Discussion: 5 comments so far...

1. By alexant

   8/20/08 at 4:54 p.m.

   Suggest removal

   What would comparable positions pay at comparable universities? I think pretty much everyone would agree that NSHE salaries should be competitive, not excessive. There is no way to tell from this spreadsheet.

   So much time spent compiling this report yet no effort spent putting the data in context. I would almost suspect an ulterior motive, if the governor were not such a stand-up guy.

2. By UNLVStud

   8/20/08 at 5:32 p.m.

   Suggest removal

   Alex, I couldn't agree more.

   It would be interesting to see how they compare to universities in Montana, the Dakotas (I'd imagine them to offer salaries on the low end) and how they compare to the universities in our peer group (Cal State Sys, AZ System, NM System.) I bet we're barely competitive. Yet another reason UNLV is a Fourth Tier university.

3. By truthfromreason

   8/20/08 at 10:22 p.m.

   Suggest removal

   You have got to be kidding me! What good does this do anyone? This Governor is wasting time and resources bickering with the Chancellor, and now alienating pretty much every single higher ed employee. He just keeps digging his grave deeper. What surprises me is that there has been very little talk of a recall - which I cannot understand. Two more years of this guy and I cannot see how we can function as a state any longer.

4. By EP

   8/21/08 at 12:25 a.m.

   Suggest removal

   Yeah, it pays to spend four years in college, work hard and make really great grades, then spend five or more years getting a Ph.D. or an M.D., taking out student loans, and then spend six more years trying to get tenure through publication in academic journals that reject 80% of submissions while teaching 200-300 students a year, and then, once tenured, to try to build an international reputation, and then maybe once you get promoted to full professor, you get a governor who probably couldn’t pass your courses telling everybody that you are an overpaid freeloader.

   I noticed when I looked at the governor’s spreadsheet that the top earners were in the Med School. What a surprise that doctors make a lot of money! I also noticed that while these top doctor/professors earned an average salary of $195K, the state budget only paid for an average of $87K. I presume the rest came from clinical practice, which also benefited the school. Is this not right? And what did the governor contribute? Last I saw, he was trying to find ways to contribute less, at least on his land, not more.

   The Chancellor’s criticism was harsh and not very politic, but at least he was defending an institution, not his own political interests. The governor was only concerned with himself. This petty attack ranks right up there with the plagiarized speech in Elko, in 2005, where he attacked “liberal, tree-hugging, hippie, Birkenstock-wearing, tie-dyed liberals” for opposing the war in Iraq.

   We have about the lowest tax burden in the nation, the lowest share of people that graduate from high school or go to college, a very low level of public services, and suddenly the bottom falls out from the budget. The governor wants the universities to cut spending by 14% or more, on top of 8% or so already, and that is not adjusted for growth or inflation. And somehow Nevada has a spending problem rather than a tax problem?

5. By BSummerhill

   8/22/08 at 11:22 a.m.

   Suggest removal

   Since I work for lower middle class wages with one of the highest teaching loads in the entire country (called a 5/5, five classes each semester) it's difficult for me to hear about colleagues who are supposedly on easy street. First off, I don't believe it. Second, many of us deserve it.

   There are obvious inaccuracies on the list that warrant investigation or at least fact checking. Truckee Meadows Community College, for example, has no "Coll of Ag," but five or six such positions are listed. Well, if those positions do exist I want to know about it.

   Politically, the Governor is flailing. I find it interesting that he's supposed to be the "education" governor--didn't he promise me a 6% pay raise in his first state of the state address? These cheap theatrics will backfire on him just as everything else he's done as the most ineffective executive I've seen in office in this state since I moved here in 1976 ... OK, I was a little kid back then but I was a very politically savvy first grader!

   On a personal note: I'm sick and tired of the atmosphere in this state when it comes to education. The general attitude seems to be that I ought to be thrilled to have a job of any kind. Yet, typically, in an economy experiencing recession or something close to it, higher education consistently proves to be one of the few "industries" that creates revenue. Is someone implying that I'm leaching off of the state payroll? I thought I was preparing our state's future workforce for something better than minimum wage employment along with making them better, more active citizens. It would be terrible if Nevada's economy ever progressed beyond its reliance on minimum wage labor. Note the bitter sarcasm? Pay me 100K and I'll shut up!

   Brad

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