Greitens urges universities to follow Purdue's lead on cutting costs

Southeast Missouri State University will consider Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens' suggestion the state's public colleges and universities look to cut "administrative bureaucracy" to cope with state budget cuts, school president Carlos Vargas-Aburto said.

Greitens recently challenged colleges to avoid raising tuition to cover cuts in state aid but rather follow the example of Purdue University, which cut administrative staff in an effort to rein in spending.

"While we are not familiar with what is being called the 'Purdue Model,' we will look at that information, as well as practices implemented by other institutions across the United States, in an effort to keep tuition increases and service reductions at a minimum," Vargas said in a written statement.

Southeast would see a $4.4 million cut in state funding for fiscal year 2018 under Greitens' proposed budget, according to Vargas. The proposed spending cuts for Southeast are part of Greitens' budget plan, which would cut about $159 million in state aid for Missouri's public colleges and universities.

Southeast's budget review committee has begun exploring how best to address the expected decrease in state funding.

Under the governor's proposal, Southeast would receive $44.8 million in state funding for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

State funding accounts for about 41 percent of the school's operating budget. Student fees account for more than 50 percent of the school's operating revenue, according to Southeast budget records.

Southeast "will continue to review our academic-program offerings to ensure that they are meeting the needs of our region and state," Vargas said in the emailed statement.

He said the university "remains focused on ensuring that a higher-education degree from Southeast remains as accessible and affordable as possible."

As with any university, labor is a major expense at Southeast.

According to the school's online financial records, salaries and benefits accounted for more than 62 percent of operating expenses in fiscal 2016. The budget information is available at www.semo.edu/budget/graphs.html.

The number of nonacademic administrative and professional employees at U.S. colleges and universities more than doubled over a 25-year period ending in 2012, according to a study done by the New England Center for Investigative Reporting in collaboration with the American Institutes for Research.

Southeast reported having 1,170 employees as of the 2015 fall semester.

That total included full- and part-time employees. It did not include adjunct faculty, as they are considered "temporary employees who are not eligible for benefits," university spokeswoman Ann Hayes said in an email.

Southeast currently has 178 adjunct faculty members, Hayes said.

In 2015, Southeast had 387 full-time faculty members and 740 full-time staff members, according to online data from the university's institutional research office.

Southeast professors, on average, earn $84,756 a year; associate professors, more than $69,000; assistant professors, nearly $60,000; and instructors, more than $46,000, according to Hayes.

A Southeast Missourian check of personnel listed in the Missouri state manual show more than 180 administrative staff members were employed at the university in the 2015-2016 academic year.

That number included vice presidents, assistant vice presidents, deans, directors, coordinators and managers.

Nineteen Southeast administrators in 2015-2016 earned $93,000 or more, according to the state manual.

By comparison, the university listed 40 fewer administrative positions in the 2005-2006 state manual.

Richard Vedder, director of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity in Washington, D.C., said "the evidence is absolutely crystal-clear" the number of administrators at the nation's colleges has grown over the years.

"At a typical school, the number of administrators has probably roughly doubled over the last 30 or 40 years per 100 students, and the number of faculty have gone up either nothing or 5 or 10 percent," Vedder said.

"The big explosion in cost has not come on the instruction side," said Vedder, who is an economics professor at Ohio University.

Vedder said increased government regulations account for only a small part of the growth in administrative staff.

"I actually think on balance, most of this increase has not only added to cost, it has had negative effects," he said. "Decisionmaking in universities has become more complex and cumbersome."

He said in higher education today, "there is no accountability to the taxpayer."

"The Purdue model is very relevant and very timely," Vedder said.

Over the past four years, Purdue University has cut unnecessary spending under the leadership of school president Mitch Daniels, former governor of Indiana.

"He did it by paring unnecessary staff, reducing and not filling positions when people retired or left the university," Vedder said.

Daniels also "put a freeze" on administrator salaries, Vedder said.

Daniels' efforts have kept tuition at Purdue University steady. Room and board charges have decreased slightly, according to Vedder.

"I admire his approach very much," he added. "What he did wasn't anything magical. He just looked at it like a businessperson would look at it."

mbliss@semissourian.com

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