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EDITORIAL: Admins should have acted first
More initiative needed
Editorial | 1/13/09
Posted online at 11:23 PM EST on 1/12/09
/ Last updated at 12:27 AM EST on 1/12/09
Members of the faculty of Brandeis' College of Arts and Sciences have volunteered to give monetary contributions in the form of pay cuts to Brandeis in order to prevent staff layoffs that would have occurred as a result of projected gaps in the University's fiscal year 2009 budget. The generosity of our faculty is laudable. However, members of our senior administration, not the faculty, should have been the first to take such initiatives, considering their potentially powerful implications for our school.
Why would the administration not more eagerly offer to set the precedent? University President Jehuda Reinharz stated initially that he would commit to cutting his own salary by 1 percent only after 30 percent of the faculty had done so. Prof. Marc Brettler (NEJS) told the Justice in December that he was "disappointed that the leadership did not come from elsewhere," such as from the senior administration, "and that other groups didn't take the effort to spearhead" the undertaking.
During this time of economic anxiety, our leadership should have been more proactive and set an example in order to appropriately demonstrate the values for which the University stands. President Reinharz has made a noble effort to help the University through its financial trouble, but he would have made a stronger statement by immediately offering to cut his own salary regardless of how much the faculty contributed. His action could have yielded more than simply a symbolic gesture toward the University: Perhaps he would have encouraged an even greater number of faculty members to contribute to these charitable efforts.
The administration's lack of action regarding teachers is particularly troubling because it seems that it is ignoring the potential impact on academics. This contradicts the administration's original intentions. At the time the $10 million budget gap was predicted, Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe said that the University was "trying to avoid any significant loss in terms of the academic experience." A more forward course of action on the part of senior administration officials in taking pay cuts along with the faculty would have been more consistent with this stated priority.
Our professors have conveyed a sense of unity and goodwill amid the crisis, displaying respect for upholding academic standards while adhering to Brandeis' values. Prof. William Flesch (ENG), chair of the Faculty Senate, wrote in an e-mail to the Justice, "Some of us felt that given Brandeis' traditional, historical commitment to social justice, those faculty members whose jobs were secure might want to take a little bit of the burden for balancing the budget off the backs of staff members whose jobs aren't [secure]."
We suggest that other action on behalf of the senior leadership would have more effectively eased the rough financial adjustments that the University must make this year.
Why would the administration not more eagerly offer to set the precedent? University President Jehuda Reinharz stated initially that he would commit to cutting his own salary by 1 percent only after 30 percent of the faculty had done so. Prof. Marc Brettler (NEJS) told the Justice in December that he was "disappointed that the leadership did not come from elsewhere," such as from the senior administration, "and that other groups didn't take the effort to spearhead" the undertaking.
During this time of economic anxiety, our leadership should have been more proactive and set an example in order to appropriately demonstrate the values for which the University stands. President Reinharz has made a noble effort to help the University through its financial trouble, but he would have made a stronger statement by immediately offering to cut his own salary regardless of how much the faculty contributed. His action could have yielded more than simply a symbolic gesture toward the University: Perhaps he would have encouraged an even greater number of faculty members to contribute to these charitable efforts.
The administration's lack of action regarding teachers is particularly troubling because it seems that it is ignoring the potential impact on academics. This contradicts the administration's original intentions. At the time the $10 million budget gap was predicted, Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe said that the University was "trying to avoid any significant loss in terms of the academic experience." A more forward course of action on the part of senior administration officials in taking pay cuts along with the faculty would have been more consistent with this stated priority.
Our professors have conveyed a sense of unity and goodwill amid the crisis, displaying respect for upholding academic standards while adhering to Brandeis' values. Prof. William Flesch (ENG), chair of the Faculty Senate, wrote in an e-mail to the Justice, "Some of us felt that given Brandeis' traditional, historical commitment to social justice, those faculty members whose jobs were secure might want to take a little bit of the burden for balancing the budget off the backs of staff members whose jobs aren't [secure]."
We suggest that other action on behalf of the senior leadership would have more effectively eased the rough financial adjustments that the University must make this year.
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