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Letter to the Editor: Students shouldn’t have to pay more for faculty raises

Class of 2011, History

Published: Friday, March 5, 2010

Updated: Friday, March 5, 2010 00:03

While it may be that the faculty does work very hard for their students and has not been working under contract for a year, everyone seems to be forgetting one very important thing. Who would be paying for the faculty raises?

The answer is the students. I realize that everyone needs to make money to survive, but as a student who has taken out thousands upon thousands of dollars in loans and wondering if I am going to be able to repay these loans back when I graduate next year, I find that at least these professors have a job in the first place and from what I can tell they are making pretty good money as well.

Imay be stepping out on a limb here, but in a world where the job market is not great and college prices are raising continuously every year is it really fair to ask the students to pay even more money than what they already are?
 

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7 comments

John Roane
Fri Mar 26 2010 18:06
Glade to see the world waking up. If you think you are paying now wait until you become a tax payer. With national healthcare now in place and tax and trade bill being pushed, you won't have a job and if you do you will be taxed to death. No job no problem your healthcare will be free, but no doctors and ration on care you will see a nurse in six to nine months, a doctor only if you close to dying but the needed operation will have to get White House approval. But the minister will do the last rights for free.
Anonymous
Wed Mar 10 2010 13:52
At Anony. Mar 8- it's because the professors can't get a job at Stanford, along with the rest of the universities across California- the teachers there (public schools, colleges, universities...) are struggling to even keep their job or make more than they did as graduate students. Something tells me that UNH professors are hardly in that category, the only exception would perhaps be the adjunct faculty (are they even allowed into the AAUP?).
J. Allard
Tue Mar 9 2010 01:56
Seeing as the faculty makes a minimum of twice what I, as staff, do, I really think they need to sit down and shut up. If there's anyone on campus in need of pay raises, its those of us who do all of the behind the scenes work, running the various buildings and programs that support the faculty and students in their academic pursuits. You know, those of us who haven't had a pay raise in about two years, yet still have to deal with increasing insurance premiums, cost of living, and other expenses. When the average faculty member is living in an apartment like the average student (and I), debating whether or not they can eat something other than ramen and still afford fuel for their car, then I'll say they have a worthwhile argument.
Anonymous
Mon Mar 8 2010 21:00
So, by boycotting the summer session, aren't the professors doing more harm to themselves by missing out on the extra "contractual work" - cutting their nose off despite their face. If professors are making less than $100,000 a year, then this boycott is over less, perhaps far less than $200 dollars a year. Wouldn't it be smarter to take advantage of the extra "contractual work?" There are plenty of people in the area qualified to teach university level coursework. UNH will just hire more adjunct professors who are more than willing to take advantage of the paycheck boycotting UNH professors are giving up. In essence, UNH will just bring in strikebreakers. How far do they actually think this strike will take them? Most of the professors teaching summer courses are not even part of the AAUP, as the union does not allow all faculty to join. Therefore the professors not part of the union will go about their business this summer, teaching their courses, receiving their paychecks for their extra "contractual work," and where will the boycotting professors be? Likely missing out on that extra summer pay, and signing contracts for a 1.5% increase. I'm assuming you're a unionized faculty member, and if you think you deserve a higher salary, why aren't you working at a more prestigious university? If you're worth so much, why aren't schools like Stanford, Harvard, and Yale, fighting over you? Why are you at a state school? I'm here because it was the most economical path for me, despite sky-high instate tuition. But don't be fooled, I'm more than confident that I could do the work at a more prestigious school.
Not spending your tuition
Fri Mar 5 2010 22:44
@17:52. So, is it only professors who shouldn't be think about the economic costs and benefits of their chosen professions? Or, does that rule also apply to physicians (who should do it for the love of healing) or lawyers (who should do it for the love of justice) or athletes (for the love of the game) or musicians (to make people sing) or chefs (for the love of good food) or engineers (for the love of design) or travel agents (for the trips), etc. I suppose as long as you enjoy doing your job you should have no expectation of earning a fair wage. Only a tiny minority of faculty make over $100K and most of them have been teaching for decades. Most faculty start at the minimum (by contract $55K -- and that is for someone with a Ph.D., usually requiring about 10 years of higher education to earn). And, nobody's boycotting a semester. Summer employment is OPTIONAL for faculty. They do it by choice, mostly for their own economic reasons so they can pay their own college loans, mortgages, and grocery bills. No UNH faculty member is required to teach in the summer, and the vast majority NEVER do. It is extra-contractual work, and it is not owed to students or anyone else. But, if you're so afraid you're being "screwed over" why not transfer to that place you imagine, where the underpaid faculty teach only because they love learning? You know what kind of faculty teach at those places? The one's not good enough to teach at UNH.
Anonymous
Fri Mar 5 2010 17:52
Unionized faculty and higher education don't mix. An individual should only take on a career as a professor for two related reasons - for the love of learning and spreading knowledge. If a professor has chosen their career path because of the paycheck, they have chosen it for the worng reason. Professors that have chosen said career for the paycheck, will eventually screw over their students in one way or another, and may do so in ways that have damaging and lasting effects. Professors that boycott a semester of classes are clearly teaching for the wrong reasons... it's not as though their living on poverty wages. The only reason professors have jobs is because of their students - perhaps they should show a little more appreciation. How greatly will .2 percentage points impact their lives? For a professor making $100,000 a year, this boycott is over $200 a year - the administration offered a 1.5% increase and the professors want a 1.7% increase. Their threatening to boycott because they want to go out to eat a few more times a year. How greatly would this boycott affect the students' lives? I'm willing to bet that it will have more of an impact than $200 dollars a year would. Professors, why don't you look at who would really be hurt by a boycott - it sure is some way of showing appreciation for the reason you have job security.
Not spending your tuition
Fri Mar 5 2010 08:02
Of course, you fail to show that increases in tuition are due mainly to negotiated increases in faculty salaries. However, look at the figures over the years, both before and after there was a faculty union. Trustees and administrators raise tuition whether the faculty had negotiated raises or not. Trustees and administrators have raised tuition regardless of whether the faculty had collective bargaining or not. High tuition is mostly the consequence of stingy state legislative support for public higher education. NH is 50th out of 50 states in supporting their flagship state university. As a percentage of the instructional budget faculty salaries have remained relatively stable over the years. Not so administrative costs. The number of tenure-track faculty is just about the same as it was 20 years ago. Not so the number of administrators. Trustees and administrators don't need a faculty contract as an excuse to raise tuition. Tuition goes up even in those years when the faculty are working without a contract. Did your tuition increase this year? Well, faculty have been without a contract (and so without a raise) this entire academic year. Who raised your tuition? Where did that money go? Not to the faculty.






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