Delta State Financial Troubles - Interesting Read...

[Count Istvan Teleky]

https://www.deltastate.edu/PDFFiles/...bility.pdf.pdf

I doubt anybody will want to read all fifteen pages of this, but three things stick out to me.

One - The President of Delta State. I think he is showing leadership. He's been on the job one year and is making difficult choices instead of kicking the can down the road. Budgeting for a surplus to establish a rainy day fund takes some balls, especially when people are getting laid off. Hope they don't give him a vote of no confidence

Two, the enrollment cliff mentioned in his opening remarks is real. It is going to be nationwide, and we have not seen its effects yet. It's been said that one college a week closes its doors now, and I suspect that will double in the years to come.

Three, academia is bloated. All those positions not filled and eliminated, and they are still able to function. If that doesn't speak to the administration being fat, then I don't know what does. Cushy jobs. Not just Delta State.

Bears watching as this takes place.

[viverlibre]

Two, the enrollment cliff mentioned in his opening remarks is real. It is going to be nationwide, and we have not seen its effects yet. It's been said that one college a week closes its doors now, and I suspect that will double in the years to come.

What year is the enrollment cliff beginning and what % will the decrease be?

[Count Istvan Teleky]

What year is the enrollment cliff beginning and what % will the decrease be?

... and the cliff results from the 2008 financial crisis when many young couples opted out of having children, given the state of the world and their own financial situation.

We should be seeing the first wave of it in high schools now but I don't know how to tease that out of the data.

[somebodyshotmypaw]

I haven't read the article yet, but I will. I agree about academia being bloated. There are too many do-nothing fat cats. Someone with a good business mind could easily slash 20% of the jobs at most universities. There are far too many employees who have idle time and don't show up every day to compete. And tenure and contracts are an issue to me. People need to show up every day to prove they deserve to be allowed to come back tomorrow. Contracts and tenure can screw that up.

[Cooterpoot]

The Okra are pickled?

[Pancho]

word

[redstickdawg]

I haven't read the article yet, but I will. I agree about academia being bloated. There are too many do-nothing fat cats. Someone with a good business mind could easily slash 20% of the jobs at most universities. There are far too many employees who have idle time and don't show up every day to compete. And tenure and contracts are an issue to me. People need to show up every day to prove they deserve to be allowed to come back tomorrow. Contracts and tenure can screw that up.

I live close to several LSU profs; neighbor left and returned from work everyday before I did when I was working. I'm now retired and I'd estimate he's away from home at most 30 hrs/week, he's a ball of fire compared to many that I see that work at LSU. If other Universities are similar they could cut staff by 30-50% and not miss a beat. Government jobs need a severe haircut, far too much waste and no productivity.

[Brobi-wan]

I think some of the TAs are making 40k a year plus. They do a lot of the teaching in labs and things like that. Prof just draws up the plan and the TA reads from the slide. Prof just hangs in office or sleeps if the lab is too early. It’s wild. They probably draw a ton of Gov funding and have to spend it to maintain the level they receive. Ends up in staff bloat.

[BeardoMSU]

It's definitely a problem hitting all of higher ed, especially the smaller schools. I've been fortunate (*knock on wood) that my small school has stayed ahead of things (i.e., reducing admin numbers and costs, dropping dead programs, etc.), while maintaining enrollment. We're primarily a business (and Sports Management) college with a great record of job placement, with kids learning actual skills and tools of the trade, so obviously that helps. Meanwhile, I'm the science prof who every student has to take to fulfill their STEM requirement, so I'm a happy camper.

I've said before in previous threads like this that the bloating of academia is mostly amongst administration and within the humanities departments. You're starting to see that realization across the schools that want to stay open and healthy...but it's taking others too long, and for many it'll be too late when they do.

[BeardoMSU]

I think some of the TAs are making 40k a year plus. They do a lot of the teaching in labs and things like that. Prof just draws up the plan and the TA reads from the slide. Prof just hangs in office or sleeps if the lab is too early. It’s wild. They probably draw a ton of Gov funding and have to spend it to maintain the level they receive. Ends up in staff bloat.

I feel like this type of characterization of academia is wildly popular, but not remotely significant as the norm.

I've literally never seen this at all the places I've worked. Sure, there are shitty and lazy professors out there (shitty and lazy people in every profession), but it's such a small percentage that it doesn't even track. Shitty student evals, poor pub/scholarly activity, hostility with colleagues, etc., would have you outta there quicker than hell. Obv there are exceptions, as with anything, but that's just not something that's tolerated.

And I've never seen or heard of a TA making 40k...Adjunct, sure, but that's a part time gig with pay dependent on the number of courses you teach.

[bobcat91]

We are already seeing the beginning of the cliff. 10 years ago, Mississippi K12 had 490 k plus students. Today it is 445k . Almost a 50k difference and it will get worse

[KOdawg1]

Delta State's problem was they sat around and did nothing until they absolutely had to. They knew they were screwed but just hoped it would get better. It didn't

[Pancho]

Folks can't afford to rear kids and pay 8% mortgage interest, higher costs for daily necessities............We all know why

[KentuckyDawg13]

Perception is reality, huh?

Unless you are a college professor/teacher/instructor, I'd keep your opinions of their job responsibilities to yourself.

Teaching at ALL levels is harder than most non-teachers realize.

Back to the article, it's all about supply/demand.

[Brobi-wan]

I feel like this type of characterization of academia is wildly popular, but not remotely significant as the norm.

I've literally never seen this at all the places I've worked. Sure, there are shitty and lazy professors out there (shitty and lazy people in every profession), but it's such a small percentage that it doesn't even track. Shitty student evals, poor pub/scholarly activity, hostility with colleagues, etc., would have you outta there quicker than hell. Obv there are exceptions, as with anything, but that's just not something that's tolerated.

And I've never seen or heard of a TA making 40k...Adjunct, sure, but that's a part time gig with pay dependent on the number of courses you teach.

That’s coming directly from people I know on campus. Covid changed a lot. All my teachers were basically still doing online only classes once I graduated in May of 21. I essentially had 2 solid years of just online courses and I think that changed some of the landscape on work ethics and convenience expectations in the workforce as a whole. Even from the business stand-point. I currently work from home and know a lot of other people who do the same. I think 2020 and the following years sped up a change that was already coming. There are absolutely some great teachers out there, but there’s also a lot of gatekeeping by people who work in academia about their colleagues who fail. Maybe people aren’t as dumb as the internet makes them seem. We will see in 20 years when Gen z hits their mid 30s and 40s

[BrunswickDawg]

That’s coming directly from people I know on campus. Covid changed a lot. All my teachers were basically still doing online only classes once I graduated in May of 21. I essentially had 2 solid years of just online courses and I think that changed some of the landscape on work ethics and convenience expectations in the workforce as a whole. Even from the business stand-point. I currently work from home and know a lot of other people who do the same. I think 2020 and the following years sped up a change that was already coming. There are absolutely some great teachers out there, but there’s also a lot of gatekeeping by people who work in academia about their colleagues who fail. Maybe people aren’t as dumb as the internet makes them seem. We will see in 20 years when Gen z hits their mid 30s and 40s

There are also whole programs that moved on-line and stayed on-line post COVID. Both my kids just completed Masters in Ed (one MSU, one here in GA) - neither stepped foot in a classroom for Grad school. It's mind boggling to me.
But, I look back at the classes I took in the 90s and think "I could have read a book, taken a test, and written a paper on my own." There were a couple of classes I only showed up for tests and got As and Bs in - so is an on-line class any different?

[R2Dawg]

The Okra are pickled?

Yep and the okra is fried.

[R2Dawg]

Perception is reality, huh?

Unless you are a college professor/teacher/instructor, I'd keep your opinions of their job responsibilities to yourself.

Teaching at ALL levels is harder than most non-teachers realize.

Back to the article, it's all about supply/demand.

Teaching can be demanding but we have too many teachers that don't teach and still get a paycheck. Also way too much fat in the education system everywhere, it is ridiculous. I'm not in it but my whole family has been. I know more dirt than most my wife is at board office and my brother works in admin in another system. The education system is broken.

[Pancho]

My daughter had several profs who did little other than spew leftist garble if and when they actually had live class. I figure all colleges are full of these types.

[DesotoDog1967]

My youngest son graduates high school Saturday and right after Memorial Day will start a computer coding program for a year. Paid by corporations like FEDEX, Renasant etc. they will help in job placement after that. 20 and no debt with skills sounds good to us. I saw Dr Phil (yeah Dr. Phil) talking about after the Baby Boomers go there will be 3.5 million blue collar jobs unfilled. Plumbers and electricians. People that make it work. Generation Z want none or that. I got my degree from night school at Union University. That one that is probably in a hole also. Delta does hit close to home as both my wife and daughter are primary ed grads from there