Since the launch of round two in restructuring academic affairs, three different versions of the models have been linked to the Reimaging Academic Affairs website.
The “Position Reduction” box contains the inconsistencies of the two round versions, specifically the net savings annual projection. Since being first announced via webinar on March 25, the net savings have changed from the models later linked on the website on March 27 to the currently available models.
Round one models lacked any information on how much these restructurings would cost, which caused backlash from the campus community. Concerns over transparency were raised to Provost Leslie Cornick during both student expos and Town Hall meetings.
Four College Model:
- Webinar Version Net Savings: $647,000
- March 27 Version Net Savings: $468,000
- Current Version as of April 3: $482,000
The correct net savings annually using the given numbers is $468,000.
Five College Model:
- Webinar Version Net Savings: $818,000
- March 27 Version Net Savings: $527,000
- Current Version as of April 10: $653,000
The correct net savings annually using the given numbers is $527,000.
Administration Model
- Webinar Version Net Savings: $105,000
- March 27 Verison Net Savings: $116,000
- Current Version as of April 10: $116,000
The correct net savings annually using the given numbers is $116,000.
Two days after the webinar, all three models were linked to the website with the correct net annual savings. Aside from filling in the missing figure in the Five College section, nothing else was changed. The executive assistant to the provost, Holly Fergerson, explained that the reason for this discrepancy was an issue with Cornick’s initial math.
The link to the models was no longer accessible the next day. The following week, it was back up; however, there were more inconsistencies within the positional reductions and the net savings.
In addition to the incorrect net savings on both models, the calculation for the cost of additional directors is also inaccurate.
When asked about these inconsistencies, Cornick explained that for the four-college model, she calculated the cost for additional deans using the wrong figure.
“On the four college model, I was doing math in my head, which evidently I shouldn’t do anymore, and just had in my head $30,000 apiece for two directors instead of $37,000,” Cornick said.
For the five-college model, Cornick accidentally clicked on the wrong cell in Excel when doing the final calculations.
“I’ve gone and double-triple-checked that now, and that brings the net savings to $527,000 for the five-college model,” Cornick said.
“I have to tell you that this is really embarrassing for me as an academic and a statistician, but everybody makes mistakes…” Cornick said, “sometimes what we find is that when we try to move too fast is when we make mistakes, and so this tells me that I need to slow down a little bit.”
Four College Model:
- Current Model: Two additional deans at $37,000 would total $60,000
- Correct: The total is $74,000
Five College Model:
- Current Model: Seven additional deans at $37,000 would total $133,000
- Correct: The total is $259,000
Where are these numbers coming from?
The salary savings are based on the average of those positions minus the average for lecturers. As Cornick explained on the webinar, if current deans, associate deans or department chairs retreat to their faculty positions, they retreat at their faculty salary. By retreating them back to faculty positions, lecturers might not be offered as much work.
Cornick explained that they would try to get the correct models on the website by the end of this week.
The Orion wants your feedback on the models presented and how the community feels about the efforts of the reimagining initiative. Please fill out this Google Form.
Nadia Hill can be reached at orionmanagingeditor@gmail.com.
