs i know is more like in the 7 digit range.. I dont know any making less than 200K.. Most of the ones i know are in the research areas though. so they make salary for working 5-10 hrs a week, they make salary again in the summer for working less than that, and they are all working on the side consulting jobs for bigger bucks.

about like most teachers i know.. working 20-30 hr weeks for 50-70k..

 

[garnermike]

I don't know where the misconception comes from that university professors are overpaid (no, I am not a professor, but I am employed as a university administrator).

Bear in mind that the average Assistant Professor has invested 5-7 years in graduate school, and in many instances, has another 1-4 years working as a post-doc. And for all they have invested in their education, their median salary is $59K a year. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professors_in_the_United_States

The 30% of faculty whose academic achievement eventually earns them the rank of Full Professor (typically late in their careers, with a median age of 55), draw an average salary under $100K/yr.

Obviously, the salaries of the best and brightest at major universities are greater, but when you consider the brutal competition for jobs, and compare faculty salaries with positions requiring similar education in the private sector, you have to ask why anyone would ever want to go into academia.

 

[garnermike]

Your summary of professoriate salaries is likely accurate, but those salary averages are skewed downward by the very many smaller institutions extant in the US. Faculty salaries at the major, larger institutions (not sure what that Carnegie classification is called nowadays) like Syracuse, Cornell, the landgrants, and other main state campuses (i.e., schools that have large enrollments and sizable sponsored research budgets) are MUCH higher than what Wikipedia sources report. Just saying...

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Hah, yeah because we college professors make a crapload of money. I'm an assistant professor and make less than your average factory worker. Great secondary benefits (lots of time off, etc...) but the salary isn't really all that great. It does leave you time to work other jobs though. Since I work for the state, I also haven't had a raise in 5 years. Similar to the private sector, but the private school I moved from has been giving raises for the last three years after stopping for two.

Not a gripe, I love teaching, it's a passion, and it's an amazing career. The pay however, is not the reason I'm doing it.

Not a swipe at you or any particular person, but I have always been fascinated by the belief that some people have that just because they completed a year of employment without getting fired, they should be paid more the next year. Why don't we, as a society, expect that people who bring value to the company, who get better at their job, who pick up a new skill, etc., might get paid more, but that if you are just treading water, you don't get a raise?

 

[rstone7727]

According to the sites below, Syracuse faculty (including salaries and benefits) averages $121,397 per year and there are 976 faculty.
Tuition and fees are $37,667 with 14,201 students so SU takes in ~ $534,909,067 yearly of which ~ $118,483,472 is paid to faculty.

I always wondered what happened to the rest, I'm sure building expenses, taxes, insurance, outside contractors eat up a pretty good chunk.

http://su-aaup.org/pdf/report1011.pdf
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/spp 50/page 2

 

[Cheriehoop]

Not a swipe at you or any particular person, but I have always been fascinated by the belief that some people have that just because they completed a year of employment without getting fired, they should be paid more the next year. Why don't we, as a society, expect that people who bring value to the company, who get better at their job, who pick up a new skill, etc., might get paid more, but that if you are just treading water, you don't get a raise?

I hear what you're saying but it's probably the same rationale that a company making say - cereal has doubled the cost while reducing the amount of the product in the package. How about paying those energy surcharges on company PO's for product because of the rising cost of gas yet the product is not better, worth more and doesn't lower nor disappear when the energy prices do etc. It's endless. Lots of Catch22 questions like yours that can be asked.

 

[cto]

According to the sites below, Syracuse faculty (including salaries and benefits) averages $121,397 per year and there are 976 faculty.
Tuition and fees are $37,667 with 14,201 students so SU takes in ~ $534,909,067 yearly of which ~ $118,483,472 is paid to faculty.

I always wondered what happened to the rest, I'm sure building expenses, taxes, insurance, outside contractors eat up a pretty good chunk.

http://su-aaup.org/pdf/report1011.pdf
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/spp 50/page 2

The "average" student pays far less than the stated rate for tuition. After the "discount rate" (the average paid per student after all scholarships, need-based and merit, is taken into account) the average paid per student is WELL below that. Syracuse is very generous with its financial support, both need-based and merit.

 

[JoeSU]

According to the sites below, Syracuse faculty (including salaries and benefits) averages $121,397 per year and there are 976 faculty.
Tuition and fees are $37,667 with 14,201 students so SU takes in ~ $534,909,067 yearly of which ~ $118,483,472 is paid to faculty.

I always wondered what happened to the rest, I'm sure building expenses, taxes, insurance, outside contractors eat up a pretty good chunk.

http://su-aaup.org/pdf/report1011.pdf
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/spp 50/page 2

To look at it another way this board can relate to, the faculty are to Syracuse University academics what Jim Boeheim is to the basketball program.

 

[Scooch]

To look at it another way this board can relate to, the faculty are to Syracuse University academics what Jim Boeheim is to the basketball program.

Except the hoops team has been a top #3 seed for 4 years running, while our academic ranking plummets. This analogy might have worked better in 2002.



I am stunned if that average salary of $121K is true. My goodness that is healthy salary, especially in CNY, to say the least.

 

[JoeSU]

umm.. the avg salary of the profs i know is more like in the 7 digit range.. I dont know any making less than 200K.. Most of the ones i know are in the research areas though. so they make salary for working 5-10 hrs a week, they make salary again in the summer for working less than that, and they are all working on the side consulting jobs for bigger bucks.

about like most teachers i know.. working 20-30 hr weeks for 50-70k..

Yes, as I stated: "Obviously, the salaries of the best and brightest at major universities are greater..."
The salaries Wikipedia reports are median salaries, meaning half the faculty of a given rank make more and half make less. And since there are far more small schools, community colleges, etc. in the U.S. than major universities (there are over 4000 2- and 4- year institutions), the median is skewed downward.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

To look at it another way this board can relate to, the faculty are to Syracuse University academics what Jim Boeheim is to the basketball program.

The best professor I had at Geneseo was a visiting history professor from SU.

 

[jekelish]

The best professor I had at Geneseo was a visiting history professor from SU.

I hope it was David Bennett. My favorite professor at SU.

 

[rstone7727]

Except the hoops team has been a top #3 seed for 4 years running, while our academic ranking plummets. This analogy might have worked better in 2002.



I am stunned if that average salary of $121K is true. My goodness that is healthy salary, especially in CNY, to say the least.

That $121,000 figure is total compensation, not just salary (salary plus benefits). Average salary alone is $90,293.

 

[omniorange]

Nothing in that article bothers me in the least.

What concerns me are some of the things in Jeff Stonecash's comments to the article:

The endowment is now less than it was 10 years ago, despite claims of fund-raising success. The university had a real loss of $120m two years ago. 50 % of the endowment is now in hedge / private equity funds. It appears we are gambling, losing money and going nowhere.

Debt has increased from $147m to $374 and very little is being repaid.

At the same time the Athletic department is expanding rapidly, is currently running a $4m deficit, and apparently is not being held accountable.

Cheers,
Neil

 

[rrlbees]

Nothing in that article bothers me in the least.

What concerns me are some of the things in Jeff Stonecash's comments to the article:

The endowment is now less than it was 10 years ago, despite claims of fund-raising success. The university had a real loss of $120m two years ago. 50 % of the endowment is now in hedge / private equity funds. It appears we are gambling, losing money and going nowhere.

Debt has increased from $147m to $374 and very little is being repaid.

At the same time the Athletic department is expanding rapidly, is currently running a $4m deficit, and apparently is not being held accountable.

Cheers,
Neil

that is not good at all.

 

[AlaskaSU]

Nothing in that article bothers me in the least.

What concerns me are some of the things in Jeff Stonecash's comments to the article:

The endowment is now less than it was 10 years ago, despite claims of fund-raising success. The university had a real loss of $120m two years ago. 50 % of the endowment is now in hedge / private equity funds. It appears we are gambling, losing money and going nowhere.

Debt has increased from $147m to $374 and very little is being repaid.

At the same time the Athletic department is expanding rapidly, is currently running a $4m deficit, and apparently is not being held accountable.

Cheers,
Neil

Syracuse was fairly well known for taking a very large hit during the .com bubble.

 

[GoSU96]

Nothing in that article bothers me in the least.

What concerns me are some of the things in Jeff Stonecash's comments to the article:

The endowment is now less than it was 10 years ago, despite claims of fund-raising success. The university had a real loss of $120m two years ago. 50 % of the endowment is now in hedge / private equity funds. It appears we are gambling, losing money and going nowhere.

Debt has increased from $147m to $374 and very little is being repaid.

At the same time the Athletic department is expanding rapidly, is currently running a $4m deficit, and apparently is not being held accountable.

Cheers,
Neil

That's unsustainable.