Ay-Ziggy-Zoomba.com

Bowling Green State University announced today that it will eliminate nearly 11 percent of the school's faculty for the 2013 fall semester.

The elimination of 100 jobs at the main campus and the Firelands campus will be accomplished through attrition, retirements, and the expiration of some one-year teaching contracts, a BGSU spokesman said.

Rodney Rogers, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, said the reductions are not expected to affect the quality of education for students.

The job cuts are expected to save about $5.2 million, which will be reallocated to other university priorities, including salaries for faculty and staff, the college said.


Never like seeing jobs lost even if it is through attrition, retirement, etc. But is Coach Orr one of the 100???

Coach Orr is not faculty. He is athletic staff with a contract that expires in 2014.

He will return.

I have heard that with new STRS and OPERS retirement rules, that we could have 200-400 people retire between now and July 1.

transfer2BGSU wrote:Coach Orr is not faculty. He is athletic staff with a contract that expires in 2014.

He will return.

I have heard that with new STRS and OPERS retirement rules, that we could have 200-400 people retire between now and July 1.

And in 2015, the new rules will be in place. Those of us who stay after the 2014-2015 school year will fall under those new guidelines. There will be a HUGE exodus of teachers all across Ohio. Those of you who are education majors should have no problem finding a job. So the question I'm pondering is...leave after the 2014-15 year with 34 years in or stay one more to get the 35. Based on what I've been told by STRS, I might be able to stay without it hurting my retirement. We'll see....2 or 3 for sure!

I had a conversation two years ago with one of the Deans. He stated at that time we could see 25% of the faculty/staff retire due to the changes to the retirement system. Talk about a drain of talent, experience, and institutional knowledge. Then multiply that across the entire state in every school district. It would be crippling. And I wouldn't blame anyone able to retire for preserving their benefits.

As someone looking for a job come this summer/fall, a forcing a few of the octogenarians hanging out around departments at some universities isn't a bad idea...

PGY Tiercel wrote:As someone looking for a job come this summer/fall, a forcing a few of the octogenarians hanging out around departments at some universities isn't a bad idea...

Understandable

It is unclear just where the cuts will come from, but early evidence suggests this slashing of faculty (and it's only faculty who are being cut...faculty whose salaries make up around $50 million of a $260 million budget) will not be achieved through retirement or attrition, but through the termination of faculty who would remain teaching at BGSU if given a choice.

Local school districts are already seeing a spike in retirements due to the pension changes.

While the faculty numbers might not reach 100, there certainly will be others taking the opportunity to retire. The powers that be could determine they don't need to eliminate 100 faculty positions due to reductions in other areas. No one really knows how it will work out, but budget cuts have been the norm for some time.

If you are interested, here is an online petition demanding a halt to the slashing of faculty at BGSU.

http://signon.org/sign/stop-the-arbitra ... by=6880840

What should they cut?

Just perusing the FY 2012 BGSU audited financial statement. Looks like football revenues were $1,978,502, while expenses were $5,132,624 for a loss of $3,154,122. Men's basketball lost $880,916, while hockey lost $1,059,182 and all other sports combined lost $5,367,477. That's, of course, before you throw in $11,819,248 in student activity fees and $425,104 in direct institutional support. Even after all that, intercollegiate athletics overspent by $457,936...http://www.auditor.state.oh.us/auditsea ... 2-Wood.pdf

You may not like to hear it, Professor, but athletics are a loss leader. The hockey team was one of the factors that steered my decision to go to BG. Not the first or second, certainly, but a factor nonetheless. Athletics are unlikely to turn a profit at a school the size of ours. Eliminating them will drive down enrollment.

So...........cut sports then?

The sad reality is that sports are that important to everyone, including at the high school level. If you have a school levy that desperately needs to pass and you threaten to cut busing, the levy may not pass. If you threaten to make sports pay-to-play or cut them all together, the levy has a pretty good chance of passing.

Athletics gives alumni a way to stay connected to the University. After I graduated, I came back to watch the football and hockey games. I didn't come back to see band concerts or go to alumni functions at the education department. If you want to alienate a very large portion of your alumni, cut the sports and you'll succeed.

Yes, I know you are not happy with losing faculty. The truth is that in these economic times when the levels of government are no longer investing in higher education, you either have to increase your revenues to stay afloat by raising tuition, or you cut your costs. If tuition goes any higher, we might as well be considered a private school. So, you cut costs. The question is, where do you cut costs so that you hurt your overall product the least while at the same time maintaining a certain standard? Also, what do you cut so that you continue to be supported from the current campus community (faculty, staff, and students) as well as the Bowling Green community and BGSU alumni? My guess is this 100 faculty cut wasn't just decided at 4:45pm on a Friday before everybody raced home for the weekend.

College athletics provide a bridge for many alumni to stay connected to their alma mater. It has a strong connection to development and fund-raising. I think most alumni (and students) will agree that Hockey is the brand of BGSU. Not many people think BGSU = Political Science.