Marquette Faces Pushback on Faculty Cuts

[Eldon]

Discharges, Demographics and Discipline

Marquette is eyeing deep faculty cuts. An undergraduate says she was targeted for discipline because she questioned the administration.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/11/04/marquette-faces-student-and-faculty-pushback-planned-cuts

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Lots of good info in the article.  Unfortunately, it's not looking good for MU.

[cheebs09]

The loan is interesting if it is for housing since Lovell was living in Milwaukee for quite some time.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

It would be interesting to know how much legal advice the BoT was given about issues like compensation prior to hiring Lovell.  Remember he is their first lay President, so they didn't have experience with such things.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

The loan is interesting if it is for housing since Lovell was living in Milwaukee for quite some time.

He moved to a home owned by the University during his tenure as chancellor at UWM.

[Eldon]

Here's a map illustrating the essentials of the demographic cliff:

https://www.northamerican.com/migration-map

[GooooMarquette]

Here's a map illustrating the essentials of the demographic cliff:

https://www.northamerican.com/migration-map

They'll all be moving back to the midwest in 20 or 30 years when the coasts are underwater....

[cheebs09]

He moved to a home owned by the University during his tenure as chancellor at UWM.

Thanks for the background. That makes more sense. Is 1.25M the market? Seems high, but I have nothing to base that off of.

[The Big East]

Here's a map illustrating the essentials of the demographic cliff:

https://www.northamerican.com/migration-map

Marquette was going on a very good path until Lovell came along. The school had a strategic plan to move MU higher in academic ranking. Lovell came along and they dropped that previous laudable goal. I think the stronger the school is academically the easier it will become to attract the broader base of students they are seeking. Everyone wants to be associated with a winner.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Thanks for the background. That makes more sense. Is 1.25M the market? Seems high, but I have nothing to base that off of.

If he’s expected to entertain at his house, then a house with some size is going to be required. And they aren’t going to want him living in Brookfield. So a decent north shore house?  Yeah it will cost that.

[Billy Hoyle]

Marquette was going on a very good path until Lovell came along. The school had a strategic plan to move MU higher in academic ranking. Lovell came along and they dropped that previous laudable goal. I think the stronger the school is academically the easier it will become to attract the broader base of students they are seeking. Everyone wants to be associated with a winner.

How so?

I know a complaint people had about Pilarz is he “wanted MU to be Georgetown” and fellow grads who told me that, including some 3M’s, considered that a betrayal of MU’s ideals.

I IMO, I do think we need to lower admission rates and be more selective. We should be the top Jesuit school in the Midwest and top 5 nationally. We’ve slipped behind LMU, Santa Clara, and Gonzaga. Being ahead of LUC and SLU doesn’t excite me.

[Billy Hoyle]

Thanks for the background. That makes more sense. Is 1.25M the market? Seems high, but I have nothing to base that off of.

Maybe he should have bought Buzz’s house.

[The Big East]

How so?

I know a complaint people had about Pilarz is he “wanted MU to be Georgetown” and fellow grads who told me that, including some 3M’s, considered that a betrayal of MU’s ideals.

I IMO, I do think we need to lower admission rates and be more selective. We should be the top Jesuit school in the Midwest and top 5 nationally. We’ve slipped behind LMU, Santa Clara, and Gonzaga. Being ahead of LUC and SLU doesn’t excite me.

The name of the game in admissions is yield .

MU is not ever going to be in the same discussion with a Georgetown and BC. However , MU has enough tradition and solid alumni base to be at the level of Fordham , Santa Clara and LMU as well as Villanova (Catholic ) .  That level effective would put MU at parity with the lower level schools in the Big Ten.

This type of parity enables the highest possible yield of admitted schools .

The whole marketing schtick about MU and it’s ideals is a bit tired . It never actually  was the case 50 years as there were plenty of state schools that offered pretty much anyone with a heartbeat admission. That mantra has no place today either , it just drives the school down .

Keep the admissions standards up and the yield of admitted students will rise. 

[cheebs09]

If he’s expected to entertain at his house, then a house with some size is going to be required. And they aren’t going to want him living in Brookfield. So a decent north shore house?  Yeah it will cost that.

That makes sense. Thanks for the info!

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

The name of the game in admissions is yield .

MU is not ever going to be in the same discussion with a Georgetown and BC. However , MU has enough tradition and solid alumni base to be at the level of Fordham , Santa Clara and LMU as well as Villanova (Catholic ) .  That level effective would put MU at parity with the lower level schools in the Big Ten.

This type of parity enables the highest possible yield of admitted schools .

The whole marketing schtick about MU and it’s ideals is a bit tired . It never actually  was the case 50 years as there were plenty of state schools that offered pretty much anyone with a heartbeat admission. That mantra has no place today either , it just drives the school down .

Keep the admissions standards up and the yield of admitted students will rise. 

Yield is an outdated metric that most schools don’t pay much attention to. Mostly because applying to schools is free and easy.

Marquette’s problem was forecasting increases and then “investing” that money in hopes those increases would occur. 

[muwarrior69]

The name of the game in admissions is yield .

MU is not ever going to be in the same discussion with a Georgetown and BC. However , MU has enough tradition and solid alumni base to be at the level of Fordham , Santa Clara and LMU as well as Villanova (Catholic ) .  That level effective would put MU at parity with the lower level schools in the Big Ten.

This type of parity enables the highest possible yield of admitted schools .

The whole marketing schtick about MU and it’s ideals is a bit tired . It never actually  was the case 50 years as there were plenty of state schools that offered pretty much anyone with a heartbeat admission. That mantra has no place today either , it just drives the school down .

Keep the admissions standards up and the yield of admitted students will rise.

If the Democrats get their way with free college tuition at all public Universities and Colleges MU can't compete against free. Why would anyone pay 30-40k for an education when they can get it free elsewhere.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Part of the issue with chasing rankings is that two things have changed in the last decade that make this more difficult.

First, the rankings are less easy to manipulate.  USN&WR for instance changed up some things so schools couldn't shoot up the ratings by making minimal investments into PR activities, but instead based on things that matter.

Second, the marketplace doesn't trust rankings the way they used to.  There is just too many ranking services and too much doubt about their importance.

Marquette also has a practical issue.  They don't have the endowment to be a player v. Georgetown and BC.  They never really have.

[Galway Eagle]

Yield is an outdated metric that most schools don’t pay much attention to. Mostly because applying to schools is free and easy.

Marquette’s problem was forecasting increases and then “investing” that money in hopes those increases would occur.

Umm have things changed because most places that didn't accept the common application were $25-50 in 2008 when I was applying.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Umm have things changed because most places that didn't accept the common application were $25-50 in 2008 when I was applying.

Right.  Now hardly anyone charges for an application.  Many private schools only turn something like 2% of their applications into deposits.

[Galway Eagle]

Right.  Now hardly anyone charges for an application.  Many private schools only turn something like 2% of their applications into deposits.

Really? Interesting, how do elite schools avoid unqualified people applying en masse? I recall my counselor explaining that's why they started charging to begin with

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Really? Interesting, how do elite schools avoid unqualified people applying en masse? I recall my counselor explaining that's why they started charging to begin with

Well, it doesn't take that much time to reject someone.  My guess is that a ton of them are flagged by a computer program that has someone go through and give them a nominal look through. 

And many of these schools don't mind because it helps their admit rate, which is another meaningless dumb stat that people think means something.

[GooooMarquette]

Well, it doesn't take that much time to reject someone.  My guess is that a ton of them are flagged by a computer program that has someone go through and give them a nominal look through. 

And many of these schools don't mind because it helps their admit rate, which is another meaningless dumb stat that people think means something.

This, plus there is a lot of self-selection. While lots more people will apply to Harvard and Yale, kids with 2.7 GPAs still likely won't bother. So elite schools will get many more apps from kids with 3.5 GPAs who will likely be rejected, but it will have a limit.

[Billy Hoyle]

If the Democrats get their way with free college tuition at all public Universities and Colleges MU can't compete against free. Why would anyone pay 30-40k for an education when they can get it free elsewhere.

progressives, not Democrats. The "free college" plan with the incoming administration would be community colleges and a federal-state partnership to pay up to 75% for colleges, with no mention of excluding private schools, for those community college graduates. And, let's face it, the type of student MU is going to be attracting aren't interested in two years of community college.

[GooooMarquette]

progressives, not Democrats. The "free college" plan with the incoming administration would be community colleges and a federal-state partnership to pay up to 75% for colleges, with no mention of excluding private schools, for those community college graduates. And, let's face it, the type of student MU is going to be attracting aren't interested in two years of community college.

Agreed. It is a small but loud slice of the Democratic Party that wants free 4-year tuition at state schools. Given the lack of consensus among the Dems and clear opposition from the GOP, it ain't happening anytime soon.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Free public university tuition is a bad idea.  Spending more $$$ on federal financial aid programs, grants not loans, is a much better one.  Even if its mostly at two-year schools, or concentrated in a student's first two years of higher education.

[Macallan 18]

An open letter from the Marquette Jesuit Community presented the officers and trustees of the University - https://twitter.com/MarquetteUnited/status/1327613004796600320

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Marquette University is facing serious challenges today from a confluence of events and societal developments. We, the Jesuits missioned to the University by the Society of Jesus, would like to offer our reflections and raise our concerns as we face the present inflection point in the history of the University.

In 1864, Marquette University was chartered, and the Articles of Incorporation granted the Jesuit representatives to “grant such honors and degrees in art, literature and science...” The Society of Jesus deeded control of the University, including sixty-four acres of land and all of the University-owned buildings upon it, to a largely lay board of trustees in 1970.

On that occasion the Board contracted to maintain the “Jesuit orientation, sponsorship, and support of Marquette University” and agreed to the “implementation of Marquette University’s commitment to provide the instruments and conditions necessary for Jesuit educational and apostolic work at the University.” We think it would be helpful to lay out how, in our view, Jesuit educational and apostolic work at the University must be understood.

Initially, St Ignatius, the founder of the Jesuits, invites us in the Spiritual Exercises to focus on what every Jesuit knows as the First Principle and Foundation: “We are created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save our souls, and we are to make use of the things of this world insofar as they help us attain that end, and rid ourselves of them insofar as they hinder us.”

As Jesuits, our approach must be to begin with the ends we wish to attain, and only after those ends are firmly grasped do we then consider means to attain them. Of course such a process is counter-intuitive and challenging to the dominant economic paradigms of our period in history.

But this commitment must condition how we understand service as a trustee or administrative officer of Marquette University. In particular, it sets the University apart from other kinds of organizations. Marquette is not a business; rather, it is an apostolate of the Society of Jesus.

How might this understanding of Marquette as a Jesuit ministry manifest itself? At its fundamental level Marquette cannot simply figure out how much money it has and then decide where to spend it. Rather, it must articulate robust values rooted in the history of the Society of Jesus and in Marquette’s own founding documents.

And after that, armed with a coherent vision, it can begin to figure out the fulfillment of its core values by undergoing a process of asking what resources we need to bring about those goals. We understand that some financial realignment is necessary, but our budgetary constraints cannot dilute what a Jesuit education demands.

In conversations among ourselves, the values that the Jesuits at Marquette University agree on are best expressed in a robust articulation of what we expect of a graduate of our University. If we are faithful to the Jesuit vision, our graduates should manifest the following characteristics.

First, they should be well-grounded in and have an appreciation of physical, social, and spiritual reality. They must know about creation, the world in which we live, and how respect for this world and the flourishing of human life are interdependent. They must understand society, with a special concern for the poor among us, carefully interrogating those structural inequities which result in unequal burdens on those least able to bear the weight. They must have a place to explore spirituality, an understanding of a reality that goes beyond what we can see and touch. In this regard, we want students who are alive with a faith that does justice.

Our graduates need to recognize the corrosive effects of bias and strive to eliminate it from their dealings. They should appreciate the complexity of economic systems and work so that any inequality benefits the poorest among us. We must produce alumni who have a heart for those who suffer in this world, who are unafraid of asking the big questions whose answers are elusive and often intractable, who are willing to speak to the wider world.

And undergirding all of these goals is a robust commitment to each student’s acquiring rigorous analytical skills and the ability to communicate the findings of their investigations in clear, concise, and precise prose. To this end, a solid grounding in the humanities is indispensable.

Yes, this is a tall order, but the integrity of a comprehensive Jesuit education explains why our institutions have survived while others have failed. We face an unknown future, and we face it together. The Marquette Jesuit Community commits to being part of the solution as we strive to provide the best education that we can for our students, for our community, and for the world.

With prayers for our continued common work to make Marquette better, MU Jesuit Community

________________________

Gregory J. O’Meara, S.J.
Rector of the Jesuit Community and Associate Professor of Law, Marquette University