Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Just my thoughts on all the big pay raises at University of Illinois
Wow you'd think U of I is rolling in dough...
I saw this article this morning...
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/university-illinois/2010-07-21/new-ui-presidents-executive-assistant-will-earn-195000.html
U of I is tossing out tremendous salaries for some of their top people...some are already labelling this irresponsible!
The University Prez' new "secretary" (actually "executive assistant") is getting $195,000!!!
Yup -- that's not a typo -- $195,000 as a STARTING salary on the first day of her new job!!
In fact, one of the reasons Lisa Troyer left her job at UConn and came to Illinois was because the state of Connecticut was going broke and she feared they would not make good on her salary.
Now the very hiring of this woman is going to literally cause the same problem here!!
http://www.dailycampus.com/2.7440/uconn-professors-face-pay-cuts-to-keep-jobs-1.1050603
BUT-- guess who her old boss in Copnnecticut was....it was new University of Illinois President Michael Hogan!!!
He has brought his helping hand from UConn, Lisa Troyer, into the U of I system and worked a tremendous salary increase for her...
Hmmm......
Here's Lisa Troyer
This is a raise of almost $90,000 over what the same position paid last year!!
That's right, on the very first day on the job at Illinois she's making almost double what the previous "executive assistant" was making...what gives???
Now Jerrance Howard's salary is climbing to $210,000 in this new deal, and the women's basketball coach Jolette Law (whose teams have gone 49-51 - .490 in her three seasons at Illinois) is going to be hauling in $310,000 through 2014!!!!
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=15996
AMAZING!! $310,000 as her base pay plus TV money -- this is more than 95% of all D-I coaches get - men and women!!
And it's not like she's won an NCAA title of anything...she has a career record that's sub-.500,
and she's finished under .500 and in the bottom half of the Big Ten Conference ALL THREE YEARS SHE"S BEEN THERE.
For those who use the term "mediocre"...then this is the true measure of "mediocre".
She's sub-.500 overall, never even finished in the top half of the Big Ten, and has gone nowhere!
Ordinarily I wouldn't care a hoot, but since I pay taxes in the state of Illinois and since I know full well they use taxpayer money to run their athletic departments, then this is partly MY MONEY begin tossed out for such horrible performance!!
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=15677
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=15815
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=11994
These are all enormous raises in view of this...
U of I is making severe budget cuts everywhere else -- and forcing many employees to take UNPAID FURLOUGHS!!
http://cbs2chicago.com/local/university.illinois.furloughs.2.1406025.html
http://www.suntimes.com/news/education/2457008,CST-NWS-uofi02.articlehttp://www.wbez.org/Content.aspx?audioID=42984http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/paper-trail/2010/01/05/furloughs-freezes-hit-university-of-illinois
Is anyone out there listening?? The schools and the taxpayers are going broke, and yet we're paying assistant coaches $200K, mediocre women's basketball coaches $300K, and ordinary helpers in the university President's office $200K as a starter salary!
Like I said...I don't care who pays what outside of the fact that some of this is ripping off the hard working folks of Illinois....
I wonder how many people down in Springfield are U of I grads or have some season tickets?? I'll bet the women's coach at EIU isn't making this much - in fact nobody at EIU, probably not even the university president down there is making this much...
And yet, EIU's women's basketball team went 16-2 in their conference, and went to the post-season!!
Makes you wonder how a private school can compete at all! I think Bradley's doing pretty danged well given the current sleaze in the college sports environment and all the taxpayer money that's wasted and funneled to help bolster up those state universities.
And to think there are people who believe the private schools have an advantage....
Many public schools are having to raise tuition to cover skyrocketing costs and enrollments are declining...
but guess what, at the very same time, many conservative PRIVATE schools have their enrollment skyrocketing, despite the fact that these private schools are extremely expensive!!!
http://dayton.bizjournals.com/dayton/stories/2010/07/12/daily21.html
****Based on a comment that came in that the U of I funds all their athletics by private sources...which I thought I debunked with the above links...
I will reiterate the proof.....
Of course that is the claim of the U of I people, but it is patently false and self-serving...they only hope you take them at their word so you don't actually look it up...
..read the links provided and you will see that they do use taxpayer funds...
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=15677
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/ncaa-finances.htm
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=15815
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=11994
Using the USA today database, and searching for the U of I, you see their Athletic Dept. still uses ..
-$17.7 million in ticket sales, but much of that is generated through the hard work of state-paid employees..
-$3 million in student fees (basically a component of the tuition charged to ALL students whether they ever attend a ball game or could care less about the Athletic Dept.)
-$18.3 million in donor contributions, but a bunch of that could be and would be used and very welcome in other university depts. if it weren't hogged by the athletic dept.
-$1.6 million in "Direct Institutional Support" - ahem could this be any clearer?? The main operating funds of the university are being used by the athletic dept.
-and about $30 million more generated via various sources that are again done by state-employed university personnel, etc..
-Then consider who had to pay for and maintain those extremely expensive buildings and athletic fields that the teams use, and practice on and that all those people live and work in every day -- they sure didn't build all that with private funds!!!
So you can cook it any way you want, and you won't get anyone at U of I to be open and honest about it...but the truth is that they DO operate with and depend on taxpayer funds.
Just a few final comments...
In the fall of 2009, when the U of I decided to upgrade and spend millions to renovate Assembly Hall...they awarded contracts to out-of-state building firms (adding to Illinois' unemployment), much to the objection of workers IN THE STATE OF ILLINOIS who could have done the job as well but were NOT awarded the contract.
http://www.dailyillini.com/node/33245/
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Lisa Troyer is one of the most competent social scientists in the United States. The U of I is getting a great scientist and leader for a bargain. She is neither a "secretary" nor a "regular helper." She is the chief of staff for the president's office. She has a history of excellent collaboration with Michael Hogan at both the University of Iowa and UConn. Why wouldn't the president of a university want the most competent person they've worked with to be included in their administration? That's how acedemia runs. It saves money in the long run by reducing turnover in a high-profile position and preserving an effective collaborative team. Not only that, but you are actually getting someone who managed to become a full professor at the University of Iowa and held that rank at UConn at a much earlier point in their career than most academics. Your beef seems to be with the way the budget is being handled by the board of trustees, which is not controlled by the new president or his administrative team. So why the need to try to discredit a member of his team, and notably the most high-profile woman? Why not try to find out something about the structure of university administration and the people you are complaining about?
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments...
ReplyDeletebut nothing in my post was discrediting, unless you count facts. I barely mentioned her but everything stated in the context of Lisa Troyer was factual or was a link to someone else's words or to her own words.
So I take it you must think she's worth a STARTING salary that's almost DOUBLE what the previous person in that exact same position was making?
The governor has been hammered in the press and rightfully so for raising salaries and giving out bonuses to those closest to him in Springfield in economic hard times. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.