By Ryan Sullivan
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Towson University will temporarily reduce pay for its highest-earning administrators and faculty members as part of cost-cutting measures to save money during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a statement released Wednesday.
The pay reduction, which will go into effect on Oct. 14, will range from 2 to 10 percent of an individual’s annual salary. It will only apply to those who earn $150,000 or more a year, the statement said.
TU President Kim Schatzel will be taking a 10 percent salary reduction, and all of the vice presidents will have their salaries reduced by 5 percent. Less than 50 faculty and staff members will be affected by the temporary salary reductions, said Sean Welsh, the interim vice president for university marketing and communications.
Similar reductions are being implemented across the Maryland higher education system as state officials seek ways to close an estimated $500 million gap in its budget for the 2021 fiscal year caused by the pandemic.
“I think it is commendable that the highest-paid faculty and staff are willing to take temporary pay reductions,” said James Armstrong, the advising coordinator in the school’s Department of Mass Communication. “If that will prevent lower paid [staff] from suffering a salary reduction or worse.”
Those earning between $150,000 and $199,999 will have a temporary reduction of 2 percent, and those earning between $200,000 and $375,000 will have a 5 percent temporary reduction. Any individual earning more than $375,000 will have a temporary reduction of 10 percent, the university said.
“It’s a reflection of true leadership,” said Dominic Delauney, an adjunct faculty professor at Towson. “[It says] that the senior leaders of the university care about the faculty and staff.”
Towson and other universities worked with the University System of Maryland (USM) to formulate a plan that addressed the negative financial impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“A major challenge for our universities is balancing their budgets without harming their mission and without unduly hurting their employees,” said USM Chancellor Jay A. Perman said in a statement released yesterday. “This is extraordinarily difficult, given that COVID has already taken a heavy toll on families’ finances. Protecting faculty and staff to the extent we can is a guiding principle for us, and executive leadership system-wide has committed to bearing a greater share of any pay cuts we have to make.”
USM officials say Maryland colleges and universities experienced roughly $230 million in Covid-related losses in fiscal 2020 when the system transitioned to remote instruction last spring and refunded portions of student’s fees and room-and-board. Perman said in his statement that the roughly $500 million shortfall in the current budget includes a $130 million cut from state appropriations.
The state says that some USM institutions could face additional cuts in capital spending and salaries, adding that some could also be forced to institute furloughs and/or layoffs. Perman’s statement said every source of revenue will fall in the coming academic year, including cuts to federal and state funding, tuition and fees, auxiliary services, and other income.
In addition to the scheduled salary reductions, Towson announced that it would freeze tuition to the 2020 fiscal year level. Additionally, Towson made reductions to the current fiscal year budget—2021—and prioritized COVID-related expenses, the university’s Wednesday announcement said.
Towson also implemented a hiring freeze last spring for all regular and full-time positions. The university implemented the hiring freeze to avoid layoffs and furloughs for current Towson staff and faculty.
“The Towson University leadership has assured us that this limited salary reduction will solve the budget cut issue,” said Jennifer Ballengee, the chair of Towson’s Academic Senate. “I trust their word on that.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused countless layoffs, terminations and furloughs across the globe. While this announcement was reassuring to some, other staff members still felt irresolute about the situation.
“If you’re not thinking about it, you don’t have an understanding of what the world’s been going through,” said Ronald Snyder, an adjunct mass communication professor at Towson. “We’re in uncertain times.”
In addition to these actions, Towson has reduced various costs charged to students. The reductions include issuing refunds for dining, housing and parking fees. The university also announced a 10 percent reduction in mandatory fees.
A petition on the website change.org requesting the removal of athletic fees from students’ bills had 5,461 signatures as of the writing of this article. The $499 athletic fee should be refunded to student’s accounts to help relieve some of the stress placed on students and families due to COVID-19, according to the petition.
“I am a full-time student with two jobs paying for college without any financial help,” Grace Antwiwaa wrote on the petition’s comment section. “During the pandemic, of course, I haven’t been working. I don’t get why the university committee is so insensitive to what’s going on around the world. If anything, tuition should be reduced.”
The operational costs covered by the athletics fee include many student-facing support initiatives, Welsh said. Some of these initiatives include academic support, nutritional support, ongoing training, mental health, COVID protocol adherence and physical maintenance for student-athletes.
The change.org petition has not been updated since Towson’s recent announcement, and petition creator Miriam Williams could not be reached for comment.
The university said in its statement that the Towson leadership team believes this plan demonstrates an appropriate level of financial sacrifice by university leadership to help navigate the economic challenges faced by the university.
“Everyone is trying to make the best of a difficult situation,” Snyder said.
1 Comment
School employees were getting paid 375k+ a year? Why?