Dive Brief:
- A professor at Youngstown State University has decided against teaching an optional summer class for students because the institution decided to cut his pay for the class by 43% after fewer students enrolled than the required 15, according to WKBN First News.
- In a letter to students explaining his decision, Dr. Chet Cooper, a microbiology professor, said he felt it would be wrong to accept the pay cut because it is as difficult and time-consuming to teach eight students as 15 and agreeing to the terms would be both an insult to his expertise and a tacit acknowledgement that he is overpaid during the school year.
- None of the students need the course to graduate, Cooper said. Though he received one response from a father who was critical of the decision, Cooper said that several students and fellow faculty members had responded in support of his letter.
Dive Insight:
Some believe that since the most significant budgetary item within departments tends to be full-time faculty, the way to increase cost efficiencies without layoffs is to get as many students in front of those faculty members as possible. At Carroll Community College, administrators found $1.2 million in savings available if the institution could rely more on its full-time faculty as opposed to adjunct or part-time professors.
However, something must be said of the cost savings associated with retaining faculty. Most faculty members value climate over just about any other factor, and asking faculty members to take a pay cut because a course didn't reach capacity will certainly not bode well for morale. In fact, in the Carroll Community College example, faculty members were actually given a nominal pay increase as administrators were asking them to work harder to fill their sections. If more professors are offered the type of agreement Dr. Cooper was and choose to follow his approach instead of teaching the class, it could have a cumulative and negative effect on the schools — canceled sections mean the revenue isn't available at all.