Ok—NO ONE is talking about the adjunct cuts, or tuition increases.

I’ve raised the issue a few times but I got some major backlash from our Union, Administration, and even students.  “You’re stirring up unnecessary trouble,” was an Executive Board Union member’s response.

I will not be invisible nor pretend that this is fine, it is not (I have taught at KSC for ten years)—plain human decency isn’t too much to ask.  Procedural, distributive and structural violence are occurring and no one is speaking out.

Why are people so silent?  Aren’t you pissed off?

The corporate university can be dismantled.  The Administration wants us to be silent—don’t say anything about high tuition or cuts to adjuncts.  And don’t kill the messenger—be mad at the system not me.

The cuts from the State are important but the majority of lost funds have been made up by increasing tuition and reducing adjuncts.

This also means reducing course options and increasing class size.  There have been many business practices that do nothing to truly deal with fiscal problems facing KSC.

Helen Giles-Gee President 211,188
Jay Kahn VP, Finance &Planning 188,458
Mel Netzhammer Provost&AcadAff 163,352
Maryann Richards VP,InstAdvancement 152,368
Karen House AscVP,BizSvcs 116,011
Ellen Nuffer DirFacResrceCtr 101,905
Gail Zimmerman AscVP,DeanStudents 101,579
Nona Fienberg Dean A&H (NLA) 123,749
Melinda Treadwell Dean Prof & Grad Studies 122,778
Kenneth Goebel Dir. Development 122,291
Ann Rancourt Asc. Provost 121,822
Irene Herold Dir. Mason Library 97,018
Frank Mazzola Dir. Physical Plant 95,851
John Ratcliff Dir. Athletics 95,498
Elisabeth Roos Asst. Dean 94,896
Ann Miller Asst. VP, Academic Svcs 94,453
Tom Richard Registrar 92,737
Paul Striffolino AsstVPStudentAffairs 91,737
Jim Draper Mgr,CampusPurchase 91,151
Penny Miceli DirSponsProj&Rsrch 90,913
Patricia Blodgett DirStudentFinMgt 89,520
Sue Castriotta Executive DirCELT 89,389
Kathleen Halverson Asst. Dean, Library 89,371
Alan Glotzer Dir. TRIO Programs 87,539
Christine Burke DirHealth&Wellness 84,342
Amanda Warman DirSafety/Security 82,769
Kent Drake-Deese DirResLife&Housing 79,719
Cristi Carson InstiRsrchSpecialist 77,324
John Halter AsstDirBizOperations 76,315
Margaret Richmond DirAdmissions 76,214
Pru Cuper AsstDean 75,897
Douglas Smith SeniorLabTechnician 74,207
Keith Boucher Wmn’sBsktballCoach 72,365
Skye Stephenson DirGlobalEdOffice 72,121
Elizabeth Williams VoiceNetwkAdmin 68,037
Charles Weeks Boiler technician 67,975
Joy Birdsey Bursar 67,102
Debra Coltey Nurse Practitioner 67,080
Sean Gillery SrMajorGiftsOfficer 65,010
Kevin Breslend Dir. InfrSvs&NetwkSec 64,503
Pam Backes AscDir,Acad/CareerAdv 64,226
Bertrand Poirier AscDirAdmissions 63,874
Ron Whipple Plumber/Pipe fitter 63,780
Liz Nieckoski SrDBR/SysAnalyst 63,546
Thomas White Coord. EdOutreach 62,666
Pat Halloran Dir. Aca/Career/Adv 62,349
Scot Ward Head Athletic Trainer 62,013
Beverly Straneva Training Coordinator 60,876
Peter Tandy AsstDirGradStudies (NLA) 60,590
Susan Peery Dir of College Relations 59,582
Diane LeBlanc InfoTechnologist 58,700
Source: Union Leader June 26, 2011 Vol.65, No.34

As Craig Brandon’s insightful 2/17/12 letter to the editor in The Keene Sentinel, College Could Do Better notes that KSC is rife with administrative bloat and financial abuse.As an adjunct I am ‘costly’ so the majority of part-time faculty are reduced to two classes or let go.

All this short-term cutting is to make up $250,000 in the adjunct budget.  I don’t see KSC planning for the long-term.  Nor do I see administrators taking pay cuts like those at New England College so they could keep valued teachers.

KSC’s institutional disregard shows you who is seen as ‘disposable.’

KSC is not cutting its bloated administration (I’ve included a listing of personnel—many of whom I have no clue what they do other than write reports about reports about reports).

Benjamin Ginsberg’s The Fall of The Faculty: The rise of the All Administrative University is an excellent exploration of how most of higher education is rife with what he calls non-essential bureaucrats or ‘deanlets’ who produce nothing.

Why do the most vulnerable get the pink slips?  Mel Netzhammer and Giles-Gee are leaving—we do not need a Provost, and one could argue even a president—hundreds of thousands of dollars and useless work hours will be spent replacing them—for what purpose—if students woke up tomorrow and most administrators were no longer here—there’d be no change, maybe they’d even have their tuitions lowered!

They’ve left a legacy of unaffordable tuition and cuts to the most vulnerable workers at the institution.

They used KSC as a stepping-stone—there should be no monies spent on their leaving this institution.

The hundreds of adjuncts cut will get no recognition for their hard work.

Increased tuition, fewer classes, higher course enrollments and the useless Integrative Studies Program and lots of useless tweets are the legacy of these bureaucrats.  Good riddance to exploitative capitalists.  Netzhammer & Giles-Gee had no interaction with students like the hundreds of adjuncts who made differences in students’ lives.

At KSC the 1% are the overpaid administrators—your time is running out, injustice will not stand.

I’ve been here ten years with no pension, health insurance, nor job security—I get nothing but—‘you’re down to two classes and don’t let the door hit you on the ass on the way out’—that is my parting gift.

Most administrators write reports about reports and conduct useless meetings—Ben Ginsberg notes that a minimal cut of 10% in management would have no effect on the operations of most campuses.

The agenda is PROFIT to maintain managerial bloat.  KSC is 95-98% tuition driven.  Sports, Alumni monies, and contracts with corporations like Pepsi do nothing to help with funding.  KSC spent $450,000 last semester to redo the gym floor (which the students said was soon peeling afterwards).

They spent hundreds of thousands just hiring a firm to create a BRAND.  This doesn’t include the funds to pay for a specific font—the stuff looks like clip art.

Also, another firm was hired to create three new Owls (ah, we do have graphic design majors at the College).   All these financial decisions came after the State cuts—nice job.

Officials will say the TDS $15.5 million building came from ‘different’ funds—that’s crap—if you can find money to spend on this stuff you should prioritize education and make sure NH students can get an education.

Each new faculty gets $5,000 for ‘start-up’ funds and $1,100 each subsequent year.  Also many faculty get course releases for various duties.  It’s the adjuncts that teach the bulk of high enrollment courses and do the most work.

I disagree with Adjunct Union President Mike McCarthy who stated in The Keene Sentinel 2/3/12, “we’re your best deal.”  Plus he still has three classes—wonder why his course load wasn’t reduced?

I don’t particularly like being exploited and then given the boot after ten years—no benefits etc.  We must speak and act against exploitation, workers and students.

The bureaucrats aren’t getting pink slips—yet.

The education bubble is going to burst and I hope all the useless administrators and anti-intellectual Legislators feel the financial pain that they are needlessly pushing onto students and adjuncts.

Some of these folks do certainly earn their monies—but it seems business as usual at KSC since none of these folks were cut. (I did not include full-time faculty—but notice the overlap of many of these positions listed—Associate, Assistant, VP, blah blah).

These figures do not factor in benefits, expense accounts for travel etc. nor Giles-Gee’s free housing!

 

Leigh Corrette is an adjunct in the Sociology Department.  She has taught for seventeen years—ten of which have been at Keene State.

 

 

 

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