MU Layoffs thread

[warriorchick]

Let's just say that each of these people cost $100,000.  Salary, benefits, etc.  (Which is likely high...)

Spread out across 12,000 students, this would save each student...just over $200.

Drop in a bucket.

They also plan to eliminate 80 other positions through retirement and attrition.

[Tugg Speedman]

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[Tugg Speedman]

No one is arguing that MU's tuition must be equal to UW's. But it needs to be competitive, when factoring in financial aid

Wrong ... that is exactly what was being argued.

As much as I despise the Badgers, for in-state kids the value proposition at UW-Madison is significantly better than that of MU.

2013/14 Tuition
UW-Madison: $10,400
Marquette: $35,480

When I went to school my parents told me that they would pay the in-state rate (U of I for me) and anything above that would be on me. Luckily I had significant scholarship money which made the price of education at MU roughly equivalent to that at U of I. With the rate MU tuition has risen, that would no longer be the case today.

[Coleman]

Wrong ... that is exactly what was being argued.

Did you even read what I just wrote?

[mu03eng]

As much as I despise the Badgers, for in-state kids the value proposition at UW-Madison is significantly better than that of MU.

2013/14 Tuition
UW-Madison: $10,400
Marquette: $35,480

When I went to school my parents told me that they would pay the in-state rate (U of I for me) and anything above that would be on me. Luckily I had significant scholarship money which made the price of education at MU roughly equivalent to that at U of I. With the rate MU tuition has risen, that would no longer be the case today.

Were your parents my parents???  Had the exact same scenario.

[Benny B]

Do we know what areas/departments have been affected? I have friends working at a few different places within the university.

IMO, this wouldn't even be newsworthy unless the cuts were being made to high-dollar staffers.  If I had to guess, I would say endowment & fundraising will be hit the hardest... money management can be easily outsourced and the University has already "laid off" two high-profile fundraisers who weren't getting the job done.

I would be surprised if MU was laying off custodians and ass't librarians.

[wadesworld]

That's a little presumptuous to judge who needs prayers and who doesn't.

What if someone who just got laid off has a spouse with cancer, and the couple now loses their health insurance? Still not worth our prayers?

God never made some socioeconomic threshold that you have to be below to ask for grace and strength. All humans can have that.

+1.

[muwarrior69]

Tenure is non-negotiable. Marquette will never, ever consider eliminating the tenure system.

But Marquette, like any enterprise, must manage costs. While I feel for the people getting laid off I am confident Fr Wild made this decision for sound business reasons.

I also question the need for prayers in this case. Beseeching the Almighty because educated middle class people were laid off  trivializes prayer. There is a long line of people in need before the Lord gets around to ensuring a place kicker makes a field goal or a guy gets another job. The great thing about adversity of this sort is that people find that inner reservoir of strength and overcome what is essentially a manageable problem. Save prayers of the real problems.

Sadly your right; but they could freeze a tenured professors salary and benefits to keep costs down. If the tenured professor does not like it he can look else where. I am sure that will not happen and that is why the cost of education is so high.

[LloydMooresLegs]

young lady from LegsJr's grade school graduating class (co-validictorian in grade school, fwiw) attended Northside and just matriculated to Stanford.  Smart cookie, great school.

[LloydMooresLegs]

Ok, maybe the better metric is not UW but private BE schools along with Northwestern and ND. 

When MU's tuition and costs are compared against these schools, it is better than average.



UW is best compared against the other large taxpayer support public schools like the B1G (excluding NU).

ND tuition room and board for next year came out today.  $59,480.

[keefe]

That's a little presumptuous to judge who needs prayers and who doesn't.

What if someone who just got laid off has a spouse with cancer, and the couple now loses their health insurance? Still not worth our prayers?

God never made some socioeconomic threshold that you have to be below to ask for grace and strength. All humans can have that.

The scenario you outline is materially different.

In any event, I don't care who prays to what god for what purpose. Personally, I find that most prayers are narcissistic. And if you look at many requests there is a shrugging of personal responsibility.

If you didn't have Fr Davitt at Marquette read Augustine, Aquinas, Descartes, and Kant for their thoughts on this subject.  

[jesmu84]

Can someone smarter than I evaluate the highlighted material here and tell me how accurate it is?

http://www.reddit.com/r/TrueReddit/comments/1y4a3j/why_is_tuition_rising_so_much_new_analysis_shows/cfhg0l8?context=3

[Marq]

Do we know what areas/departments have been affected? I have friends working at a few different places within the university.

The biggest cuts from what I hear come from the office of adminstration. Plus others. Sad day at Marquette.

[ZiggysFryBoy]

young lady from LegsJr's grade school graduating class (co-validictorian in grade school, fwiw) attended Northside and just matriculated to Stanford.  Smart cookie, great school.

grade school validictorian?  WTF??

[keefe]

grade school validictorian?  WTF??

I saw that, too. Not sure how a 12 year old can provide meaningful insight on the elementary school experience.

[Jay Bee]

Guys, my stock portfolio was down 1.4% today. That's a lot of dough.

Also my steak at lunch.. ordered medium and it was too pink. I was running low on time so I ate it as is.

Been a rough day.

Prayers 4 me. thx!

[real chili 83]

Guys, my stock portfolio was down 1.4% today. That's a lot of dough.

Also my steak at lunch.. ordered medium and it was too pink. I was running low on time so I ate it as is.

Been a rough day.

Prayers 4 me. thx!

Man up bro, rare is the only way to go on good beef. 

[real chili 83]

Layoffs suck.  I've had to layoff 100+ ees...look them in the eye and tell them. And none of these were my decision.  It came, ultimately, from shareholders.

I can tell you first hand that most laid off employees end up better off.  Not all do, but many end up in a better place.

The best thing you can do for them...is not prayer (respectfully), it's help them network.  I guarantee you know someone, who knows someone, who knows someone, who wants to hire your friend.  Help them understand the power of networking.

Trust me on this.

[keefe]

Guys, my stock portfolio was down 1.4% today. That's a lot of dough.

Also my steak at lunch.. ordered medium and it was too pink. I was running low on time so I ate it as is.

Been a rough day.

Prayers 4 me. thx!

Just got off my knees. Jesus said to sell your NVIDIA. He also told me Blue Horseshoe likes Anacott Steel.

[Coleman]

The scenario you outline is materially different.

In any event, I don't care who prays to what god for what purpose. Personally, I find that most prayers are narcissistic. And if you look at many requests there is a shrugging of personal responsibility.

If you didn't have Fr Davitt at Marquette read Augustine, Aquinas, Descartes, and Kant for their thoughts on this subject.  

I guess my point was just that we don't know the unique life circumstances of each person in a layoff, so why minimize it?

I've read Confessions and City of God, the Summa Theologica, Decartes' meditations, and Kants categorical imperatives. Beyond that, what would you recommend?

[Eldon]

I like two specific references in the Bible on prayer.  The first is in Ecclesiastes.  'God is in heaven, you are on Earth.  Keep your words to Him few.'  It is my understanding that the Church interprets this with an emphasis on 'yours' so that you do not ramble on in your prayers, which is congruent with the reference below.

Second, as Christ Himself says, 'God knows your wants and needs even before you do.  Therefore, when you pray, do not babble like a pagan, but instead pray 'Our Father''.  I believe the Church would add on certain other prayers and recitations like the Nicene Creed, Hail Mary, etc.

Praying the rosary is always, always a good thing, regardless of what prompted you.

[forgetful]

They need to re-think the necessity of tenure. Nearly 200k to get a 4 year diploma. It cost my parents 12K for 4 years at MU and we thought that was outrageous back then in the 60s.

Hope your friend lands something soon; getting laid off can be a great opportunity to find something better.

If they would get rid of tenure you can immediately expect one of two possible outcomes.

1.  Faculty salary nearly doubles and tuition rises substantially.  Your average professor could go out into industry (notably exceptions being pure liberal arts categories) and make double what they make in academia.  Tenure is one of the perks that makes it enticing.  If that is gone, talented professors say screw it.

2.  Universities replace professors with adjuncts, who largely are not qualified to teach the classes.  Tuition stays the same but the quality of the education plummets. 

Those calling for the end of tenure have zero understanding of how universities work and what is causing increases in tuition.  The absolute last cause of tuition increases is faculty pay and tenure.

[keefe]

Augustine wrote that one does not pray to God for what one needs for God already knows. Rather, we ought to pray to increase our desire for God so that we are better prepared to receive His grace.

In Augustine's construct, prayer should permeate every aspect of one's life and our desire for God should be constant if one is living in His grace. To pray for something specific, especially in a time of need, was much too mercenary and cynical in Augustine's view.

In Summa Theologica, Aquinas makes clear that one ought not to pray for anything specific, definitive, or even temporal. He reiterates Augustine's position that to do so is vulgar since the flow of events is God's Plan and it is improper to ask that the Divine Plan be altered. Rather, one should ask for the fulfillment of God's Plan.

But as I said earlier, I really do not care if people want to ask God for whatever they desire. I agree that Augustine and Aquinas got it right and that God already knows if a place kicker is going to make the field goal to win the game. And no matter how much we pray He isn't going to make the guy miss.

[Eldon]

If they would get rid of tenure you can immediately expect one of two possible outcomes.

1.  Faculty salary nearly doubles and tuition rises substantially.  Your average professor could go out into industry (notably exceptions being pure liberal arts categories) and make double what they make in academia.  Tenure is one of the perks that makes it enticing.  If that is gone, talented professors say screw it.

2.  Universities replace professors with adjuncts, who largely are not qualified to teach the classes.  Tuition stays the same but the quality of the education plummets. 

Those calling for the end of tenure have zero understanding of how universities work and what is causing increases in tuition.  The absolute last cause of tuition increases is faculty pay and tenure.

+1

And intellectual progress would take a back seat to political correctness.

[keefe]

+1

And intellectual progress would take a back seat to political correctness.

Precisely. There is a reason for academic tenure. And it works by ensuring intellectual freedom.