Hey, there! Log in / Register
Suffolk must be really good - look how much they pay their president
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
underpaid Suffolk employee
underpaid Suffolk employee and MBA candidate: not 2.8 million dollars good. not 800,000 dollars more than the 2nd president on the list good. not 1 million dollars more than the 3rd good.
I never liked paying someone
I never liked paying someone more now because they were willing to settle for less earlier. That way they get credit for putting off bonuses and pay hikes back then, and they get the money when they need it (now.)
If he was underpaid 10 years ago he could have left, ten years ago. Although maybe he is a fundraising maven or somebody who can make the impossible happen. If so I can understand. I remember being upset when Bulger was kicked out of Umass and people were upset over his pay, mainly because by many accounts he was directly responsible for millions of dollars in additional income, and indirectly reponsible for millions more. The way I see it is if someone is capable of bringing in more money then anyone else could in that position they are welcome to the job assuming of course the difference is more then what they make.
Interesting juxtasposition
David Sargent was paid more than the Harvard President way back in 1996. He's always been among the top-paid college presidents. It is no surprise to me. The students then were enduring 8 percent tuition increases annually. I eventually was priced out.
I thought it was ironic when the financial aid office told me they didn't have any more money for me, while Sargent sat in his palatial office on the 25th floor of One Beacon.
But here's the juxtaposition: Another story about colleges ran in today's Metro section http://tinyurl.com/6bxkeo. The article implies that the students from Boston Public Schools aren't academically prepared to complete a four-year degree. It doesn't address the possibility of how many had to give up college for the cost. It doesn't say how many come from working class families who might not be able to afford tuition increases year after year. It took me altogether 12 years of nights, savings, and loans to complete my degree. I know how hard it is, and I know how easy it is to pack it in when money gets tight.
Suffolk was founded on the ideal of being an affordable private alternative for Bostonians who couldn't swing the big bucks of Boston College, Boston University, Harvard, etc., IN 1906! Today, for many families, it is still very affordable in comparison, even when calculating in the cost of student housing, but such news about Sargent's top-drawer salary still leaves a sour taste.
Sargent --time to go
Sargent is an "old" 77 years old. Time to retire, as he is been there for 17 years. I think that the Suffolk Board of Directors are afraid to hire someone younger, brighter and smarter for fear of rocking the boat and getting the school into the 21st Century.
I just wish I could afford my health insurance. Meanwhile I get memos to make double sided copies to save the school money.
---A grumbling adjunct Suffolk professor of 6 years...
I hate the fact that these
I hate the fact that these schools depend on part time professors so much as well (assuming you are who you say you are.) A couple hundred thousand dollars would bring some of these part time professors onto the fulltime circuit. I just feel that while part time professors may care about their students they have to do other things to pay the bills and therefor are not around campus all that often compared to their full time counterparts (well assuming the full time person isnt just being a hack.)
Ive always been a believer in the power of people. When I was a kid they always preached in church that a church wasnt a building it was a community and it could happen anywhere (which is funny because man do we catholics build some massive ornate churches huh!) I feel that way about my religion and I feel that way about education. You can toss all the special software programs and computer rooms you want at me but it doesnt replace the value of a good teacher (of course Im talking liberal arts here, it would be kind of hard to be an engineer without your computer programs, same with graphic arts and computer science ect.) My favorite professor/teacher of all time was an older guy who had been teaching the same types of classes for 40 years, he knew about technology but avoided it in the classroom, all the learning was between you and him. No powerpoint was allowed for presentations as he believed (it turns out rightfully so) that it allows you to hide behind technology and whirling letters, but if your data is bad then it doesnt matter how glitzy your presentation was. I learned how to use powerpoint through other classes and internships and dont remember half the stuff I made them for, but I remember every presentation I ever made for this professor because I had to be prepped for his questions, and that was kind of scary at the time. He was full time tenure and was always available whenever I needed to talk to him, I have a feeling our classes could have been in an old outdated building without heat and I still would have learned. All of these new fancy buildings, expensive presidents, new technology, fancy cafeterias, they are all like powerpoint presentations with the swirly words, all show and no substance. What these schools need are more teaches who are given the time to be dedicated professors instead of having professors who have to run to their second/third job so they can afford their health insurance this month.
Adjunctivitis
Having some professors that work in the business or professional world can be very valuable - but the standard operating procedure at places like Suffolk is to have as many non-tenured faculty as they can get away with. This can lead to some of the quality issues that Shady describes.
It also leads to trust-fund libertarians running for school board running around calling themselves "professor".
Oh yeah definitly. If some
Oh yeah definitly. If some great Boston business man wants to teach one class a semester on business GREAT! Al Gore wants to teach a class on journalism at your school, GO FOR IT! Harvard does a pretty good job of getting random people like Jesse Ventura in the classroom (he isnt a professor or even close to being qualified so he led a study session lol.) The head of government relations at Massport teaches a History of Baseball course at Salem State. I wish thats the way these things worked all the time. It would be great to have several prominent members of the community running around campus mingling with the students, and teaching them what they know better then anyone else.
What I love is in the liberal arts world your required to take all these crazy courses. I had to take four (maybe more) english courses, and they were all taught by adjuncts who I never saw again, who had limited office hours. I remember thinking "this is useless, I already read this stupid book in high school, I have some more advanced ideas on it now but the professor doesnt have time to discuss them, instead I have to write a short comparative assesment between two stories I am reading for the third time..." If Im being required to take a course maybe the school should really consider investing more into it, otherwise Im thinking its not that important to them.