Proposed “Cost Reductions” from Office Instruction – Maliciously Misleading or Simply Muddled?

Posted on April 26, 2011 by admin5

In the 2011-12 Proposed Budget, the Office of Administrative Services proposes the following cost savings for the Office of Instruction:  “Two dean’s positions will be eliminated saving approximately $280,000.”  In addition, a consolidation of three separate divisions implies additional cost savings.  The assumption of these statements is that the “take-home” savings from the Office of Instruction would be at least $280,000.

However, examination of a recently proposed organization chart from the Office of Instruction tells a different story. First, one of the “eliminated” dean positions reappears as an Associate Dean.  Second, the new Health Professions and STEM division maintains all three Deans with no cost savings at all!

The proposed budget for the Office of Instruction has two additional surprises. One is the increase in salary for one dean as well as an increase in time for the Associate Vice-President’s position from 60% to 100%.

When you do the real math, the proposed savings of $280,000 drops significantly, to $82,529 (salary+benefits), a mere 30% of the stated amount.

What’s going on? Who is pulling the wool over whose eyes?  Are the budget gurus misinformed, misleading or simply muddled?

[data from 2011-2012 Proposed Budget and Instructional Organization proposal from Office of Instruction]

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Mt. Hood’s administration just keeps growing and growing and growing…

Posted on April 24, 2011 by admin5

Case Study #1: Information Technology

During a time of fiscal emergency, when layoff notices are being given to full-time faculty, when key instructional services are being cut, when fully enrolled and community-valued programs are being eliminated, the Administration continues to grow in size.

The first case study illustrates the growth of management at the expense of instruction. It is the story of ballooning management costs within a single department— Information Technology.

Our case begins during the 2006-07 academic year when total salary costs (not including benefits) for IT management were $220K (see figure 1). Costs remained nearly flat in the next academic year with a modest increase in management salary costs of 4.8%. In 2008-09, when Dr. Michael Hay was hired as Vice President of IT, management salaries increased nearly 8% and in 2009-10, they increased an astronomical 61%! Apparently this wasn’t enough, however, as the budget for the current year shows another 19.4% increase.

 

FIGURE 1 Source: MHCC budgets 2006 - 2011

Continue reading →

Posted in Financial, News, Talking Points | 1 Comment

A Clear, Concise and Cogent Resolution

Posted on April 24, 2011 by admin5

The following is the formal resolution passed on March 15, 2011 by the OEA Community College Council (Oregon Education Association):

Mt. Hood Support Resolution

Resolution to support the Mt Hood Community College Faculty Association

Resolution to support the Mt Hood Community College Faculty Association in the event that it is compelled to strike in defense of its collective bargaining agreement, the rights of faculty, a decent standard of living for faculty and educational excellence.

Whereas, the Mt Hood Community College Faculty Association has been bargaining for over 9 months;

Whereas, the Mt. Hood Board of Education and the President of the college have refused to meet with faculty and hired a union busting consultant, Randall Stedman,

Whereas, Randall Stedman has refused to make any progress in negotiations with faculty and resubmitted the Board’s initial offer and demanded mediation just prior to the 150-day minimum standard for negotiations;

Whereas, Randall Stedman has refused multiple offers to return to the negotiating table after his request for mediation; Continue reading →

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Board Budget Process Fails

Posted on April 21, 2011 by admin5

Apparently, “comparator colleges” are good enough sources for faculty salaries, but when it comes to using them to compare the budget process, the MHCC Board/budget committee doesn’t want to hear about it.

Mike Brayson’s Budget Committee message:

In Dr Ski’s videotaped budget message he stated early on that in his three years of experience with the budgeting process at MHCC there has always been some emotion and suspicion, and that the process is not generally trusted by the college community. This is a very true statement.

He also said that the informational handouts presented at that forum would be posted on the web. I haven’t been able to find them to learn anything about the proposed MHCC budget.

I checked some other community colleges to see what budget information they might have available on their websites. I looked at the websites of PCC, Clackamas CC, Lane, Linn Benton, and Chemeketa. You may recognize these community colleges as the set where Faculty salary comparisons were made by your “Negotiator” as part of the contract bargaining process. Continue reading →

Posted in Financial, Letters, News | 1 Comment

Mr. Chairman and members of the Board:

Posted on April 20, 2011 by admin5

My name is George H. Hicks and I have been a faculty member here for almost thirty years. I would like to share with you some faculty perspectives on the budget and ways to help balance the priorities in these difficult times.

On the revenue side, many faculty support these four strategic moves:
1.   a moderate tuition and fee increase like other colleges;
2.   starting a parking fee like other colleges;
3.   increasing the room and athletic facility rental fees;
4.   smarter promotion of the college to avoid stagnation or decline in enrollment. Continue reading →

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A letter to the community

Posted on April 10, 2011 by admin5

Dear Community Members,

Much has been said about the labor dispute at Mt. Hood Community College.  Blame has been attributed and names have been called.  Indeed, several contributors have made reference to faculty as greedy and ignorant of the financial mess the college is in.  With this background, the statement that this is “Not Really about Economics,” may seem odd.  But, yet, it is true.

Each of us has the right to his or her opinion, but I would like to bring to your attention the fact that the call by 90% of full-time faculty to strike was not primarily over the economics of the negotiations.  Instead, it was a vote against the MHCC Board’s and Administration’s approach toward faculty at the college.  It was a vote FOR the students because their education will be BETTER if the faculty is successful in convincing the Board and administration to negotiate in good faith, to act collaboratively, and to allow teachers to contribute fully to the success of their students.  Students benefit when they have faculty who are dedicated, empowered, and, yes, compensated.  Students benefit when teachers work in an environment that values them and that includes them in the operation of the college. Continue reading →

Posted in Letters, News | 8 Comments

Letter from the ASMHCC Executive Cabinet

Posted on April 7, 2011 by admin5

Dear Mt. Hood Community,

On Wednesday, the Faculty Association voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike for full-time faculty.  This is a result of months of failed negotiations between the Board of Education and the Faculty Association.  As we have seen negotiations deteriorate, we have compiled information and fielded questions regarding an impending strike.

Until now, we have not taken an official stance or chosen a side.  As student leaders, we feel it is our civic role to advocate for and represent students at MHCC.  Our concerns continue to grow about what the quality of our education will be if faculty strike.  The questions and student demands expressed at the “What About Us” rally held in February remain unanswered and unmet!  We as students are the consumers and must be treated as such.

As the Associated Student Government Executive Cabinet, we strongly disagree with the decision made by the MHCC Administration to hire an attorney for the negotiation of the faculty contract.  The Board of Education has authorized $275,000 for the services of Randy Stedman (“The Negotiator”).  To put that in perspective, that is more money than the college would receive for a one dollar increase in tuition.  We feel it is the inherent right of the administration to make decisions based on what is best for the institution but paying for the services of a firm that has only proved detrimental to the college is not in the college’s best interest. Continue reading →

Posted in Letters | 2 Comments

What’s a library without librarians?

Posted on April 6, 2011 by admin5

UPDATE: A review of the current (2010-11) and proposed 2011-12 budgets, we’re surprised to see that after the Administration lays off the three librarians, the Personal Services line shows a savings of only $15,720.

The Board plans to create three unemployed professional librarians, put the college’s accreditation at risk, decimate our students’ access to information and deplete the information literacy component of hundreds of classes, all to save $15,720?

At least the Library Director/Dean will be able to secure a $4,563 raise (5.5%) next year. That’s a relief.

(Original Post): All three full time faculty librarians were given pink slips last week. These dedicated librarians manage MHCC’s collections, subscriptions, electronic databases, provide reference services, coordinate the library instruction program, and teach information literacy to hundreds of sections of classes each year. On an average day in February, 1750 students used the library on the Gresham campus.

Surprisingly, the college recently allocated $100,814 to a new branch library at the Maywood Park campus. In February, only an average of 28 students used this new branch each day.

The decision to eliminate the librarians was made without consulting any of the five Councils that are tasked with advising  the President so that he can carry out the College Goals: Teaching and Learning, Community Engagement and Resource Development. In fact, the decision was made without consulting any library users at all.

It’s a decision that’s both tragic and nonsensical. But wait, there’s more… Continue reading →

Posted in News, Talking Points | 1 Comment

Who’s manning that calculator?

Posted on April 5, 2011 by admin5

Last year’s Budget Message included several “Revenue Generating Options” one of which proposed charging students a $125 per year parking fee. Potential revenue generated through this was listed as $1,660,000. This option was discussed for several months but never implemented.

This year, the same basic concept appeared again in Dr. Ski’s Budget Framework Message delivered on March 30, 2011. This time, it’s listed as a student parking fee of $50 per term effective fall term 2011. It would generate $900,000 in potential revenue.

Let’s compare the two: last year’s proposed $125 yearly parking fee with this years’ proposed $200 yearly parking fee (four terms x $50= $200) .

How can Dr. Ski’s budget team forecast that a higher yearly parking fee will generate $760,000 less revenue than last year’s proposal?

These are the folks charged with developing a budget?

Posted in Financial, News, Talking Points | 1 Comment

It’s all about the title

Posted on April 3, 2011 by admin5

On March 29, 2011, the MHCC Board announced its selection of Dr. Michael Hay, PhD to be the College’s interim President.

A little back story is in order.

Dr. Hay was hired in late 2008 to replace the retiring Director of Computer Services.  The Board bestowed on him the title of “Vice President, Information Technology and Chief Information Officer”. When Hay arrived, Computer Services had two managers working under the director: a Supervisor, Computer Services and Telecommunications and a Supervisor, Computing and Technology Development.

Hay’s first order of business was to change Computer Services to Information Technology. Much better. Hay’s two supervisors soon gained more glorious titles: Manager, Network Infrastructure and Telecommunications and Manager, Applications Development and Learning Technologies.

In August 2009, Hay added yet a third manager to manage the IT “Portfolio” and serve as a Project Manager. In December 2009, Dr. Hay brought in a crony from his tenure at Kaiser Permanente and paid him $100 an hour as an outside consultant to teach the new Project and Portfolio manager how to do her job. This cost the college over $98,000 in the first six months alone. By October 2010, the Board hired this same consultant as the new “Director of the Information Technology Program” without posting a job announcement, following a competitive hiring process or convening a search committee.

Neither of these two new “managers” were assigned any staff to manage until April, 2011.

Does it really take one VP to manage four managers to oversee a staff of around two dozen?

Should we look forward to a similar management and title bloat while Hay serves as interim President?

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