WSU Layoffs

**fzappa2000** · July-28-11, 09:43 PM

Got this email this afternoon from WSU president. Don't know the numbers however:

Dear Colleagues,

This note is to inform you that today we began a reduction in force, and have notified most of the affected employees.

This difficult decision was necessitated by a $32 million reduction in our FY 2012 state funding, the largest cut in our history.

In response to this reduction, we analyzed every school, college and division over the past several months to identify potential cost cuts and efficiencies. Our Board of Governors also voted to raise our undergraduate tuition by 6.9 percent, and our graduate tuition by 7.1 percent. Even with these efforts, a reduction in force is necessary to balance the budget and maintain the quality of our teaching and research. We are not planning additional personnel reductions beyond this reduction in force at this time.

Change is always difficult, particularly when it affects people that have been part of our community. They have been good contributors, and we appreciate all they have done for Wayne State.

Thank you,

Allan Gilmour
President

**Pcm** · July-28-11, 09:56 PM

I wonder if any of those who were laid off received housing assistance from the Live Midtown initiative...

**guito13** · July-29-11, 08:01 AM

I want to know where all this money goes...the class i had last semester there was in a classroom straight out of the 1960's.

**j to the jeremy** · July-29-11, 08:26 AM

Originally Posted by guito13

I want to know where all this money goes...the class i had last semester there was in a classroom straight out of the 1960's.

They are at the mercy of the state for funding, so it's more a matter of where the state put the money before they got it. We're still one of the only states spending more on prisons than Education.

**guito13** · July-29-11, 09:00 AM

Originally Posted by j to the jeremy

They are at the mercy of the state for funding, so it's more a matter of where the state put the money before they got it. We're still one of the only states spending more on prisons than Education.

1 Graduate level class: approx 2700
29 students in the class: 78300
4 Semesters per year: 313200

Call me niave or misinformed but 30000K plus for one class should cover personnel, technology, facility, tax costs for that class and then some. So I am assuming that they just can cut back on research that does not result in a positive income?

**j to the jeremy** · July-29-11, 09:17 AM

There's also all the facilities to run, which is a huge drain on resources. Plus they get a lot of other funding based on how much research they do, so it's sort of a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. It's not the best run place though,,I am a student there.

**guito13** · July-29-11, 10:29 AM

Originally Posted by j to the jeremy

There's also all the facilities to run, which is a huge drain on resources. Plus they get a lot of other funding based on how much research they do, so it's sort of a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. It's not the best run place though,,I am a student there.

As am I. It's hard to place blame if you cant see the actual numbers.

**Baselinepunk** · July-29-11, 10:37 AM

I wonder if this is the usual purge of faculty or if some of that bloated administration is finally being cut?

I'm a student there and I agree with "J". Further, there are some instructors there that are balls out great but they are the minority.

**noise** · July-29-11, 10:47 AM

Definitely some administration, definitely a lot of staff. At least from where I'm sitting.

**JBMcB** · July-29-11, 12:33 PM

I worked for University Development when I went to WSU for a few months. Due to political pressures, WSU has to spend a lot of money on various programs it has no business funding.

**guito13** · July-29-11, 01:06 PM

Originally Posted by JBMcB

I worked for University Development when I went to WSU for a few months. Due to political pressures, WSU has to spend a lot of money on various programs it has no business funding.

This is what im talking about. Are you able to provide more detail?

**English** · July-29-11, 01:14 PM

This is by no means limited to Wayne State, or to Michigan universities. The Chronicle of Higher Education [[chronicle.com) predicts that higher education is the next big economic "bubble."

lilpup · July-29-11, 01:18 PM

Predicts? It IS one of the current big bubbles - has been for over a decade. Glad they're finally catching on, I guess :eyeroll:

The other major current bubble is health care services.

**English** · July-29-11, 01:27 PM

Originally Posted by lilpup

Predicts? It IS one of the current big bubbles - has been for over a decade. Glad they're finally catching on, I guess :eyeroll

Well, I predict that the United States is the equivalent of the USSR in the 1980s. It's not an exact parallel, but just as late-stage communism began showing its cracks back then, late-stage capitalism is definitely showing its you-know-what.

People are pissed off by the WF subsidy [[discussed in another thread) because free market principles have been the popular economic gospel in our society for the past generation or so. We like the thought of a lone, rugged individual making it through the sheer sweat of his or her brow. Whenever someone points out ways that someone may have been helped, whenever you use facts and examples to show ways that the market has never been truly free, and no one is an island, you get called a liberal pinko commie or worse.

Higher education in the United States during the 20th century was absolutely unparalleled. However, one of the reasons why the most highly regarded university system in the world IS failing is because of its adherence to capitalist principles. Just as US "citizens" have suddenly because primarily "taxpayers," students are no longer our students. They are customers, consumers, and target audiences for our marketing. Teaching is no longer the priority because faculty are seen as revenue generators as well -- along with the pressure to publish, we have to bring in grants as well.

So it's not just that the university is the next bubble. Every single major mid-20th century institution is a bubble. Even the military.

Hold on, folks. It's gonna be a bumpy ride.

**socks_mahoney** · July-29-11, 01:51 PM

All WSU needs is the budget for Iraq for like 4 days and it can be solvent for the next decade probably. Just sayin....

I was put on notice at my non-union WSU job earlier this week. I was told "everyone is sacrificing". Bullshit! The 400 Americans who own 50% of the wealth aren't sacrificing at all.

**English** · July-29-11, 02:10 PM

Sorry to hear it, Socks. That stinks.

**Patrick** · July-29-11, 05:12 PM

Would you say we need a reform in the way colleges are becoming diploma mills? Seems to me that WSU and many others have too many bullshit programs that they have no business having. Also seems like the for-profit education sector is also to blame by preying on people who have no business going to college. The 4-year degree is now the new HS diploma...

**socks_mahoney** · August-01-11, 12:03 PM

I am writing an article about this for the newspaper. Would anyone affected or anyone who would like to speak out on the matter please contact me with a private message. Thank you.

**drjeff** · August-01-11, 02:14 PM

WSU has extremely low tuition for a tier one research university. There are a lot of inferior schools in Michigan that cost more. WSU tuition should be more in line with Michigan State given the quality of the faculty.

Also- tuition does not come close to covering costs at any university.

Most of the cuts were to staff- people who generally make life easier and more pleasant for faculty. I don't think any faculty were cut. One place that could use cuts is the bloated administration, especially at the medical school, but those people seem to propagate like bunnies and somehow find ways to justify their existence and extremely high salaries to their peers.

**speaknow** · August-05-11, 07:57 AM

I heard 200 people were laid off at WSU. At Prudy-Kresge Library, WSU PD came in and walked on of the adminsitrators out the bldg the same moment she was notified.

**j to the jeremy** · August-05-11, 08:40 AM

Originally Posted by English

Well, I predict that the United States is the equivalent of the USSR in the 1980s. It's not an exact parallel, but just as late-stage communism began showing its cracks back then, late-stage capitalism is definitely showing its you-know-what.

People are pissed off by the WF subsidy [[discussed in another thread) because free market principles have been the popular economic gospel in our society for the past generation or so. We like the thought of a lone, rugged individual making it through the sheer sweat of his or her brow. Whenever someone points out ways that someone may have been helped, whenever you use facts and examples to show ways that the market has never been truly free, and no one is an island, you get called a liberal pinko commie or worse.

Higher education in the United States during the 20th century was absolutely unparalleled. However, one of the reasons why the most highly regarded university system in the world IS failing is because of its adherence to capitalist principles. Just as US "citizens" have suddenly because primarily "taxpayers," students are no longer our students. They are customers, consumers, and target audiences for our marketing. Teaching is no longer the priority because faculty are seen as revenue generators as well -- along with the pressure to publish, we have to bring in grants as well.

So it's not just that the university is the next bubble. Every single major mid-20th century institution is a bubble. Even the military.

Hold on, folks. It's gonna be a bumpy ride.

Well put. We can only rely on the market to solve all our problems for a limited time. In a world with limited resources, capitalism assumes infinite economic growth is possible. It doesn't take a genius to see that's a recipe for disaster.

**noise** · August-05-11, 08:47 AM

Originally Posted by speaknow

I heard 200 people were laid off at WSU. At Prudy-Kresge Library, WSU PD came in and walked on of the adminsitrators out the bldg the same moment she was notified.

200 positions, only 80 of which were currently filled.

**stinkytofu** · August-05-11, 08:47 AM

Originally Posted by drjeff

WSU has extremely low tuition for a tier one research university. There are a lot of inferior schools in Michigan that cost more. WSU tuition should be more in line with Michigan State given the quality of the faculty.

Also- tuition does not come close to covering costs at any university.

Most of the cuts were to staff- people who generally make life easier and more pleasant for faculty. I don't think any faculty were cut. One place that could use cuts is the bloated administration, especially at the medical school, but those people seem to propagate like bunnies and somehow find ways to justify their existence and extremely high salaries to their peers.

According to US News, WSU is a Tier 2 school and MSU is nationally ranked #79. WSU is more in line with a Central Michigan academically [[also Tier 2) than a MSU. While WSU's 09-10 in-state tuition was $10,439, CMU's was $10,170 and MSU's was $11,434. If anything, I'd argue a MSU student gets the most bang for the buck [[of course, you have to look at specific programs to really see what academically makes sense for an individual student).

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandre...yne-state-2329
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandre...niversity-2243
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandre...gan-state-2290

**noise** · August-05-11, 08:58 AM

Originally Posted by stinkytofu

According to US News, WSU is a Tier 2 school and MSU is nationally ranked #79. WSU is more in line with a Central Michigan academically [[also Tier 2) than a MSU. While WSU's 09-10 in-state tuition was $10,439, CMU's was $10,170 and MSU's was $11,434. If anything, I'd argue a MSU student gets the most bang for the buck [[of course, you have to look at specific programs to really see what academically makes sense for an individual student).

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandre...yne-state-2329
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandre...niversity-2243
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandre...gan-state-2290

I believe most Universities pay more attention to the Carnegie classifications. They used to be "Research I", "Research II", etc. They've modified their classification system and now the basic classification is RU/VH [[research university, very high research activity). WSU, MSU, UofM, etc are all RU/VH. Western is RU/H.

**stinkytofu** · August-05-11, 09:03 AM

Originally Posted by noise

I believe most Universities pay more attention to the Carnegie classifications. They used to be "Research I", "Research II", etc. They've modified their classification system and now the basic classification is RU/VH [[research university, very high research activity). WSU, MSU, UofM, etc are all RU/VH. Western is RU/H.

Interesting. I did not know that - thanks.