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Saturday, April 11, 2009
Why the walk-out mattered
Posted by Paul to the Vermont Labor Activist list:
All,
With some 1000 students walking out of class to protest UVM President Fogel's layoffs, bigger classes, program cuts, and higher tuition, you might expect some reconsideration--especially given the recent restoration of state funding plus federal stimulus money that closes the current deficit. But no.
When Fogel stated several months ago that he would leave UVM rather than take a pay cut to his approx $400,000 salary, one could sense that he was excited by the possibilities of downsizing and reorganizing UVM now that there was the pretext of a budget deficit. That there is no change in plans now shows that the administration's call for "shared sacrifice" during difficult times was just a tactic for selling restructuring. Fogel remains committed to the disastrous path of outlandish executive pay and unbudgeted bonuses, breathtaking project cost overruns at public expense, and the notion that long-term faculty and staff are totally expendable.
With 1 in 6 U.S. workers un- or underemployed, and all the sacrifices of the current recession being shouldered by workers and students, the growing protests to challenge this at UVM are a great development. More below.
--Paul
plus....
Check out the Free Press article and video coverage:
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20090410/NEWS02/90410001/1007
And this excellent summation of the situation by Free Press writer and blogger Tim Johnson
Cat country or Cajun country?--Tim Johnson
We'll have more to say about higher ed reform, unavoidably, but we're going to defer that for now -- this topic is kind of like a term paper, which is what's known in the wonk world as "a conversation worth having" (ACWHA). That is, something to be put off as long as possible.
Today, as folks at UVM get ready for another protest, let's take up the questions on everyone's minds:
If UVM stands to receive a big chunk of one-time federal stimulus money ($5.4 million is the figure we keep hearing) plus a base appropriation from the state that's on a par with what UVM has been receiving lately, then why carry through with all those layoffs and program cuts that were announced in February?
Weren't those cuts predicated on the expectation that the state would reduce its appropriation? And weren't the budget cuts announced before the federal bailout money was on anybody's radar?
So what if the stimulus funding is "one-time money"? It would still buy another year for the baseball/softball programs, and the lecturers who are being let go, and all the rest -- another year to take stock and plan some more for lean times to come.
Letting all those cuts stand might seem almost like not taking the stimulus money at all. That's what the governor of South Carolina is doing, and the governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal, has been talking like that too. Hmmm, Louisiana, LSU. Isn't that where Dan Fogel came from? Is he getting his fiscal advice or inspiration from (drum roll, please) Bobby Jindal?
They can't help themselves down in the bayous up at UVM: That's what's they're asking. We'll try to get some answers -- check out the news side of this Web site later today.
Comment from ConcernedforUVM:
Excellent questions! My understanding is that the House budget bill would send UVM two infusions, $5.4 million each, of federal stimulus money. Combined with the usual level of state funding, that should be more than sufficient to close UVM's projected budget gap, take back the layoffs, restore to programs the staffing they need for quality academics and student support, and send the administration back to the drawing board to consider what in the long-term is needed for a more sustainable UVM--including a smaller, less expensive administration. That President Fogel is currently not considering doing any of this suggests that, like Bobby Jindal (and our own governor), he's ideologically driven--by his belief that it is more "efficient" and a good application of "economies of scale" (two of his favorite phrases) to have fewer faculty serving more students.
All,
With some 1000 students walking out of class to protest UVM President Fogel's layoffs, bigger classes, program cuts, and higher tuition, you might expect some reconsideration--especially given the recent restoration of state funding plus federal stimulus money that closes the current deficit. But no.
When Fogel stated several months ago that he would leave UVM rather than take a pay cut to his approx $400,000 salary, one could sense that he was excited by the possibilities of downsizing and reorganizing UVM now that there was the pretext of a budget deficit. That there is no change in plans now shows that the administration's call for "shared sacrifice" during difficult times was just a tactic for selling restructuring. Fogel remains committed to the disastrous path of outlandish executive pay and unbudgeted bonuses, breathtaking project cost overruns at public expense, and the notion that long-term faculty and staff are totally expendable.
With 1 in 6 U.S. workers un- or underemployed, and all the sacrifices of the current recession being shouldered by workers and students, the growing protests to challenge this at UVM are a great development. More below.
--Paul
plus....
Check out the Free Press article and video coverage:
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20090410/NEWS02/90410001/1007
And this excellent summation of the situation by Free Press writer and blogger Tim Johnson
Cat country or Cajun country?--Tim Johnson
We'll have more to say about higher ed reform, unavoidably, but we're going to defer that for now -- this topic is kind of like a term paper, which is what's known in the wonk world as "a conversation worth having" (ACWHA). That is, something to be put off as long as possible.
Today, as folks at UVM get ready for another protest, let's take up the questions on everyone's minds:
If UVM stands to receive a big chunk of one-time federal stimulus money ($5.4 million is the figure we keep hearing) plus a base appropriation from the state that's on a par with what UVM has been receiving lately, then why carry through with all those layoffs and program cuts that were announced in February?
Weren't those cuts predicated on the expectation that the state would reduce its appropriation? And weren't the budget cuts announced before the federal bailout money was on anybody's radar?
So what if the stimulus funding is "one-time money"? It would still buy another year for the baseball/softball programs, and the lecturers who are being let go, and all the rest -- another year to take stock and plan some more for lean times to come.
Letting all those cuts stand might seem almost like not taking the stimulus money at all. That's what the governor of South Carolina is doing, and the governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal, has been talking like that too. Hmmm, Louisiana, LSU. Isn't that where Dan Fogel came from? Is he getting his fiscal advice or inspiration from (drum roll, please) Bobby Jindal?
They can't help themselves down in the bayous up at UVM: That's what's they're asking. We'll try to get some answers -- check out the news side of this Web site later today.
Comment from ConcernedforUVM:
Excellent questions! My understanding is that the House budget bill would send UVM two infusions, $5.4 million each, of federal stimulus money. Combined with the usual level of state funding, that should be more than sufficient to close UVM's projected budget gap, take back the layoffs, restore to programs the staffing they need for quality academics and student support, and send the administration back to the drawing board to consider what in the long-term is needed for a more sustainable UVM--including a smaller, less expensive administration. That President Fogel is currently not considering doing any of this suggests that, like Bobby Jindal (and our own governor), he's ideologically driven--by his belief that it is more "efficient" and a good application of "economies of scale" (two of his favorite phrases) to have fewer faculty serving more students.
Friday, April 10, 2009
WALK OUT!
Free Press photos:
Free Press story:
April 10, 2009
Hundreds walk out at UVM
Students leave classes to protest budget cuts
By Tim Johnson, Free Press Staff Writer
Thursday’s student-organized walkout drew the biggest protest crowd by far since the University of Vermont’s budget woes began, but the rally followed a familiar course with a familiar outcome.
There were speeches, a march, a raucous demonstration outside the administrative offices, but the announced budget cuts and layoffs — the Phase 1 reductions totaling $10.8 million that sparked much of the campus anger that fed the protest — will stand.
Those cutbacks are here to stay, Chief Financial Officer Richard Cate said in an interview that preceded the noisy gathering outside the executive suite. The question now for the administration is whether to proceed with Phase 2, he said, and that likely won’t be decided until May, when the state budget is completed and UVM has a better sense of its fall tuition revenue.
Brightening prospects for state and federal funding, which could bring UVM about $9.5 million more in public support next year than UVM budgeteers forecast a few months ago, will not lead to restoration of the staff jobs, varsity sports or other programs that were cut.
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=BT&Dato=20090409&Kategori=NEWS&Lopenr=904090802&Ref=PH"> Gallery: UVM student protest
The reason, Cate said, is the administration is trying to balance its fiscal year 2010 budget in the face of a structural shortfall that’s at least $12.8 million, even if UVM receives normal state funding and tuition revenue. Structural, Cate said, means a permanent shortfall that will be there every year unless it’s reduced in some permanent way, as the $10.8 million in cuts are designed to do.
Cate had no opportunity to make that argument when he emerged from the locked administrative suite to address the crowd in the Waterman Building. This was a loud but civil confrontation, and he was presented with a list of 13 demands by members of Students Stand Up, the ad-hoc group that organized the demonstration.
Among the demands were that the administration “revoke all dismissals,” forswear more layoffs, reinstate baseball and softball, cap tuition and enrollment and return the last two years’ worth of administrative bonuses. Cate said administrators were studying some of these demands, but when students demanded an on-the-spot “yes” or “no” to the full list, he replied “not yet,” drawing jeers.
The crowd was in the hundreds, filling most of Waterman’s first-floor hallway. The numbers apparently swelled with students who left class to participate in the rally, which began in front of the library at 1:30 p.m.
Among them were Chris McManus, a sophomore who walked out of his class in Canadian literature; Sarah Barnard, a sophomore who left North American archaeology; and Jane Smith, a junior who walked out of American literature.
Their instructors apparently didn’t hold them back. Some teachers reportedly dismissed classes early. McManus said his teacher taped the lecture so students could hear it later on a podcast.
“I’m not a protester,” McManus said, “but I want to support the students and faculty.”
Smith said her instructor advised students to participate in the demonstration, and she wanted to because “they’re cutting a lot from English and anthropology, my major and minor, and I think it’s important to have small classes.”
Ann Sheperdson, one of six lecturers who have been told they won’t be rehired next fall in women’s and gender studies, was among the speakers at the rally, urging the students to “speak truth to power.”
Sheperdson said non-reappointed lecturers number 107, based on reports gathered by faculty. The administration has said it won’t have a number until summer.
Members of Students Stand Up said they would debrief each other later Thursday before deciding their next steps.
“More actions” are coming, promised student Catherine Nopper.
More amazing photos:
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