Loeschke delivers spring address
Jazmine Johnson/ The Towerlight
Towson University’s 13th president Maravene Loeschke started her first spring address by praising all of the University’s success over the past year and addressing her desire for salary compression, which limits the gap in payrolls between faculty members, and an increase in both full and part-time faculty.
“First is salary compression, due to the number of faculty as well as the lack of a salary increase over the past couple of years,” Loeschke said during her speech. “Second is the increase in faculty lines. That is the concern that is showing up the most in meetings, and I do recognize that need, but it is important to know that there are 20 new faculty lines, 40 new lecturers, and seven positions in auxiliary lines in the 2012 fiscal year budget.”
During her address, Loeschke said that increasing faculty members could be an issue, since the school is not getting a budget increase from the state.
Despite this, she still will plan for future expansion.
“Yes, there will be no new funding from the state this year, and probably not the next,” she said. “There are ways that we can make progress even without a spending increase. We need to lay the groundwork so that when we do have more funding in the future, we are ready to take action. We really need a flexible plan to fix these issues so that two years from now we aren’t shooting the breeze thinking about where to start.”
Sophomore forensic chemistry major Jaron Quinlan said that he thinks the increase in faculty is good for his learning experience at Towson.
“I know that in the chemistry department they are currently interviewing for new professors. [It] might be nice to see some new teaching methods and take some of the workload off of current professors who have a giant lecture hall filled with students,” he said.
Senior psychology major Scott Miller said that during his time at Towson, he has not noticed the need for more faculty members and feels the number the University has now is just fine.
“Personally, I think we are very fortunate to have the number of professors that we have,” Miller said. “Very rarely have I been in a class with more than 30 to 35 students, and I have had classes with as few as 15. There are enough professors to help me feel more noticed and appreciated as a student.”
Provost Marcia Welsh said the new hires would not result in any pay reductions to current faculty.
“Last year we worked with admissions and finance. We were given an allotment of money to hire new faculty members, but the amount we received wasn’t enough to hire 20 faculty members,” she said. “We did allow the deans at different colleges to advertise so they could hire those 20. We probably won’t end up with the 20 because we’d have to fill in the rest of funds to do so. There will be no pay reductions. This is new money to try and better balance the number of full time faculty we have in our programs.”
No matter what the budget turns out to be for the next few years, Loeschke said that she believes it is key for the school to fit in new faculty where the budget allows it.
“We will analyze the need for staff lines and determine how many are needed and build them into the budgets. We are also looking at adding support to chairpersons whose jobs are quickly becoming too tough to even imagine,” she said.
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
So the overall USM budget is being increased by 2.2% but TU is not receiving any budget increase? The budget is going to remain flat this year? That doesnt sound quite accurate Maravene.
Im no psychic, but I sense some retrenchments coming down the pipe… For those of you who do not know what it is….
“The term “retrenchment” means the termination of a faculty appointment as authorized in the November 29, 1990 University System of Maryland (USM) Board of Regents Policy on Faculty Retrenchment (II-8.00) (hereinafter “USM Retrenchment Policy”).”
Faculty retrenchment may be necessary in the event of externally imposed conditions, e.g., State-mandated budget cuts and reduction or elimination of grant, contract, or other income, that might impact upon the enrollment, programs, faculty, and finances.
YIKES!!!!
“October 29, 2010
MANSFIELD, PA— Seven active Mansfield University faculty members in five departments have been notified that they will be retrenched as of June 3, 2011 as part of an ongoing effort to address budget challenges at the university. Retrenchment refers to position elimination.
MU President Maravene Loeschke made the announcement in an address to faculty, staff and students.
In September, Loeschke announced the possibility of 11 positions being eliminated. The reduced number is attributed to a number of factors including unexpected retirements, potential revenue from fees, curriculum delivery revision and other interconnected financial factors, Loeschke said. “As of this date, we do not expect the number of retrenchments to increase.”
“However,” she added, “It is imperative that we all recognize and understand the critical status of the economy in Pennsylvania. Our future depends on our ability to plan responsibly for a financially sustainable future, even though the decisions we must make to secure that future are extremely painful.”
The five affected departments are Chemistry and Physics; Communication and Theatre; English and Foreign Languages; Social Work, Sociology and Anthropology; and Music. ”
From Mansfield University News Archives…
“The current economy in Pennsylvania has hit public higher education extremely hard,” President Loeschke said. “For Mansfield University the situation requires that we eliminate faculty and staff positions. These eliminations have nothing to do with performance. The faculty and staff affected are superb professionals and teachers and valuable to the university. The eliminations are required because of the current economy that affects the state and the entire nation. Losing these fine people is heartbreaking to everyone at the university.”
Not even Staff are safe…
From Mansfield University News Archives..
Before decrying Loeschke, even though i’m not sure whether or not that is Jeff’s aim, we need to recognize that she IS operating within a tight budget. We all scream about the government needing to cut back and “live within their means,” and higher ed is right there. It must operate under the same circumstances. Just because you have a place in the ivory tower doesn’t make you bullet-proof.
It’s not a matter of who is “safe.” There are painful decisions that have to be made. Just pray for those that are negatively impacted and consider yourself fortunate if you are not.
Leave your response!
Year in Review
The Towerlight in Print
Check our print archives.
Categories
Weather
Archive
Resources
Used Cars
First Class Chauffeured Washington DC Limousine Service
Recent Comments
recent articles
Links
Sections