U. Nebraska Now Spends More on Administrators and Managers Than on Faculty
“(I)f we keep devaluing the academic side of what we do at the university, then you’re going to get less performance”
This is probably the case at schools across the country. There’s so much administrative bloat.
1011 Now in Nebraska reports:
University of Nebraska now spends more on administrators and managers than on faculty
At first glance, they look like raises.
At the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, a music professor’s salary jumped $13,000 in the past decade. A University of Nebraska at Kearney political science professor’s grew by $15,000. A University of Nebraska at Omaha social work professor got a $19,000 bump.
But then you factor in inflation, and the financial reality becomes clear: All three actually took serious pay cuts. When adjusted, the music professor suffered a pay slash of 16%.
It’s part of a profound shift in how the University of Nebraska makes money, spends money — and who it spends money on.
In 2000, NU paid its administrators and professional staff $155 million. This year, a quarter century later, that number has more than tripled to $484 million.
At the same time, pay to faculty has grown, but at a much slower rate that doesn’t match inflation.
In 2024, for the first time this century, the state’s public university system spent more on administrators, managers and professional staff than it did on faculty members who teach students, advise students and do research on its five campuses. (This does not include additional pay that faculty members receive for administrative duties like serving as a department chair.)
“… (I)f we keep devaluing the academic side of what we do at the university, then you’re going to get less performance,” said John Shrader, president of the faculty senate at UNL. “And that’s not what I think the governor, the Legislature and the Board of Regents want. This is a manifestation of the lack of investment.”
Earlier this year, a less-than-asked-for state appropriation led to NU calling for $20 million in cuts. At UNL, students and faculty have weathered $75 million in cuts in five years, with another $27.5 million on the way.
The current cuts on the table include eliminating and merging academic programs and cutting 58 full-time positions and $10.25 million. The proposed cuts would also include $17.25 million in administrative cuts, voluntary professor buyouts and other budget cuts. The NU Board of Regents will vote on the proposed cuts in December.
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Comments
Unfortunately Nebraska University is not alone in allowing its administrative staff to bloat. All (or perhaps nearly all) universities and colleges have followed suit. The problem is that there are little to no countervailing incentives to pare down a university administration to a reasonable size. Wealthy foreign students happily pay for the inflated costs while in-state students are generally shielded.
Looked at analytically, universities are operating on the same principle as the major league sports franchises of the ’40s and ’50s: rook the spectators AND the players, and send it all to the owners.
The difference is that administrators don’t own the university; they just act as though they do.
Certainly seems to demonstrate that their focus isn’t on academics. Any bets on whether a lot of the administrative bloat is in the DEI space?
No the board of Regents pretty much against DEI and CRT, its more about turnover 3 Presidents and 10 or more Chancllors across mulitple campuses.
If only we had a President willing to cut the indirect-cost gravy train that supports these administrators. Oh wait, we do. 😉