Saturday, January 3, 2009

What I'm Worried About

A new series for 2009, highlighting worries, concerns, and insecurities related to my academic life.

I'm worried about our classified staff. UW-Madison, like all colleges and universities, leans heavily on them for support but pays them little (e.g. the folks I know are making $25-40K for full-time work).

Until this week my department of 11 full-time faculty and numerous affiliates relied on 2 administrators for everything. Now, thanks to severe budget cuts, one of those positions has been cut back substantially as we're forced to share the position with another department. I have no idea how our single full-time administrator is going to shoulder all of the work we generate, and why she should be expected to for only $40K per year.

I thought of these folks as I read about U. Michigan's $2.5 billion construction effort. Wowsa.

Image courtesy of bluebicicletta.wordpress.com.

No comments:

Post a Comment