City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works The Advocate Archives and Special Collections 12-1992 The Graduate Student Advocate, December 1992, Vol. 4, No. 2 How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_advocate/45 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] Graduate '.. Student -1 City University of New York Volume 4 DECEMBER 1992 Number2 J .J Cuts for Students, .J Raises ~~- for Administrators! & THE MARGINALIZATION OF A ·msTORY .. At a time of severe budget crisis, many CUNY administrators are getting substantial pay raises. Some 20 senior-level administrators in the past two months have been given modified job positions and raises of up to $28,000 per year. The CUNY Central Office claims the raises are justified on the grounds that some administrators will have increased responsibility. At the September 30th meeting of the CUNY Board of Trustees, Dr. Robert Picken, Chair of the University Faculty that 1 Senate, expressed his belief in the face of such disastrous 4 I conditions on so many campuse·s, the administrative raises were "ill-timed and ill-considered." : j .... I At the Board meeting Picken gave a concise summary of the cumulative effects of the budget cuts on teaching conditions 1 at the campuses. He reported increases in class size retrenchment of faculty, and the general deterioration of th~ CUNY learning environment. Class size has forced many teachers to abandon collaborative learning techniques in favor of more lectures, multiple-choice tests and fewer writing assignments. He cited nursing classes of 60 students and composition classes that have grown 50% larger than recommended . ..Reliance .oD.,JJ. · nct..teachin~ beoome-s an e o gra ua g ~ without studying with one tenured faculty member. The ex-officio Board member then criticized the decision to increase the incomes of nearly 20 senior level administrators, Vigil at African Burial Ground, August 1992 some salaries increasing by an additional $28,000 a year. He In July, 1992, Congress passed a Resolution halting Moderated by Professor Leith Mullings felt that the raises were often being hidden by the manipulation further· excavation or destruction of the colonial-era (Anthropology) and organized primarily by Andrew of administrative appointments and job titles. African Burial Ground discovered during construction of Long and Tara McCann, the Symposium featured Although Picken said the university could "scarcely federal office buildings in lower Manhattan. By presentations by many of the key players in the fight function" without the administrators, he was "appalled" at the September, 1992, the Center for Cultural Studies had for the site's pres~rvation and in its future extent of the pay hikes. He stated "the point is rapidly organized a Symposium to review the conflict and present development. The panelists included Dr. Michael approaching ... when the faculty who are asked to bear ever community and academic views on future use of the site Blakey, the Howard University anthropologist hired heavier burdens in keeping this University and its instructional for scientific research, preservation and public education only two weeks previously as Scientific Director by program going, will look at the favoritism shown senior-level and memorialization. In many ways, the panel was a the GSA to develop the research plan for the site; administrators and say no!" opportunity for the Center for Cultural Studies to continue Daniel Pagano, the archeologist for the City of New At the request of Chancellor Reynolds, Don Glickman, to explore themes such as the use of social space and the York who had been coordinating the excavation up Executive Assistant to (Acting) Vice Chancellor Bronstein. involvement of the academic community in ongoing until July; Joan Maynard, Director of the Weeksville responded. Glickman said the pay raises were in accordance cultural struggle. continues on p.12 with the rules, policies and procedures of the Executive Compensation Plan, approved by many state committees and the Board of Trustees. He also stated that the overall number of administrators had decreased by a substantial number (20%), and many of the administrators sometimes teach a class. Dr. Picken responded that the Board had asked for a reduction of the Executive Compensation staff in order to ~ realize a savings, not to redistribute the savings among the MichaelScoit Weinstein remaining. Many students and readers of the Advocate would argue Chancellor Reynolds ended the discussion by stating that that the History Program at the Graduate Center is anticipation of a broad based mobilization that would the appointments (raises) were few "to keep the administrative undoubtedly one of the most ideologically rigid in the force change throughout the program (i.e. multi­ ranks where they fundamentally need to be." school. Its hard-right agenda which features Arthur cultural in orientation), attempts were made to The Board, on which Dr.. Picken is a non-voting member, Schlesinger's attack on,multi-culturalism, John Diggins' diversify course offerings and the professional staff. then approved the University Report which contained the pay denigration of the American left, and Abraham Ascher's In fact, Stuart Prall, the Executive Program director, raises, many of which became effective retroactive to this past attack on European Marxist-Leninist formations, is sadly has recently made serious, good faith efforts at trying September. alive and well. While some of their critiques even from a to develop a Latin American History concentration. Chancellor Reynolds had been forced to resign from her leftist perspective have some validity, their neo­ Evidence of this was his active solicitation of CUNY position as Chancellor of the California State University system conservative systematic attack on the left and their faculty members to teach at the school, such as the in June 1990 when it was revealed that she authorized 25% advocation of a garrison-state mentality, is largely internationally-known labor historian, Hobart ::. raises for 6 of her vice-chancellors and gave herself a $58,000 outdated. A de facto "cold-war" atmosphere reminiscent Spalding of Brooklyn College. .. y~ly raise. Sqe was hired by the CUNY Board of Trustees 3 of the '50s exists, and threatens to remain in place from In February 1992, a meeting was convened of the months later. academic research to faculty appointments. The case of Program's Faculty Membership Committee to 11le October University and Chancellor's Reports for the Prof. Hobart s·palding is a telling example of how consider the admission of multiple candidates to the ,. Central Office contain the pay hike of another administrator structurally and politically entrenched the· reactionary history faculty. This small, male-dominated group under the Executive Compensation Plan to $88,000, and the forces at €UNY have become. met clandestinely during the month (neither the time discontinuance of 5 or 6 lower paid staff members. Spring 1992 saw an effort on the department's part in they met, location, or minutes are public record) and modernizing and restructuring the program, In ... continues on p.11 ----,,- Page2 -111""lt Graduate m,w~"' +.h December 1992 ~.)t Student ~\t"10Ca"' Janet Finello is the new Director of TAP according to the net taxable balance wanted to be a part of the whole awarding etc .. Financial Aid at the Graduate Center. She on your NY state tax fonn and... they used structure of the University and we'd see Q: Are the block budget costs of comes to the Graduate Center after having to publish in the TAP application what the how that would work for us. attendance. aside from tuition, etc, fixed worked for the past 4 years as Associate cut-offs were. but for grad students it's And what worked for us in WS was each year? Director of Admissions and Financial Aid extremely low. I guess they feel the that the GC ended up with more money in A: Yes, CUNY wide. In the annual at Brooklyn College. The following majority of the money ought to go to the student awards, and they went to a different application [for new students] there is the interview was conducted by the DSC to undergraduates. catagory of students. In the past, the WS [block budget] cost of attendance to which give students a better idea of how financial award had been treated somewhat like the we add the tuition expenses to come up aid works. Federal Aid: state money and the depfs would tell us with the total student "cost" for a given I A totally different process involves who they wanted on WS. and then it was up year. And from that we subtract the Financial Aid: an Overview any kind of Federal aid. With Federal aid. to us to try to figure out if that student "family contribution" and the remainder is When we talk about financial aid (FA'.) of course. there are all kinds of rules and would be eligible according to federal called financial need. Which would be [ at the Graduate Center. we should really regulations. The Federal aid process is the guidelines. made up for in WS. dept awards, Perkins talk about 2 areas of FA:. state and federal aid. Most state aid is university l administered and that covers fellowships. grad asst's, and tQi.tion fellowships. The ' money for all those kinds of aid is basically iI~~;;t;~{;;~;;... ~;; f divided by the dept's and the dept's select ~~~,,:-~~ f ,• the people who they want to support Q: OK. I assume I didn't qualify for that through fellowships, tuition waivers, etc. one that involves filing the City University And so this year the college WS was for the same reason that I didn't qualify for [Federal aid, which includes College Work application form (FAF) and that involves done strictly based on need; who applied the last round of WS.