"UMass trustees give final OK to fee hike; Federal funding may help offset $1,500 increase" by Peter Schworm, Globe Staff | February 28, 2009
Trustees at the University of Massachusetts gave final approval yesterday to a $1,500 increase in student fees, amid calls to defer the hike until state officials allocate hundreds of millions in federal stimulus money earmarked for education.
The 15 percent increase, the largest in several years, brings annual tuition costs for in-state undergraduates to an average of $11,000 for the next academic year, not including room and board. But officials said they would provide rebates for some or all of the increase if the university receives federal money, and UMass president Jack Wilson said officials are aggressively lobbying for the funds.
"We view the federal stimulus process with great anticipation and hope that we will be able to replace student dollars with federal dollars," said Wilson, who described the increase as a "responsible, balanced step" in response to reduced financial support from the Commonwealth.
Wait until you see how much a salary that scum-s*** is drawing.
University officials say the fee hike is necessary to help cover a projected $100 million budget deficit across the five-campus system. The university also plans to reduce spending by $50 million and substantially boost financial aid. Trustees approved the controversial measure 12-4. More than 100 students attended the meeting, held at the Dartmouth campus, to register their opposition to the hike. Critics say the increase will price out financially struggling families who are turning to the public system in strong numbers for its lower cost....
Paul Reville, the state's education secretary and a UMass trustee, supported the increase, calling it "a tough action, but the right thing to do" given the university's budget gap....
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Close the budget gap, huh?
Remember these?
The State Budget Swindle
Here is where the REAL MONEY is GOING, readers:
"UMass employees top list of highest-paid state workers; Patrick ranked 1,076th in tally" by Andrea Estes, Globe Staff | February 11, 2009
More than 175 state employees were paid $200,000 or more last year, including more than 150 University of Massachusetts administrators and professors, 13 of whom made $400,000 or more, according to a payroll report released yesterday.
The state's top earner was Derek Lovley, associate dean of UMass-Amherst's College of Natural Resources and the Environment. Lovley, a specialist on biofuels, made $613,000, according to data made public yesterday by the state's Office of the Comptroller. He was followed by UMass Medical School Chancellor Michael F. Collins, who made $609,000.
Five other UMass administrators were paid between $459,000 and $549,000, followed by UMass president Jack Wilson, who received $436,000.
Also among the top earners was James Julian, UMass executive vice president and former chief of staff to former Senate president William M. Bulger. Julian joined Bulger when Bulger became the school's president in early 1996. Also among the state's highest moneymakers were the head basketball coach at UMass, Derek Kellogg, who made $260,000, and the school's head football coach, Donald A. Brown, who made $233,000.
Is that REALLY the BEST USE of the UNIVERSITY'S MONEY!!!
I'LL DO the JOB for A LOT LESS!!!!!
And the BASKETBALL TEAM AIN'T WORTH IT!! They stink!
Brown left to take a coaching job with the University of Maryland. The university's athletic director, Dana Skinner, made $192,000, while the men's head ice hockey coach, Blaise MacDonald, was paid $178,000.
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What I found odd is the Globe didn't cover the 90 LAYOFFS my local reported last week, nor did they cover this:
"BOSTON - While it's in the grips of a financial crisis, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst is defending a plan to spend $50,000 to send nearly 30 employees to Southern California for a software training conference this month that has a sports writer as a keynote speaker.
Translation: It's a JUNKET with YOUR TAX DOLLARS as they CUT SERVICES!!!
The university's flagship campus is spending tax money for the trip as it attempts to build a case to obtain millions of dollars in federal stimulus money to avoid dozens of layoffs and program cuts. The trip comes after university trustees on Feb. 27 voted to raise student charges by 15 percent for the academic year starting in September.
Now you know whose paying for the trip.
Edward F. Blaguszewski, spokesman for the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, said that the university will save tens of thousands of dollars by sending 29 employees from many offices on campus to one location with 450 training sessions. The university would pay a lot more if it paid for consultants to come to the campus, an alternative training option, he said.
He said the conference is not a junket. Against a backdrop of budget cuts, layoffs in state and municipal governments and a steep increase in student charges at the university, the expenditure on the conference doesn't look good, said Lindsay E. McCluskey, a student on the university's board of trustees.
"It's problematic," McCluskey said. "It highlights a broader issue about how the university spends its money and the university's spending priorities."
University employees from Amherst are spreading out over at least four hotels with most staying at the Hilton for $189 a night. The $50,000 price tag includes plane fare and $650 registration fees for all but five Amherst employees who will be conference presenters.
Attendees from the Amherst campus will receive up to $40 per day extra for meals, but that per diem goes down by a certain amount if conference or hotel fees cover a meal.... ESPN's Rick Reilly is a keynote speaker. The event includes a three-hour opening reception and a final night "Hotel California" concert by a founding member of the Eagles rock band, the conference's Web site said.
Pffffft!! This is a PARTY under cover of a "CONFERENCE" and "TRAINING."
The employees from the Amherst campus will be attending the "Higher Education User Group" conference in Anaheim, Calif. from March 22 to 25 to prepare for a major upgrade to the campus's student information software system, which manages admissions, registration, billing, financial aid, advising and other activities for more than 26,000 students on campus, a spokesman said.
These guys are CREATING MARKETS where NO NEEDS EXIST!!! Everything's always gotta be UPDATED from its crap condition. Then why did you buy it in the first place?
Each year, the Amherst campus sends a similar number of people to the software conference for higher education, the spokesman said. The conference will offer 450 distinct software training sessions on such topics as building an interface, managing and auditing security, automating the process for new hires, collecting money from students and automating faculty workload....
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And look at the PORK you PAID FOR, American taxpayers (another Globe oversight)!
"UMass Amherst opens new $5 million traveler information center
AMHERST - University and government officials gathered Monday in a new and very clean bus-washing bay to dedicate a $5 million, 16,000-square-foot University Transit Center and Regional Traveler Information Center.
The center at 255 Governors Drive, near the Mullins Center on the western edge of campus, was paid for with nearly $3.9 million in funding from the Federal Transportation Administration secured by U.S. Rep. John W. Olver, D-Amherst, and $1.1 million from the university.
As they CHARGE the KIDS MORE!!!!
Besides providing space to wash and store buses, parts and train drivers for buses that serve the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and the region through the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority, the center also gives the University's Regional Traveler Information Center a new home...."
Did it NEED a NEW HOME, and how come Americans are being kicked out of theirs while a buses get one for a baths!??
Oh, btw, it's not just Massachusetts that rips you students off:
"Union critical of UVM administrator salaries" by Lisa Rathke, Associated Press Writer | March 9, 2009
MONTPELIER, Vt. --University of Vermont faculty are criticizing school officials for the number of upper level administrators -- and their "corporate-style" salaries -- at a time when the school is making millions of dollars in budget cuts. According to information obtained by The Associated Press, 28 of UVM's 36 current top administrators and deans earn $150,000 or more, with the total budget for top administrators rising to $6.6 million for fiscal year 2007-08 compared with $4.7 million for fiscal year 2002-03.
Among the highest paid administrators, the president earns $322,563 a year, the vice president for development and alumni relations $261,375 and the senior vice president and provost $232,336. The faculty union, United Academics, has accused the school of having too many vice presidents; it had three in 2002 and 22 in 2008. President Daniel Fogel disputes the growth in the number of administrators. He attributes it to title changes. He said the salaries generally are still less than the median salaries at 151 comparable public doctoral research universities....
And that makes the looting all right? Because they weren't as piggish about it?
Thomas Streeter, a sociology professor and secretary of the union's executive council, accused the administration of "doing the same things that a lot of administrations around the country have been doing, but not all, which is expanding the ranks and paying themselves corporate-style salaries."
That's cause EJERKASHEN and INDUSTRY!!!!
