“The university must change in order to survive,” Middlemist said.


https://northernstar.info/110186/news/cf...o-survive/

Students have been “over-advanced” financial aid over and above their cost of attendance, so we have been refunding cash to students who never paid anything. Please tell me that is NOT the case. That is beyond stupid.

AND we have a “large number” of 100 - 200 level classes with five or FEWER students.

(11-03-2023 12:20 PM)HuskieDave Wrote:  Students have been “over-advanced” financial aid over and above their cost of attendance, so we have been refunding cash to students who never paid anything. Please tell me that is NOT the case. That is beyond stupid.

AND we have a “large number” of 100 - 200 level classes with five or FEWER students.

Our school has debt of 35 mil and the Big Ten is giving each school 70 mil a season for Big Ten media rights. That is truly crazy.

Does any one think higher education is run well?

(11-03-2023 12:49 PM)Klake1987 Wrote:  Does any one think higher education is run well?

I don’t even think LOWER education is run well.

(11-03-2023 01:27 PM)thxjoenovak Wrote:  

(11-03-2023 12:49 PM)Klake1987 Wrote:  Does any one think higher education is run well?

I don’t even think LOWER education is run well.

Too much government effects lower education and too much reliance on banks effects higher education.

When I lived in Illinois in the late 1980s I had a side gig as an adjunct Accounting Professor at Aurora U. In those days Aurora U. guaranteed that if any senior needed a course for graduation they would hold the class regardless of enrollment. One summer I had three students for the Managerial Accounting course that I taught. Of course adjunct professors are not highly paid so the University likely broke even on my class!

(11-03-2023 12:49 PM)Klake1987 Wrote:  Does any one think higher education is run well?

Not when president Freeman is in the room.

(11-03-2023 01:44 PM)Big Red Wrote:  

(11-03-2023 01:27 PM)thxjoenovak Wrote:  

(11-03-2023 12:49 PM)Klake1987 Wrote:  Does any one think higher education is run well?

I don’t even think LOWER education is run well.

Too much government effects lower education and too much reliance on banks effects higher education.

Yep, k-12 just raises re taxes, colleges and universities get their money by federal government guaranteeing loans then trying to forgive the debt. Taxpayers are on the hook either way.

(11-03-2023 02:32 PM)Klake1987 Wrote:  

(11-03-2023 01:44 PM)Big Red Wrote:  

(11-03-2023 01:27 PM)thxjoenovak Wrote:  

(11-03-2023 12:49 PM)Klake1987 Wrote:  Does any one think higher education is run well?

I don’t even think LOWER education is run well.

Too much government effects lower education and too much reliance on banks effects higher education.

Yep, k-12 just raises re taxes, colleges and universities get their money by federal government guaranteeing loans then trying to forgive the debt. Taxpayers are on the hook either way.

The thing about student loans/debt is it cannot be forgiven (outside of some wave of the wand by the president which yeah...then eventually falls on the tax payers or comes in the form of other fees and whatnot from the banks).

Even if a person were so much in debt they filed for bankruptcy, they can get out of all debt except...student loan payback.

It's a fvcking shame too. Guaranteed loans allowed collages to raise tuition through the roof on degrees that...if they're lucky...gets the grad a job that pays them 40k which is never going to be enough to pay off a degree that might have put them over 50k in debt.

(11-03-2023 01:44 PM)Big Red Wrote:  

(11-03-2023 01:27 PM)thxjoenovak Wrote:  

(11-03-2023 12:49 PM)Klake1987 Wrote:  Does any one think higher education is run well?

I don’t even think LOWER education is run well.

Too much government effects lower education and too much reliance on banks effects higher education.

But we weren't in big debt before. What's the difference now? The government has been running education the whole time. How much money is NIU getting from the government compared to how much it was getting, say, 10 years ago?

(11-03-2023 01:27 PM)thxjoenovak Wrote:  

(11-03-2023 12:49 PM)Klake1987 Wrote:  Does any one think higher education is run well?

I don’t even think LOWER education is run well.

You are both 100% correct! Sad but true!

(11-03-2023 02:00 PM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote:  

(11-03-2023 12:49 PM)Klake1987 Wrote:  Does any one think higher education is run well?

Not when president Freeman is in the room.

She is a cancer on our university!

Take a real hard look at cutting administrators. Higher education is notorious for piling on layers upon layers of administrators and staff. In my prior life in government, the overhead factor for a full time position was about 50% of the direct salary cost.

Cut 8 mid-level managers and save $1 million per year.

Thank you George Middlemist for being so blunt. This should be no surprise to anyone.

(11-03-2023 07:17 PM)Prince Crossing Wrote:  Take a real hard look at cutting administrators. Higher education is notorious for piling on layers upon layers of administrators and staff. In my prior life in government, the overhead factor for a full time position was about 50% of the direct salary cost.

Cut 8 mid-level managers and save $1 million per year.

this

(11-03-2023 07:17 PM)Prince Crossing Wrote:  Take a real hard look at cutting administrators. Higher education is notorious for piling on layers upon layers of administrators and staff. In my prior life in government, the overhead factor for a full time position was about 50% of the direct salary cost.

Cut 8 mid-level managers and save $1 million per year.

Agree 100%. This could easily be done.

This $32 million deficit obviously did not happen overnight, or even in one year. Why are we just hearing now how dire it is? Where is the breakdown of what the components of the deficit are?

What new/expanded programs/activities has NIU added within the past five years, and what are their costs?

We know there are employee unions and resulting negotiation changes and commitments, but how have non-union salaries/benefits increased in the past five years? What are the comparative employment numbers each year for, say, five years? What kind of pension debt is NIU carrying?

Finally (that I can think of) where is the study pairing job market/career trends with majors and minors offered?

We need to know these things before we ... NIU alumni, fans and taxpayers ... hear and heed the cry of "wolf."

I know this may be a comment a little too far out, but NIU needs to run more like a business, not a job security haven. Cradle-to-grave employment ended a long time ago in the real world.

An afterthought: I wonder if this is the preliminary PR run-up to that big fund-raising campaign we hear about from time to time. (It's a fixture whenever local governments are readying to propose a tax hike.) The tip-off for me was the comment about lobbying a broke state for more money. There's also the list of proposed program cuts -- probably still being worked up -- that get segments of the community riled up. Gotta check those boxes before we hear "but we have no choice ... ." Never forget that public administrator = politician (or maybe it's just me, after so many decades in local/regional media.)

(11-04-2023 10:59 AM)The Huskie Wrote:  

(11-03-2023 07:17 PM)Prince Crossing Wrote:  Take a real hard look at cutting administrators. Higher education is notorious for piling on layers upon layers of administrators and staff. In my prior life in government, the overhead factor for a full time position was about 50% of the direct salary cost.

Cut 8 mid-level managers and save $1 million per year.

Agree 100%. This could easily be done.

Start with Freeman being axed then move on the DEI department. This entire department can be eliminated.

(11-05-2023 08:04 AM)HuskieJ Wrote:  

(11-04-2023 10:59 AM)The Huskie Wrote:  

(11-03-2023 07:17 PM)Prince Crossing Wrote:  Take a real hard look at cutting administrators. Higher education is notorious for piling on layers upon layers of administrators and staff. In my prior life in government, the overhead factor for a full time position was about 50% of the direct salary cost.

Cut 8 mid-level managers and save $1 million per year.

Agree 100%. This could easily be done.

Start with Freeman being axed then move on the DEI department. This entire department can be eliminated.

That will solve absolutely nothing. Any more ideas?