"State auditor to meet with state college officials over president’s payout" by Michael Levenson Globe Staff March 11, 2016
Governor Charlie Baker, frustrated by a quarter-million-dollar payout given to the former president of Bridgewater State College, said Friday that officials may overhaul the rules that allow college administrators to be paid handsomely for their unused sick and vacation time.
Dana Mohler-Faria collected the $269,984 payment when he retired last June after 13 years as Bridgewater State’s president. Mohler-Faria, who worked for 39 years in state government, also receives a $183,421 annual pension and an additional $8,333 a month to serve as an adviser to Bridgewater State.
It's become clear to me over the years that higher education as an in$titution is about saddling students with debt to keep them compliant going forward while provided another in a va$t network of pipelines to funnel money to the privileged cla$$.
That's what I've learned.
“Governor Baker is disappointed to learn of this payout and believes all state entities must take fiscal responsibility seriously to protect taxpayer funds,” said Baker’s spokeswoman, Lizzy Guyton.
Guyton said James A. Peyser, the education secretary, and Carlos E. Santiago, the commissioner of higher education, have begun gathering information about existing policies and oversight procedures.
The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, a conservative watchdog group, called on the state auditor, Suzanne Bump, to launch an investigation into the retirement package and consulting pay, which were first reported by the Boston Business Journal.
“The deal Mohler-Faria struck insults the hard-working taxpayers of Massachusetts,” said Paul Craney, the alliance’s executive director.
A spokesman said Bump plans to meet next week with Bridgewater State officials, who are conducting their own internal review of the payout.
Oh, I'm so glad the $chool is conducting its own inve$tigation.
That makes me feel tons better.
C.J. O’Donnell — president of the Massachusetts State College Association, the union that represents state college faculty and librarians — pointed out that Bridgewater State administrators awarded only a 2 percent pay increase to adjunct faculty in their latest contract, settled in January.
“They were telling us there was no money, no money, no money,” O’Donnell said. “Maybe this is the reason why Bridgewater couldn’t afford more than 2 percent this year.”
They are catching on, too!
Bridgewater State’s board of trustees said Mohler-Faria’s payout was calculated in accordance with state rules that allow higher education officials to be paid for their unused sick and vacation time when they leave government. Those policies were established by the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education in 2012, according to officials.
Yes, and those contracts bound by law are inviolable -- unlike union-negotiated deals that must be ripped up so promised benefits can be given back to cover Wall Street thefts.
Under those rules, departing higher education officials can be paid for the full value of up to 64 days of their unused vacation time. Any additional vacation time is rolled into a sick leave bank, and officials can cash out 20 percent of the value of that time when they retire.
That's a good choice of words for their cho$en "careers."
“The payment to President Emeritus Dr. Dana Mohler-Faria for accrued sick and vacation time was determined by state policy and regulations and reflects the length of his 40-year career in public service,” the trustees said in a statement. “His 13 years as president of Bridgewater State University was a period of extraordinary growth for the university and in the opportunities available to our more than 11,000 students.”
Is that what they are calling the looting of the educational $y$tem these days?
Public $ervice?
Still, the trustees said, they — along with the current university administration — have launched an internal review of unused sick and vacation time and will cooperate with any outside review of Mohler-Faria’s record.
Mohler-Faria was 67 when he retired and was paid $285,600 in his final year as Bridgewater State’s president, according to university officials. He was the first person of color to lead the university and only the second Cape Verdean to be elected president of any American college, according to his biography.
Oh. That excu$es everything.
Sorry. Go ahead and loot.
He had previously served as a special adviser on education to Governor Deval Patrick and in administrative posts at Mount Wachusett Community College, Bristol Community College, and Cape Cod Community College.
The university acknowledged that Mohler-Faria logged 29 national and foreign trips in his final three years as president, including four visits to Cape Verde, two to Belize, and one to Las Vegas.
That la$t one caught my eye!
But the trustees said those trips were undertaken with their support and were designed to raise money for the university or boost its programs abroad.
They were that desperate for ca$h, huh?
Endowment needs a new pair of shoes!
University officials said, for example, that Bridgewater State has “a unique and deep relationship” with Cape Verde and was instrumental in the founding of Universidade de Cabo Verde, its first institution of higher education.
The university said it also has a “strong partnership” with Belize and, since 2005, has sent 12 students there every year to work at an Anglican primary school. Mohler-Faria traveled to Las Vegas, university officials said, to attend a conference of the Association of Title IX Coordinators.
The trips “were undertaken to advance the university’s major strategic priorities,” the trustees said.
I trust them. Don't you?
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Related:
"The former president of Bridgewater State University, under fire for a lucrative retirement package, has agreed to give up a $100,000 annual consulting contract with the university, state officials said Thursday."
How big of him. Giving up something he should never have gotten in the first place.
Cambridge city manager to retire
The guy who CAN fix things:
Also see: Regan blames ‘animus’ by Suffolk for severing of ties
By now we all know Regan ran Suffolk.
"Co-creator of iPod gets key post at Bridgewater" by Katherine Burton Bloomberg News March 11, 2016
Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates hired Jon Rubinstein, one of the creators of the iPod, as co-chief executive officer, as the $154 billion firm transitions management away from its founder.
Greg Jensen, currently co-CEO and co-chief investment officer, will drop his administrative duties and focus on his investing role, according to a letter the firm sent to clients.
Rubinstein, who worked closely with Steve Jobs for almost 16 years, is often referred to as the Podfather for his role in creating Apple Inc.’s music player. Rubinstein, 59, joins Bridgewater in May.
The hire comes after reports of tensions between Dalio and Jensen, who had been considered Dalio’s heir apparent. Bridgewater started its succession planning in 2010, and has sold stakes to other institutions....
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That's who I meant.
Time for me to ride out of there....
UPDATES:
Wheaton College officials hand-deliver acceptance letters
